In this article, Benjamin Levin argues that schools cannot solve the problem of poverty. The school system cannot handle this problem alone. I agree with this statement, it is a huge problem. This problem is flexible, changeable, and is a result of many different variables in society. It is also a more tenuous problem, more difficult to see. It is not an obvious problem, you cannot just look at someone and say, “Well, they are poor, how can we help.” Having said that, I am certain we can use schools effectively as change agents in the fight against the circle of poverty.
There is little discussion of poverty in my school. There is a degree of silencing around the issue, and during those occasions when the faculty must discuss it, they treat it as a hot potato, no teacher wanting to hold onto it for very long. At some schools, poverty is difficult to see because students wear uniforms, and thus, it can be hard to make the distinction between students over the poverty line and those over the poverty line. Students do not wear designer labels, nor do they wear irregulars from Wal-mart. The uniforms are the great equalizer. The faculty discussed the cost of uniforms during the first staff meeting, and the principal told us that there would be financial assistance for those parents who needed it. End of subject; move along. Here was a problem; here was a solution. The more important issue, that there were parents in the community that could not afford to clothe their children was not addressed. The principal also used the same technique for students who could not afford agendas. The school would give these students free agendas, end of subject, move along.
Now, it cannot be surprising to any teacher at the school that the community is not well off, however, no one is willing to do anything about it. The school has held fundraisers to benefit the school, and they have had a Terry Fox run to raise money for cancer research (both excellent endeavours, do not get me wrong), but there is no discussion about what the school can do for the improvised community. It asks and asks for money, yet does nothing to impact positively on the community, besides being a place for the parents to send their children for a few hours a day. There are no breakfast programs, no preschool programs; no links are being built between the school and the community. If the school took even the simplest steps to assist the community, I think it could be a great success story.
I do not intend to demonize our schools, nor do I think that its problems and lack of response to these problems are in any way unique to this school. I think that this pattern persists throughout the Toronto District School Board, and indeed, throughout Western society. To change the system will require some work, both from the bottom up and the top down. Schools, governments, communities and societies must all work together to improve the lot of all. We should not view poor students as being deficient, and therefore in need of low expectations and rote skill development. It is important to take the examples of the First Nations, and the William Whyte School in Winnepeg , and the great successes of the Headstart program, and actively work for the benefit of all. We should ask not what your school’s community can do for you–ask what you can do for your school’s community.
