Constituency Building, Gainful Employment, and Racial Disparities in Educational Achievement

Our policy team examines a range of issues every month. Here's what we've focused on in June:

Grassroots Constituency Building
Gainful Employment
Racial Disparities in Educational Achievement

Grassroots Constituency Building in CA Leads to Interesting Findings

Just one year ago, EARN embarked on an ambitious journey, meeting with Californians throughout the state to better understand existing opportunities and barriers to upward economic mobility for low- and middle-income families. We partnered with the Greenlining Institute, Families in Schools, Long Beach Interfaith Community Organization, and PICO federations in the Central Valley to hold listening sessions at local churches, schools, community centers, and nonprofit organizations.

Through listening to nearly 1,000 Californians' concerns, ideas, and solutions, we discovered some interesting findings. With this information, EARN hopes to create a strong policy platform that serves low-income families. We strive to build a constituent base that becomes the voice for prosperity for all and to support them with strong advocacy and policy solutions.

Gainful Employment: A Step Forward
The Department of Education rolled out new regulations requiring career college programs to better prepare students for gainful employment. The final regulations will apply to career programs offered by public, non-profit, and for-profit colleges and will evaluate their federal financial aid eligibility on the basis of student debt measures. The new regulations will disqualify any programs from receiving federal aid that fail to meet the debt-to-income and repayment tests in three out of four years.

The new regulations require programs to have a repayment rate of at least 35% and its annual loan payment under the debt to earnings ratios must be 12% or less of annual earnings or 30% or less of discretionary income. While these changes are more lenient than the original proposal, it is definitely a step forward in protecting students from questionable career education programs that result in unsustainable debt. EARN’s research has revealed that students with debt are less likely to continue pursuing their education, which means less career opportunities and high debt. EARN will continue to work with legislators and community organizations to eliminate any barriers to college access.

Racial Disparities in Educational Achievement Starts Early and Persists Over Time
New research reveals that racial disparities in academic achievement begin as early as age two. A report by the INSIGHT Center for Community Economic Development finds that children of color are four times more likely to be born into impoverished households. In 2007, 32% of white households with young children were income-poor or 185% below the poverty line, compared to 69% of Latino and 71% of Black households. It is the lack of wealth and the inability to weather financial hardships that makes it difficult for low-income families of color to provide the same opportunities for their children, compared to their white counterparts.

This palpable difference is clearly demonstrated by the fact that at nine months, all children start out with similar scores on standard development test but by age two, racial disparities emerge. With this research we need to being looking at how policy change can curtail these developmental differences in children in order to eliminate the impending disparities that continue through adulthood. 

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