Elizabeth A.
Research in the Community Excerpts
Fall 2009 Trimester

Low-income Housing and the Issues: How does it affect students' academic performance?

Trevor is a 7 year old boy who lives in Bayview Hunters Point. But Trevor isn't a typical 7 year old boy; he has been through a lot and has seen more then you could imagine. Trevor doesn't have a role model to make a positive impact on his life. Many people look at Trevor and feel badly for him because he is so young. Many would believe his future is set for him-a future with drugs, violence, poverty, and no education. Living in low-income housing can have a seriously negative impact on a child's academic performance because of the problems faced by people living in poverty. These include the culture of drugs and violence surrounding them, as well as the need to work, and take care of younger siblings. Trevor was born into a family who had no higher education. Like most other families in low income housing.

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What is low-income housing? Low income housing, also know as Section 8 or the "Projects", is housing provided by the government for families or individuals who have financial issues, meaning their annual income is very low. To be eligible to apply for low income housing, for an average family of 4 they would have to have make less then $43,680 a year or be on welfare. The rent for a typical family of four people would depend on where they are applying to live (Affordable Housing). Over 79% of people that live in San Francisco low income housing are African American and Hispanic (SFHA).

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What issues in low-income housing affect children's academic performance?
There are many negative things that impact the youth in low income housing and many of these problems directly affect their academic performance. Jose Sanchez is a 16 year old boy who lives in Sunnydale. He attends Mission High School. Jose isn't the strongest academic student in the class room, but he isn't a horrible student. He's the oldest of 5 children. His father was arrested when he was 11 years old and he hasn't seen or heard from him since. Since he is the oldest, Jose pulls night shifts after school and helps his mother pay the bills. Jose is a father for his younger siblings. There are many cases like Jose's.

There is also the issue of becoming a parent at a very young age. The issue of teen pregnancy can have a big impact on a young girl's academic performance. Stephanie Robles had to drop out of school because she was a teen mother. Stephanie also lived in low- income housing, and she didn't have a father figure. She's like most children in low income housing; her mother had two jobs and was never around to help her. Stephanie said, "I am absolutely positive that if I had my mother or father around I wouldn't be in this situation".

The issue of drugs can extremely affect a child's future. Young people begin using and selling drugs to escape from their family problems or school problems. Both of theses issues can and will affect a child and their academic performance. "When you come from the hood," says Sonya Brunswick, Maisin Award program coordinator, "you have to survive and you must have the creative ability to maneuver around obstacles if you want to succeed. Some of these kids have to worry about where to find food and a place to sleep after school. They have to learn how to avoid gangs. They might have to figure out how to take care of their siblings and get their homework done they will not be able to keep on succeeding."

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Drop out rates are a big issue in low-income housing.
This is an on-going cycle that adolescents need to break. The cycle begins with a mother and father, who grew up in the "projects" and didn't finish high school and than the children go through the same thing they went through. It is an on going cycle until one child comes along, breaks that cycle and graduates high school.

During recent years, SFUSD graduation rates have decreased. During the past two to three years, the students who have dropped out have predominantly been African American. During the 2006-2007 year, the drop out rate for Latinos was 30%. This was close to the African American rate at 34.4%. A high percentage of the children who drop out of school live in low-income housing.

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Some solutions:
There are possible solutions to help decrease the drop out rates in the San Francisco Unified School District and to help students do better in school. Many students say they would be more interested in school if the teachers seemed to care more. Hydra Mendoza says that teachers should be better trained so they could be more sensitive to children's needs and their situation....Many people believe that children should be informed at a young age, in elementary school, and middle school, about the benefits of going to college to help them set their minds on educational goals. Once they leave middle school and enter high school they already have their minds set. Hydra Mendoza says that the City of San Francisco is thinking about passing a law that would require parents to be more involved with their children's school. The government's reward would be if a student that lives in low-income housing has 90% attendance then the City would reduce the family's rent by 20%. This could be one important way to encourage parents to be more involved in their children's education.