Business

Closing Education Gap Would Boost U.S. Economy

Published

9 years ago

July 23, 2015

Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaking at NAACP convention in Philadelphia
(Photo by Abdul Sulayman/Philadelphia Tribune)

By Freddie Allen
NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Men of color would earn $170 billion more a year, if they reached the same education level as White men, according to a new White House report.

The report examined “opportunity gaps facing youth of color” and found stunning correlations between the educational and employment success of young men of color and how that success can directly impact the national economy.

Not only would closing the education attainment gap result in higher annual earnings for men of color 25-64 years-old, it would also increase the gross domestic product, the value of the production of goods and services, by 1.8 percent in the United States. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that GDP decreased by an annual rate of 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015.

The high school graduation rate for Black students is 17 percentage points lower than their White classmates and only “28 percent of Blacks have a college degree by their late 20s, compared to nearly half of White men,” the report said.

The report said that youth of color encounter a number of barriers to opportunity at higher rates compared to their White peers.

“For example, while 20 percent of all children under age 18 live in poverty, 38 percent of Black children and 30 percent of Hispanic children live in poverty, compared to 11 percent of non-Hispanic White children,” stated the report.

Poor students often don’t have access to early childhood education, increasing the likelihood that they will start school at considerable disadvantage to their more affluent peers. When young students fall behind in their reading skills, it makes it harder for them to catch up to their peers in later grades and increases the chances that they will drop out.

When young Black men disconnect from school, they are more likely to connect to the criminal justice system at considerable expense to the rest of society.

“The cost of incarceration is far substantially higher than investing in education or other programs to increase opportunity, even before one takes the returns to the investments into account,” the report said. “The cost of incarceration for a single juvenile is over $100,000 – twice as high as tuition at the most expensive college in the country or a year of intensive mentoring.”

And even though crime is down in recent years, spending on corrections at the federal, state and local level is $80 billion, according to President Obama.

A history poverty, lack of access to early childhood education and early interaction with the criminal justice system can follow a young Black man deep into adulthood and contribute to an early death or a lifetime of missed employment opportunities and lower rates of employment compared to White men.

“Even when there is little difference in the likelihood of committing a crime, individuals of color are much more likely to be arrested,” stated the report. “For example, a black individual is nearly four times as likely as a white individual to be arrested for marijuana possession, even though black and white individuals reported using marijuana at similar rates in 2010.”

The report continued: “In 1984, the majority of State and Federal prisoners were White. In 2011, the majority of the more than 1.5 million prisoners were minorities, including 930,000 prisoners who were Black or Hispanic (61 percent).”

“Among adults 16 and older, Black men are nearly 15 percentage points less likely to be employed than White men,” stated the report.

And because the labor force participation rate only tracks people who are either employed or looking for work, more than 1 million Black men languishing in American prisons remain unaccounted for in the labor market artificially narrowing the employment chasm between Blacks and Whites until they return home.

“The relationship between economic opportunity and crime is not wholly clear-cut. For instance, crime fell throughout the most recent recession. Nevertheless, experience of past decades suggests that improving economic opportunity can also help lower crime rates,” the report said.

The report noted that the Chicago-based Becoming a Man (BAM) program has achieved success at steering disadvantaged young men away from the criminal justice system by taking a different approach

Rather than offering targeted job opportunities, the report said that BAM, which primarily serves young Black and Latino men, teaches their members how to make better decisions “in high-stress situations through in-school sessions focused on making participants more aware of their automatic responses and on thinking about the appropriate response to the situation at hand.”

BAM not only reduced violent crime arrests among program participants from 2009-2010, the young men also got better grades. An evaluation of the program during the 2013-2014 school year showed a 31 percent decline in the likelihood of arrests for BAM members.

The White House report said that scholarships and one-on-one coaching can also help low-income students graduate from college.

The high costs of mass incarceration, coupled with the increased awareness about the militarization of local police forces and the controversial practices of the for-profit prison industry have driven lawmakers to reconsider tough on crime policies in favor of smarter sentencing guideline, restorative justice and community-based rehabilitation programs.

During her keynote address at the NAACP’s annual convention in Philadelphia, United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch noted the launch of the Smart on Crime initiative and it’s impact on mandatory minimum sentencing and investments in rehabilitation and reentry programs.

“The early results of these efforts have been extremely promising,” said Lynch. “I am not just hopeful, but excited about where these reforms will lead us in the years to come.”

Making the criminal justice system more efficient, more effective and more fair on the federal level will require broader reform efforts bipartisan support in Congress, said Lynch, adding that those efforts have to involve repairing the relationship between young people and law enforcement.

