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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bread Upon The Water who wrote (135087)	7/27/2013 12:03:06 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 149317

Its because all of Seattle's projects except one have been torn down. The last one is getting demolished next year. That supports my argument I think. Not really. No city can create male role models for minority kids. But cities like Seattle can go the extra mile to break the poverty cycle by implementing several steps. One is tearing down the old projects and replacing them with desirable neighborhoods. Another is providing job training. The third, and most important step, is making minority schools first class...........best teachers, best equipment, a number of AP [Advanced Placement] classes. So desirable that white middle class kids want to attend. Consequently, two kids from my neighborhood that are in AP classes will be going to high school at a minority majority high school next year. That school is 8-10 miles from here. The kids will be taking city buses to get to school each day. That's how successful the school has become.....once one of the worst high schools in the city its now one of the best. Like MPLS, like SF, like Portland, like Palo Alto, Seattle is growing and prosperous enough so that it can afford to go the extra mile. And its working.....albeit very slowly...............poor neighborhoods in the city are upgrading. Gangs don't have the same level of influence they have in other cities. More and more kids of color are going to college. And the city has become one of the more desirable places in the metro area to live. Great looking replacement for the demolished project. Just for the record.......all the people who lived in that project now live in the new complex along with people who are paying market rents or have bought their house or condo. And there have been problems. Its not been easy. What Seattle is doing is not a quick fix...........its hard and complicated work......but its working. Like other American cities, Seattle lost population for a couple of decades.......white flight. But starting in the 90s, the city started growing again and its now the largest its ever been. Let me add...........that despite the city's growth in population, the city school system was becoming smaller. There were less kids going to public schools..........even as the city was trying to improve the school system. As late as 2005, the city mothballed two elementary schools. However there was a demographic trend developing that the city didn't realize.......one that intensified thanks to the Great Recession. More and more new residents were sending their kids to public school. The schools had become good enough and the fear of minority kids had lessened enough that white parents were willing to send their kids to public school. As a consequence in the past two years, 4 elementary schools have been re activated. I believe education is the key.