U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has said:  “Rural Americans are special people. Their labor puts food on our table and gas in our gas tanks. Their service in our military sets a powerful example of leadership, honor and sacrifice. Their spirit of community inspires us all.”

Why, then, rural residents often wonder, is rural income, on average, $11,000 less per year than urban income? Why are services to rural areas for everything from availability of cell phone service to health care the last to be provided and the first to be cut? Why are 90 percent of the counties of persistent poverty in rural America?

Lavina Grandon. Photo courtesy of the Rural Community Alliance

The rural poor, whose livelihoods, heritage or circumstances fix them in an environment which, though wonderful and spiritually nourishing, is static or declining in terms of opportunity and quality of services needed to sustain modern life, often find themselves with no friends in high places and no place to go for help.

Rural low-income families in Arkansas, however, are refusing to yield to the conventional wisdom that says that rural small-town life is a thing of the past.

Families from 57 small, low-wealth communities have banded together to form Rural Community Alliance, a nonprofit organization that advocates for rural places, schools and people and provides technical assistance to rural communities and individuals that wish to plan strategically to reverse loss of economic opportunity and population.

With 1,500 members and growing, the Rural Community Alliance also provides an effective statewide policy voice and is leading a movement of low-income rural families to counter the anti-rural bias that would rob their communities of opportunity and services.

The members of Rural Community Alliance first came together in 2003-04, when state policymakers proposed a plan to consolidate all rural schools with fewer than 1,500 students. This would have closed more than 80 percent of the schools in the state — all of them rural, most extremely poor, many majority African American and many so remote that their closure would have put students on a school bus for up to four hours a day. Whole counties would have been left without a school.

Rural parents, students and educators mobilized to prevent the wholesale consolidation envisioned by the governor and legislators, but the incident, in my opinion, highlighted an anti-rural bias among bureaucrats and state policymakers that needed to be countered by collective action.

A nonprofit organization was formed to be the voice of low-income rural families where the idea of “economy of scale” was being used to curtail essential services. Over the past 10 years, as Rural Community Alliance has grown and increased in influence, its members have made a difference in a number of issues affecting the quality of life in their communities.

Community revitalization has been one focus of the group. With a holistic, grassroots-led process, members analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to their communities and develop a strategic plan to increase opportunity and improve quality of life.

The Rural Community Alliance is now linking communities into regional networks for planning, marketing, training in organizing, grant writing, entrepreneurship and capacity building.

Another issue Rural Community Alliance members have tackled is rural post office closures. When the U.S. Postal Service announced the closing of 178 rural post offices in the state, Rural Community Alliance helped lead the fight to save them.

The organization put up a website to keep people informed about procedures, meeting dates and ways to oppose the closure of their post offices. It provided materials and technical assistance for community meetings.

As a result, a congressman and senator from Arkansas sponsored legislation to mitigate the effects of the post office closures on rural areas. The linkage provided by Rural Community Alliance to the national effort helped block the whole process and move the U.S. Postal Service in a new direction for addressing their budget shortfall.

In education, Rural Community Alliance members seek both community and state policy solutions to close the achievement gap by providing after-school programs and high-quality curriculum, fair discipline policies and a positive school climate. Rural Community Alliance has conducted a pilot project to identify ways to engage parents in remote and low-income communities and sponsored legislation to increase family engagement with schools.

Members of the organization are working on getting access to broadband and cell phone service in remote, underserved communities. They are addressing lack of access to health care through health fairs, health screenings, school clinics and rural help centers.

They are also looking for innovative ways to solve rural housing deficits and identifying and solving the problem of “food deserts” in remote and high-poverty areas.

Rural Community Alliance uses an intergenerational model of organizing, including everyone from children to seniors. It is membership based with members organized into community chapters.

Members are regularly invited to regional and statewide meetings and events to share ideas and stories and contribute to the direction of the organization.

Members are encouraged to “act locally and think statewide.” Over its history, the organization has moved from mobilization to issue organizing to building a movement of low-income rural families to sustain their communities and improve their way of life.

Lavina Grandon is co-founder and president of Rural Community Alliance. A retired teacher with 32 years of experience, she led the opposition to a 2003 plan to consolidate schools in Arkansas with under 1,500 enrollment. Grandon, who helps coordinate a food pantry, has served as a board member for the Rural School and Community Trust, Southern Echo and Valley Springs School District.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Board of Education voted Wednesday to close 50 schools and programs, an ambitious plan that has sparked protests and lawsuits and could help define — for better or worse — Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s term in office.

