Kalamazoo County Poverty Reduction Initiative - Poverty & Children

Poverty and Education

PRI is committed to continuing a discussion on the effects of poverty on education and helping collaborative efforts to mitigate these factors.

PRI's Education Series

November 2, 2011 - Economic Policy Institute researcher Richard Rothstein discussed Poverty & Education with educators, business leaders and policy makers in Kalamazoo.

Check out www.boldapproach.org for the EPI's Broader Bolder Approach to Education. The "Bold Approach" addresses strategies for improvement beyond traditional test scores.

PRI plans to host additional lectures and workshops with education experts in 2012.

Research and Resources

Read the 2011 report "All of a Piece" on child poverty, health & education by Dr. Timothy Ready, Director of WMU's Lewis Walker Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnic Relations, and PRI board member.

Read about education initiatives underway in Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Detroit in the Autumn 2011 issue of Equity.

The Learning Network of Greater Kalamazoo, formed in 2011, is a collaborative of individuals and organizations embracing a vision that every child in Kalamazoo County will be ready for school, ready for college and ready for the world.

The following table from the US Census Bureau's 1-year American Community Survey shows the estimated numbers of students living below and at or above the poverty level in Kalamazoo County and City. (Table links to PDF.)

2010
The Kids Count in Michigan Data Book 2010: The Education Connection finds that education does not start and stop at the classroom door. It connects the dots between education and other support systems for children. The report also ranks Michigan's 83 counties on 14 indicators of child well-being.