NEW YORK—Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) has worked with local families since 1970, providing a variety of support services, from health and educational programs to opening a charter school. It aims to end a cycle of generational poverty. HCZ officials had to defend their methods and effectiveness to this end at a City Council hearing on Monday.
Brookings Institute, a nonprofit Washington-based public policy organization released a report in 2010 that criticized the HCZ as being overly expensive, at $5,500 per child, for the results it yields.
“In an era of stress on public budgets, we think there should be good evidence that an expensive new approach works before it is scaled up and widely implemented with taxpayer funds,” states the report, in light of “Obama administration’s request to Congress for $210 million to replicate the HCZ in 20 communities across the nation.”
The argument made by the Brookings Institute study was that the money spent on children in HCZ would be better spent directly on schools without all the other programs offered by HCZ.
Testifying for HCZ’s effectiveness, the Ddirector of Policy & Special Projects for President Obama, Kate Shoemaker believes that both are needed to effect real change.
Councilman Oliver Koppell pointed out that the most convincing argument made by HCZ for their effectiveness was made with a chart that compared the math test scores of HCZ’s Promise Charter School students next to students at other schools in the same neighborhood. He says that seems to agree with Brooking’s Institute point that schools make the difference.
“There’s a very strong case for what you’re doing,” said Councilman Albert Vann, impressed by HCZ’s programs. The comprehensive services offered by HCZ include everything from working to prepare children for school to treating childhood ailments like asthma that keep them home from school.
“The problem is, you can’t quantify it to the extent that the policymakers and funders want it. They want you to quantify things that aren’t quantifiable,” said Vann.
Standardized tests allow for quantification. They show concrete results.
No students or former students of HCZ attended the hearing. Councilwoman Helen Foster said she would have liked to see an African-American or Latino student who had broken out of the cycle of poverty testify about the effects on their lives.
Koppell noted that whether or not HCZ could definitively prove the effectiveness of their comprehensive social services, common sense says they are good for kids. Even if the program’s effectiveness cannot be quantified, he says that is no reason to discontinue the services.
Brookings Institute, a nonprofit Washington-based public policy organization released a report in 2010 that criticized the HCZ as being overly expensive, at $5,500 per child, for the results it yields.
“In an era of stress on public budgets, we think there should be good evidence that an expensive new approach works before it is scaled up and widely implemented with taxpayer funds,” states the report, in light of “Obama administration’s request to Congress for $210 million to replicate the HCZ in 20 communities across the nation.”
The argument made by the Brookings Institute study was that the money spent on children in HCZ would be better spent directly on schools without all the other programs offered by HCZ.
Testifying for HCZ’s effectiveness, the Ddirector of Policy & Special Projects for President Obama, Kate Shoemaker believes that both are needed to effect real change.
Councilman Oliver Koppell pointed out that the most convincing argument made by HCZ for their effectiveness was made with a chart that compared the math test scores of HCZ’s Promise Charter School students next to students at other schools in the same neighborhood. He says that seems to agree with Brooking’s Institute point that schools make the difference.
“There’s a very strong case for what you’re doing,” said Councilman Albert Vann, impressed by HCZ’s programs. The comprehensive services offered by HCZ include everything from working to prepare children for school to treating childhood ailments like asthma that keep them home from school.
“The problem is, you can’t quantify it to the extent that the policymakers and funders want it. They want you to quantify things that aren’t quantifiable,” said Vann.
Standardized tests allow for quantification. They show concrete results.
No students or former students of HCZ attended the hearing. Councilwoman Helen Foster said she would have liked to see an African-American or Latino student who had broken out of the cycle of poverty testify about the effects on their lives.
Koppell noted that whether or not HCZ could definitively prove the effectiveness of their comprehensive social services, common sense says they are good for kids. Even if the program’s effectiveness cannot be quantified, he says that is no reason to discontinue the services.
