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Chautauqua Opportunities, in an effort to promote school
success in children of multi-generational poverty, is promoting
school partnerships. As a result of the "No Child Left
Behind Act" districts are accountable for the performance
and/or lack of performance for all children within a
district. If a child leaves school without a diploma or if a
child underperforms, that poor performance counts against the
overall "report card" of the district.
School districts have found that many of the issues influencing
poor school performance are directly related to life issues found
within the student's household. There has not been any
additional funding provided to districts to assist families with
the social concerns that are impacting school attendance and
school performance. As state mandates have increased and funding
in increasingly becoming scarce, districts are welcoming COI as a partner
to assist "at risk" families with life issues affecting
overall school success.
Chautauqua Opportunities has identified school success as a key
goal in breaking the cycle of poverty for those households living
in multi-generational poverty. We have formed school
partnerships with a number of local districts. These partnerships
vary in small ways to meet the specific design of each district,
but there are a number of consistent features. |
Mutually identified
families provide consent for the district and COI to work together
to advance the interests of the family. A COI staff member
that is working with the families in that district will become a
part of the districts' risk team. We will attend the team meeting
monthly and review the progress and/or concerns for the families
that have been identified. Our goal is to stabilize those pressing
life issues that are impacting school attendance and/or
performance. These might include: stable, safe and affordable
housing; before and after school care; manageable budgets to allow
for timely rent and utility payments and adequate food; nutrition
education ; life skills with and emphasis on assisting students
with homework, providing environments conducive to studying,
adequate rest, family supports in developing healthy extra
curricular activities and interests; strengthening the family
dynamic. We work with the families to develop possible
relationships and connections with the school before there is a
concern over a student. Our goal is to break down the
"adversarial" relationship that many impoverished
families have with schools and other institutions of
authority. COI will bring our services and our central
intake screening process to parent night. This will provide an
incentive for families to attend school functions. It also removes
the transportation barrier |
that exits in
the more rural areas of our county that make it difficult for
families to access services.
We have found that our partnership with districts has increased
the overall sensitivity of school personnel to the specific needs
and barriers facing low income families. Part of our partnership
includes the offering of a "poverty simulation" an
experiential training that is designed to sensitize participants
to the needs and barriers facing low income families. We
have found that, to some extent, we have, inadvertently,
institutionalized poverty in America. Due to the funding structure
of public education in America, many of the extra curricular activities
that districts offer students are not able to be fully funded
within the school budget. Activity participants are required
to fund raise in order to purchase necessary equipment or to fund
scheduled trips or "meets". There is often an expectation
that parents will pay additional fees to "lease"
equipment, as in musical instruments. Low income children are
acutely aware of limited family resources. They are also acutely
aware of "built in costs of joining" many of these
after-school activities. This results in low income children not
joining sports, or band, or language clubs. It is not indicative
of lack or athletic ability, or musical talent, or linguistic
skill. They do not want to be seen by
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