“Ultimately, we need children to see possibilities for themselves beyond the cycle of criminality and incarceration that has too often become a tragic and familiar fact of life,” said Lynch. “America is a land of second chances – but it must also be a land where we give opportunities to young people who haven’t gotten a chance at all.”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Related Topics:childhood education education disparity educational bias Men of Color opportunity gaps

Up Next

4 Tips For Financing a Franchise

Don't Miss

FCC Set to Approve AT&T-DirecTV Deal

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Bay Area

Mayor Breed Proposes Waiving City Fees for Night Markets, Block Parties, Farmers’ Markets, Other Outdoor Community Events

Mayor London N. Breed introduced legislation on April 26 to encourage and expand outdoor community events. The first will waive City fees for certain events, making them less costly to produce. The second will simplify the health permitting for special event food vendors through the creation of an annual permit. Both pieces of legislation are part of the Mayor’s broader initiative to bring vibrancy and entertainment to San Francisco’s public right of ways and spaces.

Published

3 hours ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Outdoor community events are integral to San Francisco’s vibrant culture and sense of community. iStock image.

Mayor’s Press Office

Mayor London N. Breed introduced legislation on April 26 to encourage and expand outdoor community events.

The first will waive City fees for certain events, making them less costly to produce. The second will simplify the health permitting for special event food vendors through the creation of an annual permit. Both pieces of legislation are part of the Mayor’s broader initiative to bring vibrancy and entertainment to San Francisco’s public right of ways and spaces.

Outdoor community events are integral to San Francisco’s vibrant culture and sense of community. These events include night markets, neighborhood block parties and farmers markets, and bolster the City’s economy by supporting local businesses and attracting tourists eager to experience San Francisco’s unique charm and food scene.

They offer residents, workers and visitors, opportunities to engage with local artists, musicians, and food vendors while enjoying the San Francisco’s stunning outdoor spaces and commercial corridors.

The legislation will allow for more and new community gatherings and for local food vendors to benefit from the City’s revitalization.

“San Francisco is alive when our streets are filled with festivals, markets, and community events,” said Breed. “As a city we can cut fees and streamline rules so our communities can bring joy and excitement into our streets and help revitalize San Francisco.”

Fee Waiver Legislation

The events that can take advantage of the new fee waivers are those that are free and open to the public, occupy three or fewer city blocks, take place between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., and have the appropriate permitting from the ISCOTT and the Entertainment Commission.

The applicant must be a San Francisco based non-profit, small business, Community Benefit District, Business Improvement District, or a neighborhood or merchant association. Fees eligible for waiver include any application, permit, and inspection/staffing fees from San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Department of Public Health, Fire Department, Entertainment Commission, and Police Department.

Currently, it can cost roughly anywhere between $500-$10,000 to obtain permits for organized events or fairs, depending on its size and scope. Organizations and businesses are limited to a maximum of 12 events in one calendar year for which they can receive these fee waivers.

Food Vendor Streamlining Legislation

The second piece of legislation introduced will help special event food vendors easily participate in multiple events throughout the year with a new, cost-effective annual food permit. Food vendors who participate in multiple events at multiple locations throughout the year will no longer need to obtain a separate permit for each event. Instead, special event food vendors will be able to apply and pay for a single annual permit all at once.

“Many successful food businesses either begin as pop-up vendors or participate in special events to grow their business,” says Katy Tang, Director of the Office of Small Business. “Giving them the option for an annual special event food permit saves them time and money.”

Currently, food vendors are required to get a Temporary Food Facility (TFF) permit from the Department of Public Health (DPH) in order to participate in a special event, among permits from other departments.

Currently, each special event requires a new permit from DPH ranging from $124-$244, depending on the type of food being prepared and sold. Last year, DPH issued over 1,500 individual TFF permits. With the new annual permit, food vendors selling at more than four to six events each year will benefit from hundreds of dollars in savings and time saved from fewer bureaucratic processes.

“This legislation is a step in the right direction to make it easier for food vendors like me to participate in citywide events,” said Dontaye Ball, owner of Gumbo Social. “It saves on time, money and makes it more effective. It also creates a level of equity.”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Bay Area

Faces Around the Bay: Sidney Carey

Sidney Carey was born in Dallas, Texas. He moved with his family to West Oakland as a baby. His sister is deceased; one brother lives in Oakland. Carey was the Choir Director at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church for 18 years.

Published

3 hours ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Courtesy of Sidney Lane.

By Barbara Fluhrer

Sidney Carey was born in Dallas, Texas. He moved with his family to West Oakland as a baby. His sister is deceased; one brother lives in Oakland.

Carey was the Choir Director at Trinity Missionary Baptist Church for 18 years.

He graduated from McClymonds High with a scholarship in cosmetology and was the first African American to complete a nine-month course at the first Black Beauty School in Oakland: Charm Beauty College.

