The leaders of scores of community-based groups will meet in New York City in early November to try to push forward a plan that is both exciting and daunting: replicating the highly touted Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) across the nation.
A conference organized by leaders of HCZ and PolicyLink is sold out and has a large waiting list but leaders of the Santa Ana-based community organization (CBO) THINK Together, the next generation of after-school, will participate as part of two teams representing the Southern California communities of Santa Ana and San Bernardino.
The conference is generously funded by: American Express, The Atlantic Philanthropies, The California Endowment, The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, The Starr Foundation, and The Walmart Foundation.
The Obama administration has pledged $10 million in planning grants to as many as 20 cities to replicate Geoffrey Canada’s HCZ central Harlem initiative. Those cities selected could eventually be awarded as much as $25 million a year for a ten year period under this program called "Promise Neighborhoods."
According to an article at YouthToday.com, New Jersey has already issued a request for proposals to recruit potential "Promise Neighborhoods" in Newark and Camden. And small replications of some version of HCZ are under way in a few places, from Kalamazoo, Mich., to Orlando, Fla. THINK Together is already part of a Santa Ana collaborative, Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities, funded by The California Endowment, which is developing a model akin to HCZ as well.
The blog Building Neighborhoods actively tracks and reports on the Promise Neighborhoods initiative.
The news from a major new education study is encouraging: Student achievement is going up, and the gaps in test scores between subgroups – such as between African-Americans and whites – are closing across all grade levels and subjects.
