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A jobs-centered approach to African American community development: The crisis of African American unemployment requires federal intervention | Economic Policy Institute
Report • By Algernon Austin • December 14, 2011
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Millions of African Americans live in communities that lack access to good jobs and good schools and suffer from high crime rates. African American adults are about twice as likely to be unemployed as whites, black students lag their white peers in educational attainment and achievement, and African American communities tend to have higher than average crime rates. These issues have been persistent problems.
Jobs are essential to improving African American communities. Increased employment would help people in these communities lift themselves out of poverty. In addition, because poor economic conditions are an important causal factor behind poor educational outcomes and high crime rates are correlated with high unemployment rates, creating job opportunities would help improve educational outcomes and reduce crime.
This paper outlines a plan for significantly increasing the number of jobs available to African Americans. The plan, which targets communities with persistently high unemployment, includes three main components: creation of public sector jobs, job training with job-placement programs, and wage subsidies for employers. Although the plan is constructed with African Americans in mind, it would also provide benefits to Latino, American Indian, and white communities in which unemployment has remained high.1
A precondition for implementing this plan is a U.S. economy with strong job growth and low unemployment. Unemployment in African American communities cannot be low while the national unemployment rate is high. Thus macroeconomic initiatives—such as infrastructure investments, aid to states, and a stronger safety net—are needed to restore the national economy, reduce the national unemployment rate, and create the conditions for strong job growth in the future.
Even when the national economy is good, however, conditions for African Americans are typically bad. Federal intervention to aid African American community development is necessary for the following reasons:
This paper begins with brief discussions of residential segregation and the persistent job crisis facing African Americans. It then presents evidence that suggests why improving educational attainment and access to suburban labor markets are not likely to be enough to raise employment rates among African Americans. This discussion is followed by a proposal for reducing the high rate of joblessness in and rejuvenating African American communities.
African Americans still reside mainly in separate and unequal communities. In 2010, in the 100 metropolitan areas with the largest black populations, 62.5 percent of blacks would have had to move to achieve full black–white integration. In some of the largest metropolitan areas, the degree of segregation is significantly above the average. In the New York, Chicago, and Detroit metropolitan areas, for example, more than 75 percent of African Americans would have had to move to achieve residential integration.2
These spatially separate communities face very different economic circumstances. In 2007, before the recession began, African Americans in many of the largest metropolitan areas were already in economic distress, with unemployment rates of 10 percent or higher (Austin 2011). The 2007 unemployment rate for blacks in the Detroit metropolitan area was 14.9 percent—more than 2.5 times the 5.8 percent rate for whites. In the Chicago metropolitan area, the 2007 unemployment rate was 10.3 percent for blacks and 3.6 percent for whites.3
The segregation and economic inequality seen in large metropolitan areas also exist even within the smaller geographies of cities. In 2009, for example, Ward 3 in Washington, D.C., which was 78 percent white (Neighborhood Info DC 2011), had an unemployment rate of just 3.2 percent (Comey, Narducci, and Tatian 2010). In contrast, the unemployment rate in Ward 8, which was 94 percent African American, was 28.7 percent.
Because of the high degree of segregation of African Americans into economically distressed communities, community-based policies can be effective mechanisms for helping this population. In Washington, D.C., for example, the challenge is not how to provide economic development for the city as a whole but how to provide economic development for Ward 8 and similar wards.
The problem of joblessness is a deep and persistent one for African Americans. Since as early as 1960, the black unemployment rate has been twice the white rate (Fairlie and Sundstrom 1999).4 As wide as this unemployment rate gap is, it actually underestimates the magnitude of the problem, because, faced with persistent challenges finding employment, many would-be job seekers give up hope of finding a job and drop out of the labor force. Once they do so, they are no longer counted as unemployed, even though they are jobless. For this reason, only employment-rate gaps reveal the full magnitude of the problem of joblessness for African Americans.
In 2010, for example, had blacks had the same unemployment rate as whites, an additional 1.3 million blacks would have been working. Had blacks had the same employment rate as whites, however, an additional 2.0 million blacks would have been working.5 The unemployment rate gap is large, but the employment rate gap is even larger.
Employment that reaches deep into African American communities is key to community development, for a variety of reasons. First, economic conditions are related to educational achievement. Low family income has significant negative effects on children’s educational achievement (Duncan and Magnuson 2005; Kalil 2010; Lee and Burkam 2002; Stevens and Schaller 2009; Taylor, Dearing, and McCartney 2004). Unemployment in and of itself has negative effects on children’s educational outcomes (Stevens and Schaller 2009; Kalil 2010). Blacks are twice as likely as whites to have had 10 or more spells of unemployment over their prime working years (Bureau of Labor Statistics n.d.). Each spell of parental unemployment reduces the likelihood of a child’s educational success. If it were possible to increase the black employment rate to the level of whites and sustain it, we would expect substantial increases in the performance of black students. Creating more jobs for African Americans would thus not only raise incomes, it would also improve educational outcomes.
Second, economic conditions seem to be related to crime rates. Although there is much that criminologists still do not understand about the dynamics of criminal offending, a growing body of research suggests that low wages, high unemployment, high poverty, and high economic inequality lead to higher crime rates (Kelly 2000; Ludwig, Duncan, and Hirschfield 2001; Gould, Weinberg, and Mustard 2002; Machin and Meghir 2004; Lin 2008). Strong job creation that targets African-American communities would improve economic conditions in these communities and likely reduce crime rates.
It is important to recognize that economic conditions are not the only factors driving crime rates. Demographic changes, criminal-organization practices, criminal-justice policies, and other factors all affect crime rates. The recent declines in crime likely stem from these other factors.
Improving educational attainment is a worthy end in itself, but there is little reason to believe that it will reduce the economic problems facing African Americans. The more educated a person is, the more likely he or she will be employed and employed in a good job. However, the employment gap between African Americans and whites will not be bridged by increasing education, as the evidence presented below shows.
The African American population is much better educated today than it was in the 1960s by several measures (Austin 2006, 41–49), but the unemployment disparity between blacks and whites remains essentially unchanged. Educational advances have not translated into improvements in the employment situation for most African Americans (Bernstein 1995).
One reason for the ineffectiveness of education is that educational advances made by blacks have often been matched or exceeded by educational advances by whites. For education to improve blacks’ relative position, they need to make educational advances at a faster rate than whites.
Even if African Americans were able to catch up with whites educationally, unemployment disparities would not disappear, as African Americans are more likely to be unemployed than whites at every educational level. In 2007, for example, before any significant unemployment effects of the Great Recession had been felt, blacks 25 years old and older with a high school diploma were about twice as likely to be unemployed as their white peers. Blacks with a bachelor’s degree or higher were one and a half times as likely to be unemployed as their white counterparts. These disparities are so large that even if blacks had the same educational attainment profile as whites, most of the unemployment gap would remain.6
For African Americans to have had the same unemployment rate as whites in 2007, for example, they would have had to have been much, much better educated than whites. According to Current Population Survey data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the proportion of the labor force with a bachelor’s degree was 24 percent for blacks, 34 percent for whites, and 58 percent for Asian Americans. For the African American unemployment rate to have equaled that of whites, 85 percent of African Americans would have had to have been college educated. Even if there were a way for African Americans to quickly leapfrog whites and Asians in college attainment, over time white educational attainment would gradually catch up, recreating the African American unemployment disadvantage.
It is extremely valuable for African Americans to improve their educational outcomes, both individually and collectively. Education has economic as well as important noneconomic benefits. The social problem of the employment gap between blacks and whites will not be solved by educational advances alone, however.
A related but somewhat different issue is skills training. As with education, it is doubtful that skills training alone is a powerful enough remedy to rectify the employment disparities between blacks and whites. An evaluation by Public/Private Ventures, a nonprofit research organization, reveals the effect of training on employment of African American workers (Maguire et al. 2010). The study evaluates the sectoral employment approach, which provides job seekers with training in the technical (“hard”) skills needed for specific growing sectors of a local economy. The organizations providing the training work closely with employers to ensure that training is relevant. In addition to technical skills, programs also provide some interpersonal (“soft”) skills training.
Public/Private Ventures used a rigorous experimental design to assess the effectiveness of the sectoral approach. A year after participants started the program, employment rates of women, people born abroad, and Latinos were higher than employment rates in the control group. In contrast, the program was not successful in improving the employment rate of African Americans. Although the skills of the African American participants improved, their employment rates did not. This study raises doubts that training is enough to improve black employment rates.
Many observers believe that employers reject African Americans, particularly African American men, because African Americans lack soft skills (see Hamilton, Austin, and Darity 2011, 6–7). The occupational and employment data do not support this view, however (see Allegretto and Pitts 2010, Appendix A; Hamilton, Austin, and Darity 2011, 6–7). African Americans, including men, are overrepresented in the service sector, a sector with relatively high soft-skills demands. They are very much underrepresented in the construction industry and slightly underrepresented in the manufacturing industry, both of which emphasize hard skills. Because these industries tend to pay higher wages than the service sector (Allegretto and Pitts 2010, Appendix A; Hamilton, Austin, and Darity 2011), it would be more beneficial for African Americans to increase their rates of employment in these sectors than in the service sector.
As with education, it is valuable for blacks to master both hard and soft skills. Unemployment disparities between blacks and white do not, however, appear to be caused primarily by the lack of these skills.
Another common misconception about unemployment disparity is that it is driven by the spatial mismatch between African Americans and jobs. The claim is that African Americans live in urban areas whereas jobs and much of job growth is in suburban areas. The solution therefore is presumed to be moving African Americans to the suburbs or increasing urban African Americans’ ability to reach suburban jobs through transportation initiatives (Hellerstein and Neumark 2011). In fact, the mismatch driving the black-white unemployment disparity appears to be more racial than spatial (Hellerstein, Neumark, and McInerney 2007).
William Julius Wilson’s work is seen as supporting the spatial-mismatch hypothesis (see Foster-Bey 2006), but he also provides evidence of racial mismatch. Wilson shows that during the late 1980s, before the Internet became an important source of job information, more than 40 percent of employers in Chicago did not advertise their entry-level job openings in the newspaper (Wilson 1996, 133). These employers likely relied on word-of-mouth methods of advertising and recruiting for jobs. Because whites have higher rates of employment and interpersonal networks in the United States are not very integrated racially, informal recruitment methods disadvantage blacks seeking work. Wilson (1996) also shows that a large share of the employers who advertised job openings in newspapers did so only in white or Latino neighborhood newspapers. Thus, in many cases, even when jobs were advertised, blacks were unlikely to learn of the opening.
Wilson’s work suggests that African Americans were not able to learn about a large share of entry-level job openings in Chicago. Had employers been less discriminatory, African American employment rates would have been significantly higher. Chicago employers who advertised job openings in newspapers where African Americans might see them were twice as likely to employ African Americans in their entry-level jobs. African Americans in Chicago were blocked from obtaining many jobs because of race, not space.
