Harlem
Children's Zone
An Education Masterpiece
Harlem has long been the spiritual capital of black America.
In its heyday during the Harlem renaissance, it was a wellspring
of politics, music and art. But over the years, the neighborhood
suffered a steady decline and came to symbolize the worst
of urban poverty and decay. Today, theres a new renaissance
under way in Harlem, with the construction of new buildings,
businesses and schools.
One
of the people leading the charge is Geoffrey Canada. As
correspondent Ed Bradley reports, his vision, quite simply,
is to save children, and he has amassed a staggering amount
of private money more than $100,000,000 to
realize his goal. His testing ground is a 60-block area
in central Harlem that he calls "The Harlem Children's
Zone."
The Harlem Childrens Zone is an area that covers less
than one square mile and is home to some 10,000 children.
On the ground, the neighborhood is slowly coming back to
life, with newly renovated townhouses standing side by side
with buildings that have fallen victim to violence and despair,
local businesses next to national chains. But despite all
the renewal, nearly all the children live in poverty
and two-thirds of them score below grade level on standardized
tests. Thats why Canada, a graduate of Bowdoin College
and the Harvard School of Education, has claimed this territory
as his own and is trying to save it, block by block, child
by child.
He
has made a bold promise to the parents who live in the zone.
"If
your child comes to this school, we will guarantee that
we will get your child into college. We will be with you
with your child from the moment they enter our school till
the moment they graduate from college," Canada vowed
during a speech.
Canadas
ambitious experiment aims to prove that poor kids from the
inner city can learn just as well as affluent kids from
the other side of America. He has flooded the zone with
social, medical and educational services that are available
for free to all the children who live here.
"They
get what middle-class and upper middle-class kids get,"
Canada explains. "They get safety. They get structure.
They get academic enrichment. They get cultural activity.
They get adults who love and them and are prepared to do
anything. And I mean, Im prepared to do anything to
keep these kids on the right track."
He
has raised a lot of money to try to do that. The budget
of the Harlem Childrens Zone is $36 million a year
and growing. Only a third of it comes from the government;
the rest comes from private donations. That money made it
possible for Canada to open his own charter school in a
new $42 million building. Its called "The Promise
Academy."
Classes
have a ratio of one adult for every six kids as well as
state-of-the-art science labs, a first-class gym, and a
cafeteria that looks more like a restaurant. Only healthy
food is served here, to help fight obesity.
But
living in the zone doesnt guarantee a slot in the
Promise Academy, which opened its doors a year and a half
ago to only 200 kindergarteners and sixth graders. It is
adding new grades every year and will soon educate some
2,300 kids through high school.
Because
of the enormous demand, admission is by lottery. Parents
watch as the wheel spins for the highest stakes imaginable:
the future of their children. One mother learned that her
sons number did not come up.
"We
spent a lot of money trying to make sure these kids get
a good start because we wanted them to go into our school,"
Canada told the disappointed mother. "I know, yes they
have a good start," she replied. "And so, Im
as disappointed as you all are that your child didnt
get in," he told her.
"After
my first lottery, I said, we're gonna have to open more
schools. You sit there and watch those parents, it's the
saddest thing Ive seen. It really is," Canada
tells Bradley.
"I
grew up in a very similar condition to a lot of our children,"
he explains. "Single mom, she had four kids, overwhelmed,
doing the best she could do, living in tenements with roaches
and mice and rats. Thats something thats driven
me, I think, all of my life."
It
is Canadas passion and commitment that inspired Stanley
Druckenmiller to donate tens of millions of dollars to the
Harlem Childrens Zone.
"I
invest in companies and other things for for a living.
And I can tell a good management and a good leader when
I see one," says Druckenmiller, who made his personal
fortune, estimated at more than $1 billion, as one of the
most successful hedge fund managers on Wall Street.
Druckenmiller
admits he initially had reservations about project. "I
was sort of terrified by the financial challenge,"
he recalls.
As
chairman of the board of the Childrens Zone, Druckenmiller
has enlisted the financial support of other philanthropists.
He also helped develop a business plan that demands accountability
and results.
"So
if they don't produce, you're saying that you'll pull your
support from that?" Bradley asked.
"That's
a little harsh," Druckenmiller says. "But yeah,
let me put it a different way. The intensity and level of
the support will be directly related to outcomes that are
produced."
To
get the outcomes he wants, Canada takes money from his budget
and puts it directly into the pockets of his students. He
hands out cash every month to the children with perfect
attendance at the Promise Academy.
Canada
says the notion of bribing students doesn't bother him one
bit. "Why?" he asks. "If I know that those
kids are gonna fill our penitentiaries, that we're gonna
be spending in New York City 45 and $50,000 a year on that
child for 20 years, I mean $20? Doesn't bother me one bit."
To
reach as many children in the zone as possible, Canada put
reading labs in public elementary schools and provided SAT
tutoring to high schoolers
He
teaches karate to instill discipline and offers medical
help for the disproportionate number of children here who
suffer from asthma. But in order to save the children, Canada
says he has to save their parents first.
And
that begins at the Baby College a nine-week workshop
that literally teaches new parents how to raise their kids
so that they will enter school ready to learn.
"Middle-class
families know education begins at birth. Poor parents don't
know that," Canada explains. "We're just trying
to tell the parents, 'Look you have to start giving them
the kinds of stimulation thats gonna help those brains
develop.'"
Parents
also learn good habits like how to impose discipline
without physical force.
That
may sound obvious, but it wasnt to Darlene Anozier,
who was orphaned at the age of seven and grew up in state
facilities. Before attending the Baby College, she says
she didnt know how to discipline her son without hitting
him.
"How
do you keep 'em in control, you know, if you don't hit 'em,
you know?" Anozier asked. "And they said 'no,
it's not good to hit.' And I say, well, what other things
can I do?" she asks.
With
her husband on disability, providing for her family is often
difficult. So the Harlem Childrens Zone has helped
Darlene buy provisions when shes run out of money
and also referred her to an adult education class to pursue
her GED, so she can try to keep up with her 7-year-old son,
Richar.
"I
want him to know education is the most important thing,"
she explains.
Richar
started school at this pre-kindergarten run by the Harlem
Childrens Zone, which opened a $250 college fund for
him and offers one to all pre-kindergarteners, adding to
those funds every year.
Richar says "as much as it kills me," he does
want to go to college.
"Much as it kills you. Why would it kill you going
to college?" Bradley asked.
"Yeah
because they got people, words that I don't know,"
Richar explains.
"But
you'll learn new words every year so that by the time you
get to college you'll know all those words," Bradley
reassured Richar.
"Yeah,
but theyre not gonna teach me those words because
theyll think that Im so smart I know those words,"
he replied.
Asked
if she still worries about her son's future, Darlene says,
"No."
Thats
because Richar, now in first grade, has exceeded her expectations
at the Promise Academy, where the school day is longer,
summer vacation lasts only three weeks, and many kids go
to school on Saturdays. Canada is able to run the school
his way, free from the restrictions of the public education
system that he says has been failing Harlems children
for so long.