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By Kerri Provost, September 2, 2010 8:53 am

There are two upcoming scavenger hunts in Hartford. Continue reading 'A Walk for Jane and a Dash for a Difference'»

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By Kerri Provost, August 24, 2010 7:00 pm

Entering The Hartford Club reminded me of how I felt during my first year of college. It was a monumental crossing of a threshold that seemed so off limits to me. While The Hartford Club is far more opulent than my alma mater, my anxiety level was nearly the same when approaching both places. Would it be obvious that I did not belong? I would learn, of course, that there were others like me — first generation college students. First time Hartford Club crashers. Trespassers. There was paperwork proving my right to enter, but still, a trespasser at heart.

I would observe how others moved about, spoke to one another, sat in certain groupings. In both experiences, even when I gained cultural literacy, when I began to blend, I knew that at the end of the day, there was part of me that would never, ever, feel at home. Today, as I walked home from The Hartford Club, it became much more apparent. The achievement gap that was being spoken of was purely academic for much of the audience. It was one thing to talk about discrepancies in performance and economics; it is quite another for these disparities to be palpable. In the Georgian Revival private club on Prospect Street, there is mouthwash in the “ladies lounge.” In my neighborhood, there is litter strewn across the school lawn. The litter has been there all summer long and the school is one of the lowest ranked in Hartford. It remains so, even after being shut down and later reopened as a “new school.” The kids who can not read, who are dropping out, who are creating all the financial burdens we heard about in this morning’s forum — they are not some sad abstract statistic; they are the kids that I pass every time I take a walk around the block.

Slamming the Door on the Achievement Gap

The MetroHartford Alliance forum held at The Hartford Club this morning was titled Hartford Public Schools Education Reform and Next Steps. Presenters included Superintendent of Hartford Public Schools, Dr. Steven J. Adamowski; Executive Director of Achieve Hartford!, James L. Starr; and the Commissioner of Higher Education for the State of Connecticut, Michael P. Meotti. All speakers addressed the issue of closing Connecticut’s achievement gap.

The very phrase “achievement gap” softens the issue. Education Week explains the achievement gap as:

[...] the disparity in academic performance between groups of students. It is most often used to describe the troubling performance gaps between many African-American and Hispanic students, at the lower end of the performance scale, and their non-Hispanic white peers, and the similar academic disparity between students from low-income and well-off families. The achievement gap shows up in grades, standardized-test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college-completion rates. It has become a focal point of education reform efforts.

While National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results have shown that, over time, black and Hispanic students have made great strides in narrowing the breach that separates them from their white peers, that progress seems to have come to a halt since the mid-1980s.

The achievement gap, to put it in more direct terms, refers to the racial and economic disparities in educational outcome. Connecticut has the dishonor of having the greatest achievement gap in all 50 states, based on the NAEP results. The Superintendent stated that there is a 93% poverty rate within the Hartford school district, based on eligibility for free/reduced school lunch. There are correlations between poverty and other social problems: of those in Hartford who have dropped out of school, 60% have been incarcerated. Continue reading 'Old School, New School'»

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By Kerri Provost, July 26, 2010 2:36 pm

There are many ways to look at economic disparities. Another way is to examine how Hartford compares to other areas of Connecticut. The following data is provided by OpenSecrets.org and is evaluated by zip code for 2008 and 2010:

06105: The West End and part of Asylum Hill has made the top political contributions (in terms of money) in the city. OpenSecrets.org ranks this area as giving six times what the average one does. Continue reading 'Who Gives Two Cents?'»

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By Kerri Provost, May 22, 2010 8:05 pm

Editor’s Note 8/1/10: The Courant reports that the buying club has since stopped operation.

Not satisfied with the local farmers’ markets or smaller grocery markets, some residents of the Hollander are attempting to start a food buying club. They write that the first order will be submitted on May 25th, with pick-up on May 27th. There is a one-time $25 application fee, followed by a $10 monthly administrative and delivery fee, plus the cost of the actual groceries. It is said that this buying club is a stepping stone on the path to opening an actual grocery store at 410 Asylum Street. Continue reading 'Asylum Market Buying Club Attempts to Bring More Grocery Options Downtown'»

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By Kerri Provost, May 7, 2010 6:44 am

High Water Marks: Art & Renewal After Katrina opened in the Amistad Center for Art & Culture (within the Wadsworth Atheneum) at the beginning of May.

