Harlem Children's Zone - Education Works - Revisited

On Thursday January 7, 2010  Madison's The Capital Times ran this story: Could Harlem plan save Milwaukee's core?

...For a dozen years, the visionary educator and architect of the Harlem Children's Zone has been developing a system of family social support and educational innovations to show how it's possible to dramatically change the trajectory of an entire generation of poor and minority children in a 97-square-block area of New York City...

Since this story is so significant, Waxing America is republishing a previous entry from 2006. Enjoy. And remind Charlie Sykes and Mark Belling this post was, in part, written for them. 

The Harlem Children's Zone -Education Works

Author's Update: 1:14 PM.Thursday. May 25, 2006. On Wednesday May  24, 2006,  Wednesday I posted School Choice Is Not the Answer. Some folks asked,  "What is the answer?". The Harlem Children's Zone is, in part the answer. Note that the secret to their success is not privatization, as much as it is an expensive commitment to dealing with the child's entire life.

On Sunday, May 14, 2006, 60 Minutes' Ed Bradley did a story on education with amazing implications:

The Harlem Children's Zone: How One Man's Vision To Revitalize Harlem Starts With Children

...over the years, the neighborhood (Harlem)suffered a steady decline and came to symbolize the worst of urban poverty and decay. Today, there’s a new renaissance under way in Harlem, with the construction of new buildings, businesses and schools.

One of the people leading the charge is Geoffrey Canada. As correspondent Ed Bradley reports, his vision, quite simply, is to save children, and he has amassed a staggering amount of private money — more than $100,000,000 — to realize his goal. His testing ground is a 60-block area in central Harlem that he calls "The Harlem Children's Zone."

The Harlem Children’s Zone is an area that covers less than one square mile and is home to some 10,000 children. On the ground, the neighborhood is slowly coming back to life, with newly renovated townhouses standing side by side with buildings that have fallen victim to violence and despair, local businesses next to national chains. But despite all the renewal, nearly all the children live in poverty — and two-thirds of them score below grade level on standardized tests. That’s why Canada, a graduate of Bowdoin College and the Harvard School of Education, has claimed this territory as his own and is trying to save it, block by block, child by child.

He has made a bold promise to the parents who live in the zone.

"If your child comes to this school, we will guarantee that we will get your child into college. We will be with you with your child from the moment they enter our school till the moment they graduate from college," Canada vowed during a speech.

Canada’s ambitious experiment aims to prove that poor kids from the inner city can learn just as well as affluent kids from the other side of America. He has flooded the zone with social, medical and educational services that are available for free to all the children who live here. (emphasis added)

"They get what middle-class and upper middle-class kids get," Canada explains. "They get safety. They get structure. They get academic enrichment. They get cultural activity. They get adults who love and them and are prepared to do anything. And I mean, I’m prepared to do anything to keep these kids on the right track."

This story is profound in its simplicity. Think of the support network that middle class kids of all races have as they prepare for college: probably two parents at home, one or both successful in higher education; access to modern technology, the Internet, and more advisers and counselors than you can shake a stick at. Decent jobs where they learn valuable life lessons in the business world. The best in medical services which keeps them healthy and in school. They get a support network, or as Canada says, "They get structure."

But Canada also realizes there is more to education than the content of the classroom: there is social, medical, and supplemental tutoring support for each student.

For those prepared to give up on public education, consider this as a model and remember:

• it takes money to educate kids.
• it takes more than a classroom, it takes the structure and support network.
• it takes a low student:teacher ratio.
• "To reach as many children in the zone as possible, Canada put reading labs in public elementary schools and provided SAT tutoring to high schoolers."

There is one area I would disagree with Canada, and that is his side comment criticism of the difficulty of firing inadequate teachers in a public school.  Canada does not say it but some might infer from his comments that this success would not be possible where there was a teacher's union. My guess is that in such an environment, public or private, the inadequate teachers would be quickly found out and easy to remove.

Bradley's story concludes:

It costs $16,000 a year to educate a student at the Promise Academy; while $10,000 of those dollars come from the city, the rest is from the school’s coffers. Though the price tag may seem high, Canada says the investment is paying off.

Public Education is Wonderful: Pay Your Taxes

Author's Update: 1:14 PM.Thursday. May 25, 2006. On Wednesday May  24, 2006,  Wednesday I posted School Choice Is Not the Answer. Some folks asked,  "What is the answer?". The Harlem Children's Zone is, in part the answer. Note that the secret to their success is not privatization, as much as it is an expensive commitment to dealing with the child's entire life.

