Are we winning yet? No, actually we're failing Connecticut’s children.

Are we winning yet? No, actually we’re failing Connecticut’s children.

Oct 17

jonpeltoBridgeport, Connecticut State Government, Hartford, Malloy, New Haven, Poverty, State Budget 37 Comments

You want a campaign issue for the 2012 election? Here is one…

A recent report by Connecticut Voices for Child, the state’s premier research and child advocacy organization, revealed that the number of Connecticut residents living below the Federal Poverty Level has increased from 10.1 percent in 2010 to 10.9 percent in 2011.

Connecticut is the wealthiest state in the country. If we were our own country, we would be one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Yet about 375,000 Connecticut residents, more than 1 in 10 live in abject poverty.

The extent of poverty is even greater among Connecticut’s children, and the situation is getting worse at a faster pace.

As of 2011, 118,809 Connecticut children, under the age of 18, lived in households with incomes below the Federal Poverty Level. That is a breathtaking 14.9 percent of all children.

And we aren’t talking about people who simply don’t have that much money. We are talking about children and families that are among the poorest in the entire nation. The Federal Poverty Level for a two-parent household, with two children, is $22,811 a year.

The most shocking fact of all is that the rate of poverty in Connecticut is getting significantly worse.

A decade ago, in 2001, 7.3 percent of Connecticut’s residents lived below the poverty line. That was about 242,000 people. Ten years later, in 2011, the number of residents living in poverty has increased to almost 378,000. That means the poverty rate in Connecticut has jumped from 7.9 percent to 10.9 percent.

The numbers are even more disturbing and disgusting when it comes to what has happened to our state’s children. In 2001, about 82,000 or 10.2 percent of Connecticut’s children lived in households below the poverty line.

In 2011, that number had increased to almost 119,000, a stunning 14.9 percent of all children.

The number of children living in poverty in some of Connecticut’s cities rival that of some developing nations;

In Hartford, 47.9 percent of the children now grow up in households trying to make it on an income that places them below the federal poverty level.

In New Haven the child poverty rate is 41.4%, Bridgeport (39.9%), New Britain (35.7%), and Waterbury (34.5%). Danbury (17.9%) and Stamford (17.5%)

In 2004, the Connecticut General Assembly, and Connecticut’s Governor, created the Connecticut Child Poverty Council. Our state became the first state in the nation to set a goal of reducing poverty in half by 2014.

At the time, with just over 10 of Connecticut’s children living in poverty, the state pledged to reduce the child poverty rate to 5% by 2014.

However instead of cutting that rate in half, as of now, we have seen an increase of over 50 percent.

Next time you hear an elected official or a candidate talk about their record of accomplishments or their plan for the future, ask them explain how they rationalize the fact that child poverty is skyrocketing in our state and demand that they explain, in detail, what they will actually do to save Connecticut’s poorest and most vulnerable children.

For the CT Voices report, go to: http://www.ctvoices.org/sites/default/files/econ12censuspovertyacs.pdf

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Bill Morrison

I have to wonder, though, at the impact of immigration on those poverty numbers. As a Hartford high school teacher, I see far too many students who do not speak English and cannot even read their native languages because they have had no school in their life times. They should not be in high school, and their families have not yet assimilated into American culture. This is not to say there isn’t a poverty-related problem among our native students, but we should factor this issue into the equation.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Rich-White/100000066062155 Rich White
  
  Compulsory Public Service and then guaranteed employment.
- JMC
  
  Enable them and they will come.
- buygoldandprosper
  
  Wrong!
  Hard working illegals will be the saviours of this country. Your xenophobia is clearly misplaced. Not assimilated? Go join Dan and the Ancient Order!! Or maybe you are already in a club that is ,not the teachers union?
  “The Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (IE) had the greatest impact. At its peak in the early 1980s, it was the largest Klan group in the country, with the Connecticut unit, one of the most active IE chapters.”
  Connecticut…Still Revolting!
  - msavage
    
    Seriously–someone makes an observation re what they see within their work environment and you make the leap to they are a member of the KKK? That’s quite a leap.
    
    Making an observation re the challenges that immigrants place upon society does not equate to discriminating against them. I have worked closely with a group that provides furniture to folks needing a helping hand. Many of the clients are Hispanic. Some of the parents have been in this country for YEARS already, and they do not speak English. They rely upon their children to translate. For me, this smacks of disrespect for the country in which they are living. English is the dominant language here. They should learn it. There are plenty of programs which provide English-language instruction at low or no cost. There is no excuse.
    
