January 16, 2007

A Daily Measure of Poverty

An article in the Birmingham News recently dealt with several issues related to schools in the metropolitan Birmingham area. Within that article was this important tidbit about schools state-wide: “51.9 percent of the state's 742,000 public-school students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunches…”

Here’s what I found at the USDA website concerning what qualifies a child for this program:

Any child at a participating school may purchase a meal through the National School Lunch Program.  Children from families with incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty level are eligible for free meals. Those with incomes between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level are eligible for reduced-price meals, for which students can be charged no more than 40 cents.  (For the period July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2007, 130 percent of the poverty level is $26,000 for a family of four; 185 percent is $37,000.)

It’s disturbing enough that one out of five children in our state live below the poverty line. It’s equally disturbing that many more live just beyond that level.

Higher Minimum Wage = Hurting Small Business?

One argument posed by those who oppose a hike in the national minimum wage is that it will hurt business and small business in particular. A higher cost per worker will mean passing off that expense to customers – potentially reducing the number of customers, they say. And then there is the outcome that businesses would actually cut the number of people they employ.

But there are those who pose that just the opposite is true. Here’s a link to a pretty wide-ranging argument for raising the minimum wage; it includes some research that says a wage hike actually helps small business.

Robert Reich makes the same argument here.

And then here is an example from the state’s of Washington and Idaho that is pretty compelling, that the wage increase is a benefit to local economies. Washington, with the nation’s highest minimum wage, had a job increase last year of 90,000. The leader of a state business lobby said this shows that Washington “is a great place to do business.”

Links and More Links

The problem I have with doing online research is that it is endlessly fascinating (emphasis on “endlessly.”) One link leads to another.

As an example, I recently visited the website of Governing magazine. If you’re a link junky like me you can keep yourself busy all week at this page, which provides links for issues related to state governments.

You may have heard of the “Grading the States” project. That report is now available online at the Governing site. Alabama doesn’t come out looking too well. What is especially interesting is that the introduction concerning Alabama on the Government Performance Project page describes the apparent lack of trust that Alabama citizens have in our state government. As an example it points to Governor Riley’s failed Amendment One campaign and the suggestion that its failure was due to that lack of trust.

That’s just one more thing that needs to be addressed before we can anticipate making the most sweeping systemic changes that need to be made.

Of Football Coaches and Limited Resources

I doubt I have anything new to add to the controversy surrounding the hire of a new football coach in Tuscaloosa. But I was interested that someone from Texas, not exactly a football-neutral state, made some interesting observations about what that money could be used for otherwise to the benefit of many.

Of course, someone from within our state, Bob Blaylock of the Birmingham News, had earlier taken note of the numbers from a similar perspective. For example, $4 million dollars – the new coach’s annual salary – could also build at least 66 new homes with Habitat for Humanity.

Hmmm.

Alabama Arise’s Agenda Gets Support

APP partner Alabama Arise got a word of support from the Anniston Star concerning its agenda for the upcoming year. Arise has significant issues in its legislative sights. We all do well to look over their shoulder and offer our support at well.

Speaking of Arise, put the Let Justice Roll conference on your calendar for February 15. They have an outstanding slate of speakers and presenters for the day. I’m gonna have a hard time choosing just which workshops to attend!

MLK and Poverty

Monday I attended the first ever Martin Luther King, Jr. parade in downtown Montevallo, where I live. Two little girls - one black, one white - led the parade, walking hand in hand. A hopeful picture.

It’s altogether appropriate, in light of APP’s goal of eliminating poverty in Alabama, to hear again what Martin Luther King, Jr. had to say:

The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.

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