Persuasive Essay On The War On Poverty

In 1958, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a war on poverty. Over 50 years later, the war on poverty continues and some of the individuals most affected by poverty are children. More than 16 million children grow up in poverty in the U.S. Of these 16 million children one in three graduate from high school and only 18 percent of those individuals, enter a four-year college. Of those students that do enter college, only 9 percent will receive a bachelor’s degree by the age of 25.

Statistics of children in poverty, academic articles like the 1983 Nation at Risk and subpar international rankings of the U.S. have led the federal government to respond to a crisis in education. Thus, the federal government has created and supported programs that will address education and increase opportunities for children living in poverty. One of the programs the federal government supports is Teach for America.

The mission of Teach for America is to enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation’s most promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence.” Educational equity and excellence are both subjects that the federal and local governments have attempted to address for decades.

In 2010, I

Specifically, resources I could use to further develop in my field. I was now contracted and employed by the City of Birmingham Public Schools and was now an educator solely through the public sector. The following two years I worked with teachers around the state to continue tackling educational excellence and educational equity. To undertake educational equity I worked with parents and community members to empower them through education. Specifically, I conducted Spanish classes for these individuals to not only allow them to help their children in their academic work but also gain a skill that they could use in a