Housing, Education & Healthcare:
Creating Housing That Enhances School Performance & Health
April 28, 2010
Children who go to substandard schools and live in overcrowded yet expensive homes plagued by lead paint, asbestos, dust mites and other hazards - to say nothing of children who are homeless or must frequently move - underperform in schools.
Is the answer better quality, less expensive and uncrowded homes? More housing opportunities in good school districts? Restored urban neighborhoods? All of the above?
Briefing Memo
Read the briefing memo here.
Summary
Declaring that “more affordable housing can expose children to more educational opportunity,” Deputy State Education Commissioner George Coleman summarized the consensus of more than a dozen experts April 28 at Housing, Education & Healthcare: Creating Housing That Enhances School Performance & Health.” The fourth of five forums in The Lyceum’s 2010 Housing Policy Series, the event saw experts from the state Departments of Public Health, Children and Families and Education, HUD, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Columbia and Yale Universities and others conclude that:
- Connecticut must increase remediation programs to remove lead paint, mold, dust mites and other allergens and hazards from home or children will continue to miss school or perform poorly because of illness.
- Connecticut must create affordable homes in more than the 31 municipalities that have significant affordable housing opportunities now to give children and their families access to neighborhoods, community services and schools that can help them succeed.
- Too many school children in urban districts are homeless, or must move during the school year, causing them to fall behind and fail, and develop behavioral disorders that limit their ability to learn.
Monica Brase, an educator at the Classical Magnet School in Hartford, and Christie Gilluly, principal of a Norwich elementary school, said many of their students are burdened by homelessness and mobility.
To provide choices for families who cannot afford to live in most of the municipalities in the state – because there is little or no affordable housing – Alex Johnston of CONNCan and Coleman acknowledged the state’s efforts to create charter schools, magnet schools and the Open Choice program so parents can meet their children’s individual needs.
Two parents, Luis Moquette of Avon and Carmen Aquino of Farmington, said their ability to find housing had provided more resources and choices for their children, who otherwise would have had to attend schools in Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood.
Geoffrey Sager, president of Metro Realty Group, which built their homes in Avon and Farmington, said affordable housing creation in suburbs as vital to improve education performance and close the achievement gap in Connecticut.
At the same time, Francesca Provenzano of the Department of Public Health and Amy McLean-Sauls of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center were among a host of experts who urged enhanced programs for remediation of lead paint, mold, dust mites and other physical hazards to cause absenteeism and poor school performance.
2009 Forum
Read about last year's forum on Housing, Healthcare and Education here.