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CNDA Panel Tackles Thorny Issues

By Ed Finkel on Wednesday, February 17, 2010

A panel discussion that preceded the awards ceremony, held Feb. 9 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, touched on how the recession has undermined the fragile process made in distressed communities during the past two or three decades – and how important the vexing challenge of improving education continues to be.

“The cities with the least inequity and the least isolation do the best,” said Robert Weissbourd, president of RW Ventures. “You’re not wasting your neighborhood assets. Neighborhood strategies that are most successful are comprehensive and connect to the regional economy.”

Weissbourd said that to be successful, communities must have a “centralized function” like LISC so they don’t need to “reinvent the wheel,” while recognizing that they have different characteristics. “It’s not one-size-fits-all,” he said.

Initiatives like LISC’s New Communities Program (NCP) and the Chicago Housing Authority’s “Plan for Transformation” recognize these principles, Weissbourd added, predicting that when the economy improves, that combination of initiatives “could be as big as the Burnham Plan” in transforming Chicago’s communities.

“We’re a collection of Burnham Plans in the neighborhoods,” said Raul Raymundo, executive director of The Resurrection Project, who also participated in the panel, moderated by Greg Hinz of Crains’ Chicago Business. “We’re not just looking at the needs, but the assets.”

Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), the Democratic nominee for Cook County Board president, expressed the hope that those who unsuccessfully organized around the 2016 Olympics will carry their momentum forward to produce a plan to tackle tough issues like urban education, green technology and the jobs it could bring, and macroeconomic projects like high-speed rail.

Noting that roughly half of Chicago Public Schools students don’t graduate from high school, Preckwinkle said: “It reflects very badly on all of us as adults that we’ve let this fester.” She suggested a goal of 75 percent graduation. Echoing Daley, she added, “Nothing’s more important than access to a quality education. An educated workforce is critical to the business community.”

Despite the constitutional provision to fund a majority of education costs, Preckwinkle pointed out, Illinois ranks at or near the bottom in the state’s contributions to education funding. “That’s disgraceful,” she said. “We have failed, year after year after year, to meet that [constitutional] obligation. … What appreciates more than anything else is an educated citizenry.”

Raymundo pointed out that the Hispanic dropout rate is even higher, which leaves entrepreneurship as the only real path to success. He would like to see charter schools continue to grow and greater consideration for public vouchers eligible to be used at private and parochial schools.

In addition to improving K-12 education, Weissbourd said policymakers need to pay attention to where the growth industries lie. “You need a baseline — get people out of high school — and then you need much more deliberate, employer-driven training,” he said. “People go to places where their knowledge can be productive.”

With a “homeboy” as president who understands the value of green technology to economic development, Preckwinkle said Chicago should work with the federal government to become “the Silicon Valley of green jobs.” And high-speed rail with a hub-and-spoke system emanating from Chicago should “cement our relationship as the economic hub of the Midwest,” she said.

Comprehensive immigration reform also would help to jump-start Chicago’s economy and neighborhoods, Raymundo said. Immigrants’ purchasing power is $40 billion in Illinois and $370 million in Pilsen alone, according to LISC/MetroEdge, he said.

Despite the loss of the Olympics, sports can still help play a role in community development, said Scott Myers, executive director of World Sport Chicago. “Win or lose, we needed to create an organization that would promote youth sports in the city of Chicago,” he said. “How do we use sports as a social and emotional development tool? … When these kids have something that excites them, it has a ripple impact.”

For more on the CNDA ceremony, including the roster of award-winners, please click here.