Harvard, Yale or Hairdressing School?

When you don't know quite what to do, do what rich people do. I have yet to meet any adults who are wealthy and have three kids who say: 'Harvard, Yale or hairdressing school?' – Geoffrey Canada, President/CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone.

Education has long been a passion of mine. Maybe it’s in my genetic make-up. Jews have been murdered, persecuted, raped and enslaved for more than 2,000 years. (My great-grandmother witnessed her mother’s head being loped off during a Pogrom in Russia and quickly high-tailed it to the nearest ship heading to the United States to make a better life for herself. She was 12.) Yet, somehow we always managed to survive and prevail in any culture we lived. 

Usually within one generation of arriving to any country, Jewish immigrants developed thriving and successful communities.  They became educators, bankers, business owners and town leaders before they were chased out and forced to start over again.  I attribute their success to the long held value placed on education and the support of the village to help raise the children. 

My family is a perfect example of that philosophy. My grandfather emigrated from Austria as a young child of four. As an adult, he bought his own textile store and saw his children grow up to be educators and business owners. In my own household, while money was scarce, there was never a doubt that my brothers and I were going to college and that is the same message I raised my children believing. 

Before graduating from high school, I attended 13 schools in three different states. I went to some of the poorest and wealthiest schools in the communities I lived. And I can say unequivocally that schools with a higher percentage of poor students did not have the same advantages as the others.

Last month, I had the privilege of attending a luncheon hosted by the Village of Promise that featured Geoffrey Canada, a world renown, education reformer. His message was simple: while you can’t save everyone, you can save someone and we all have an obligation to make the attempt.

Canada’s story is amazing.  In the 1990’s, he started trying to end generational poverty in Harlem by carving out 17 square blocks and providing extensive support services to the children and families that lived there starting pre-birth. 

During the next 20 years, that number grew to 100 blocks and 17,000 children. Today, 87 percent of his eighth grade students are at grade level in math, higher than any other public school in New York. He didn’t let naysayers stop him. He didn’t let his lack of money stop him. He let his vision and his heart guide him. And that is what we have to do in our own community today.

Canada says that what drove him was his belief that there was no “Superman” that was going to come and save him or his neighborhood. That it was up to him and the Harlem community to save themselves.

The Village of Promise is taking that same message to Huntsville residents. They brought Canada to town to encourage our community to stop blaming each other and begin tackling our own generational poverty. 

It is a fact that it is difficult to learn on an empty stomach with a body that aches. It’s harder yet, when you don’t have the basic tools or a positive role model to show you how to succeed.

"If you have a school where kids are behind and they're in school the same number of days that other kids are in school ... why would we expect these kids to ever catch up? They have never caught up anywhere in America. We've got to rethink schools, but no one wants to do that. You know what we do instead of rethink schools? We fire superintendents," Canada told the Huntsville crowd from which he heard a chorus of “amens”.

Huntsville has an opportunity to save its children and its educational system. But, first we must realize that it is our responsibility to do so. It is much cheaper to educate and train our future workforce than it is to support a growing prison population. And that, too, is a fact.