Wealth and Poverty

In early 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders continued plans for a Poor People’s Campaign. It would take place in the spring in Washington, D.C. The poor and those in solidarity with them would take up temporary residence and march peacefully on the Capitol and advocate for substantial anti-poverty legislation from Congress. They would demand jobs, healthcare and decent housing.

Something about Belinda’s brave smile looks familiar to me. The briefest shadow darkens her face while other students banter about the gifts they’ve asked for and the ones they’ve already received. Because she’s outgoing, the other kids don’t recognize the proud face she wears while they talk of skiing, sumptuous meals and overseas travel. Belinda never says a word. She just smiles and listens.

For 20 nights, Kate has collapsed onto a different air mattress in a new space, a strange place—none of them home.

The 15-year-old, her parents and two younger brothers cart themselves and their meager possessions from shelter to shelter.

A legal settlement reached in Los Angeles Tuesday could reverberate through schools in low-income neighborhoods across the country.

The Board of Education there approved a deal with the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups that would radically limit the practice of laying off teachers based solely on seniority.

This year’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was clearly a disaster for the environment. But it has also been a disaster for people, and it did not affect everyone equally.

Active parents make a teacher’s job much easier. They check up on homework assignments, help with discipline and guarantee that education is valued. 

There’s an old joke among real estate agents that the three most important things to consider in any property are location, location, location.

Zach Bonner is on the road again in his mission to bring public attention to the hardships faced by homeless kids. Last December, the Florida sixth-grader began his 2,478-mile hike from Tampa to Los Angeles. Members of his family walk with him and follow along in a loaned RV. 

School kids today struggle with a lot outside the classroom. Their distractions range from drugs and cyberbullying to over-busy schedules and ads peddling unrealistic body images.

The recession has not helped with this. In fact, it’s created more serious distractions, especially for Latinos and African Americans.