Click here if you cannot see the contents of this newsflash.

‘Bending the Curve’: The Boston Foundation releases
the 2009 Indicators Report detailing growing
income inequality nationally and locally

Related Resources Boston Indicators Project Website PDF of the new Boston Indicators Report The John LaWare Leadership Forum Website Race to the Top Coalition website Education Reform Act of 2009 (S2216)

The Boston Foundation presented a new biennial report of the Boston Indicators Project on December 16th at a John LaWare Forum, which attracted hundreds of diverse civic leaders, including featured speaker Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.  Called A Great Reckoning: Healing a Growing Divide, the report shows that because of the effects of a widening income inequality that disproportionately affects children of color—the growth tip of the region’s population—Greater Boston may not have the highly educated talent and resources it will need to propel the region’s knowledge economy forward in coming decades.

Using stunning charts, Charlotte Kahn, Director of the award-winning Boston Indicators Project, detailed alarming trends that are national in scope but hit Greater Boston and the state hard.  They include a shift toward income inequality and other trends that show excessive expenditures with few results in education, health care, energy and criminal justice.  As a result, despite enormous public and private expenditures, there are persistent racial/ethnic achievement gaps in educational attainment, increasing rates of obesity and preventable chronic disease, and rising energy consumption.  In addition, the U.S. ranks number #1 in the world in its per capita prison population.  The Report calls for “bending the curve,” by directly challenging these trends with a serious commitment to results.

“Sobering though this report is, it is enormously important,” said Governor Patrick, “because it proves that disparities are widening.”  He called the stubborn achievement gap not just an “educational or economic” setback, but a “moral setback,” and said that the report can serve as a “benchmark” for making progress.

“The American Dream, especially for inner-city families with children, is receding,” said Paul S. Grogan, President CEO of the Boston Foundation.  “The question posed by this report is: Can we rise to the challenge and heal a growing divide?” 

Judith Kurland, Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s Chief of Staff, who spoke on the Mayor’s behalf, joined Mr. Grogan, the Governor and others in encouraging support of education reform legislation that could begin to begin to close the achievement gap.  The legislation is needed to secure the Commonwealth’s share of $4.35 billion in federal “Race to the Top” funding.  The Education Reform Act of 2009 passed the state Senate in November and will be voted on by the House in January.  The Senate’s vote was informed by the Race to the Top Coalition, which was convened by the Boston Foundation.