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The learning poverty indicator focuses on reading for three reasons:

1. Reading proficiency is an easily understood learning measure

2. Reading is a student’s gateway to learning in other areas

3. Reading proficiency can serve as a proxy for foundational learning in other subjects

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Ending learning poverty: the call of our times

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Learning to read is a milestone in every child's life. Those of us who are parents, teachers, and older siblings, can fondly remember the first time your daughter, student or brother was able to read a sentence and how proud and happy that made you feel.

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New York Times - Can Education End Poverty? 

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New York Times - Can Education End Poverty? 

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We're Taught Education Can End Poverty. Here's the Truth. | NYT Opinion

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Ensure inclusive and equitable education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all students

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Iowa is at a crossroads. State revenue is declining, and poverty is increasing. Especially in urban areas, the "median incomes in Iowa are far below that of other states with similar costs of living," according to a report from ISU Extension. In fact, the report concludes that "urban income growth should be a priority for the state of Iowa and metro governments." Poverty is expensive - in health care costs, social programs, law enforcement and prison costs. Even education of poor kids is more expensive. But this is where an expense turns into a really smart investment.

We all want a thriving state economy. In times of limited resources, we must be solution-oriented and target those resources where the return on investment is clear. The industries growing in Iowa - renewable energy, finance and advanced manufacturing, for example - all require skilled workers. So if a well-educated workforce equals revenue, while uneducated adults are more likely to be an expense to the state, the solution is obvious. Education can take children who start out in impoverished homes and change their trajectory, toward graduating from high school prepared for post-secondary education. We can reverse this poverty trend. It takes cutting-edge thinking and extra resources in a few targeted areas.

► A BETTER IOWA: Rural students need equal educational opportunity

Our Legislature already recognizes that third-grade reading is one of the most important keys to high school graduation. But for kids who start out in poverty, an important key for third-grade reading success is access to quality preschool. On average, poor children start kindergarten with a third of the vocabulary of their peers. They're already so far behind on day one that it's a huge challenge to get caught up by third grade. Iowa currently provides funding for half-day preschool for all 4-year-olds. Unfortunately for many poor families, it's logistically impossible to transport a child to and from a program in the middle of the day when all available adults in the household are working hourly jobs. Kids most critically in need of this boost are unable to access it.

A second key investment that pays big dividends is making sure our English Language Learners, including refugee children, receive the extra instruction they need to become fully proficient in English. A child who exits school without English proficiency is limited to very low-paying jobs. The same child given the resources to catch up to their native-English peers, preparing them for further education after high school, becomes a multi-lingual professional in high demand in our state.

Our Legislature has an opportunity. Resources are limited, and a lot of voices are fighting over those resources. Education, as a pathway out of poverty, is one of the smartest investments. As the ISU Extension report on Child Poverty in Iowa said, "the alternative is to continue a cycle of poverty stretching from childhood into adulthood, which over time may erode Iowa's economic and social quality of life. " Please, lawmakers, choose the smart path.

Louisa Dykstra, Joe Nolte, and Kelli Soyer are the parent members of the Des Moines Community Legislative Action Team Steering Committee, a committee of the DMPS School Board. Louisa Dykstra is a mother of students at Cowles Elementary; Joe Nolte is the father of a student at East High; and Kelli Soyer is the mother of a student at the Downtown School.

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Education is the key to reversing Iowa's poverty trend

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Our Legislature has an opportunity to take the smart path

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The Brain on Poverty | Jessica Sharpe | TEDxGreenville

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Deep Poverty and Equitable Educational Opportunities 

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Deep Poverty and Equitable Educational Opportunities 

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Peter W. Cookson, Jr. Senior Research Fellow

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A World of Hardship: Deep Poverty and the Struggle for Educational Equity

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More than 5 million children in the United States live in deep poverty, including nearly 1 in 5 Black children under the age of 5. These numbers will no doubt grow, given the explosion of the health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, more than ever, school systems need a more…