White House council calls one-third of nation's census tracts 'disadvantaged' and thus candidates for more funding

Screenshot: Draft of Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (Click image to enlarge or here for interactive version)

"In a significant step toward changing how federal funds are distributed, the Biden administration has preliminarily identified nearly a third of the nation’s census tracts as 'disadvantaged' and in line for more help from the federal government," Kery Murakami reports for Route Fifty.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality identified 23,410 tracts as disadvantaged and noted how each is disadvantaged; you can see the results in the draft of its Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. Some are in major metro areas, and some are in "rural areas like Mason County, Washington, which has seen a decline in the timber industry after protections were put in place decades ago to preserve the spotted owl," Murakami reports. "The administration considered a wide range of factors, from the expected loss of agriculture and population due to climate change, to traffic volume and diesel particulate exposure, to the cost of housing, to the rate of asthma, diabetes and heart disease."

If your area isn't listed but you believe it should be, the council has posted a notice in the Federal Register inviting stakeholders to suggest ways to improve the database by April 15, Murakami reports.

Critics say Mississippi program meant to reward student achievement is unfair and exacerbates rural inequalities

Mississippi's legislature created the School Recognition Program in 2014, a merit-pay plan that rewards teachers with cash bonuses for improving student performance. Critics say the program is confusing, sometimes decreases morale for teachers, and may unfairly penalize teachers at schools where students underperform because of systematic inequalities—often in poor rural communities where Black students are a majority, Aallyah Wright reports for Mississippi Today.

"Under the School Recognition Program, teachers in A-rated schools or schools that improve from a ‘F’ to ‘D’ or a ‘D’ to ‘C’ receive $100 per student, and ‘B’ rated schools receive $75 per student," Wright reports. "Since 2017, the Legislature has funneled about $71 million into the recognition program. In fiscal year 2020, nearly 21,000 certified teachers and staff in more than 500 public schools collectively received $25 million, according to Mississippi Today’s analysis of program records. No administrators can receive an award."

The controversial program is now "at the center of a power struggle between the executive and legislative branch, and it’s the reason why the K-12 budget has not been appropriated this year," Wright reports. "Gov. Tate Reeves partially vetoed about $2.2 billion of the appropriation last month because, he said, the budget bill did not fund the program."

Reeves said in a Facebook post that the state's schools are improving in many areas and that the SRP was "a big reason why." However, "research shows merit pay systems have no effect on student outcomes," Wright reports. And a Mississippi Today analysis shows that 53 percent of the programs funds have gone to majority-white school districts.

Some teachers Wright interviewed said they appreciated the bonuses, but said they felt conflicted because poorer school districts need the money more. Some also said that money is helpful, but doesn't motivate teachers. "We’re inspired to keep our students growing and improving," said middle school teacher Amanda Reiser. "Would money be helpful? Absolutely … I feel like it needs to be across the board. Take all of that money and divvy it up to everybody and keep our teacher (shortage) rate low."

Author argues that impoverished whites are passing hopelessness from one generation to the next

Graham's book cover

Impoverished white Americans, largely in rural areas, are inheriting hopelessness from previous generations, argues Carol Graham, a scholar at the Brookings Institution, in her book, Happiness for All?: Unequal Lives and Hopes in Pursuit of the American Dream.

Graham said "those who believe in their future are more likely to invest in it. For poor people with little time and money to spend on building a better future, hope and optimism are even more important," Ana Swanson reports for The Washington Post.

She said "inequality shapes people’s hopes and beliefs about the future, and that those perceptions are passed down to future generations just as surely as an inheritance would be," Swanson writes. "Today, 62 percent of Americans think their children will be worse off than they are."

Graham told Swanson, “If you think about the makeup of rural places where many poor whites live, they’re socially isolated. Everybody drives everywhere, and the distances are huge. For people in places like that, your job was your place of social interaction and if you lose that there isn’t much left.”

"There is a lot of anger and resentment now, particularly among blue-collar whites," Graham said. "But we still haven’t had a decent public discussion about inequality, perhaps because there’s still this attitude that any government handout is bad. ‘Make America Great Again’ was in large part about people falling behind, but the word inequality didn’t come in there once... One of the things we find is that there is really low optimism for the future among poor whites, and desperation and suicide."

Several slices of rural America are largely ignored

Last year's election sparked newfound fascination in America's rural citizens, the sort of attention that was long overdue. But the spotlight on rural America is only focusing on a slice of non-city folks — those who are white, Mara Tieken writes for The Washington Post. Almost one-fifth of rural residents, nearly 10.3 million people, are people of color.

"Some stories are clear about their scope: Their authors have intentionally chosen a particular geographic and racial population to explore and explain," Teiken writes. "Others are less obvious in their focus, though details — region of the country or photographs — soon make explicit what is merely implied or assumed. Either way, though, a particular racial narrative is being told."

A woman and her young son in Porterville, Calif. (Washington Post photo)

Of the 10 million people of color who live in rural America, "about 40 percent are African American, 35 percent are nonwhite Hispanic, and the remaining 25 percent are Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander or multiracial," Tieken writes. "And this rural America is expected to grow in the coming decades, as rural areas see a rapid increase in Latino immigration."

Rural Americans of color are found from coast to coast, but "they tend to live in different places from rural whites: across the Mississippi Delta and the Deep South; throughout the Rio Grande Valley; on reservations and native lands in the Southwest, Great Plains and Northwest," Tieken writes.

They also have a different history from rural white America: "a history of forced migration, enslavement and conquest. This rural America receives even lower pay and fewer protections for its labor than does rural white America. And, as my own research shows, this rural America attends very different schools than rural white America, schools that receive far less funding and other resources." Tieken writes. "It also appears that these rural Americans vote for different candidates than rural whites. A look at county-level voting and demographic data suggests that this rural America voted for Hillary Clinton."

Tieken warns that defining rural white America as rural America perpetuates an "incomplete and simplistic story" about the many people who live in these areas and what they want and need. She notes, "Ironically, this story — so often told by liberals trying to explain the recent rise in undisguised nativism and xenophobia — serves to re-privilege whiteness. Whiteness is assumed; other races are shoved even further to the margins."

"Interest in rural America is welcome," Tieken writes. "But we need to make sure it is complete and inclusive — and genuine."