This finding has been replicated with national data from the 2000 Census by Hellerstein,  Neumark, and  McInerney (2007), who find that less educated blacks live in areas in which less educated whites hold many jobs. They argue that “the problem is not a lack of jobs, per se, where blacks live, but a lack of jobs into which blacks are hired.” Thus, if there were equal employment opportunity for all races in urban spaces, black employment rates would be higher in those spaces.
Another reason to be skeptical about a spatial approach for addressing unemployment disparities is the fact that African Americans have suburbanized to a large degree—with no effect on employment disparity. In 1960 only 13 percent of the African American population lived in suburbs. By 2000, 35 percent did so (author’s calculations based on data from Wiese 2004 and Ruggles et al. 2010). In the 100 largest metropolitan areas, which are home to about three-quarters of the African American population, 51 percent of African Americans lived in suburbs in 2010 (Frey 2011). These increases in suburbanization have not been accompanied by a reduction in the gap between African American and white unemployment.
Even in metropolitan areas where only a small share of the black population resides in the central city, large unemployment disparities persist. In Washington, D.C., for example, only 21 percent of blacks in the metropolitan area lived in the central city in 2000, but unemployment was 3.5 times higher among blacks as whites. In Atlanta only 18 percent of blacks lived in the central city in 2000, but the rate of unemployment among blacks was 2.6 times that of whites.7 These data suggest that suburbanization alone will not solve the problem of African American joblessness.
Suburbanization has not reduced the disparities in unemployment because the suburbs in which African Americans live tend to be separate from the suburbs in which whites live. According to Turner (2008, 159), “In several metropolitan areas, suburban minorities are clustered in one or two counties. . . . The vast majority of those who have located in the suburbs live in the inner suburban communities, while a much larger share of whites live in the outer suburbs.”
Economic growth—and therefore job opportunities—appears to be most strongly connected to white middle-class communities. African Americans remain economically marginalized in the suburbs. As Turner (2008, 165–66) notes:
Although many minorities have gained access to suburban residential communities, these are often not the suburban jurisdictions that offer the most promising job opportunities. Correspondingly, black workers in particular are underrepresented in jobs that are located in predominantly white suburban communities. On the other hand, Hispanic workers are generally just as likely as non-Hispanic whites to find employment in the white suburbs. . . . residential segregation continues to put considerable distance between minority workers, especially blacks, and areas of greatest employment opportunity.
Other researchers find similar results. Harris (1999) finds that African Americans are overrepresented in suburbs with the lowest socioeconomic profile. Many of these low- status suburbs have high poverty rates. Indeed, many are poorer than the central city they surround. In contrast, whites are overrepresented in high socioeconomic status suburbs.
Economic growth seems to be correlated with the density of the white middle-class population rather than to any specific geography. It is not suburbs per se that show strong job growth but white middle-class suburbs. It is not cities per se that exhibit low job growth but cities or areas in cities with a low white middle-class density. The majority white and middle-class city of Seattle, for example, has experienced strong job growth (Turner 2008). Cities and areas of cities that have seen white gentrification have experienced economic revitalization (Hampson 2005; Kiviat 2008). Indeed, now that most African Americans in major metropolitan areas live in the suburbs, there are more discussions that the future of American economic growth is urban (Shellenbarger 2010; Wieckowski 2010).
There are many reasons why economic growth may be tied to a large white middle-class population. Relative to the black middle class, the white middle class has higher income, much greater wealth, and superior connections to the politically and economically powerful, who are disproportionately white. Middle-class blacks are also more likely to have poor relatives to support and to live in communities burdened with relatively high levels of poverty. As a result, white middle-class communities are more likely to be ripe with economic potential.
Another reason why suburbanization does not automatically translate into greatly improved job opportunities for African Americans is that African Americans probably still experience labor-market discrimination in the suburbs. Turner (2008, 166) reports that “the minority share of applicants for jobs in the white suburbs is significantly higher than the minority share of population in these areas, suggesting that blacks and Hispanics are trying to get jobs in white suburbs [but  appear to be] disadvantaged in white central-city areas and white and integrated suburbs.” Employment discrimination, which has been well documented in urban areas, likely exists in suburban areas as well.
All of these factors point to a mismatch for African American workers that is much more about race than space. Suburbanization has eliminated neither residential segregation nor anti-black employment discrimination.
The depth and the persistence of the African American jobs crisis can probably be solved only with intervention by the federal government. In the past 50 years, the normal working of the U.S. economy and the modest amelioration efforts that have been tried have failed to provide sufficient jobs for African Americans. Increases in educational achievement and suburbanization by blacks have also failed to spur change. If a bold new approach to the problem is not taken, it is likely that blacks will be condemned to unemployment rates that are twice those of whites into the foreseeable future.
On more than one occasion, the United States has responded to crises of joblessness with government intervention. The federal government intervened during the Great Depression, the recessions of the early 1970s, and the Great Recession. A sustained level of high unemployment for African Americans decade after decade should be recognized as a crisis as serious as periodic deep national recessions. White Americans regularly experience unemployment rates below 6 percent—a rate that blacks have never experienced in the past 40 years. An unemployment rate of more than 10 percent is considered extremely high for whites—but African Americans have had to endure unemployment rates of more than 10 percent for most of the past 40 years, according to analysis based on Current Population Survey data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Given the intractability of high joblessness for African Americans, the federal government should support targeted job creation for communities experiencing persistently high unemployment. Job creation should be targeted to communities of 25,000 people or more in counties and metropolitan areas that have experienced unemployment of more than 6 percent every year in the previous 10 years. Eligible individuals must have resided in an eligible community for a prolonged period and have been unemployed or out of the labor market for at least six months. The program could be phased out in communities over a five-year period after the annual unemployment rate fell below 6 percent.
The proposed program is at a scale large enough to produce a significant reduction in unemployment. It is likely to improve communities plagued by persistent high unemployment in other ways, as well.
The federal government should support three separate programs for increasing employment in these high-unemployment areas: direct public sector employment, job training with job placement, and wage subsidies for employers who hire unemployed workers. Together these policies should significantly increase employment rates in African American communities with persistently high unemployment.
Direct public sector employment. The federal government should provide funds to local governments for job creation aimed at improving the quality of life in the community. Local governments, with community input, should create projects to improve the human and physical infrastructure, safety, health, and attractiveness of the community. Many African American communities experiencing persistently high unemployment need workers to clean, rehabilitate, and beautify the housing stock and green spaces; assist in the education of children; form auxiliaries to the police to help improve the safety of the community; and participate in many other community projects. These jobs would improve the quality of life of existing residents and make the community more desirable to middle-class households. Unemployed community residents would be hired and trained to perform all program jobs with the possible exception of supervision and training.
Job training and job placement. Black job applicants have a lower likelihood of being hired than equally qualified whites or Latinos (Pager, Western, and Bonikowski 2009; Morris, Sumner, and Borja 2008). Improving the skills of black workers is useful, but it may not be enough to lead to employment. Organizations providing training for black workers also need to provide services to help place those workers in jobs. These organizations need to develop strong relationships with employers and aggressively market qualified black job candidates. They also need to develop other strategies to help well-trained black workers find employment.
For-profit and nonprofit organizations should be eligible for funds for training residents of targeted communities in skills that are in high demand in the local economy and placing them in jobs. Programs should be assessed by the employment rate of their graduates six months after completing the training program. Programs that underperform should lose significant amounts of funding each year, with the freed-up funds redistributed among well-performing programs.
Wage subsidies. Private sector employers who hire residents from targeted communities in new jobs should receive a wage subsidy of 75 percent of the hourly minimum wage for each full-time worker receiving benefits hired and 33 percent of the hourly minimum wage for each part-time worker or full-time worker not receiving benefits hired. Employers located within the targeted community should receive an additional subsidy that is 10 percentage points higher.
The effects of the proposed program are likely to be felt for several years after it is phased out. Researchers find that positive economic effects last for many years after temporary jobs programs end (Bartik 2001: 141–146). Positive experiences with African American workers may also reduce employer biases, possibly leading them to institutionalize the outreach and hiring of African American workers (Bartik 2001, 141–46). Studies of public sector employment programs find that employers are surprised to find that workers from disadvantaged groups can perform as well as the workers they usually hire (Bartik 2001, 179–80).
This jobs proposal is designed to increase the overall economic resources in the community. Increasing the number of working and taxpaying individuals would increase the tax base for additional economic development activities while also decreasing local government social service and social welfare costs. It would make the community more appealing for locating a business. The proposal is also designed to increase the attractiveness of the community to middle-class households looking for a new place to live as well as to both new and existing businesses.
Significant growth in employment rates could also lead to increases in the educational achievement of the children in the community and reductions in crime. These improvements would attract more middle-class residents and further increase the economic resources of the community.
The U.S. economy should be one in which everyone who wants to work can find a job. This goal has been elusive for African Americans.
Given the persistence of high unemployment despite improvements in educational attainment and greater suburbanization by African Americans, a concerted national effort is needed to reduce racial disparities that leave blacks twice as likely as whites to be unemployed. Under the proposed plan, the federal government would significantly increase the number of jobs available to African Americans by creating public sector jobs, training and helping place participants in jobs, and subsidizing wages. By substantially increasing employment rates, it would help diminish poverty, improve educational achievement, and reduce crime rates.
This paper benefitted from discussions with Randell McShepard, board chairman of the Ohio-based think tank PolicyBridge.
1. A few predominantly white communities—such as Belleville, Illinois, and Niagara Falls, New York—have experienced unemployment rates of more than 6 percent for 10 consecutive years (author’s analysis of Local Area Unemployment Statistics data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics).
2. Author’s analysis of data from population and dissimilarity data from diversitydata.org. The statistic for the 100 metropolitan areas with the largest African American populations is weighted by the population size.
3. African American unemployment rates are from Austin (2011). Rates for whites are derived in the same manner using Current Population Survey and local unemployment area statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
4. Researchers do not understand why this relationship persists. As Duke professor William Darity notes, “I don’t know if there’s anybody out there who can tell you why that ratio stays at 2-to-1. It’s a statistical regularity that we don’t have an explanation for” (Kroll 2011; see also Conrad 2011).
5. Author’s calculations based on Current Population Survey data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
6. Ibid.
7. Data on the share of blacks residing in the central city are from Turner (2008). Unemployment rate ratios are derived from Economic Policy Institute estimates based on Current Population Survey and Local Area Unemployment Survey data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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text: Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn turns to mentor for Sherman Park report - with the Bradley Foundation paying the bill