    These are just individuals within a very large group. But they do exist, and they do place burdens upon the system.
  - buygoldandprosper
    
    Having worked in the fields (yes,actually picking) with migrant farm workers. Growing up in a thoroughly segregated city,very much like the Deep South you have read about…I can smell xenophobia a mile away. Maybe farther.
    I learned my tolerance by watching how the system works and later by living in SanFrancisco. The City by The Bay is the Harvard of Open-Mindedness,and I received my Masters.
    Unlike my comments about Ms. Attack Husky,I was just citing a bit of information. If the shoe fits,and we like them to fit well in Connecticut,wear it!
  - Bill Morrison
    
    I also am from San Francisco. And, I am most decidedly not xenophobic. Again, the article is about how poverty is on the rise among CT school children; my point is that new immigrants are also on the rise and affect the poverty rates in CT. I stand by my assessment of U.S. Census data. Quit being paranoid.
  - Bill Morrison
    
    Oh, let’s change the definition of poverty so that we are politically correct . . . Poverty is defined as people living below the poverty level unless they are immigrants. Then, the poverty level does not apply.
    Of course, I am being facitious, but that seems to be buygoldandprosper’s point. Povert is poverty unless we are talking about immigrants who live below the poverty level.
  - Apartheid First
    
    The recession has had a devastating impact on the economy, and no one can deny that poor people have suffered the most. The old adage about having nothing to lose is not true. Living on the edge of survival is depressing and should be unacceptable in a modern, developed society, but there’s a lot over the edge that is infinitely worse.
    So, having suffered along with many working people during this downturn, I see the desperation that others have been thrown into, regardless of immigration status or linguisitc origins.
    While I agree with Bill Morrison about the plight of destitue refugees and immigrants, legal and otherwise, I don’t think this offsets the situation of inner-city Hartford residents… I believe buygold was objecting to that way of looking at the problem of poverty. And yes, Connecticut is deeply segregated and racist, and that racism is directed at certain groups in varying degrees of virulence.
    By the way, Spanish is a language of the Americas. It is very hard to learn a second or third language in the best of circumstances, and English-only speakers are the greatest proof of this.
  - msavage
    
    Spanish is a language of the Americas, true. But it is not the dominant language of the United States of America. If someone is going to immigrate here, and partake of social safety net programs paid for by taxpayers here, my opinion is that they should at least respect the dominant language enough to make every attempt to learn it. Again, with all of the inexpensive/free opportunities available to immigrants for learning English, it seems disrespectful to me and/or lazy to not attempt to learn it, thereby placing the onus upon society to provide translation. I would expect the same courtesy of an American immigrating to another country. If I were to go work in a Spanish-speaking country, I would feel responsible for learning the Spanish language rather than expecting the native population to provide translation. Of course it is difficult to learn a second language–particularly for adults. But after several years and some hard work, most people whould be able to pick up at least a functional level of English.
  - JMC
    
    Much food for thought there, M. Until recently it was thought that English was a minimum necessary requirement in order to participate responsibly as a citizen in our Republic. Thus the English comprehension requirement for citizenship and the right to vote. But now the “fundamental right to vote” trumps the need for anything at all, including showing the tiniest bit of responsiblity of any kind. Voters are herded to the polls like cattle.
  - Bill Morrison
    
    The issue lies in the nature of the article, that there might be a correlation between poverty and the performance of Hartford’s Schools. My point is that poverty has risen among our students partly as a result of increased immigration to the city. Impoverished students who have immigrated from another nation affect poverty levels among that population apart from the schools, of which the immigrants have not attended.
    In other words, the rate of impoverished students who have been raised in Hartford throughout their school lives might be statistically important; when students who recently immigrated to the city are factored in, this could lead to artificially inflated poverty numbers. This needs to be factored into the numbers presented by Jonathan.
    That is not xenophobic; that is not racist; that is fact.
  - LaurieLima
    
    I want to thank you for coming out and saying “and yes, Connecticut is deeply segregated and racist, and racism is directed at certain groups in varying degrees of virulence” It is not something openly admitted or discussed but if you live here (in the denial but are not part of it) you walk around thinking “is it me?” even when you know it’s not. Thank you!
  - JMC
    
    Could you give us a comprehensive definition of “xenophobia”?
  - msavage
    
    How about this: Xenophobe: A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of
    strangers or foreign peoples.
  - JMC
    
