Klein’s Christmas Gift, A Lump of Coal in the Stocking: The Spector of Hunger and Poverty Haunts Too Many Families.

There’s a hole in the world like a great black pit
and the vermin of the world inhabit it
and its morals aren’t worth what a pin can spit
and it goes by the name of London.
At the top of the hole sit the privileged few
Making mock of the vermin in the lonely zoo
turning beauty to filth and greed…
I too have sailed the world and seen its wonders,
for the cruelty of men is as wondrous as Peru
but there’s no place like London!

Sweeney Todd

The number of murders in Manhattan is at the lowest rate since before the Gangs of New York and a thirty story condominium is being built on every other street corner. $700,000 new houses are being sold in East New York: the city seems to be awash in cash! Europeans are flying into the city on shopping splurges, and buying apartments, hard working immigrants from around the world are crowding into the city … seemingly, prosperity has exploded.

But, not for everyone, poverty still haunts too many families.

Michael Harrington’s classic, the Other America is as relevant today as it was fifty years ago.

Speak to teachers:

* kids coming to school hungry …

* kids coming to school with shoddy, ill fitting, worn clothes.

* grandparents as caregivers for grandchildren, because there’s no one else.

* families struggling, working two and three jobs, barely paying the rent and putting food on the table

* fear of gang violence

The spector of poverty in Brownsville, and Rockaway and  Morrisiana, and, too many neighborhoods around the city is the reality of life.

The school system leadership is oblivious.

The Chancellor is proud of shouting “public education is a civil right …” and comparing his efforts to Brown v Board of Education … his cries are an embarrassment.

Schools must do the best job they can … but they are not islands … they are part of neighborhoods. Ignoring the ravages of poverty is dooming too many kids.

Richard Rothstein in Class and Schools  shows us that even the very best of schools cannot overcome the impact of poverty.

Instead of providing lower class size, health clinics in every school, extended school days, counseling services for children and families, and, most importantly, integrating all social services, the Department chases after the illusion that paying kids will improve performance. An approach that is not only unproven, but, the evidence is on the other side.

The Mayor and Chancellor seem more interested in creating a Milton Friedman, market-driven approach to school improvement – that may fuel a presidential campaign rather than confronting a reality. Yes, many in the city are prospering as never before, but, too many families and children are not making it …  For too many families the Chancellor’s “gift” is a lump of coal in their Christmas stocking.