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They Need More, They Get Less

Copyright © 2005, W. David Tarver

My son Aaron is taking an SAT exam prep class. Aaron is an honor student at Red Bank Regional High School, and he has always done well in school. Why in the world then, you might ask, should he be taking an SAT prep course?

The answer is: to keep up with his peers. Affluent, successful parents want their kids to be eligible to attend the best universities, so they spend large sums on SAT preparation classes and tutoring to help their kids squeeze every point out of the SAT exam. In the meantime, many poor kids and kids of color don’t take the SAT at all, and many of those who do are not well prepared. These kids are the ones who could probably benefit most from tutoring and SAT classes. It’s an example of what I call the Social Mobility Paradox: those who need more help to climb the socio-economic ladder get less help these days than those who are already on the upper rungs.

We see examples of this paradox throughout our community. Whether the need is health care or family counseling or academic help or cultural awareness, poor folks and people of color often have more needs but receive less service.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

My friend Clifton Smith, an organization development expert, is fond of saying: "Every organization is perfectly designed to achieve the results it is achieving." That’s kind of a mind bender, but think about it. Right now, our community achieves very different results for rich and poor kids, for white and black and Latino kids. What is it about our community’s "design" that causes those results? How can we change the design to achieve different results?

Many kids in our area, especially kids of color, don’t have access to the experiences they need to achieve success in life. In my opinion, there are three main reasons for this:

  1. Many community programs aimed at kids require a significant fee for service, and many families are unwilling or unable to pay the fees.
     
  2. Many programs require a significant amount of parental time and attention, and in too many cases the parents are unwilling or unable to provide it.
     
  3. Many community service organizations are not adept at dealing with kids and families from different races or socio-economic backgrounds.

These three factors are elements of our community’s "design" that militate against the inclusion of all kids. Our community should design its services for kids so that they are easy for all to access, and so that kids and families of all backgrounds will feel welcome.

We have a wealth of great civic and community service organizations in and around Red Bank. We have the YMCA, Riverview Medical Center, The Count Basie Theatre, The Children’s Cultural Center, Monmouth Day Care, the Salvation Army, CPC Behavioral Healthcare, and the magnificent new Two River Theater, to name just a few. All of these organizations seek to serve all segments of the Red Bank community, and some are more successful than others. It’s not an easy job, but it’s the job that needs to be done. If the full force of these organizations can be put in the service of Red Bank kids, then our community can lead the way in connecting all kids with world-class opportunities in a whole range of disciplines.

There’s nothing wrong with a parent wanting the best for his kid, and kids of affluent parents will always have an advantage. The question we must ask ourselves is; should the playing field be so uneven? Should the advantage that affluent kids enjoy extend even to the services of not-for-profit community organizations? As many have said, it takes a village to raise a child. When we support all kids in our community, we build a stronger community.

Last weekend, I attended Aaron’s AAU basketball tournament up in West Orange. I was surprised to see that the coach of one of the teams there was Acting Governor Richard J. Cody. His team was a pretty diverse group of kids, and he seemed to be having a good time coaching them. I was struck by his example of personal commitment to kids and community. I am sure that the governor had lots of other things to do, and I am sure he could have easily delegated his coaching chores to someone else, but there he was with his team of kids at West Orange High School. As the governor was leaving the gym, we came face to face and I had to think of something to say. At first I thought of complaining about taxes, or school funding, or Parkway tolls, but on that day it wouldn’t have been right. At that moment all I felt like doing was shaking his hand, and so I did.

Red Bank, New Jersey

April 27, 2005