text: Common Ground pushes for improved police response to south side crime


text: BBC Milwaukee crime documentary sparks outrage over depiction of city


text: Milwaukee police confrontational from start of Sterling Brown incident


text: Milwaukee Bucks' Sterling Brown arrest: New video shows police on ankle


text: Borsuk: MPS hope lies in Driver


text: MPS Turnaround Arts names 4 artists to schools


text: ProStart culinary classes attract MPS students


text: Driver unveils major improvement plans for MPS


text: Milwaukee School Board panel moves to charter Rocketship


text: MPS United Nations curriculum teaches students world issues


text: Eight candidates vie for four School Board seats at Milwaukee Public Schools


text: Jerel Ballard pays it forward with Milwaukee's Finest scholarship fund


text: Free drivers' education in Milwaukee? Yes, for MPS students.


text: Alan J. Borsuk: Three years in, Darienne Driver assesses state of MPS


text: UCC breaks ground on new STEM and skilled trades middle school


text: Refugee-turned-valedictorian among MPS scholarship recipients


text: Religious leaders discuss social justice role


text: Residents learn to build by deconstruction


text: Aldermen advance amendments on safety, lead pipes


text: Aldermen address racial inequality, lead in budget


text: Barrett signs city budget, with limited vetoes


text: Forum stresses lead filters for city residents


text: $2 million grant will help rehabilitate Sherman Park homes


text: Milwaukee officials weigh lead pipe replacement plan


text: Milwaukee Urban League names new president-CEO


text: Hundreds in Milwaukee rally for Obamacare


text: Milwaukee Common Council targets bad landlords


text: Boys & Girls Club in Sherman Park reopens after renovations


text: National #MeetAMuslim group used Milwaukee's St. Patrick's Day Parade to debunk misconceptions


text: Milwaukee County officials say loss of wheel tax would force transit service cuts


text: 'Across the Divide' explores issues of immigration


text: Black Panthers to file $400 million lawsuit against Milwaukee police


text: Tom Barrett teams up with Packers, Brewers, Bucks and Admirals for youth jobs program


text: Mobile Market rolls groceries into Milwaukee's food deserts


text: Milwaukee lead proposal draws concern from medical experts


text: Rights groups accuse Milwaukee leaders of expanding cooperation with immigration officials


text: 'Operation Dear John' targets those who solicit prostitutes in Milwaukee


text: Milwaukee Walnut Way program grows fresh produce — and young leaders


text: Milwaukee agency lands $1.6 million grant to combat violence among high school youth


text: After 10 years in Milwaukee fighting for social justice, the Rev. Steve Jerbi says goodbye to All Peoples Church


text: Black women march in Milwaukee to uplift and empower


text: Two years on, Sojourner domestic abuse center keeps growing


text: For teens seeking mental health care, it's wait, wait, wait


text: Lawyers want to help poor tenants facing eviction. This could stop them.


text: Urban Ecology Center offers tax-saving expansion at Washington Park


text: County panel agrees to plug hole in fair housing law


text: Wisconsin voter ID law proved insurmountable for many


text: Wheel taxes have popped up around Wisconsin since 2011


text: City closing many lead poisoning cases while children still sick


text: Federal review of Milwaukee police explained


text:
Obesity, bigger waist may mean higher death risk for black women - Los Angeles Times
Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog Sept. 7, 2011 12 AM PT
Sept. 7, 2011 12 AM PT


text:
Amid slow economic recovery, more Americans identify as 'lower class' - Los Angeles Times
Emily Alpert Sept. 15, 2013 12 AM PT
Sept. 15, 2013 12 AM PT

author: Emily Alpert Sept. 15, 2013 12 AM PT


text:
New Study Finds Only one in Three Unaccompanied Children has Legal Representation in Immigration Court | Latin Post - Latin news, immigration, politics, culture
Glenn Minnis First Posted: Sep 28, 2016 11:28 AM EDT
Sunday May  26, 2024

created: Sunday May  26, 2024


text:
The Largest U.S. Latino Advocacy Group Changes Its Name, Sparking Debate : Code Switch : NPR
July 21, 201712:01 PM ET
July 21, 201712:01 PM ET


text:
Airbnb Unites With NAACP To Expand Room At The Inn : Code Switch : NPR
August 9, 20176:50 AM ET
August 9, 20176:50 AM ET

created: August 9, 20176:50 AM ET

author: August 9, 20176:50 AM ET


text:
Tougher Times For Latino Students? History Says They've Never Had It Easy : NPR Ed : NPR
November 15, 20165:51 AM ET
November 15, 20165:51 AM ET

created: November 15, 20165:51 AM ET

author: November 15, 20165:51 AM ET


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Benefits Of Preschool: Kids Who Attend Public Preschool Are Better Prepared For Kindergarten : NPR Ed : NPR
May 3, 20176:00 AM ET
May 3, 20176:00 AM ET


text:
I Am Learning Inglés: A Dual-Language Comic : NPR Ed : NPR
June 28, 20175:00 AM ET
June 28, 20175:00 AM ET


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How One Group Is Working To Build A More Diverse Teaching Force : NPR Ed : NPR
September 19, 20176:00 AM ET
September 19, 20176:00 AM ET

created: September 19, 20176:00 AM ET

author: September 19, 20176:00 AM ET


text:
The Source Of Resilience For Syrian Refugee Teens Is Not What You'd Expect : Goats and Soda : NPR
July 30, 20177:00 AM ET
July 30, 20177:00 AM ET


text:
Chronic Stress And Your ZIP Code Can Shape Your Health : Shots - Health News : NPR
August 4, 20171:27 PM ET
August 4, 20171:27 PM ET

created: August 4, 20171:27 PM ET

author: August 4, 20171:27 PM ET


text:
Effective Treatment For Sickle Cell Disease Is Hard To Find : Shots - Health News : NPR
November 4, 20177:01 AM ET
November 4, 20177:01 AM ET

created: November 4, 20177:01 AM ET

author: November 4, 20177:01 AM ET


text:
Pediatricians Release New Guidance For Preventing Sudden Infant Deaths : The Two-Way : NPR
October 24, 20164:41 PM ET
October 24, 20164:41 PM ET

created: October 24, 20164:41 PM ET

author: October 24, 20164:41 PM ET


text:
Dozens of Milwaukee County Jail inmates have been forced to give birth while shackled, lawsuit alleges – New York Daily News
Jason SilversteinPUBLISHED: March 19, 2017 at 12:30 p.m. | UPDATED: April 8, 2018 at 7:57 a.m
April 8, 2018 at 7:57 a.m.


text:
Steady Decline in Major Crime Baffles Experts - The New York Times

May 23, 2011


text:
Education Secretary May Agree to Waivers on ‘No Child’ Law Requirements - The New York Times