City officials say the closings are necessary because of falling school enrollment and as part of their efforts to improve the city’s struggling education system. Critics have blasted Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff, and schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett, saying the closings disproportionately affect minority neighborhoods and will endanger children who may have to cross gang boundaries to get to a new school.

They protested during a sometimes raucous board meeting Wednesday and sent busloads of parents, teachers and students to Springfield to lobby lawmakers to approve a moratorium on the closings. Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis called it “a day of mourning” for the children of Chicago, but Byrd-Bennett defended the decision.

Protests occurred inside the Chicago Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, as board members voted to close 50 schools that are considered "underutilized." Photo courtesy of Chicago Teachers Union

“The only consideration for us today is to do exactly what is right for the children,” Byrd-Bennett said before the vote.

Chicago Public Schools said in a statement that the goal is to “consolidate underutilized schools and programs to provide students with the quality, 21st century education they need to succeed in the classroom” and create “higher-performing Welcoming Schools starting this fall.”

Many experts say it is the largest number of closings at any one time by any school district in recent memory, and it comes with political risk. The teacher’s union already has pledged to start a voter registration drive in an attempt to register 200,000 new voters before the 2015 municipal elections — when Emanuel will be up for re-election — and to raise funds to support candidates for mayor, city council and statewide office.

“We know that we may not win every seat we intend to target but with research, polling, money and people power we can win some of them,” Lewis said.

But the mayor said Tuesday he believes closing the schools is the right thing to do, and that possible blowback from voters wasn’t a factor in his decisions.

“I will absorb the political consequence so our children have a better future,” Emanuel said. “If I was to shrink from something the city has discussed for over a decade about what it needed to do … because it was politically too tough, but then watch another generation of children drop out or fail in their reading and math, I don’t want to hold this job.”

Chicago is among several major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, Washington and Detroit to use mass school closures to reduce costs and offset declining enrollment. Detroit has closed more than 130 schools since 2005, including more than 40 in 2010 alone.

Also on Wednesday, students at South Kitsap High School in Port Orchard, Wash. voiced their opposition to cutbacks and support for teachers and education. Photo by Aigul Baur

The issue of cutbacks and layoffs surfaced in Port Orchard, Wash. on Tuesday, as students at South Kitsap High School held a rally to let administrators know they’re concerned about their education and teachers.

In Chicago, the school closings are the second major issue pitting Emanuel against the Chicago Teachers Union. The group’s 26,000 members went on strike early in the school year, partly over the school district’s demand for longer school days, idling students for a week.

Emanuel and Byrd-Bennett say the district’s financial and educational struggles call for drastic action. They say Chicago Public Schools is facing a deficit of about $1 billion and that too many buildings are half-empty because of a population drop in some city neighborhoods. CPS says it has 403,000 students in a system that has seats for more than 500,000.

The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless reported Wednesday that 8 percent of the affected students – and the group says there is a total of 31,438 pupils — are homeless. The organization says that is “twice the share of homeless students citywide.”

Emanuel and Byrd-Bennett have said students will be moved to schools that are performing better academically and that CPS will work with Chicago police and community groups to ensure students can get to and from their new schools safely. They also have promised all of the schools that receive students from closed buildings will have air conditioning and a library, and that students in third through eighth grades will be given iPads.

In a statement, Chicago school officials said that “unprecedented feedback from more than 34,000 parents and school community members guided (the) process that will create quality schools for over 29,000 students.”

Byrd-Bennett pointed to a smooth transition for the fall. “We will continue to engage with the community and work in partnership with them to ensure a safe, smooth transition for students this fall,” she said.

Earlier this week, on Monday, protesters arrived at Chicago City Hall to stage a sit-in and express their displeasure with the school closings, according to the Chicago Teachers Union. The union reported that protesters were arrested.

Byrd-Bennett proposed in March that 54 schools and programs be closed. She revised her recommendation on Wednesday, asking the board to spare four schools. Three were left open because they have unique initiatives, such as a program for hearing impaired students and child/parent center. The other was saved because it is the only magnet school in one area of the city.

The board — whose members are appointed by Emanuel — agreed with her recommendations, ultimately voting to close one high school program and 49 elementary schools, which serve students up to eighth grade. One closing will be delayed by one year; the remaining schools are scheduled to close at the end of the current academic year.

Whether the closings impact Emanuel politically could depend greatly on how things play out over those next few months. If all goes smoothly, he could be the mayor who finally found a way to turnaround the nation’s third-largest school district. If they don’t, said political analyst Don Rose, “it’s going to be trouble.”

Alison Burke, whose 3-year-old son is in the pre-kindergarten program at Trumbull Elementary, which will be closed, predicted the vote will trigger an exodus from the city by parents.