    Sounds good, and a noble effort. Ah, but that word “unduly”. There’s the rub. Interpretations of it will differ. It may be with this word as with others, that no acceptable definition is possible in a post-modernist, deconstructed world because nobody can agree on anything. Of course some folks would say that is the hallmark of a civilization in decline. And others would celebrate such an attitude as a new height.
  - Bill Morrison
    
    Being called a xenophobe is a first for me! I have travelled around the world, own property in Italy, have marched alongside MLK, taught multicultural courses, made a conscious decision to remain teaching in Hartford because of the multicultural nature of this city, and, as soon as I simply state that, when citing poverty numbers, we must consider the actual source of that povert, I am denounced as a xenophobe. Unbelievable!
  - JMC
    
    Bill, you are certainly not a xenophobe! You have been victimized in a post-modernist employment of the word, wherein it is employed to annihilate you as a person, to alleviate its employer of any obligation to responsible discourse, and to render your intelligent and informed responses and self-explanation meaningless.
  - Bill Morrison
    
    Can you read? I never said anything against such immigrants. I simply said that we have a huge number of impoverished immigrants in Hartford; all you have to do is check the census and talk with any teacher here. I never said anything about hard work or future impact. The next time you comment, please read and think upon what the writer has said.
  - Bill Morrison
    
    Also, if you actually read my comments, you would note that I never mentioned the word “illegal” when mentioning immigrants. Impoverished, newly arrived legal immigrants do have a serious impact on poverty, which also seriously impacts education.
  - JMC
    
    Perhaps we could use some value-neutral terms for “folks” who used to be called be”illegal aliens” such as i.e “undocumented foreign nationals”. I have read elsewhere that 1/3rd of the population of Mexico now resides in the United States. Re: poverty. Long ago I read, perhaps in National Geographic, of a demographics study of Cairo, Egypt. The center of the city was the wealthier part. Outside it, in an expanding concentric circle pattern, the population of poor people was twice that of the wealthier people in the center. The poorer population in the outside circle increased as richer people in the center grew and expanded their core. The ratio was 2 poor to 1 “wealthy”. So, 1 million “rich”, 2 million poor. Then 2 million “rich”, 4 million poor. 3 million “rich”, 6 million poor. The equation was unalterable. The conclusion: the more “wealthy” there are, the greater number of poorer citizens can attain a mere subsistence level of existence. Wealth attracts poverty. CT, as a wealthy state, will continue to attract poorer people. And with near unrestricted immigration, we will become a 3rd world State. So will the rest of the country.
  - Bill Morrison
    
    Unless, of course, you are Marxist. Then, you believe that one man’s wealth causes others to live in poverty.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Rich-White/100000066062155 Rich White

Bring back Nixon’s Negative Income Tax//Minimum Income and full employment.
I’d like to see every adult guaranteed poverty level benefits on a government EBT card and the minimum wage indexed to 2x that ($11.00 an hour or $22,000 a year). Employmment available on request–either public or private depending on aptitude and availability
Instead we have a govenrment more interested in retiring prison guards at age 44 who collect $70,000 a year while their bosses pass “NoSustiNet for US” labor contracts. It should be “One Policy to heal Them All”
What passes for organized labor today is a racketeering gig and SEBAC sphincter lick. Ban public sector unions and let’s start all over again.
buygoldandprosper

You will not get much,except lip-service,from our elected officials.
In a state where AttackHuskies make $150K to read press releases,a governor gets his wife a job she was underqualified for,making close to $200K (and nobody said a thing!), elected officials throughout the state are routinely convicted of corruption…forget about it.
It used to be all about the children, in a collective sense. Now,at best,it is about MY CHILDREN.
This state is about basketball,taxes,bad air,corporate greed and…well,the list of negatives is pretty long for such a tiny little state.
With Dan Malloy and his band of Merry Hibernians,the kids and their parents are in for a tough time. The social well being of the body politic is nothing but a footnote on the campaign trail or state of the state address.
Go Huskies!
buygoldandprosper

Check out Mr. Kennedy’s calender for the nine weeks he took off:
http://www.courant.com/media/acrobat/2012-10/330345220-17092014.pdf
Do you REALLY think that Mr. Malloy and his Merry Band of Hibernians care about children in this state?! They are so busy looting the treasury that kids matter about as much as…say,clean air and water.
HIS HIRE (BigDan’s) was passing out raises like party favors,REMOTELY, and by extension…DAN WAS PASSING OUT THE RAISES!! Unless he was in Davos or China at the time! Wait! I said REMOTELY!
And now we have another loser at the helm…watching over the welfare of our older children in the system.
This stuff is bad fiction,anyplace else but Connecticut. Here,it is like Nightmare on Elm Street.
Go Huskies!!
- Apartheid First
  