June 12, 2011


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Children on Medicaid Shown to Wait Longer for Care - The New York Times

June 15, 2011


text:
Study Finds Benefits in Health Insurance for the Poor - The New York Times

July 7, 2011


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School Districts Rediscover Value of From-Scratch Meals - The New York Times

Aug. 16, 2011


text:
Houston Schools Look to Charters for Guide - The New York Times

Sept. 6, 2011


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House Approves a Bill Supporting Expansion of Charter Schools - The New York Times

Sept. 13, 2011


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Hispanic Children in Poverty Exceed Whites, Study Finds - The New York Times

Sept. 28, 2011


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On Education: North Carolina Turns Its Best Students Into Good Teachers - The New York Times

Oct. 2, 2011


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Latinos Said to Bear Weight of a Deportation Program - The New York Times

Oct. 18, 2011


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School Lunch Proposals Set Off a Dispute - The New York Times

Nov. 1, 2011


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President Obama’s Policy on Deportation Is Unevenly Applied - The New York Times

Nov. 12, 2011


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Cities Struggle as U.S. Slashes Block Grants Program - The New York Times

Dec. 21, 2011


text:
Harder for Americans to Rise From Lower Rungs - The New York Times

Jan. 4, 2012


text:
New Rules for School Meals Aim at Reducing Obesity - The New York Times

Jan. 25, 2012


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Education Gap Grows Between Rich and Poor, Studies Show - The New York Times

Feb. 9, 2012


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Civil Rights Museums Are Increasing - The New York Times

Feb. 19, 2012


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Black Students Face More Harsh Discipline, Data Shows - The New York Times

March 6, 2012


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Welfare Limits Left Poor Adrift as Recession Hit - The New York Times

April 7, 2012


text:
No Savings Found in Florida Welfare Drug Tests - The New York Times

April 17, 2012


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Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Cases Take Toll on Children - The New York Times

April 29, 2012


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Health Care Law Offers Wider Benefits for Treating Mental Illness - The New York Times

July 9, 2012


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Medicaid Expansion May Lower Death Rate, Study Says - The New York Times

July 25, 2012


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Head Start Fears Impact of Automatic Federal Budget Cut - The New York Times

July 26, 2012


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Study Links Healthy Weight in Children With Tough Snack Laws - The New York Times

Aug. 13, 2012


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Obama Education Policy Draws Some Skeptics - The New York Times

Oct. 5, 2012


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Charter Schools Growing Fast, New Report Finds - The New York Times

Nov. 14, 2012


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Poor Students Struggle as Class Plays a Greater Role in Success - The New York Times

Dec. 22, 2012


text:
Immigration Change Will Ease Family Separations - The New York Times

Jan. 2, 2013


text:
Study Links Segregation and Lung Cancer Deaths in Blacks - The New York Times

Jan. 16, 2013


text:
Long Prison Terms Eyed as Contributing to Poverty - The New York Times

Feb. 18, 2013


text:
The Health Toll of Immigration - The New York Times

May 18, 2013


text:
States’ Policies on Health Care Exclude Poorest - The New York Times

May 24, 2013


text:
Reading Gains Lag Improvements in Math - The New York Times

May 29, 2013


text:
U.S. Prison Populations Decline, Reflecting New Approach to Crime - The New York Times

July 25, 2013


text:
Poor Children Show a Decline in Obesity Rate - The New York Times

Aug. 6, 2013


text:
Most of U.S. Is Wired, but Millions Aren’t Plugged In - The New York Times

Aug. 18, 2013


text:
Under Health Care Act, Millions Eligible for Free Policies - The New York Times

Nov. 3, 2013


text:
Closing a Fear Gap So Children Can Achieve - The New York Times

Dec. 1, 2013


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Poor Black and Hispanic Men Are the Face of H.I.V. - The New York Times

Dec. 4, 2013


text:
Amid the Uproar Over the Health Law, Voices of Quiet Optimism and Relief - The New York Times

Dec. 8, 2013


text:
Students See Many Slights as Racial ‘Microaggressions’ - The New York Times

March 21, 2014


text:
Infertility, Endured Through a Prism of Race - The New York Times

April 25, 2014


text:
Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Lately, Coding - The New York Times

May 10, 2014


text:
Who Gets to Graduate? - The New York Times

May 15, 2014


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Santander Bank to Face Suit Claiming Bias in Mortgages - The New York Times

May 28, 2014


text:
Newest Health Insurance Customers Are Generally Happy - The New York Times

July 10, 2014


text:
Opinion | The Data of Hate - The New York Times

July 12, 2014


text:
Opinion | An Idiot’s Guide to Inequality - The New York Times

July 23, 2014


text:
Opinion | The Outrageous Shackling of Pregnant Inmates - The New York Times

July 26, 2014


text:
Evictions Soar in Hot Market; Renters Suffer - The New York Times

Aug. 28, 2014


text:
Mostly Black Cities, Mostly White City Halls  - The New York Times

Sept. 28, 2014


text:
Study Details the Risk to Infants Put on Sofas to Sleep - The New York Times

Oct. 13, 2014


text:
Police Face a Long and Complex Task to Mend Distrust Deepened by Killings  - The New York Times

Dec. 7, 2014


text:
Calls to 911 From Black Neighborhoods Fell After a Case of Police Violence - The New York Times

Sept. 29, 2016


text:
Many in Milwaukee Neighborhood Didn’t Vote — and Don’t Regret It - The New York Times

Nov. 20, 2016


text:
Cities Vow to Fight Trump on Immigration, Even if They Lose Millions - The New York Times

Nov. 27, 2016


text:
Where Poor and Uninsured Americans Live - Interactive Map - NYTimes.com
ROBERT GEBELOFF, HAEYOUN PARK, MATTHEW BLOCH and MATTHEW ERICSON


text:
Is the Affordable Care Act Working? - The New York Times
OCT. 26, 2014
OCT. 26, 2014


text:
In politically divided Wisconsin, little incentive to seek middle ground | PBS NewsHour
—
Jul 18, 2014 8:43 PM EDT


text:
A Year Later, Feds Inch Forward on Fair Housing — ProPublica
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Nov. 22, 2013, 12:43 p.m. EST

author: Nikole Hannah-Jones


text:
Another Race Case for a Hostile Supreme Court — ProPublica
Nikole Hannah-Jones
March 26, 2013, 1:55 p.m. EDT


text:
Are High-Volume Dental Chains Exploiting Kids on Medicaid? — ProPublica
Olga Pierce
Oct. 2, 2012, 1:27 p.m. EDT

author: Olga Pierce


text:
Big Foreclosure Compensation, But Only for the Right Wrongs — ProPublica
Paul Kiel
July 3, 2012, 1:01 p.m. EDT

author: Paul Kiel


text:
Charter School Power Broker Turns Public Education Into Private Profits — ProPublica
Marian Wang
Oct. 15, 2014, 5:45 a.m. EDT

author: Marian Wang


text:
Cheat Sheet: BofA Supplied Default Answers for 'Independent' Foreclosure Claims Reviewers — ProPublica
Paul Kiel
Dec. 17, 2012, 10:01 a.m. EST


text:
Congressman Introduces Bill to Prod Administration on Fair Housing Enforcement — ProPublica
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Jan. 16, 2013, 2:08 p.m. EST


text:
Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Voter ID Laws — ProPublica
Suevon Lee and Sarah Smith
March 9, 2016, 8:33 a.m. EST

author: Suevon Lee and Sarah Smith


text:
Have You Experienced Housing Discrimination? — ProPublica
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Oct. 28, 2012, 3:44 p.m. EDT


text:
Health Care Delays Squeeze Patients in State High-Risk Pools — ProPublica
Charles Ornstein
Nov. 8, 2013, 11 a.m. EST

author: Charles Ornstein


text:
How the Supreme Court Could Scuttle Critical Fair Housing Rule — ProPublica
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Oct. 2, 2014, 4:47 p.m. EDT


text:
HUD Finally Stirs on Housing Discrimination — ProPublica
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Dec. 6, 2013, 4:26 p.m. EST


text:
Law to Clean Up 'Nuisances' Costs Innocent People Their Homes — ProPublica
Isaiah Thompson
Aug. 5, 2013, 6:39 a.m. EDT

author: Isaiah Thompson


text:
Living Apart: How the Government Betrayed a Landmark Civil Rights Law — ProPublica
Nikole Hannah-Jones
June 25, 2015, 1:26 p.m. EDT


text:
At Some Schools, Achievement Lags Behind Opportunity — ProPublica
Jennifer LaFleur
Jan. 24, 2013, 3:07 p.m. EST

author: Jennifer LaFleur


text:
Supreme Court’s Latest Race Case: Housing Discrimination — ProPublica
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Jan. 21, 2015, 12:18 p.m. EST


text:
The Best Reporting on PTSD in Children Exposed to Violence — ProPublica
Lois Beckett
Sept. 19, 2014, 11:15 a.m. EDT

author: Lois Beckett


text:
The Outlook for “Obamacare” in Two Maps — ProPublica
Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein
Nov. 8, 2012, 10:30 a.m. EST

author: Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein


text:
The PTSD Crisis That’s Being Ignored: Americans Wounded in Their Own Neighborhoods — ProPublica
Lois Beckett
Feb. 3, 2014, 3:21 p.m. EST


