For the poor, community colleges are crucial

A news release Oct. 20 from the Pew Charitable Trusts highlighted a report that shows the importance of community colleges in a job market that demands lifelong learning. From the release:

"Earning a community college degree boosts earnings by an average of $7,900 annually, an increase of 29 percent over those with only a high school diploma.
For low-income, high-achieving high school students in particular, community colleges serve as a springboard to further postsecondary education; more than half eventually transfer to four-year programs, and three-quarters of those who transfer earn a bachelor’s degree."

That just underscores our belief here at YorkCounts on the role that HACC can play in helping students from low-income families break out of poverty, and in making sure York County has a well-trained workforce.

And we know HACC takes that role seriously. Over the summer, I attended a workshop at HACC where officials from various organizations spent a morning basically brainstorming ways to improve the college-readiness of high school students in York. From that session, Lise Levin, community development director at HACC's York campus, has started a list of things HACC wants to try. The ideas range from in-service days at HACC for teachers to class-sampling opportunities for high school students.

What ideas do you have for helping city students be more prepared for college?

- Dan Fink

Judge Uhler talks truancy on WITF

York County Judge John Uhler talks about truancy and the toll it takes on our community on WITF-FM's "Radio Smart Talk" this morning. His truancy work will be part of an upcoming series of town halls planned by YorkCounts. The first town hall is 6:30 p.m. Nov. 9 in Dover. Here's the program summary from witf.org:

"More than one million students drop out of school each year in the U.S. Statistics indicate that a college graduate will earn hundreds of thousands of dollars more in their lifetime than a high school drop out.

As these figures suggest, education is one of the keys to earning a sustainable living that will provide for a family.

So why do so many still leave school or not see education as important to their
futures? How do keep these kids in school and prepare them for the workforce after they've graduated?"

- Dan Fink

Sprawl is bad

I've been at two very different events recently. One was a gathering of grassroots organizations and community activists, representing poor communities with high minority populations. The other was a gathering of municipal decision makers, representing the conservative, tradition-bound folks of Lancaster County.

Both groups heard the same message: Sprawl is bad.

Sprawl creates unsustainable, environmentally wasteful development. It adds to the burden on government by demanding wave after wave of government support for new sewer and water infrastructure and new roads, more fire and police resources and more schools. It forces people to work farther and farther away from their homes. And it segregates middle- and upper-income residents from lower-income residents.

The thousands of suburbs that have popped up across the country since the 1950s were built with government-subsidized highways, cheap gas and consumers with money to spend on their houses. Guess what: Governments are out of money, gas isn't cheap and consumers don't have money, if they even have a house.

Which is why Christopher Leinberger says "Sprawl is the root cause of the financial crisis."

Fixing the economy, for the long term, means ending this perpetual push to the 'burbs. It means less money for highways, more for mass transit. It means investing in cities, older first-ring suburbs and other walkable communities. It means building new developments close to existing communities and not in some out-of-the-way cornfield. It means having municipalities incentivize high-density and mixed-housing requirements for new communities, and it means builders and developers figuring out how to do that and still make money.

In other places, community leaders are learning the lesson that sprawl is bad. The same thinking will help York County, too.

- Dan Fink

Mike Smith wins a Jefferson Award

This news comes courtesy of Bob Woods, executive director of the United Way of York County.

Mike Smith is one of the 2010 winners of the Jefferson Awards, given out by WGAL-TV each year. Mike is receiving the award for his service with the Temple Guard Drill Team “helping young people in York County stay off the streets and out of trouble.” He also leads the York Chapter of Guardian Angels and directs activities at Crossroads Youth Center. The Jefferson Awards Banquet will be held Oct. 29 at the Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey Hotel. The United Way is a major sponsor for the awards, and proceeds are divided up among the various United Ways in southcentral Pennsylvania.

Bob is hoping for a good turnout from York County to support Mike and the other York County honoree, Karen Ann Wire.

- Dan Fink

Some thoughts on little empires

The Daily Record ran a story recently about Newberry Township's offer to merge with three small neighboring boroughs. The township sent letters to Lewisberry, Goldsboro and York Haven to see if any of them would be interested in talking about merging.


Newberry Township supervisor Stephen Pancoe said he thought a merger made sense because you gain economies of scale and reduce duplication of services. Those are the reasons most often cited to justify a merger or a regional consolidation. We would certainly agree with that position, and we applaud Newberry Township for its thinking.


Unfortunately, all three boroughs said no. As Lewisberry Council President William Thompson said, "I guess we like our little empire."


The only problem is that many of these little empires are falling apart all around the state. This structure of government, around since the 1700s, doesn't seem to work anymore in many places, regardless of which political party is in power.


Many small boroughs and older suburban townships don't have the money to upgrade deteriorating water and sewer lines or take care of their roads. Many have dropped their police departments and turned police service over to the state. Their tax bases continue to shrink, as homeowners keep moving out to the newest suburban developments. This cycle of build-and-abandon has decimated cities and these older suburbs, eats up farmland and contributes to sprawl.


In York County, we have a patchwork of municipalities, and all of them have council members or township supervisors, managers and secretaries, their own zoning ordinances, as well as their own water and sewer rates.

Is a system of 72 separate municipal governments, many created more than 200 years ago, the best way to go in the 21st century?

What do you think?

- Dan Fink

YorkCounts sets first town hall in Dover

YorkCounts will travel to Dover Senior High School Nov. 9 for the first in a series of town halls to engage York County residents in a conversation about the work of YorkCounts. The first three town halls - the next ones will be in January and February - will focus on the United Way's Stay in School Report, and especially Judge John Uhler's Truancy Task Force work. YorkCounts is partnering with Dover Area School District to present this first town hall, which will start at 6:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium. For more information, contact Dan Fink at 650-1460 or dfink@yorkcounts.org.

- Dan Fink

YorkCounts going to Washington

Later this month, the staff of YorkCounts - James and I - will travel to Washington, D.C., for Building One America, a summit that will, according to its Web site, "highlight regional policies, programs, and strategies with proven success in combating concentrated poverty, residential and school segregation, and sprawl – building solutions into national policy."

These issues go right to the heart of the work of YorkCounts.

Among the speakers are David Rusk and Myron Orfield, two nationally known authorities on urban policy and race and poverty, respectively. YorkCounts brought both men to York to speak at community meetings.

Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to President Obama, and U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) will also present.

The event is Sept. 17-18 at the Lincoln Park United Methodist Church.

- Dan Fink