On Sunday, May 14, 2006, 60 Minutes' Ed Bradley did a story on education with amazing implications:

The Harlem Children's Zone: How One Man's Vision To Revitalize Harlem Starts With Children

...over the years, the neighborhood (Harlem)suffered a steady decline and came to symbolize the worst of urban poverty and decay. Today, there’s a new renaissance under way in Harlem, with the construction of new buildings, businesses and schools.

One of the people leading the charge is Geoffrey Canada. As correspondent Ed Bradley reports, his vision, quite simply, is to save children, and he has amassed a staggering amount of private money — more than $100,000,000 — to realize his goal. His testing ground is a 60-block area in central Harlem that he calls "The Harlem Children's Zone."

The Harlem Children’s Zone is an area that covers less than one square mile and is home to some 10,000 children. On the ground, the neighborhood is slowly coming back to life, with newly renovated townhouses standing side by side with buildings that have fallen victim to violence and despair, local businesses next to national chains. But despite all the renewal, nearly all the children live in poverty — and two-thirds of them score below grade level on standardized tests. That’s why Canada, a graduate of Bowdoin College and the Harvard School of Education, has claimed this territory as his own and is trying to save it, block by block, child by child.

He has made a bold promise to the parents who live in the zone.

"If your child comes to this school, we will guarantee that we will get your child into college. We will be with you with your child from the moment they enter our school till the moment they graduate from college," Canada vowed during a speech.

Canada’s ambitious experiment aims to prove that poor kids from the inner city can learn just as well as affluent kids from the other side of America. He has flooded the zone with social, medical and educational services that are available for free to all the children who live here. (emphasis added)

"They get what middle-class and upper middle-class kids get," Canada explains. "They get safety. They get structure. They get academic enrichment. They get cultural activity. They get adults who love and them and are prepared to do anything. And I mean, I’m prepared to do anything to keep these kids on the right track."

This story is profound in its simplicity. Think of the support network that middle class kids of all races have as they prepare for college: probably two parents at home, one or both successful in higher education; access to modern technology, the Internet, and more advisers and counselors than you can shake a stick at. Decent jobs where they learn valuable life lessons in the business world. The best in medical services which keeps them healthy and in school. They get a support network, or as Canada says, "They get structure."

But Canada also realizes there is more to education than the content of the classroom: there is social, medical, and supplemental tutoring support for each student.

For those prepared to give up on public education, consider this as a model and remember:

• it takes money to educate kids.
• it takes more than a classroom, it takes the structure and support network.
• it takes a low student:teacher ratio.
• "To reach as many children in the zone as possible, Canada put reading labs in public elementary schools and provided SAT tutoring to high schoolers."

There is one area I would disagree with Canada, and that is his side comment criticism of the difficulty of firing inadequate teachers in a public school.  Canada does not say it but some might infer from his comments that this success would not be possible where there was a teacher's union. My guess is that in such an environment, public or private, the inadequate teachers would be quickly found out and easy to remove.

Bradley's story concludes:

It costs $16,000 a year to educate a student at the Promise Academy; while $10,000 of those dollars come from the city, the rest is from the school’s coffers. Though the price tag may seem high, Canada says the investment is paying off.

Public Education is Wonderful: Pay Your Taxes

Comments

[Yortly]

Will the Milwaukee Teacher's Union ok the Harlem plan? Because if they don't it will be DOA.

That's been the travesty of the debate over mayoral takeover in Milwaukee - Who's in charge? The union vs. Mayor.

It is split the "liberal" core. The liberal intelligensia represented by the several foundations such as Argosy and Milwaukee Foundation strongly supporting the takeover and the liberal unionistas represented by MATC's union boss strongly opposing.

Sadly it is the 80,000 kids who get the shaft.

[R.J.]

If it means more money and fewer hours for union teachers it must be the next great hope. Seriously, if money was the solution "urban" education "issues" would have been long solved.

[Brian (neaguy)]

Excellent re-post.

You cannot reform a school. You have to reform the community surrounding it, too. That takes money, RJ.

[Kris]

Milwaukee teachers - through their union - have proposed the Milwaukee Opportunity Plan - which is a plan that has a number of strategies that might seem familiar to the Harlem plan. The strategies could make a dramatic impact on public schooling in Milwaukee if there was a true commitment to them.

What the Harlem plan does recognize is that what ails urban education is a community problem that requires a community solution. Schools alone can't do it.