text:
Are Patient Privacy Laws Being Misused to Protect Medical Centers? — ProPublica
Charles Ornstein
July 24, 2014, 11:30 a.m. EDT


text:
Should the Government Compel Communities to Integrate? — ProPublica
Mike Webb
Dec. 4, 2012, 4:16 p.m. EST

author: Mike Webb


text:
Podcast: Gun Violence in America — ProPublica
Minhee Cho
May 19, 2014, 11:29 a.m. EDT

author: Minhee Cho


text:
Podcast: The Facts Behind the Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Case — ProPublica
Minhee Cho
March 25, 2013, 4:32 p.m. EDT


text:
The 10 most segregated urban areas in America | Salon.com
Published March 29, 2011 11:55AM (EDT)

created: Published March 29, 2011 11:55AM (EDT)


text:
Free-Falling in Milwaukee: A Close-Up on One City's Middle-Class Decline - The Atlantic
David Rohde
December 16, 2011

created: December 16, 2011

author: David Rohde


text:
'The Great Gatsby Curve': Why It's So Hard for the Poor to Get Ahead - The Atlantic
Matthew O'Brien
June 18, 2013

author: Matthew O'Brien


text:
America's Boring Economy - The Atlantic
Derek Thompson
July 30, 2014

author: Derek Thompson


text:
Higher Calling, Lower Wages: The Vanishing of the Middle-Class Clergy - The Atlantic
David R. Wheeler
July 22, 2014

author: David R. Wheeler


text:
How America's Past Shapes Native Americans’ Present - The Atlantic
Alexia Fernández Campbell
October 12, 2016

created: October 12, 2016

author: Alexia Fernández Campbell


text:
The Common Core Is Tough on Kids Who Are Still Learning English - The Atlantic
Pat Wingert
January 2, 2014

created: January 2, 2014

author: Pat Wingert


text:
How  Brown v. Board of Education  Changed—and Didn't Change—American Education - The Atlantic
Ronald Brownstein and National Journal
April 25, 2014

author: Ronald Brownstein and National Journal


text:
Black Men Need More Education Than White Men to Get Jobs - The Atlantic
Margaret Barthel
August 10, 2014

author: Margaret Barthel


text:
Teenage Hunger Is on the Rise, Urban Institute Report Finds - The Atlantic
Laura Bliss and CityLab
September 13, 2016

created: September 13, 2016

author: Laura Bliss and CityLab


text:
How the National Museum of African American History and Culture Works - The Atlantic
Kriston Capps and CityLab
September 17, 2016

created: September 17, 2016

author: Kriston Capps and CityLab


text:
Ava DuVernay on How '13th' Reframes American History - The Atlantic
Juleyka Lantigua-Williams
October 6, 2016

created: October 6, 2016

author: Juleyka Lantigua-Williams


text:
Why Poor Schools Can’t Win at Standardized Testing - The Atlantic
Meredith Broussard
July 15, 2014

author: Meredith Broussard


text:
Why the Obesity Epidemic Could Be Much Worse Than We Think - The Atlantic
Beth Fontenot
January 22, 2012

created: January 22, 2012

author: Beth Fontenot


text:
Study: Obese Children Will Have 50% Higher Risk of Colon Cancer - The Atlantic
Lindsay Abrams
July 24, 2012

author: Lindsay Abrams


text:
When Public Beats Private: Community Clinics That Keep Costs Down and Do a Better Job, Too - The Atlantic
Lindsay Abrams
July 11, 2012


text:
Study: Even Minimal Improvements in Neighborhood Poverty Improve Mental Health - The Atlantic
Lindsay Abrams
September 26, 2012

created: September 26, 2012


text:
Newly Insured Americans Don’t Understand Basic Healthcare Terms - The Atlantic
Sofia F. Garcia
January 22, 2014

created: January 22, 2014

author: Sofia F. Garcia


text:
How Smarter Data Can Save U.S. Education - The Atlantic
Brian Resnick
January 18, 2012

created: January 18, 2012

author: Brian Resnick


text:
At the Supreme Court, Odds Lie Against Affirmative Action - The Atlantic
Andrew Cohen
February 21, 2012

created: February 21, 2012

author: Andrew Cohen


text:
Progress - The Atlantic
Ta-Nehisi Coates
April 18, 2012

author: Ta-Nehisi Coates


text:
How the Sequester Could Devastate Our Poorest Schools - The Atlantic
Emily Richmond
February 27, 2013

created: February 27, 2013

author: Emily Richmond


text:
Teacher Job Satisfaction Hits 25-Year Low - The Atlantic
Emily Richmond
February 21, 2013

created: February 21, 2013


text:
To Reduce Gun Violence, Know Thy Neighbor - The Atlantic
Andrew Giambrone
January 16, 2015

created: January 16, 2015

author: Andrew Giambrone


text:
The Connection Between Unemployment and Unmarried Parents - The Atlantic
Philip Cohen
May 2, 2013

author: Philip Cohen


text:
Kids' Cognition Is Changing—Education Will Have to Change With It - The Atlantic
Megan Garber
February 29, 2012

created: February 29, 2012

author: Megan Garber


text:
Can Teachers Alone Overcome Poverty? Steven Brill Thinks So | The Nation
Dana Goldstein
August 10, 2011

author: Dana Goldstein


text:
Why Black Women Are the Voting Bloc to Watch in the Midterms | The Nation
Dani McClain
October 17, 2014

created: October 17, 2014

author: Dani McClain


text:
5 Reasons Why DOJ Probes of Police Shootings Have No Teeth
The Root
PublishedSeptember 2, 2016

created: PublishedSeptember 2, 2016

author: The Root


text:
A Plan to Change the Negative Narrative About Black Boys and Men
The Root
PublishedOctober 10, 2016

created: PublishedOctober 10, 2016


text:
Hate Rising: Jorge Ramos Delves Deep Into Racial Hatred in America
The Root, The Root, The Root
PublishedOctober 23, 2016

created: PublishedOctober 23, 2016

author: The Root, The Root, The Root


text:
Using Genetic Testing to Better Understand the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
The Root, The Root
PublishedNovember 13, 2016

created: PublishedNovember 13, 2016

author: The Root, The Root


text:
Black Children and Teens Exposed to Most Junk Food Advertising: Study
Read more at, the Washington Post,
PublishedDecember 18, 2016

created: PublishedDecember 18, 2016

author: Read more at, the Washington Post,


text:
Black People 3 Times as Likely to Die in Police Chases: Report
Read more of this provocative and important report at, USA Today,
PublishedDecember 4, 2016

created: PublishedDecember 4, 2016


text:
8 Ways They'll Try to Stop You From Voting and How to Fight Back
Register:, Volunteer and recruit:, Vote:, Report:, Check, Confirm, Research, Double-check, The Root
PublishedSeptember 27, 2016

created: PublishedSeptember 27, 2016


text:
If Trump Succeeds in Defunding Planned Parenthood, Black Women Could Be Affected the Most
GizmodoJalopnikKotakuQuartzThe RootThe InventoryBlack News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta AttitudeHomeLatestEntertainmentThe CultureNewsBeauty/StyleOpinionEditionsEspañolDeutschFrançaisWe may earn a commission from links on this pageHomeLatestEntertainmentThe CultureNewsBeauty/StyleOpinionIf Trump Succeeds in Defunding Planned Parenthood, Black Women Could Be Affected the MostByAllison KeyesPublishedNovember 24, 2016We may earn a commission from links on this page.President-elect Donald Trump has galvanized conservatives with his promise to defund Planned Parenthood Federation of America, one of the nation’s largest health care providers and advocates. He has written (pdf) that he is “committed” to defunding the organization “as long as they continue to perform abortions,” and to reallocate its funding to community health centers that provide comprehensive health care for women.Planned Parenthood says it has no plans to stop providing women with the full scope of health care, which includes abortions. In fact, there’s a headline on the front of its website that makes it clear that the organization is ready for a pitched battle: “These doors stay open.” The organization’s director of constituency communications, Alencia Johnson, says that despite the election of Trump and Vice President-Elect Mike Pence, 1 in 3 women will need the many services it provides at some point in their lifetimes.Related ContentIt’s Showtime! Here’s Our 2024 Summer Movie PreviewMemorial Day Cookout Playlist, Signs You're Trapped in a 'Sitcom Marriage,' Black Miss Nevada Reunites With Mother After 44 Years, LaMelo Ball's Driving Troubles and More From the Week in CultureAndre Ward on His Book ‘Killing the Image’ & on his Successful Boxing Career
PublishedNovember 24, 2016

created: PublishedNovember 24, 2016


text:
Canaries in a Coal Mine: Black Communities Could Suffer Under Trump’s Energy and Climate Policies
The Root, The Root
PublishedDecember 13, 2016

created: PublishedDecember 13, 2016


text:
Black Students More Likely to Graduate if They Have at Least 1 Black Teacher: Report
GizmodoJalopnikKotakuQuartzThe RootThe InventoryBlack News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta AttitudeHomeLatestEntertainmentThe CultureNewsBeauty/StyleOpinionEditionsEspañolDeutschFrançaisWe may earn a commission from links on this pageHomeLatestEntertainmentThe CultureNewsBeauty/StyleOpinionBlack Students More Likely to Graduate if They Have at Least 1 Black Teacher: ReportByMonique JudgePublishedApril 6
PublishedApril 6, 2017

created: PublishedApril 6, 2017


text:
Can an All-Boys, Afrocentric Education Close the Achievement Gap?
, Emmanuel Felton, The Root
PublishedSeptember 24, 2017