  Can we get Adamowski’s calendar? He works remotely–in some tower somewhere. Or maybe one of Dick Cheney’s undisclosed locations… remember those?
buygoldandprosper

The children take a backseat to lab rats and MAYBE thirty jobs a year over ten years at a cost of over $291M.
Dan Malloy has priorities that are misguided and in my mind,borderline criminial. He has breached his fiduciary responsibility to the citizens.
“This stuff has worldwide implications and sometimes, not always but sometimes in Connecticut, we tend to dwell on the small and not the big picture. This is big picture stuff. This is about repositioning a university” and the state’s bioscience industry, he said. “If you don’t see it, you might actually be blind.”
–DanMalloy,speaking remotely from UConn groundbreaking.
Charlie Puffers

On July 9, 1996 the Suprme Court of the state of CT ruled that the schools in Hartford were racially, ethnically, and economically segregated. Guess what? Today the neighborhood schools in Hartford are more racially, ethnically, and economically segregated than in 1996. Great job Adamowski, Amato, and commissioners of education past and present. I have heard that CT is the second most segregated state in the country.
Buygoldandprosper

Spreading that pork for the children!
http://www.governor.ct.gov/malloy/cwp/view.asp?Q=512604&A=4010
Good for the little ones in this “NCLB,test-driven era”.
- Sue
  
  We give them a free dinner (along with breakfast and lunch).
jonpelto

Friends, As “we” know, only I can engage in name calling, unless the person who you are calling names is an elected or appointed official – in which case – all bets are off. But alas, unfortunately the number of times where people have posted comments that include “inappropriate name calling” seems to be on the rise. I’m trying to figure out how to handle this development. If you have a suggestion, please email me at [email protected]. One option is that I will review comments before they are posted. A paid in the ass to be sure but probably the best way to solve the problem. The second is that I ask a random group of you the power to delete comments that call others names and if you see one – you delete it. Of course, we’d want to make sure you aren’t using that power to silence those who simply have a different opinion. So, please send your thoughts. thanks, jonathan
- buygoldandprosper
  
  Reviewing my comments makes me wonder,but I seem to be missing the reason for this post. No matter. Never one to be asked twice I see,generally,no reason to engage in censorship.
  I will self censor…very much like self deportation,and take my leave.
  Two words of caution to any thin-skinned people engaging in concurrence-seeking discourse on blogs–groupthink fails.
  Anyway looking over my comments, there are far too many. Almost to the point of creepy.
  Good luck to all. Remember to donate to Jon. He should be kept in business independently,so he does not sell out like other sites that are trying to fight the good fight!
  - Apartheid First
    
    Sounds like a good policy–to use some caution but to allow well-needed venting. We should observe civility, but I see no reason to tip-toe around everything.
    The power to delete comments could easily get out of hand (I have not read all the new ones here)–people start scrutinizing everything they or anyone else might say, and it defeats the whole purpose of a blog, in my opinion. Then the comments turn into some virtuous badge of righteousness, rather than an instrument of questioning and critiquing.
  - msavage
    
    Speaking for myself, I certainly never wanted you to stop commenting here, buygold. The vast majority of the time, you make valuable contributions to the conversation. But like I said a while ago–I will speak up if I feel like someone else is being treated unfairly. Just as I expect someone else to call me out if I go over the top.
- Sue
  
  DailyKos allows ‘Trusted Users’ an opportunity to ‘silence’ (aka ban) posters after a couple of inappropriate comments or references. Maybe a voting system? I know it sounds like a popularity comment, but KKK references are really over the top – the are embedded signals for an agenda.
  - Sue
    
    popularity contest.
jonpelto

There were times today that I was just going to delete all the comments on this post and call it a day… although I have to say we all certainly learned a lot about the word “xenophobia.” So we’ll now right it off as educational and use today’s discussion it as a basis to remind ourselves that words are powerful things. I admit I’m often the first to fall down on this task – but words have meanings – so pick the right words when you decide to make observations about others who share our little “wait, what?” space…..okay? just nod your head up and down. good.

Wait, What?