FLINT & CLARKSTON Michigan

1. FLINT & CLARKSTON Michigan COMMUNITY COMPARISON Renee Balthrop EDE 302 February 2010

2. I took the photos for the cover slide for a reason: Flint is a city that is home to mostly “blue collar workers”, men and women who work with their hands. Notice that the sign, which you pass under as you drive downtown, says “Vehicle City”. Many residents work in the auto industry. On the hand, Clarkston is home to mostly “white collared workers”, men and women who work with their heads, usually with a higher education. Notice that the sign, which is visible as you first drive down Clarkston’s main strip, is for a law office. I felt both these signs were indicative to the people that call these towns their home.

3. FAST FACTS U.S. Census Bureau 2000 Population 29,011 23,095 Male / Female 13,508 / 15,503 11,477 / 11, 618 Majority Race(s) White - 14,152 / Black - 13,169 White - 21,971 Education - High School 14,597 14,160 - Bachelor 3,444 5,157 Disabled 7,056 3,325 English is 2nd Language 1,275 1,360 Employed 13,118 12,954 Median Income $29,455 $67,428 Living below Poverty Level 8,807 718 Median Home Value $65, 300 $181,400 *FLINT = Zip Code 48503 - Attendance Area of Doyle Ryder Elementary Source: U.S. Census Bureau. (2000). Fact sheet: Zip code tabulation area for 48346 and 48503. Retrieved at http://factfinder.census.gov *FLINT CLARKSTON

4. Are HOMES well maintained? FLINT CLARKSTON Notice how the homes are strikingly similar in design, yet one is in need of attention and the other is well-kept.

5. …more HOUSES FLINT CLARKSTON Again, very similar grand old homes but in very different levels of up-keep.

6. PEOPLE on the Streets FLINT: Notice in the L photo the man needs to walk with a small girl on the street because the walks are not cleared. In the R photo two men appear to be walking purposefully towards their destination . CLARKSTON: Notice the men is leisurely walking his dog. Other than he, I saw no one walking outside that day.

7. CHURCHES Photo Source: http://www.clarkstonumc.org/ Both communities seemed to value the sanctity of their enormous old churches, which were found to be in beautiful physical states.

8. Means of TRANSPORTATION Each community provides its residents with public transportation. MTA buses are plentiful in Flint, where in Clarkston it is the smallest of the SMART buses (see upper right photo) that are present. There will be 2 state-of-the-art TIGGER buses deployed in Flint in 2010. Photo Source: www.mtaflint.org

9. Flint PARKS Bluebell Beach Crossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad These two popular parks specifically designed with children in mind are unique to Flint. The spray park is free (no admittance fee) to the community. Photos source: www.geneseecountyparks.org 

10. Clarkston PARKS Clintonwood Spraypark Baycourt Park These two popular parks are unique to Clarkston, also designed specifically for its children. The spray park charges an admittance fee to the community. Photo source: www.oaklandcountyparks.org 

11. LOCAL STORES Flint Clarkston Sadly, Flint’s “strip club” and “pawn shop” were in close vicinity to the community’s elementary school. In contrast, Clarkston is known for its quaint, high-end specialty shops.

12. NEW GROWTH in Flint There are some newer single family and duplex homes sprouting up in Flint, However… notice along the subdivision’s perimeter the boarded up commercial buildings.

13. Local MARKETS Clarkston Flint The first market in Flint was boarded up, and the second I came to had bars on its windows. The market in Clarkston was quaint and appealing.

14. What I noticed in the Markets: FLINT: There was plexi-glass between the shopkeeper and customers with a drawer to exchange monies. Anything of great value or in high demand (liquor, cigarettes, baby formula) was kept behind the counter. Foods on display were mostly those of convenience – packaged carbohydrates. I saw no fresh fruit or vegetables. I was not spoken to and I was watched constantly. CLARKSTON: There were wooden shelves outside the store that held store items for sale. I was greeted warmly when I entered and asked about the driving conditions. Finer wine was abundant and artistically displayed. Fresh tulips were available! The deli offered gourmet food choices and a small collection of fresh fruits and vegetables. I was thanked even though I did not make a purchase.

15. Where the larger weekly shopping takes place in both communities…

16. What I noticed….. Both Kroger stores were just a hair over two miles from my targeted communities, making it manageable to reach by car or on foot. As well, both stores had public transportation stops at the front of the property. Because of the snow-covered premises I was unable to determine the quality of the landscaping, however, Clarkston’s Kroger is much newer and has a smooth blacktop whereas Flint’s Kroger was marred over time with cracks and small potholes. Both stores had presentable entrances but again, simply because Clarkston’s store is newer it looks much more appealing. Clarkston’s store offered longer hours – 6am to 1am – compared to Flint’s 7am to 12am. The differences were much greater inside: Clarkston’s store offers its customers a book aisle, a drive-thru pharmacy, a bank, a Coinstar machine, and organic, floral, seafood and bakery departments. Flint’s Kroger did not have a book aisle, a pharmacy, a bank or the organic, floral or seafood departments. The meat department in Flint offered much more low-end meat such as ground beef and chicken legs and wings; Clarkston had more cuts of chops and steaks. The beauty aisle in Flint offered a much larger assortment of hair care products for diverse hair types. The Flint Kroger needed a mop to be taken down the aisles whereas the Clarkston was much cleaner. Because the Kroger store was much larger than the local markets I visited, I really wasn’t paid much attention to as I picked up a couple items from each. However, at the Clarkston checkout, I was greeted and thanked; the Kroger checkout person only spoke to me to tell me the total amount I owed.