created: PublishedSeptember 24, 2017

author: , Emmanuel Felton, The Root


text:
Civil Asset Forfeiture Seems to Target Poor Black and Brown People. Why Is That?
The Root,
PublishedAugust 11, 2017

created: PublishedAugust 11, 2017

author: The Root,


text:
Million Hoodies Movement for Justice Issues Inauguration Day Video Statement on Incoming Administration
GizmodoJalopnikKotakuQuartzThe RootThe InventoryBlack News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta AttitudeHomeLatestEntertainmentThe CultureNewsBeauty/StyleOpinionEditionsEspañolDeutschFrançaisWe may earn a commission from links on this pageHomeLatestEntertainmentThe CultureNewsBeauty/StyleOpinionMillion Hoodies Movement for Justice Issues Inauguration Day Video Statement on Incoming AdministrationByMonique JudgePublishedJanuary 20, 2017We may earn a commission from links on this page.Members of the Million Hoodies Movement for Justice released an Inauguration Day video statement Friday to “send a message about what’s at stake for the next four years with an administration that has promised to harm our communities.”“It is incumbent that young people find ways to get politically activated and involved to protect the security of so many people,” the group said in an announcement on its Facebook page.Related ContentIt’s Showtime! Here’s Our 2024 Summer Movie PreviewMemorial Day Cookout Playlist, Signs You're Trapped in a 'Sitcom Marriage,' Black Miss Nevada Reunites With Mother After 44 Years, LaMelo Ball's Driving Troubles and More From the Week in CultureAndre Ward on His Book ‘Killing the Image’ & on his Successful Boxing Career
PublishedJanuary 20, 2017

created: PublishedJanuary 20, 2017


text:
My Body, My Pain: Listen to Me and All Black Women
The Root, Vanessa Fabien
PublishedApril 16, 2017

created: PublishedApril 16, 2017

author: The Root, Vanessa Fabien


text:
New Clinical Trial That Cured 6-Year-Old of Sickle Cell Disease Shows Promise for All
GizmodoJalopnikKotakuQuartzThe RootThe InventoryBlack News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta AttitudeHomeLatestEntertainmentThe CultureNewsBeauty/StyleOpinionEditionsEspañolDeutschFrançaisWe may earn a commission from links on this pageHomeLatestEntertainmentThe CultureNewsBeauty/StyleOpinionNew Clinical Trial That Cured 6-Year-Old of Sickle Cell Disease Shows Promise for AllByAngela HelmPublishedOctober 21, 2017We may earn a commission from links on this page.In July 2016, a resilient, joyful 5-year-old named Bryce took part in a first-of-its-kind clinical trial at Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C. As an infant, Bryce had been diagnosed with a particularly severe form of sickle cell disease and had already suffered at least four strokes related to the blood disorder.A little more than a year later, his doctors say Bryce is cured of sickle cell and thriving. He has started school for the first time and is learning how to navigate the world without his mother, who had been at his side since he had his first sickle cell crisis at 6 months old.Related ContentIt’s Showtime! Here’s Our 2024 Summer Movie PreviewMemorial Day Cookout Playlist, Signs You're Trapped in a 'Sitcom Marriage,' Black Miss Nevada Reunites With Mother After 44 Years, LaMelo Ball's Driving Troubles and More From the Week in CultureAndre Ward on His Book ‘Killing the Image’ & on his Successful Boxing Career
PublishedOctober 21, 2017

created: PublishedOctober 21, 2017


text:
Back to School - This American Life
September 14, 2012

created: September 14, 2012


text:
House Rules - This American Life
November 22, 2013

created: November 22, 2013


text:
Bucks offering stipend to train young workers

and last updated 2017-04-19 19:24:21-04


text: An A for Environmental Effort – Utne


text: What Would It Take? Social Entrepreneurship Over Poverty – Utne


text: Reading, Writing, and Self-Esteem – Utne


text: Stamping Out Obesity – Utne


text: Balancing Act – Utne


text: Be Subversive: Sing with Your Neighbors – Utne


text: Falling Hard for Urban Farming – Utne


text: Marc Bamuthi Joseph: Less About Green, More About Life – Utne


text: Do Bike Lanes Fuel Gentrification? – Utne


text: The Science of Early Adversity – Utne


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America's brutal black-white health gap: why black men can expect to live 5 years less than white men - Vox
Julia Belluz and Steven Hoffman
Apr 30, 2015, 7:12 PM UTC

author: Julia Belluz and Steven Hoffman


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Smithsonian links Civil Rights movement, American art on new Web site - The Washington Post
Jacqueline Trescott February 21, 2012

author: Jacqueline Trescott February 21, 2012


text: College debt is still keeping grads from buying homes - The Washington Post


text: GOP Governors Push back Against Obama on Federal Medicaid Rules - The Washington Post


text: HHS sets enrollment rules for year two of Obamacare - The Washington Post


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WisBusiness: Milwaukee summit considers food production as next industry cluster | WisBusiness

November 30, 2011

created: November 30, 2011


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Critics say Scott Walker\'s proposed welfare overhaul is an election-year stunt that will harm poor people | Wisconsin | www.wisconsingazette.com
Feb 2, 2018


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Milwaukee News, Weather and Sports - Wisconsin News - WISN Channel 12
Larson Seaver
1 HR

created: 1 HR

author: Larson Seaver


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ACA Enrollment Spikes Before, After Presidential Election - WPR
Shamane Mills
November 11, 2016
The future of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act may be in doubt, but so far it doesn’t seem to be affecting enrollment underway on Healthcare.gov, the federal marketplace used to purchase health insurance in Wisconsin and other states.
There has been concern that the election of Donald Trump, a foe of the ACA, would dissuade people from signing up for coverage, but Caroline Gomez-Tom of Covering Wisconsin, a group that helps people use the marketplace, said the exchange has actually seen a surge of enrollments. The last two weeks have been the busiest signup period in the last four years, she said.
Enrollment nationally doesn’t seem to have been affected by the election. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported 100,000 people signed up for coverage, the highest single-day total so far during this enrollment period.
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Covering Wisconsin received calls the day after Tuesday’s election inquiring whether the ACA was still in effect.
People were “just asking if there’s anything they should be concerned about regarding their health insurance,” Gomez-Tom said.
The deadline to enroll or change a plan for 2017 through the marketplace is Dec. 15.
In some parts of the country, choice is limited because insurers no longer sell on the exchange. Some companies did exit Wisconsin’s federal exchange, however others came onboard. Three new carriers are selling plans on the marketplace serving Wisconsin, Gomez-Tom said.
“On average, the majority of our counties have at least two to three qualified health plans to choose from,” she said.
Premiums for those plans have gone up; on average 16 percent in Wisconsin. But most enrollees get federal subsidies to help pay for coverage.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

created: November 11, 2016

author: Shamane Mills


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ACA Enrollment In Wisconsin Hits All-Time High As Repeal Efforts Continue - WPR
Shamane Mills
March 15, 2017
Enrollment numbers are in for the Affordable Care Act and more people signed up for the health care coverage in Wisconsin in 2017 than ever before.
Enrollment figures released Wednesday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show more than 242,790 people in Wisconsin signed up for health coverage on the federal marketplace.
This is the highest number yet in the four years the federal marketplace has operated, said Jon Peacock of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.
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“The new figures absolutely show that the marketplace is more popular than ever,” Peacock said.
Nationally, more than 12 million people enrolled in coverage.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ figures for Wisconsin:
The Wisconsin record comes as the Trump administration works to replace the ACA with their own plan, the American Health Care Act. Republicans such as House Speaker Paul Ryan, of Wisconsin, have said Obamacare is “collapsing.”
Republicans concerned about older, sicker people signing up for coverage on the marketplace instead of generally younger, healthier consumers have characterized the Obamacare marketplace as in a “death spiral.” But most analysts, including the Congressional Budget Office, have not used this terminology, said Donna Friedsam, health policy programs director at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
Friedsam said the market is strong now, but could potentially collapse in the future if there aren’t fixes. “Certainly there are challenges with regard to the kind of premium increases we saw over the last year,” she said.
In Wisconsin, marketplace premiums went up on average of 16 percent. That’s lower than other states, which saw average increases of more than 20 percent and where consumers also had limited choices of insurance plans.
“There’s a number of counties, particularly in the southern and southeastern states, where there’s only one carrier offering health plans. That would suggest some fixes need to occur but it does not mean we are in a death spiral,” Friedsam said.
Wisconsin has a competitive marketplace with 15 insurers offering various health plans, she said. Like the rest of the country, the majority of Wisconsinites buying private coverage on the marketplace under Obamacare will receive financial help to cover premiums. More than 146,000 people are eligible for health care tax credits.
The Republican health care plan also includes tax credits, anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000. But the credits would be based on age, not income as they are now. Under Republican proposal, older people would receive higher credits but can also be charged five times as much as younger people. Critics say many older people won’t be able to afford insurance under the new replacement.
Many Republican governors have expressed concern about changes to Medicaid. The American Health Care Act would cut Medicaid payments to states. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said he’s optimistic the Trump administration will make “meaningful reforms” to Medicaid.
On Wednesday, Walker’s office released a letter sent to governors from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. In it, Price pledges to improve the Medicaid program, which both the state and federal government pay for to help the poor, elderly and disabled.
An analysis released this week by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the health plan would reduce federal deficits by $337 billion but result in 24 million people being without health insurance by 2026.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.


