How to "break the cycle of generational poverty"

The quote in the title comes from the website of the Harlem Children's Zone, which describes itself as a "holistic system of education, social-service and community-building programs aimed at helping the children and families in a 97-block area of Central Harlem." And ending the cycle of generational poverty really is their goal; one that they are achieving. Skeptical? President Obama isn't. From his poverty agenda:

Establish 20 Promise Neighborhoods: Obama and Biden will create 20 Promise Neighborhoods in areas that have high levels of poverty and crime and low levels of student academic achievement in cities across the nation. The Promise Neighborhoods will be modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone, which provides an entire neighborhood with a full network of services from birth to college, including early childhood education, youth violence prevention efforts, and after-school activities.

So what's got him convinced? For starters, there are these two statistics: Nationally, "7% of black eighth-graders perform at grade level in math / 97.4% of Harlem Promise Academy eighth-graders were at or above grade level in math." (for anyone who does EOTO at Hamilton Elementary, you should look for the similar (to the national average) statistics posted outside the main office)

The two Promise Academies, which opened in 2005 and 2006, have each been adding a new class every year and will eventually run from kindergarten to 12th grade. But what has made them so successful? Here's a possible explanation: "The budget for the HCZ Project for fiscal year 2009 is over $40 million, costing an average of $3,500 per child." So no surprise there; the more money you spend, the better the kids will do.

Well, not quite. As it happens, "in 2004–2005 (the most recent school year for which data are available), an average of $9,266 was spent per pupil in American public schools", that's more than 2.5 times what the Harlem Children's Zone spends. And we've seen the results of that money, so far. And HCZ students are certainly not doing well because they're born into great circumstances: Harlem's unemployment rate is twice that of the rest of New York, and a 1990 study reported that a 15 year old women from Harlem had only a 65% chance of making it to 65, while men had a mere 37% chance of making it to 65.

For those who listen to This American Life on a regular basis (and you should if you don't), they did a show on HCZ and its founder, Geoffry Canada some time last year. Central to the plan Canada sets forth with the HCZ is to start on kids very early (see: baby college) and to continue to provide resources to both the children and their families throughout the education process.

Canada sums it up his views on our education system best here:

We can spend escalating amounts of money on jails, drug treatment and welfare --
or we can pay a fraction of that money up front and do the job of educating low-income Americans right the first time.