EDUCATION AND POVERTY IN MICHIGAN

In the United States as a whole, 21.4% of the families have incomes below $3,000 while in Michigan, only 15.7% fall below this line. Poverty in Michigan is definitely not as severe as that which exists in many states of the deep South and in Appalachia. In Michigan, there are about 314,000 families or 1,256,000 people who have incomes or live in families with incomes below $3,000 per year. The poor exist in every county of every state. Poverty for the purposes of discussion was defined as existing when a family of four had an income of $3,000 or less. Seven hypotheses describing the relationship between lack of resources and poverty were considered. One of these is the relationship between poor educational systems and low income. This relationship was the main focus of the last part of the paper. Since the author of this paper did not feel that one variable could adequately explain all poverty, he stated how the relationship between low income and poor educational system fit into a circular description of the causes of poverty. Issues discussed which are relevant to the education of the poor and that are likely to cause problems when implementing any program in this area are as follows: 1. Are those left behind the less able and intelligent? 2. There is some doubt about the ability of compensatory education to do the job, the results have been discouraging to date. 3. Should the nation educate the boxed in or should they be put on income maintenance programs? 4. Should the nation through education programs force upon people ideas they don't want to accept