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Audit Begins Into Medical Care At Milwaukee County Jails - WPR
December 2, 2016
Milwaukee County auditors have started an investigation into medical care at the county jail where four people have died in recent months.
Audit director Jerry Heer said his staff will investigate whether Armor Correctional Health Services is meeting the requirements for medical care. Amor is under contract with the county to provide care at the Milwaukee County Jail and the House of Correction.
The jail has been under scrutiny following the deaths of four people, including a newborn, since April. Heer said they will be aware of the publics concerns about the deaths during the audit.
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“Our hypothesis is always take those and determine whether the evidence is there to affirm or refute what is becoming kind of common perceptions or the beliefs about what’s going on,” Heer said.
He said he won’t speculate on details surrounding the deaths.
“I can’t, as an auditor, tell you that I’ve got an opinion one way or the other about whether or not it’s just a series of unfortunate events or whether it’s something that would have been preventable,” Heer said. “That’s up to those conducting the investigation to sort out.”
Heer said he expects the audit to fully ramp up after the new year and it could take six months or longer to complete.
Milwaukee County Board chairman Theodore Lipscomb Sr. recently requested an audit for both jails after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailed Armor’s staffing and performance issues in light of the four deaths.
A report released earlier this year by court appointed jail monitor, Ronald Shansky, showed more than 30 percent of required medical positions were vacant. The report also highlighted psychiatric services were only being offered two days a week at the jail which currently holds about 950 inmates.
The Milwaukee County Jail is run by the sheriff’s office. The House of Correction, run by county officials, has about 1,250 on a daily basis. The deaths are under investigation.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include original reporting from WPR
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

created: December 2, 2016


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For Children Growing Up In Low-Income Families, Location Crucial In Upward Mobility - WPR
Ross Terrell
March 9, 2017
Morgan Thomas has lived in Milwaukee her whole life. She grew up in a stable home with her six siblings, but when her mom died, while Thomas was in high school, things fell apart.
She dropped out of school and saw her modest but steady environment fade away. Now, she’s worried she can’t provide the same type of stability she once had for her four children.
“Our family isn’t where it’s supposed to be right now,” Thomas said. “So the support system I have is not where I want it to be at, and my son’s father passed away about a year and a half ago due to the violence in Milwaukee.”
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For children growing up in low-income families, location may have a major impact on their upward mobility.
A recent study by The Equality of Opportunity Project shows kids in low-income families in Milwaukee can expect to earn 5 percent less as adults than the family they grow up in, while kids in Madison can expect to earn 7 percent more than the family they grow up in.
Thomas lives with her 3-year-old son at The Lodge, a homeless shelter in Milwaukee run by The Salvation Army. She’s been there for three months and visits her daughters, who live with their dad, whenever she can.
Thomas said growing up, she had the chance to play outside without the constant threat of violence. Now that she’s a mom, she doesn’t think her kids will have that same chance.
“Just because you worry about the environment that your children are in,” she said. “You worry about their safety, you worry about everything.”
Eighty miles west in Madison, the threat of violence isn’t as prevalent as it is in Milwaukee.
George Hinton, CEO of the Social Development Commission, said not having to constantly worry about violence in Madison allows there to be more stable neighborhoods.
“If you stabilize a neighborhood, you stabilize families not being so transient,” Hinton said. “That process itself impacts the ability to give a child the opportunity to take advantage of the education process.”
Hinton said this helps explain why the expected earned-income difference is so stark between Madison and Milwaukee.
Project Excel is an after school program in Milwaukee run by Wisconsin Community Services’ youth division. Nichole Yunk Todd, program administrator, said they’re trying to be a stabilizing force for children in the city.
“We need to put our money into empowering young people with leadership opportunities,” Yunk Todd said. “We have to put our money in structured environments like after school programs. After the bell rings, what are you going to do?”
Thomas’ kids spend time in social programs like these aimed at giving them something to do in their spare time. She hopes this can help keep her children on track to eventually graduate high school — something Thomas didn’t do. She said she believes that’s their key to escaping poverty.
“Make sure they graduate high school,” Thomas said. “Make sure that they have a nice job where they’re happy and they wake up and say, ‘I’m going to work, this is what I love to do.’”
To reap those benefits, children need access to high-quality schools that focus on preparing them for college or a career. Marc Levine, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said making sure all kids have that access requires changes at the policy level.
“We need to, as a community, make a decision that we’re going to break down the barriers of segregation,” Levine said. “That this is going to be an important value in the community.”
But sometimes in Milwaukee, getting a good education still isn’t enough. Levine said Milwaukee’s economy hasn’t fully rebounded from losing manufacturing jobs more than 30 years ago.
“The rate of overall economic growth in the metro area is relatively low compared to other metro areas,” Levine said. “Madison has been on a roll for the last 20 or 30 years.”
As for Thomas, she is pursuing her GED in hopes it will help her provide a stable environment for her children. She’s spent all 27 years of her life as a Milwaukee resident, and she said despite the challenges the city presents, she doesn’t plan on leaving.
This report was produced in a partnership between Wisconsin Public Radio, PBS Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension. @ Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

author: Ross Terrell


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Deadline To Enroll For Coverage On Healthcare.gov Looms - WPR
Shamane Mills
December 12, 2016
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regional Director Kathleen Falk said about 66,000 people in Wisconsin signed up in the first month of open enrollment, which was from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30. Nationally, she said there was a surge of enrollees the day after the presidential election.
Falk said around 100,000 people signed up across the country Nov. 9. “So there’s been an enormous interest, enthusiasm and enrollment,” she said.
Falk spoke Monday at a Madison library, one of several locations in the city where federal navigators are helping consumers sign up for coverage. When asked about Republican plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, with no immediate replacement, Falk deferred, saying that’s an issue for policy makers in Washington, D.C. But Madison Mayor Paul Soglin said enrolling sends a message.
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“The more people we get enrolled, the more confident we are that it will be impossible to stop this program and to create a period where people will be without insurance,” Soglin said.
During a press event scheduled for Tuesday, Milwaukee officials are also expected to encourage people to sign up for coverage. Thursday is the deadline to enroll for coverage beginning Jan. 1.
In 2016, Milwaukee won the White House’s Healthy Communities competition for having the nation’s biggest jump in health coverage.
In Wisconsin, Falk said there are an average of 44 plans for consumers to choose from. With tax credits to help pay for premiums, she said seven out of 10 Wisconsin consumers will be able to find coverage for $70 or less.
As Republicans consider a replacement for the ACA, Falk touted popular provisions like coverage for everyone, even those with pre-existing conditions.
She said the ACA changed insurance, not only for those buying coverage on the marketplace. Young adults can stay on their parents policy until age 26, there are no lifetime limits on coverage and insurers can’t charge women more than men.
“So the Affordable Care Act has made our insurance coverage better for the rest of us as well,” Falk said.
In Dane County, there are 30,000 people who lack insurance, said United Way President and CEO Renee Moe.
“We know that costs are a big barrier for those who aren’t signed up and that’s why we’re in our fourth year of Health Connect,” Moe said.
Health Connect helps bridge the gap between those who don’t qualify for Medicaid and may not be able to get federal subsidies. Moe said it’s aimed at individuals at or above the federal poverty level. Since the program began in 2013, she said it’s helped 1,700 families afford health insurance.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

created: December 12, 2016


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Federal Judge Refuses To Block Wisconsin Right-To-Work Law - WPR
The Associated Press
September 26, 2016
A federal judge has refused a union’s demand to block Wisconsin’s right-to-work law.
The law prohibits businesses and unions from reaching agreements that require all workers, not just union members, to pay union dues. Unions have argued the law enables nonunion members to receive free representation.
Two chapters of the International Union of Operating Engineers filed a lawsuit in May alleging the law amounts to an unconstitutional taking. U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller upheld the law on Monday, citing a 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholding Indiana’s right-to-work law.
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A Dane County judge struck down the Wisconsin law in April, but a state appeals court has reinstated it while it considers state attorneys’ appeal.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

created: September 26, 2016

author: The Associated Press


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Milwaukee Bucks, Johnson Controls Build Neighborhood Sports Complex - WPR
The Associated Press
May 24, 2017
The Milwaukee Bucks and Johnson Controls are partnering to build a multi-sport complex in a northwest Milwaukee neighborhood.
The two are donating the $150,000 complex to Milwaukee Public Schools, the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center and the Housing Authority of Milwaukee.
It will be built on the campus of Browning Elementary School and the neighborhood center.
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The complex includes six basketball courts, a soccer field and additional recreation space, all contained within a 200-meter track. The courts can also be used for other sports, such as volleyball or tennis.
The Westlawn neighborhood includes a large public housing development, which is currently being rebuilt.
© Copyright 2024 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Milwaukee Common Council To Consider Lead Testing Resolution For Charter Schools - WPR
Ross Terrell
January 5, 2017
A resolution to require Milwaukee charter schools to test their water sources for lead will be considered Friday by the city’s common council. If the resolution passes, eight charter schools would be required to test their water sources for lead.
Alderman and chairman of Milwaukee’s Water Quality Task Force, Jim Bohl, said the cost of testing would be included in the next city budget.
“We don’t envision there being a cost to any of those charter schools for the testing,” Bohl said. “But, because they own their own buildings, if some drinking fountain were to fail, that would be on them. That’s their responsibility.”
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The resolution would require any schools chartered by the city to perform lead tests annually.
“Under circumstances today, testing could show that a water source does not exceed the federal EPA standard for high levels of poison,” Bohl said. “Then, under some different circumstances where – whether it be six months from now, a year from now – it could go from one level low to a level high.”
Bohl said Milwaukee Public Schools were proactive in the testing of their water sources last month but he wants to make testing uniform across all charter schools. At least one charter school in Milwaukee conducts such tests.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

