Who will you be when the crisis arrives?

 

"It will be a great day when our schools have all the money they need and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber."

The headline on the local news this morning said that Hartford will be cutting hundreds of teaching positions next year. These are hard times. Cuts are everywhere but is anyone asking about the ultimate cost? When the financial crisis started to become obvious, I had a naïve hope that the crisis would force us to set our priorities straight. I imagined communities pulling together, all of us making changes which would ultimately improve the environment and our health. I imagined us working together to provide wholesome home grown food for all, and yes, educate and care for our children.

Now, I am not always leading the parade in celebration of our public schools. We in the middle class often have the resources to consider alternative educational settings which may nurture and encourage our children more thoroughly. But many children do not have that luxury. Hartford, the capital of one the nation's wealthiest states ranked sixth in child poverty in the nation in 2006. That's 41.3% of Hartford's children living under the poverty level (statistic taken from Connecticut Voices for Children). Not sure about how schools impact those children? Consider this.

A few years ago I was working in a treatment facility for pregnant, addicted women. One 21 year old had been raised in Puerto Rico then moved to Hartford. A product of poverty, neglect and horrific abuse, she was about to give birth to her seventh child. One evening as we sat on the porch talking about her future, she told me she'd like to 'go to where the dinosaurs are.' She had never learned that dinosaurs were creatures of a long past era. Now, that knowledge wouldn't have changed the trajectory of her life but if she had been able to get to school, maybe someone would have noticed her need. Maybe she would have been more aware of her options. Maybe she would have learned about birth control. In the public school system, someone did notice her children and got them, and their mother some help. Maybe this woman's children will have a better life. I think it's worth the investment. I think I'll write a letter…. And bake a cake. That's who I want to be in this crisis. Who will you be?