In America, classes have been segregated from each other. There are poor communities and wealthy ones. There is truth to the statement that when generations of people do not find work, they come to see the welfare state as a means of living. Sadly, when people do not have to invest anything in what they have, they often fail to appreciate it. This, in America at least, leads to destructive levels of neglect that lower property values and people's self-worth and helps produce things like ghettos.
Students in Florida who receive scholarships to attend private schools often report that being surrounded by the middle class, where work and college is just expected and value routinely been placed on education, changed their thinking and helped redirect their lives. An environment where poverty is expected and hope is limited or non-existent plays a big role in numerous social problems.
We need to mix up the pot. Raising rent to levels only the middle class can afford in school districts that are beyond undesirable in not a solution, it is financial suicide. So how so might we shuffle the deck?
Using my own city as an example, let me paint a picture of my proposal.
Decatur, IL is one of the most declined economies in the USA. In 2013, only Detroit was going down worse. The homeless population is high, as is vacant housing. It has been this way for a long time. Decatur is home to Archer-Daniels Midland's headquarters, a Caterpillar plant, two heavy polluters similar to ADM, and a very good private University. The Decatur Public schools are barely worthy of being called schools. There are two private high school options and three private elementary school options.
The adjacent towns of Forsyth and Mount Zion are predominantly white and middle class. Their schools are very good, as U.S. public schools go, and they serve several small farming communities nearby as well as Decatur's elite classes residing on the outskirts of town. So there are good schools around, if you live in the right place.
Starting as near to Milikin U. as possible but in the low income neighborhoods, begin a project that will have a food forest and renewables. Plant the trees and start making the food forest as soon as possession of the house is secured. If possible, so a quicker flip of another property to make a lot of money faster, and start adding the renewables a.s.a.p. Advertise with the campus rooms in a community house that has renewables on low utility bills. When the fruit and nut trees are producing, start mentioning that in the ads. Pay the house off, or perhaps refinance for lower payments, as soon as possible in order to offer students discounted rates over summer if they will help with the garden. When more than one property is secured, estimate the man-hours required and try to meet it by helping impressionable young tenants get through school - and give them some permaculture school in the process. This creates a captive audience of sorts, for permaculture classes. After the houses have generated enough income to pay for the improvements - especially the renewables - and the projects are complete (both, which may not happen at the same time) it is time to think about selling.
Thanks to permaculture for this cool photo
Wait until someone who likes the house and understands/appreciates the permaculture finds a good-paying job locally. Offer the house to them a little below market value, or right at it if you expect housing values to go up, on a rent-to own basis. Draw up paperwork that locks in that price. Half the rent every month goes into the price while you retain landlord status and fix things and help solve garden problems if they should arise. They will still be responsible for damages caused by neglect or abuse. After a certain number of years (perhaps 3-5?), according to your contract, the buyer needs to pay the balance. This will give them time to reduce student loan debt and get in a position to take on a mortgage. The renewables and the food forest will help facilitate that, especially since they will be allowed to sell surplus production of the garden.
These just-starting outs will not likely need to send children to school before they get into a position to be able to send they kids to the private schools, and avoid the appalling district 61 public schools. They will be incentivized to stay because of the food forest and the renewables and the affordability of the house. Their good job will allow them to handle the real estate taxes. Your continuing to reproduce this pattern nearby will create a mixed-income neighborhood, with college students, career people, Young middle class families and people who have been on assistance for generations. The higher property values will feed real estate taxes into the local schools, hopefully helping solve the problem. The relationship with the tenants could create opportunity to tell them about the issues with the local schools so they will be a.) aware they should not send their kids there when they have them and b.) hopefully inspire them to hold the local authorities accountable.
On the other side of the coin, getting the low-income children OUT of district 61's mess and into a place where they are actually educated and prepared for life will take a different approach. Use section 8 to do this. In this area, section 8 does pay enough to cover the more expensive houses, because Decatur is zoned with a larger town that has higher housing costs than any of the neighboring towns. It is more likely to require some quick flips with very few changes made in order to jump start or speed up the project. Houses in low-income areas of Decatur are very cheap. Houses in Mount Zion or Forsyth, or areas of Dectur zoned for Mount Zion or Argenta-Maroa schools are NOT.
Thanks to House Hunters for this photo
During the summer, if you have students staying over summer, they can help work on putting in the food forest in order to cover the part of their rent. If you are certified to teach permaculture, they can put in extra time and get extra education there for free if they want the extra education; it would then be a work-study situation or an apprenticeship or something. This could alo open doors for people who just wantto study permaculture, they can work their fees off helping to change the town.
Thanks to Pushing through the Pavement: A Permaculture Action Tour for this photo
Again, start the food forest as soon as possible. Addrenewables as soon as possible. Pay attention to the Section 8 Guidelines. Baby-proof the place or design it with infants, pre-schoolers, and elementary school children in mind. Ideally, the house will have a space that can be turned into a bedroom, easily so that if another kid comes into the picture, the family is ready. If you can find one the housing authority will approve, put in a swingset. You want people incentivized to stay where their kids get better education and ther are more jobs available when the kids become teens.
You might have to make a summerstudent-house out of this for a few years. If they have a job they do not want to give up (in Decatur area, jobs are precious! You might not be able to get another one when you come back in the fall), being able to stay in the area over summer will help a lot. (The rent goes back up to full price forthat vicinity as of September 1st. That will almost certianly get the students planning to move out by the time school begins.) Obviously, you need to have flipped another house to about pay this one off in order to afford going with no tenants or discounted tenants until the food forest is ready!
After the food forest is ready, and the students are back in school, get it section 8 approved if you haven't already. Advertise through the the foodbank, and local homeless or battered-woman shelters, not craigslist or the newspaper. This one is not likely to be sold for a long time.
If a tenenat family becomes upwardly mobile to the point where they no longer qualify for section 8, you can, at your discretion, work something outwith them to rent to own the place, like in the case above. You might also accept work for part of the rent, in which case you can teach permatulcure to more people. Be creative. They might not, or probably won't though, if nothing else because minimum wage went up and low-skill jobs can be expected to be scarcer. Sadly...
The end result of these practices is facilitating change through permaculture education and utilization, and by improving opportunity for education.
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