What happens in Detroit matters. It really does. No matter if you're in your cozy home in Traverse City or walking down the streets of Ferndale, what happens in Detroit matters.
Today I read an article in the paper stating that fourth grade children in Detroit scored last in the nation for reading. This follows a similar score released earlier for math. The fact that Detroit children are the worst educated children in America should alarm you. It should disgust you and it should make you think. The children of Detroit are behind the eight ball and they're only nine years old. I think you know where I'm going with this.
I mentioned Ferndale in the beginning of this post because for the most part it's where I grew up. For those of you who don't know, Ferndale sits on the Northern border of Detroit. Eight mile road is the real boarder. On the South side is Detroit and Wayne County. On the North is Ferndale and Oakland County. One usually doesn't use the word border when talking about city lines but it's what we always called it and with good reason. Growing up we always thought that Detroit was a dangerous, scary place where the law had little meaning and with good reason. Detroit represented urban decay and worse urban social decay. We often went to Detroit but we were always wary. We snuck across the border to buy booze because there was no law preventing us from doing so. On one such booze buying foray, my best friend was shot in the chest in a robbery attempt (I wrote about this previously). The shooting wasn't an isolated event. I personally know others who have been shot or seriously injured while in Detroit. In my mind Detroit has always been like a third world country. Crime, poverty, social decay and lawlessness have always been hallmarks of backward countries and Detroit is no exception, but it wasn't always this way.
From the early 1900s until the late 1950s Detroit was one of the richest cities in the world. A drive through Detroit today reveals whole sections of the city which were once filled with mansions teeming with wealthy inhabitants. Unfortunately most of those people fled Detroit years ago, leaving mostly empty neighborhoods and poor, lost people.
So, why does Detroit matter? Why, should we care what happens in a lawless city? Why should we care if Detroit's fourth graders can't read, write or understand math?
For better or worse Detroit has always been the economic engine of Michigan. In good times it's lifted us up and in times of economic woe it's been an anchor dragging us to the depths. It's as true today as it was in 1903, the year the Ford Motor Co. began.
Those fourth graders are sign of things to come. Yes it's bad now but it's going to get worse. As they age they will become increasingly frustrated by their lack of success in school. The vast majority will drop out before graduating. In 2006 only 21% of Detroit's students graduated! 21%! That means 79% will be on the streets of Detroit without a high school diploma. These kids have virtually no future. In short time they're choices will be dim. They can either, be under employed making minimum wage or they can find a way to get on public assistance or they can turn to crime. Remember, the days of a good union job are long gone. There are few options for these kids.
Under employed kids, eventually will have children if they haven't already. Soon they will be collecting food stamps or other assistance.
Turning to crime has it's obvious problems too. First they're are the victims. Next there is the exorbitant cost of policing, prosecuting and then incarcerating these kids.
No matter how you look at it these kids are going to be major drag on tax dollars. You can not ignore these kids and expect not to be affected by them.
Our only choice is to educate them. Educating children is infinitely more cost effective than the other options I've outlined. Add to that the fact that educated people give back more in many ways but predominately in taxes.
I don't know to change the educational deficiencies in Detroit. It's obvious that what we've been doing isn't working. The one thing I understand though is we can not ignore it. We can not pretend that Detroit's problem's aren't our own. If it means a wholesale change in the way we fund our schools, we should do it. If it means closing the whole school district down and start over, we should do that. If it means educating the parents at the same time we're educating their children, we should do it. The one thing we can't do is, nothing.
Today, I live in Traverse City. It's a wonderful small town community with good schools and people who geniunely care about what happens to the town and the people who live here. Traverse City seems like it's light years away from Detroit but it's not. While most people here probably have empathy for the children of Detroit, they probably don't give it much thought. It's easy not to care what happens hundreds of miles away in a city which is the polar opposite. But it matters. What happens in Detroit and to the the fourth graders who will not graduate matters to the fourth graders attending Central Grade School, in Traverse City. They will be the ones dealing with the problems created in Detroit.
So, please do not fool yourselves, what happens in Detroit, matters.
