PostWidely content : Income Disparity

"We oppose these school closings, because they have a racially-disparate impact, and because there have been no plans made that will take care of students with special education needs.” -Chicago Lawyers' Committee's Co-Director of Litigation Paul Strauss on the CPS school closings

Check out Chicago Lawyers' Committee's open letter to Mayor Emanuel, CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and board of education members urging a stop to the massive proposed school closures.

How should we define poverty?

Do you think school closings violate kids' civil rights?

"The number of Americans in state and federal prisons has quintupled since 1980."

It's one thing to be empathetic to the poor, with a degree of distance that too easily turns into condescension. It's another thing entirely to experience it yourself. This could dramatically change the narrative around "personal responsibility"- blaming poor people for their own poverty.

Interesting article on the Pennsylvania lawsuit. Not only does it highlight the problems with voter ID, it touches on race and socioeconomic status in the courtroom.

There are many challenges that confront families facing homelessness. Homeless families move frequently. Many are doubledup in overcrowded apartments with relatives or friends. Others sleep in cars and campgrounds or send their children to stay with relatives to avoid shelter life.

Brandon Dunlap was intermittently homeless throughout his youth and at one time slept on the floor under a pool table in his cousin’s home.

There have been more challenges to the Voting Rights Act in the past 2 years than in the previous 45 years combined.

According to this article, many experts believe that "the impact of the recession on the young has created a disillusionment about politics in general." It is a heart-breaking read, but it gives rise to very important questions. Why do people who feel oppressed or discouraged by their current circumstances steer away from political activity? What kind of impact will this trend have on politics in the future? Will politics continue to be increasingly a game for the well-off? How do we change it?

This is a core issue to both women's equality in the workplace and men's rights to be dads and be active in their children's lives.

Certain groups, namely ones that tend to have a lower income than other Americans, actually pay more for car insurance. I think this quote sums up the issue nicely: “We are somehow talking about poverty traps. By all appearance, financial benefits seem to stay with those who already have them. The important task is to know the mechanisms and to overcome them; ultimately to join the club of those who are better off. There is no systemic reason why a member of a minority group should not enjoy the same rates as any 'average citizen’. High auto insurance rates should not just be taken as destiny.”

On Saturday, June 23, the Chicago Police Department and the City of Chicago held a gun turn-in event to get guns off the streets. I posted the event last week. As I mentioned, the procedure was as follows: "Turn in your gun and receive a $100 MasterCard gift card. No questions asked. Really. No questions." The event collected 5500 guns, of which only 700 were fake. The slogan for the event was "Don't Kill a Dream, Save a Life."

This is a fascinating race question. Moderate race matching in adoption cases, which is premised on the idea that same-race adoption is more suitable than interracial adoption, is not strictly illegal. It is also an interesting social justice issue insofar as the policy disproportionately impacts black youth, who comprise a large proportion of orphans in the United States and who do not have a sufficient number of black adults willing to adopt them.

This is by far the cutest- and most creative- nonprofit partnership I've ever seen.

Even with housing prices plummeting

Disparate treatment in discipline along racial lines not only negatively impacts educational outcomes but also dramatically affects students' perceptions of justice and fairness.

Many people make light of the problem of homelessness. But homelessness is not a laughing matter. In fact, homelessness is a very serious problem, and yet, each year, the problem gets worse and worse.

Everyone who cares about race and poverty should be reading Deepak Bhargava's essay on Social Justice Movements in a Liminal Age in this month's PRRAC newsletter, Poverty & Race.

I challenge you to answer this question -- How much has America's first black president changed race relations?

How will the United States embrace increased rates of diversity? My undergraduate political science professor, Samuel Stafford, once said that "the health of a nation is indicated by the way it treats its children." Will our nation ensure that each of these children has an equal opportunity to thrive? What role will you play in protecting the rights of these children?

Phenomenal work. We need more programs like this- as well as a concentrated, nation-wide push to eliminate questions about whether job candidates have criminal records in roles in which these would not be relevant, to allow them back into the legitimate economy and break the stigma of incarceration.

I'm particularly worried about the disparate impact this will have to further stratify the wealth of US workers and their families. Not everybody can afford the education to obtain a white collar career.

Kristof's comment about property rights brings to mind the research done on how the rule of law and effective property rights regimes make the difference between wealthy societies and underdeveloped ones. But one also notices the lack of a wider critique about reservations' abandonment by the larger society.

The product of a transformative school with transformative teachers. We must explore how these results can be replicated countrywide in all schools.

The disparate treatment of minority students in school discipline is not limited to Connecticut. Across the country, Black and Hispanic students are disproportionately suspended and expelled from school. This problem greatly impacts student achievement and school culture. Schools need to ensure that they are providing safe, welcoming, and nondiscriminatory environments for all students.

Is poverty destiny in our education system? Must we pit the goal of achieving racial and ethnic diversity in our schools against the goal of achieving socioeconomic diversity or can we make the pie bigger for everyone?

Disparate hiring rates post-recession between men and women

One of the top national priorities of Generation X was to make college, and its financial benefits, available to all young adults. But, by tying it to tens to hundreds of thousand dollars of debt upon graduation, the opportunity it normally provides turns into usury.

The Chicago Lawyers' Committee recognizes that minority home ownership has eroded. It is an important fair housing issue that has arisen from the housing crisis.

Chicago Lawyers' Committee recognizes the importance of fighting abusive employment practices such as the ones described here.

Greater income equality will lead to greater opportunities, and a more equal and just society.