“No question about it,” she said. “I’ve talked to hundreds of parents who all say if their kids can’t get into neighborhood schools they can’t stay.”

Nina Stoner’s four kids attend West Pullman Elementary on the city’s South Side, which the board also voted to close. She said she plans to “boycott” CPS rather than let her children go to their new school, which is located in rival gang territory.

“It’s a war. It’s not safe,” Stoner said.

Stoner said the gang members to the north of her neighborhood already have gotten “really aggressive.” She’s had one family member jumped by the gang, and another who was shot.

And she’s already made up her mind about the mayor in 2015.

“He won’t get no vote from me,” she said.

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Associated Press reporter Don Babwin and Equal Voice News contributed to this report. The top photo is courtesy of the Chicago Teachers Union and that rally was held before the Wednesday, May 22 meeting.

That’s the view of Joyce Parker, an energetic and passionate resident of Greenville, Miss. She is the director of Citizens for a Better Greenville (CBG), an organization that works with some of the lowest wealth communities in the city of about 38,000 residents.

She and the families with whom she works engage residents to participate in community-building programs, especially for youth, advocate for quality education and become empowered in civic affairs. She has a deep dedication to improving education for African Americans.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama proclaimed May 5 to 11 as “National Charter Schools Week,” giving a nod to what many see as educational flexibility and “widening the circle of opportunity for students who need it most.”

Parker and other Greenville residents are moving forward on a grassroots educational plan of their own.

Joyce Parker, left, talks with residents in Greenville, Miss.

They’ve dubbed it a “Missing in Action” campaign, which would involve social workers, church members, parents, teachers, residents, police and truant officers, city employees and school district administrators to make sure the estimated 6,500 public school students in Greenville receive the support they need.

The graduation rate in Greenville, she says, is 66 percent. In 2011, in this agricultural community, the average income for a person was about $17,200, according to the Census Bureau.

For Parker, this concerted community approach is a better alternative than starting a charter school – which is supported by public money and allowed under Mississippi state law — but can only accommodate a portion of the public school students.

While there are those who support charter schools, Parker asks a straightforward question: What about the students who don’t go to a charter school?

Equal Voice News talked with her about schools and Greenville. This interview was edited.

Q: For people not familiar with Citizens for a Better Greenville and the city, could you talk about both?

We’re a community-based organization and we’re located in Greenville, Miss., which is in the heart of the Delta. We are the largest community in the Delta with about 38,000 people. It’s flatland. It’s agricultural in nature. It’s rural to a degree. We’re on the Mississippi River.

Q: What are the schools like in Greenville and the Delta area?

We have public schools here but we have about four private schools in our community. Most of our school districts in the Delta area are very small. Greenville is the largest. We have about 6,500 students. A majority of the students in the districts are African American. In Greenville, the graduation rate is 66 percent.

Q: What is your view on charter schools, especially in Greenville?

I oppose charter schools in the Greenville district. It’s a small district, compared to New York and Chicago. In Greenville, we have one high school with about 1,500 students. In our elementary schools, we might have 300 to 400 students per school. If the premise is that you want to get a plan that works, why not implement it in all the schools, as compared to taking one school out? It should be in every school. What happens to the other students?

Q: Elaborate on your concerns.

Charter schools will have first dibs on the district budget. You have school districts that are already underfunded. Then, you are going to make schools fight over that money. If you don’t have a holistic plan for the entire district, then what will happen? Who will go to that school? What will be the impact on the district, especially if it’s a failing district? Usually, you hear about ‘choice.’ That’s a buzzword. With charter schools, it brings back the idea of separate but not equal into communities.

Q: It sounds like you’re concerned that public schools could become weaker.

What might happen is the morale that grows out of not having total buy in will really hinder the effectiveness of public education in our community. Then, the community is weaker. At the heart of it is, parents are being blamed as why public schools are failing. Teachers are being blamed for public schools that are failing. But at the end of the day, it is the decision makers who should be blamed. They are making the decisions.

Q: What is a solution to improve public schools?

We have a new school district administration in Greenville, and we are seeing them actively look at the data and identify what the problems are. A part of that has been to actively look at reducing suspensions. Teachers must teach but students must be in the classroom. Not only were children not in the school but they were chronically absent. What our organization is doing, we’re talking about a ‘Missing in Action’ plan.

Q: Talk more about that.

How do we keep students in school? We have students who have missed 10 or more days of school. These are chronic absentees. Some students are in a single parent home. That parent might work at night, get home and fall asleep and not get them to school. In the South, some kids move in with grandparents and the teens are the caregivers and are not being made to go to school. And you have homelessness. We have high rates of unemployment. People might only stay in the city for three months. Our schools are failing because of chronic absenteeism. Give us a chance to fix it. Don’t say, ‘Let’s make a charter school.’

