poverty and education.

An article from Associated Press by Maria Danilova in yesterday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette points out the effects of poverty on education. This is not the first article to describe the effect. The number of years a child must spend in poverty has a well documented dramatic adverse effect on whether or not he or she graduates from high school or goes on to college. 

Forgive me for troubling you with all this, but education is an important issue and it's important that we get things right. I've written about the effects of poverty on education before: http://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com/2011/04/schools-reading-and-poverty.html

An additional effect is that poor children often live in poor communities where educational resources just do not add up.

"Low income, black and Hispanic students often end up in schools with crumbling walls, old text books and unqualified teachers, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights."

So education will not be fixed by hands alone. We must work together to solve the basic problems of poverty. We have economic poverty on the one hand, and moral poverty on the other in which some folks think that accumulating vast wealth at the expense of others in our communities is moral and right. Those impoverished notions lead those folks to demand  that taxes must be cut and cut again, to the point that the government is no longer able to serve the people or the noble ideals to which our nation has long aspired.

Let me set the record straight. Through craftsmanship we learn that what we do has real effect and that what we do is rightfully connected to all else and all others. In craftsmanship, unlike religion and politics you can't just make crap up and get away with it. The joint fits, or it does not. It is sanded smooth and finished well, or it is not. The work will not lie on your behalf.

I have come to the conclusion that higher taxes are a must. We must have the resources to serve those communities that have been impoverished and ignored by a heartless capitalism.

From today's article in the Democrat-Gazette:

'The reality is that the United States does not offer the educational opportunity that is consistent with our ideals." commission chairman Catherine Lhamon said, "That's dangerous and all of us need for it to change."

Educational Sloyd was developed with a noble purpose in mind. Not only was it to lead to growth of the individual child, it was offered to all children in the hope that they would develop an appreciation for all labor, understand the dignity and worth of all persons and thus grasp and conform to the spirit of democracy.

In the wood shop at Clear Spring School, I decided to make some canes with turned handles as shown in the photo.

Today I join with volunteers to work to get the ESSA wood shop ready for 2018 classes.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning likewise.