In the first of MPC's Building Successful Mixed Income Communities series of forums, CEOs of the Chicago and Atlanta housing authorities and leaders in education from both cities discussed issues related to the redevelopment of schools in communities affected by the transformation of public housing.
Nearly 150 people attended the first forum in the “Building Successful
Mixed-Income Communities” series, a quarterly initiative co-sponsored by MPC and
the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation to explore key issues related to the mixed-income
communities developing as part of the Chicago Housing
Authority (CHA) Plan for Transformation. Introduced by Julia Stasch, vice
president of the Human and Community Development Program of the John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and moderated by MPC Housing Director Robin
Snyderman, the forum tackled many of the issues related to the promotion of
quality schools and education programs as important parts of the
success of mixed-income neighborhoods.
The panel of speakers included:
Peterson said that leaving public housing residents on their own and ignoring
the future of children living in public housing brought “high costs” and
negative consequences to communities. Since drop-out and academic failure rates
are higher for these children, Peterson stressed the need for a strong
school system that, along with healthy, mixed-income housing developments, helps
public housing residents overcome the cycle of isolation, poor education, and
poverty that has historically plagued public housing residents. Yet, Peterson
reminded, the CHA Plan for Transformation goes beyond public housing
redevelopmentto include all community residents and encompass the
re-foundation of whole new neighborhoods. In order to leverage the resources
needed to create a healthy environment to attract and retain families from all
kinds of backgrounds, collaboration between stakeholders, such as the CHA
and CPS, is key.
The most recent example of cooperation between them is the Mid-South Planning
initiative, which, by May 2004, will result in a plan pointing up the needs,
challenges, strategies, and resources needed to create a network of high
performing neighborhood schools in Chicago’s Mid-South area (bounded by 31st
Street, the Dan Ryan Expressway, 47th Street and Lake Michigan). Watkins
presented this initiative, which includes six working groups consisting of
representatives from CPS, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform,
foundations, local universities, nonprofit organizations, and other public
agencies, as well as community members. The six groups are examining:
- supports for innovation
- high performing neighborhood schools
- early learning
- extended learning opportunities
- housing, schools, and community
- developing human capital
For more information on the Mid-South Planning Initiative, download a
presentation here.
After presenting a video
about the recent achievements
of the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA), Renee Glover recalled how the
schools around Atlanta’s public housing were, prior to her appointment as the
AHA's CEO, among the worst performing in the city. She attributed this
to bad housing policy that had “institutionalized the permanent isolation of
poor families in warehouses,” instead of offering them temporary housing
assistance and social services toward upward mobility and success. In Atlanta,
Glover remarked, the very social contract had been broken: families had been deprived of
opportunities for success from the beginning.
Good neighborhood schools were a key piece in the development of human
potential and sustainable communities in Atlanta’s former public housing sites.
An example of Atlanta’s holistic approach was the planning and implementation of
Centennial Place, a mixed-income community that included one of the best
performing elementary schools of the Atlanta system.
Johnson, who was a key actor in the creation of Centennial Place
Elementary School, highlighted four factors of success for developing quality
schools around mixed-income housing:
- Understand and address the sociological characteristics and needs of the
population to be served
- Focus on programs for children up to four years old and in elementary schools first,
and then move to medium, high school, and college ages, following the natural
pace of the educational journey
- Make special efforts to bring together stakeholders involved in the process, especially
housing authorities and public schools agencies, to create — if
possible — incentives to provide funding and assistance only to coordinated
efforts, and avoiding a “silos mentality”
- Find “guardian angels” for each of the schools: individuals or
organizations that watch them and help keep momentum, supplementing the
efforts of public agencies.
According to Johnson, education works like a
manufacturing process, adding value to people as they go from elementary to high school
and college. Universities are not only the last educational step of the
education ladder, but can also play a key role in the revitalization of disinvested
areas. “Great colleges do not like to be located in bad neighborhoods,” Johnson
said. In Centennial Place, the neighboring Georgia Institute of Technology
was involved from the early stages in the redevelopment efforts, with faculty
members working closely with the school’s teachers and principal.
Currently, 60 percent of students at Centennial Place Elementary School qualify for
free lunches, and the school ranks second in the system in terms of performance.
During the Questions and Answers part of the forum, attendees asked about the specifics of
the planning and implementation strategies at Centennial Place and its
applicability in Chicago. One of the key factors for success, according to Johnson, was
that the planning process started early (in 1988), so when HOPE VI
funds arrived, the school had already created a plan to reform its physical
assets and curriculum, and was ready to implement it. Johnson also
explained that keeping the interest in Centennial Place high in the list of
priorities of the local policy agenda, and presenting it as a demonstration
project, helped not only the school interests but also the success of subsequent
school reform plans in the city.
Future forums will explore youth, families, and
community development; economic development and jobs; and other topics. Visit www.metroplanning.org/ourwork/housing.asp
regularly for more information on this new initiative.