Tomorrow’s workers and business leaders are today’s children. In a community as caring and collaborative as Springfield, every child should have the opportunity to reach his or her potential. Yet the numbers from the Every Child Promise community initiative are troubling.
• One in five local children is not prepared for kindergarten.
• Nearly 50 percent of Greene County families with children younger than five years live in poverty.
• One in three kids is obese or overweight by his or her fifth birthday.
• In 2012, Springfield Public Schools identified 517 homeless students.
The numbers pale in comparison to what we see in center city.
• An estimated 75 percent of incoming kindergartners at Campbell Elementary aren’t adequately prepared for their first day of school.
• About 92 percent of students at Campbell and McGregor elementary schools are on free and reduced lunches. That’s an average of only two students per class who aren’t living at or below the poverty line.
• Convenience stores are bustling with activity for prepackaged food paid for with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), while farm-fresh produce goes unsold at the C-Street Market, which has accepted SNAP cards for the past three years.
• More than 80 youth per night go to the Rare Breed drop-in shelter and even more hang out at Park Central Square.
The organizers of Every Child Promise are inviting everyone to offer ideas, volunteer for subcommittees and help shape a 10-year plan to improve the lives of area children.
Every Child Promise is an extension of the Every Child journalism project of the Springfield News-Leader. The series during the past two years provided a platform to educate the public on the issues and challenges. It started a movement that is larger than any one publication or media outlet.
Now is the time to get involved.
These are not SPS Superintendent Norm Ridder’s problems to solve at the school district. It’s not Springfield Police Department Chief Paul Williams’ conundrum to clean up the consequences of untapped potential. It’s not another fundraising program for the United Way or Community Foundation of the Ozarks.
These are deeply rooted systemic problems of generational poverty. Professionals and community activists have wrestled with these issues individually and in small groups for decades. Their efforts have been heartfelt and heroic, but they need reinforcements.
In his book “The Great Reset,” Richard Florida noted, “There are two kinds of jobs that are growing: higher-paying knowledge, professional and creative jobs and lower-paying routine jobs in the service economy. During the past three decades, the U.S. economy has added 28 million routine service jobs and 23 million knowledge, professional and creative jobs, compared to just 1 million in manufacturing.”
Florida notes the need to improve the analytical and social aspect of all jobs and that there is a lot of potential for innovation in the service sector. Look at the IDEA Commons and the downtown entertainment district to see those trends playing out in Springfield.
Make the promise to do your part. Log on to
EveryChildPromise.org for more information.
Rusty Worley, executive director of Urban Districts Alliance, can be reached at rusty@itsalldowntown.com.
