Poverty rises in Chicago area

Today's Chicago Tribune uses the front page to shout about poverty rates in the Chicago region.

For readers who are concerned about poverty, and the growing gap between rich and poor, it's difficult to use the web sites of the major media to do research. Their feature stories keep changing, and the archives are not intended to support efforts of citizens who want to take ownership of the future of the Chicago region.

That's why we created the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC). We use maps like this one to show where poverty is most concentrated in the Chicago region. We post these maps in this blog, and on the Mapping for Justice blog. While we struggle to find donors to help us maintain our own map library, we also point to web sites of others who are using mapping to show where poverty is having an impact.

In addition, we share these maps and our ideas in other forums, such as Fireside Learning. And from these forums we add new links to our learning library, where anyone who reads today's Tribune can go, and dig deeper into information that helps them understand the impact of poverty on schools and economic growth in the region.

Here's an article titled Economic segregation rising in US public schools While I'm sharing this via today's article, I also post it in this section of the library, so it's available tomorrow and beyond, for researchers, activist, foundation leaders, and anyone who is motivated by an article in the paper to want to do more.

We hope that some of those politicians who want to be the next Mayor, Governor, Congressman or even President will learn to use this library for their research and decision support.

I also hope that some of those reading this will see the value of the Tutor/Mentor Connection to Chicago, and will step forward as champions and benefactors so we have funding to do this work.