By Andra Bryan Stefanoni
news@joplinglobe.com
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Poverty and education have long been bedfellows, Ruby Payne told what was described as the largest group of educators ever gathered in Crawford County for professional development.
More than 1,700 teachers, administrators and school personnel on Monday listened to Payne, a former educator and an expert on poverty, the middle class and wealth, and the author of “A Framework for Understanding Poverty.” The seminar was conducted at Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium.
“This impacts all levels of the education system, from pre-K to support staff to secretaries to bus drivers,” Payne said.
The most recent data provided by Kansas Action for Children indicates that Southeast Kansas has the highest concentration of poverty in the state. Fifteen counties in the region have a poverty level of 19.26 percent or higher, and many, including Cherokee, Crawford and Bourbon counties, hover in the 23 percent to 25 percent range. The Pittsburg and Northeast-Arma school districts have two of the highest percentages of students eating free and reduced-price lunches in Crawford County, at 59.55 percent and 59.25 percent, respectively.
But poverty goes beyond just statistics, Payne said. And, she said, it goes beyond money and whether someone has it. It is a mind-set.
“Schools and businesses operate on middle-class norms and values,” Payne said.
Among her points:
n The poor may live in crisis from moment to moment, thinking about where the next meal is coming from and whether they will have shelter or other basic needs, so planning for an assignment or college is an abstract concept.
n Positive recognition for students in poverty sometimes has a negative effect. There is a pack mentality among those in poverty: Everyone is in it together, but those who achieve end up leaving their neighborhood, friends and family.
n Problems arise when students in poverty, who use “casual” language and have no frame of reference for using formal language, bring that into the classroom, where it can play a negative role in assignments and discipline. This also surfaces in law enforcement and the workplace.
Dan Duling, principal at Haderlein Elementary School in Girard, said he is taking away from the workshop a new awareness.
“We don’t fully understand the ramifications of those when you’re talking about people in poverty,” he said. “For example, we say, ‘Tomorrow is gym, so make sure to wear your gym shoes.’ A person in poverty is not going to have more than one pair of shoes.”
World view
Several teachers who completed a “Could you survive in poverty?” quiz were surprised by the questions and how poorly they scored. It included such questions as “I know how to move in half a day” and “I know how to keep my clothes from being stolen at the Laundromat,” as opposed to questions on the middle class, such as, “I know how to set a table properly” and “I know how to help my children with their homework and do not hesitate to call the school if I need additional information.”