He earned his License, and then attended U.C., earning a secondary teaching credential. With his Instructors License, he went on to teach at Laney College, San Mateo College, Skyline and Universal Beauty College in Pinole, among others.

Carey was the first African American hair stylist at Joseph and I. Magnin department store in Oakland and in San Francisco, where he managed the hair stylist department, Shear Heaven.

In 2009, he quit teaching and was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. He was 60 and “too old for a heart transplant”. His doctors at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) went to court and fought successfully for his right to receive a transplant. One day, he received a call from CPMC, “Be here in one hour.” He underwent a transplant with a heart from a 25-year- old man in Vienna, Austria

Two years later, Carey resumed teaching at Laney College, finally retiring in 2012.

Now, he’s slowed down and comfortable in a Senior Residence in Berkeley, but still manages to fit his 6/4” frame in his 2002 Toyota and drive to family gatherings in Oakland and San Leandro and an occasional Four Seasons Arts concert.

He does his own shopping and cooking and uses Para Transit to keep constant doctor appointments while keeping up with anti-rejection meds. He often travels with doctors as a model of a successful heart-transplant plant recipient: 14 years.

Carey says, “I’m blessed” and, to the youth, “Don’t give up on your dreams!”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Business

Maximizing Your Bank Branch Experience

In a world of online tools that let you make banking transactions with the touch of a button, the idea of visiting a branch might seem unnecessary. However, if you haven’t visited your local branch recently, you might be surprised by what it has to offer. Your branch is much more than a place to deposit and withdraw money – it can offer the opportunity to build valuable relationships with people who can help you achieve financial independence.

Published

24 hours ago

May 3, 2024

Oakland Post

Diedra Porché, National Head of Community Banking, JPMorgan Case & Co.

Sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

In a world of online tools that let you make banking transactions with the touch of a button, the idea of visiting a branch might seem unnecessary.

However, if you haven’t visited your local branch recently, you might be surprised by what it has to offer. Your branch is much more than a place to deposit and withdraw money – it can offer the opportunity to build valuable relationships with people who can help you achieve financial independence.

Diedra Porché, Head of Community and Business Development at Chase, talks about how the bank model has evolved to maximize the branch experience for customers; how connecting with your local branch team can help you think differently about money and investing for your future.

How can a customer feel connected to a bank branch?

I love that question because we ask ourselves the same thing every day. Being part of the community means meeting with local leaders to find out what they need from us and then designing our branches around that. For example, at some of our community branches we have what we call a living room where we can host financial workshops, small business pop-up shops or nonprofit organization meetings. We also hire locally. You feel much more connected talking about financial aspirations with people from your community who went to the same high school, place of worship or maybe frequented the same recreation center down the street when they grew up.

How can I build a relationship with my bank?

Customers should feel comfortable sharing their goals, needs and wants with their banker. Also, it helps to remember the Community Manager is there to help solve your finance challenges and build a roadmap for success. You might have a short-term or long-term goal to open a business, build your credit, become debt-free, buy a home, or save for retirement, and our community team can help. At Chase, we strive to make dreams possible for everyone, everywhere, every day. Your financial future starts with building those relationships.

How can customers change negative perceptions they have about managing their money?

Far too often, customers are intimidated when they visit a bank. Our goal is to demystify banking and money myths empowering people to make the right decisions. For example, a big myth is assuming you need a lot of money to have a bank account. You don’t! Another myth is you need to carry a balance on your credit card to build credit — actively using your credit card can demonstrate that you can use credit responsibly but carrying a balance won’t necessarily improve your credit score. Finally, understanding mobile and online banking safety is key. There are so many safeguards and protections in place to guard your personal information and funds.

What’s an easy step one can take to shift their financial behavior right now?

Cultivating self-awareness is a good first step. Start by taking inventory of your spending. Be honest with yourself about what you need and what you want. Too often, people confuse the two, which leads to bad decisions. Rent is something you need to pay. An extra pair of shoes is something you may want but before you buy them ask yourself if that’s the best use of your hard-earned money. Too often, our beliefs and our fears shape our financial realities. If any of those beliefs are limiting your financial behavior, it’s important to question and examine them, and then decide you’re open to learning something different.

What’s one perception about banking that you’d like to change?

I think folks are surprised there are so many resources available and accessible both at our branches and online, it’s always a good idea to visit a nearby branch and speak to a Community Manager or banker. Outside of what we offer in-branch, our teams also work with local neighborhood partners who provide a variety of services to support the community, businesses and residents. I received a unique piece of feedback from an employee who started with the bank and had lived in the same community his whole life. When he visited his local community branch, he said, “Diedra, when I walked in, I felt dignified.” Every time I recount that story, it warms my heart because that’s what we want — we want our centers to belong to the community.