created: January 5, 2017


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Milwaukee County Supervisors Reveal Plan To Raise County Minimum Wage - WPR
Ross Terrell
September 28, 2016
Three Milwaukee County Supervisors presented a resolution Wednesday to raise the minimum wage for county employees and contractors to $15 an hour. The current hourly minimum for county workers is $11.68. Supervisor Sequanna Taylor said no one should have to choose between necessities like transportation or food for their families.
“So when we say we’re fighting for 15, we’re just not fighting for the dollar amount,” Taylor said. “We’re fighting for all of the families who work hard every day and still cannot be able to obtain a livable wage.”
Supervisor Marcelia Nicholson said the current plan calls for raising the minimum wage to $12.25 an hour by Jan. 1. It would then increase annually until reaching $15 by 2022.
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Nicholson said the wage should increase every year after to keep up with the cost of inflation.
County Executive Chris Abele, who once opposed the minimum wage increase, released a plan to raise it to $15 by 2021.
Melissa Baldauff, director of communications for the county, said the board of supervisors and the county executive were able to find common ground.
“I know that they all share the same belief that people who work full time should not be living in poverty and that we need to raise wages for everybody to stimulate our economy and most people agree with that,” Baldauff said.
Abele’s plan will be outlined in his 2017 budget proposal.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

created: September 28, 2016


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Milwaukee Opens State's First Housing Development Aimed At Ending Chronic Homlessness - WPR
Ross Terrell
October 6, 2016
Wisconsin’s first housing development for people struggling with chronic homelessness and alcoholism opened Thursday in Milwaukee.
Residents living in the 24 one-bedroom apartments will have access to on-site mental health and social services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The development, Thurgood Marshall Apartments, is named after the former U.S. Supreme Court justice.
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Erich Schwenker, president of Cardinal Capital Management, which helped in the development the new building, said the way Marshall handled personal adversity makes him a fitting namesake for the building.
“As it works out, Thurgood Marshall turns out to be just an absolute wonderful choice for this building,” Schwenker said. “I’m hoping it’ll be an inspiration for everybody that lives here and participates here.”
A person is considered chronically homeless if they have been continuously homeless for a year or more or if they have been homeless four or more times in the past three years, according to the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele said the county’s goal is reduce the number of chronically homeless people to zero by 2018.
Abele said that starts with a housing first approach which sees giving someone a place to live as the first step to treating addiction and mental illness. The Halyard Park neighborhood is embracing this effort, Abele said. He said he hopes the neighborhood can be an example for other communities.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Abele said. “When we made this announcement last year, some press folks asked, ‘Well, how does the neighborhood feel about it?’ To be able to say, ‘Why don’t you ask them, they’re right here?’ You know what the answer is – supportive.”
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

created: October 6, 2016


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Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Proposes New Academic Calendar - WPR
Ross Terrell
November 18, 2016
The Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent announced a proposal Friday for a new academic calendar for the district, in which the school year would start in mid-August and end in late May.
Superintendent Darienne Driver is also proposing a June term. Students would be able to take or make up classes that didn’t fit in their regular schedule during that month. Driver said this will help maximize learning efficiency.
“Our graduation rate is 58 percent in four years and 70 percent in six years,” Driver said. “So if we can close that gap between what’s getting done in six years to making it happen in four years, we need more time. We need to think differently about the time that we have.”
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Driver said the June term would cost about $3 million. She said this a cheaper cost to pay up front compared to the $10 million a year the system spends on 9th grade repeaters.
She said if the new calendar is approved, it would be in place for 2017-18 school year.
“The urgency, the need is so dire,” Driver said. “We are charged with a great task in improving student achieving and making sure that our young people have what they need; and so, again, building an infrastructure that’s going to support student achievement is our number one goal.”
Driver said listening sessions will be held on the proposal.
She said feedback from staff members so far has been supportive but their biggest concern is if the schools are prepared to deal with the summer heat.
The calendar changes are one of several reforms Driver is proposing for the state’s largest school district.
The district must now get a waiver from the state Department of Public Instruction, then the calendar would need to be approved by the board.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

created: November 18, 2016


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Milwaukee Reflects On Another Year Of Grim Homicide Numbers - WPR
Chuck Quirmbach
December 30, 2016
As of Friday morning, Milwaukee’s homicide total for 2016 stood at 141, just shy of last year’s official total of 145.
Several cases from the last 12 months stand out. In early March, a Hmong couple, Phia and Mai Vue, and a Puerto Rican man, Jesus Manso-Perez,  were shot to death by a neighbor at their apartment complex. It may have been a racially-based hate crime.
“Our anger rises to those who have brought down these feelings to us,” Pao Vue, a relative of the murdered couple, told a crowd of mourners at a rain-soaked vigil a few days after the killings.
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Pao Vue speaks at the vigil for Phia and Mai Vue, on March 13, 2016. Chuck Quirmbach/WPR
Similar feelings of sadness and anger were stoked this year by killings of children. According to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Homicide Tracker page, 6 percent of this year’s homicide victims were under 18. One of them, 15 year-old Melanie Johnson, an African-American, died this month when her home was hit by gunfire.
At a preliminary hearing Dec. 27 for one of the alleged shooters, Milwaukee Police Department investigator Kyle Mrozinski  testified about a medical examiner’s autopsy of the teen.
“(The medical examiner) observed two bullet wounds to the victim. One to the left chest area, one to the left arm. He ruled her death a homicide as a result of these gunshot wounds,” Mrozinski  said.
Johnson died just a few blocks from St. Gabriel Church of God in Christ. Minister Gregory Lewis is assistant pastor there. He’s also president of Pastors United,  a group of African-American clergy who’ve been trying to prevent homicides.
Lewis said part of the ongoing problem is individual behavior.
“There’s a lot of people who, I don’t think they’re thinking.  I don’t think there’s a lot of thought put into making things better for one another, ” he said. “There’s a lot of disrespect and an uncaring attitude, and it’s become stylish now to be disruptive.”
But Lewis also said there are big-picture concerns about drugs, guns and lack of jobs, especially in some poorer African-American neighborhoods.
Minister Gregory Lewis stands outside St. Gabriel Church in Milwaukee. Chuck Quirmbach/WPR
Police data show most Milwaukee homicide victims are African-American males, age 18-40, killed by gunfire. Lewis says if he could get Gov. Scott Walker’s attention, he’d ask Walker to add more funding for education and job training for Milwaukee in the upcoming state budget.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has said he’d like to see the governor and Republicans who control the Legislature restore money cut from shared revenue over the last decade, and put it into helping Milwaukee sustain its additional spending on police.
“I have a lot of legislators, particularly from outside the city,  who say, ‘Well, the city has to do more about public safety.’ And my response is, ‘Look, we’re putting $127 million more into our budget for police. The state’s putting $12 million less in for the needs of the community, and you’re talking to me?’”
Barrett said he can’t guarantee Milwaukee homicides would go down, but said many experts believe a stronger police presence would make a difference.
While there’s more budget talk ahead, Gregory Lewis, the Milwaukee pastor, is getting St. Gabriel’s ready for a solemn event Friday night.
In the church sanctuary, an annual reading of the names of Milwaukee homicide victims will be conducted. Lewis said he hopes it helps the families who have lost loved ones.
“Do you know how they feel? You’ll never know. But you can empathize, you can support them, you can support those families,” he said.
The families have not only lost a relative, Lewis said, but may be trying to cope with depression, unpaid bills and other problems stemming from the typically sudden deaths of homicide victims.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

created: December 30, 2016

author: Chuck Quirmbach


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Milwaukee Teacher Named A Finalist For Grammy Music Educator Award - WPR
Ross Terrell
January 3, 2017
Erica Breitbarth, a music teacher at Ronald Reagan High School in Milwaukee, has been named a top 10 finalist out of 3,000 nominees for the Grammy Music Educator Award. She is the school’s music department chair, a choir instructor, and is credited with helping expand its music program from 50 students to more than 400.
Breitbarth said one of the biggest challenges in expanding the program was teaching students who had no previous exposure to music lessons.
“We had to find ways to fill in those gaps so that our students could apply to schools of music or enter the music industry right away out of high school,” Breitbarth said. “That was a huge challenge to fill in those gaps and we’ve been able to do that.”
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She said over the past four years, 100 percent of the graduates with an interest in music have been accepted into college music programs.
Breitbarth says she hopes more teachers are willing to teach at schools in urban communities that may not have an established music program.
“Right now, I don’t necessarily think that a lot of teachers who are getting out of conservatories of music with music education degrees are really thinking about going and building new programs,” she said. “They want to go to a program that’s pre-existing or a program in a community that they are familiar with.”
Breitbarth said her inspiration to expand the school’s music program came from her college experience where she watched her mentor teach thousands of children in Chicago public schools.
As a finalist for the award, Breitbarth and Ronald Reagan High School each received a $1,000 gift from the Grammy Foundation.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

created: January 3, 2017