At Willow, we have been honored to know and occasionally collaborate with Chris Brooks. He is a redemptive force in a world where bridges fail. He is passionate about connecting, training, and developing emerging Christian leaders. He has the national coordinator of UrbNet for the National Network of Youth Ministries and has worked with youth and families in an inner-city context for more than 10 years.

Go to the Summit Next Steps website and click on Session 3 to find photos, videos, relevant links, session Q&A, and many more resources.

Session 3 with Wendy Kopp:

Wendy Kopp is on a mission. Hers is a very clearly defined and quite compelling one: give every child in this country an excellent education. Talk about big vision!
In her session, Wendy exposed us to some raw data that is both painful and motivating:

* 13 million children live below the poverty line in the U.S.
* 6.5 million of those children won't graduate from High School.

According to Wendy's Staff, the situation is worse than the picture the numbers paint.

Although the correlation between poverty and educational failure seems clear, these statistics can be interpreted at least a couple of different ways. One angle is to focus on the potential deficiencies of the individual child and their family environment. From this perspective, the root causes of America's education crisis lie in the breakdown of the family, the disengagement of parents, and in the negative habits and behaviors of the children. Under this framework, potential solutions typically focus on parent engagement and education, heavy disciplinary actions on the school campus, and can result in a paralysis of frustration when outcomes remain consistently poor. I was a Student Dean in the Minneapolis Public Schools, and I can relate to how this angle plays out-there are very few positive, measurable gains in this corrective model.

Another interpretation of the data - the interpretation that Wendy Kopp and her organization choose to espouse, is that there is a systemic root to the educational outcomes that children in domestic poverty and depressed neighborhoods experience. To Wendy and her team, it is the educational SYSTEM that needs an overhaul. The children are ready to learn; the system is broken.

A phrase that was used repeatedly in this session was "educational inequity." Wendy talked about the "haves" and the "have-nots." Strong language from a strong leader. The reality is that there are really 2 different public education systems in America. The first is well funded, has excellent teachers, staff, and administration. This system usually has strong athletics, a plethora of extra-curricular options, and extremely successful outcomes for students. The second system lacks many of the fundamental assets and resources that predict school success. While the children are eager to learn and are fully capable of success, the second system is ill-equipped to launch its children into a successful educational and career trajectory. Teachers may bounce around from inner-city school to inner-city school. Many will throw their hands up and leave for greener pastures. Budgets change annually, and positions are cut or restructured. It can be chaotic and unstable. The children pay the price for the deficiencies of this second system's liabilities.

So what can we do? We can look to the best practices of organizations like Teach For America and others like it, and we can support those practices. We can mobilize tutors from our churches, businesses, and organizations to support existing initiatives. We can leverage our positions, relationships, and other assets to help develop sustainable reforms. We can all do SOMETHING.

Question: What could YOU do, as an individual? What assets could you leverage? What resources can you invest in this crisis? God may be asking you, through this session, to get in the game.