Music — which should be pumped throughout the museum, so that the deafening solitude which marks it vanishes into the background — plays in the exhibit, to help set the mood. One of my strongest recollections of a trip to MASS MoCA last summer was the music that was part of a New Orleans’ themed artwork. The uptempo jazz was juxtaposed with photos of New Orleans– a culturally natural and appropriate combination, but odd when the images were of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction. Here, at the Wadsworth, a similar thing happens when this music (though the volume is fairly muted) is the backdrop for a Katrina-themed exhibit.

This exhibit contains an interesting mix of materials — washboard, pots and pans, an umbrella, wood, and then more traditional media. The “Black Bowl” by Donald Boudreaux is a black umbrella against a black backdrop. The artist invites visitors to sit in a chair to view it. From this spot, one can look out the window and see the giant red Travelers’ umbrella. Luis Cruz Azaceta’s “At the Bottom of the Pot” is an assortment of pots and pans that are covered with photographs depicting Hurricane Katrina’s damage. Radcliffe Barley’s “Storm at Sea” is a dramatic mixed media piece that blocks off an entire hallway.

The exhibit runs through mid-September of this year.

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By Kerri Provost, February 15, 2010 10:48 am

The final community listening session for the Planning & Zoning Commission will be Tuesday evening at Rawson School. So far, there have been sessions at the Pope Park Rec Center, United Methodist Church, and Metzner Rec Center. Each session has focused on proposed land use for nearby neighborhoods.
Continue reading 'Proposed Land Use for Hartford’s Neighborhoods'»

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By Kerri Provost, November 19, 2009 7:42 am

Two days ago Cityline published a letter that Rich Wareing sent to numerous individuals regarding the plan to house a “no freeze” shelter at the Center Church downtown. He wrote:

Indeed, that Mr. McGovern would seriously consider locating a facilty which the City estimates will be 50% utilized by registered sex offenders across the street from two apartment buildings, three blocks from a magnet high school, and right in the middle of the most signficant business and entertainment district in the city, speaks volumes about  the City’s disregard for the welfare of its voters, taxpayers, visitors, and children.

While keeping sex offenders away from youth sounds like an altruistic goal, I believe this argument is deceptive. Here’s why:

In the past, Hartford has had a no freeze shelter. This is not a brand new creation. The previous one was housed at 255 Washington Street, but a mile — if walking –  from the new one. I even created a map to show this:

View homeless shelters in a larger map

What do you notice about the location of the old shelter on Washington Street? For someone with no familiarity with Hartford, the only two things that really should grab his attention would be that it was located in a very residential area, as one can see a number of houses nearby, and that it was very close to the Connecticut Childrens Medical Center.
Continue reading 'No Homeless: The Special Just-in-time-for-Thanksgiving Edition'»

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By Kerri Provost, August 12, 2009 10:04 am

Yesterday, volunteers for and supporters of Food Not Bombs set up a breakfast table in front of the Department of Public Health located at 410 Capitol Avenue.
Continue reading 'Sidewalk Scenes: Installment Five'»

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By Kerri Provost, June 22, 2009 12:22 pm

iQuilt intends to improve pedestrian routes from Bushnell Park to the Connecticut River, along with connecting cultural sites in Hartford. Continue reading 'Our Charmingly Irregular Quilt'»

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By Kerri Provost, February 23, 2009 8:30 am

I like to avoid talking about race, mostly because whenever it comes up, people get defensive, they shut down, and then nothing productive comes of it. So, I don’t really want to go there, but there is here.

I think it’s really hard to talk about transportation without pointing out the obvious– only a particular demographic is fuel addicted in America. When the idea of reducing private motorized transportation comes up in certain circles, it’s deemed radical (or too radical). It should not be. The reality is that many Americans do not own automobiles. If, however, a person lives in an area where the ethnic and racial groups with low rates of vehicle ownership do not tend to live, there can be a distorted idea of how life is for everyone everywhere.

In the city of Hartford, 36.1% of households do not have a vehicle. Continue reading 'Getting Around'»