Q: How would ‘Missing in Action’ work?

This has to do with leadership. When we’re talking about the ‘Missing in Action’ campaign, we’re not only talking about our students and parents but everyone who is supposed to support schools. That goes to the chronic absenteeism that we have. We’re looking at reducing the number of suspensions and to call on our school officers and city government officials who have reinforced our curfew law. Instead of arresting kids, take them to the alternative school. We’re talking about social workers in schools. We’re talking about getting help from the truant officers. We’re saying to churches, ‘If you know someone who is working all night, then why not mentor that family?’ We’ll partner with you.

Q: What would you say to President Obama about charter schools?

I would say, ‘You’ve got to stop changing the game in our communities.’ And it might seem like we’re catching up, then the game or the rules are changed. The expectations have to be there that our communities have to be healthy communities, as compared to communities that someone else wants them to be.

Q: Why are you so committed to helping people?

This is a calling in my life. I don’t want to see anyone lost. I don’t believe anyone has to be lost.

 – Interview conducted by Brad Wong, assistant news editor for Equal Voice News 

2013 © Equal Voice for America’s Families Newspaper

President Barack Obama sat in a chair at the White House on Tuesday and, as two participants recalled, made eye contact with immigrants as they discussed the reasons their families moved to the United States.

Obama encouraged Diana Colin and Justino Mora, members of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), as well as all participants, to tell their stories about how families want better lives.

A group of immigrants talk with reporters outside the White House on May 21 about meeting President Barack Obama and sharing stories about why their families moved to the United States and the need for family unity with immigration reform. Photo courtesy of Jorge-Mario Cabrera from the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles

After years of asking for a face-to-face meeting, immigrants affiliated with the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) met Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for an Oval Office discussion about what immigration means to them and the country, according to CHIRLA, which is a member of that group.

The meeting involved a small group of people and occurred as the Senate Judiciary Committee considered a comprehensive immigration reform bill that later passed and, among many issues, could provide a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the country. The U.S. House of Representatives is working on its immigration plan. The United States has not not seen comprehensive immigration reform since 1986.

For Colin, nervousness about the meeting quickly washed away as the California State University, Fullerton graduate talked about her parents, who are undocumented and own a small dry cleaning business.

“I kept thinking, ‘How is it that a 2-year-old who came from Mexico would now be at the White House?’” she said in a statement.

“What we did today is open doors and I hope many more will come after us,” she added. “Through our stories, we talked policy, a halt to deportations, keep(ing) families together and an inclusive and direct path to citizenship.”

Mora, a student at UCLA, arrived in the United States as a child.

“They seemed to listen and care about what we had to say,” he said, referring to Obama and Biden.

“…I told them about my family and my mother, who is undocumented. Every time I mentioned my mother’s struggle to give me and my siblings a better life, the President looked into my eyes.”

After the meeting, the White House released a statement, saying that Obama was moved by the stories from the participants. Some have received deferred action.

“He made clear that while the current bill is not perfect, it does represent an important step towards the broad principles that need to be part of any immigration reform package,” the White House said.

Among those who attended was Melissa McGuire-Maniau, a U.S. Air Force veteran and board member with the Florida Immigrant Coalition. Outside the White House, McGuire-Maniau told reporters about how her family feared immigration agents arriving at their Florida house to deport her husband.

“One simple knock on the door can tear our family apart. This feeling of powerlessness is common to all of us,” she said in a statement released by FIRM. “By joining this movement to keep families together, we have been able to turn that fear into real power.”

Angie Kim of New York City was another meeting participant. She moved from South Korea when she was 9-years-old to help her disabled grandparents, according to FIRM. Her family tried filing immigration papers for citizenship but their efforts became lost in a government bureaucracy.

She has been undocumented for nearly 20 years.

Her father waited for 13 years for a citizenship interview. Days after he received a letter for a citizenship interview, his sponsor – Angie Kim’s grandmother – died.

In a YouTube video, Kim talked about how a group of people coming together can bring about positive change. “If people get together and if we speak up and we fight for our rights, change will happen very soon,” she said.

Colin appreciated the fact that Obama listened to their stories and didn’t talk policy with them. He told them that stories are powerful — and that they need to be shared.

“As soon as the President himself opened the doors to let us in, I knew I was here to represent thousands of immigrant families and the nervousness withered away,” she recalled.

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Brad Wong is assistant news editor for Equal Voice News.

2013 © Equal Voice for America’s Families Newspaper