"In addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, we're also acting as their parents."For background, read Violence & Poverty due to Absence of Intact Family and also read Liberalism Causes Poverty in America: Study as well as Obama-CHILD-Care is Next, Says Nancy Pelosi
-- Florisha Christian McGuire, principal
"I think the lessons are not just for this county or for this state, but across this country, that this community effort, this collective endeavor can be as successful as we all hope and think it can be. The implications are truly national."
-- Arne Duncan, President Obama's education head
Need we be reminded? 44% of 'Middle America' Births are Out of Wedlock
-- From "In rural W.Va., schools rethink their role" by Philip Elliott, Associated Press 5/8/13
. . . McDowell County, a place perpetually ranked among the worst in the state by almost every measure. Twelve people a month die from drug overdoses here, while more than 100 people are on a waiting list to talk to rehab counselors via Skype. Three-quarters of all students live in a home where parents can't find work in this one-time coal hub that has slowed. The county leads the state in teenage pregnancies.
With this as the backdrop, the West Virginia Board of Education on Wednesday was set to formally alter the scope of these schools. The state took over the schools more than a decade ago and its leaders no longer will limit their mission to the traditional school day. The officials are going to try to turn the schools into a base, not just for the students but for all of those who live around here . . .
Some 72 percent of the students live in a home where neither parent is working. About 46 percent of students live in a home without a biological parent; many of them are in jail for drugs. Many of the students will become parents before they become graduates; the county leads the state in the teen birth rate, with roughly 1 in 10 females between the ages of 15 and 19 giving birth.
It's not as though McDowell County is a stranger to outsiders' help. In 1966 alone, the county received $721,000 from federal anti-poverty programs.
"Eight community centers were opened, each with a library and recreation area, classrooms for Head Start and well-equipped sewing and cooking areas. Instructors were hired to teach adult education and home economics. Recreation directors were employed," The New York Times wrote in a 1966 article from here.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Obama's MSNBC: Kids Belong to State, NOT Parents
A half-century after "government assistance" began, look where the county is now!
AGENDA: Grinding America Down (full movie on YouTube):
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