I've been looking for someone writing about this topic for a long time.  The big campaign in Illinois is to change the way schools are funded, so the amount of dollars spent per pupil in low income areas might grow one or two dollars.

This is just a short term solution. It won't change how well kids in poor neighborhoods are educated because it does not address the learning supports and aspirations that wealthy communities can provide to kids so they come to school more prepared and motivated to learn. 

Visit this blog article and follow the links.

Guest blogger Su Jin Gatlin of WestEd highlights the importance of wealth (as differentiated from income) in educational research

This article on the Forum for Youth Investment site talks about gaps in service availability and quality. This is the problem the Tutor/Mentor Connection focuses on.

This article on the history of Youth Development programs adds further understanding for those interested in closing the gaps in service availability.  http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2557/Youth-Development-Programs.html

This article shows how to Create a Network of After School Education Programs. It was published in 1993 by the Fund for the City of New York.

One of the reports that the Tutor/Mentor Connection used in 1993 to build a case for its strategy is titled "The Availability and Use of Community Resources for Young Adolescents in an Inner-City and a Suburban Community". It was written by Julia Littell and Joan Wynn at The Chapin Hall Center for Children, 1989

I have a hard copy of this but cannot find an electronic copy on the Internet. If you have one please post the link.

Afterschool Programs and Educational Success was published in 2003. How much impact has this had on building a network of high-quality non-school programs offering tutoring and/or mentoring?

Article in Chicago Tribune titled Economic inequality: The real cause of the urban school problem. The book titled "Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality, Schools, and Children's Life Chances" can be purchased at this link.

In the Tribune article the authors say "Our findings show that the root of the problems facing urban schools can be found in gradual but extremely powerful changes in the nation's economy — not the least of which is the increasingly unequal distribution of family incomes."