17. The two schools in my comparison are bothElementary Schools Photo Source: www.clarkston.k12.mi.us Doyle Ryder Clarkston School Elementary Flint, MI Clarkston, MI

18. What do the buildings look like? Doyle Ryder This four-story school building looks quite imposing because of its grand height. The exterior appears to have held up beautifully over the years because of the brick material. Inside it reminds me of the children’s ward in an old hospital - lots of waxed linoleum tile and old wooden doors. An older but clean school with an inviting side entrance (it appears that the original front doors are no longer used as a regular entrance). No formal landscaping but there’s a tidy grassed area in front. Clarkston Updated in 1999, this is an attractive school. You can see how grand it looks even as a one-story building. High ceilings inside make the school feel much larger than it probably is. There’s a huge skylight over the large lobby, which exhibits a beautiful tiled mural. Professional landscaping decorates the expansive grounds - the grass is already a lush green, probably from fertilizer. A new play structure was erected in 2005.

19. Academic Performance2008-2009 Michigan School Report Card Clarkston Elementary Status Score / Adjusted Score / Ed Yes! Grade English Language Arts 98.4 / 98.4 / A      Mathematics  100 / 100 / A      Achievement Subtotal 99.2 / 99.2 / A   Indicators of School Performance 100 / A Preliminary Grade 100 / A   AYP Status Met AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress)   Composite Grade A Doyle Ryder School Status Score / Adjusted Score / Ed Yes! Grade English Language Arts 68.9 / 61.4 / D      Mathematics 81.4 / 88.9 / B    Achievement Subtotal 75.2 / 75.2 / C  Indicators of School Performance 100 / A Preliminary Grade 83 / B AYP Status  Met AYP  (Adequate Yearly Progress)  Composite Grade B Source: https://oeaa.state.mi.us/ayp/index.asp

20. Classroom Profile Doyle/Ryder School Kindergarten – 6th grade 417 Students 14:1 Student/Teacher Ratio Breakdown by Ethnicity White 6.2% Black 92.3% Hispanic 0.7% Asian/Pacific Islander 0.1% Native Indian/Alaskan 0.2% Multi-Racial 0.5% Clarkston Elementary Kindergarten – 5th grade 425 students 15:1 Student/Teacher Ratio Breakdown by Ethnicity White 91.1% Black 0.2% Hispanic 1.7% Asian/Pacific Islander 1.6% Native Indian/Alaskan 0.2% Multi-Racial 5.2% Source: http://www.schoolmatters.com/schools

21. 2006 District Spending & Revenue($ per Student) Doyle/Ryder State Clarkston School Average Elementary Total Revenue $11,263 $10,226 $10,758 Total Expenditures $11,660 $10,852 $11,242 Economically Disadvantaged 75.8% 7.5% Source: http://www.schoolmatters.com/schools

22. What does Flint & Clarkstonhave to say about funding? Flint: Shirley Henderson, principal & Diana Sparks, secretaryClarkston: Dana Pennanen, principal & Erin Cameron, secretary My summary: Public schools are funded by the people of the community, and the local, state, and federal government. The local government provides the funds for a public school to function. Local governments usually receive funding from the property tax of the residents living in the vicinity of the school. Teachers‘ salaries, books, and transportation are just some of the expenses involved in running a school. This means children that live in rich neighborhoods will receive more funding, while children in poor neighborhoods will receive less funding. Cities also have the problem of higher police expenditures and fire department costs which use up the “limited tax revenues." This situation creates a large gap between rich schools and poor schools.

23. Observations of Teacher/Student Interactions Flint 3rd grade - Ms. Richardson interacts very positively with her students. She was warm but firm. She spoke loudly because she allows a for a more relaxed, even noisy environment in her room. It is my opinion that because she is young and new to teaching she has a fresh and patient attitude to offer to her students. The students respond positively towards her. Although they are a bit noisy and restless for my comfort, they are obedient for her and she is the one in charge. Clarkston 3rd grade - Mrs. Comp has been teaching for 17 years. She leads an extremely efficient and rather quiet classroom. From first impression, one might think she is a bit unapproachable, but the truth is she is simply a reserved personality. She loves her students and they love her. The class is very well behaved and clearly wants to please her. She is one of the most favored teachers on the staff. I was witnessing an exemplary classroom model.

24. My Impression… Clearly these two schools fall on different ends of the spectrum – one is in a suburban, affluent and mostly white area; the other school is in an urban, poverty-stricken and mostly black area. Regardless of these obvious differences, their academic performance share much more in common. Both schools have earned high composite marks on their Michigan Report Cards (an A and a B) and offer their teachers manageable classroom sizes (ratio 14/15:1). Both schools take pride in their appearance internally and externally. And both schools employee teachers that offer their students respectful and supportive relationships. Overall, my impression is that despite their environment or financial situation, both school work hard to do the best job that they can for the students and their efforts show.

25. What was it like Growing up in myNeighborhood? Admittedly, at the elementary and middle school level, I grew up in an ideal environment. We lived in a relatively small suburban town where my dad went off each day to medical school and my mom was the local third grade teacher. I’m certain my brothers and sister and I were placed with the best of the best. We drove in with my mom each day, not needing to ride the bus until middle school. The kids played all over the neighborhood, riding bikes or finding a game of kick-ball in someone’s back yard. It was safe and carefree. It wasn’t until high school that things were different. We moved to Chicago so my dad could do his medical residency. I attended an urban school where I, as a white student, was the minority. We passed through metal detectors each morning and had security guards roam the halls. As soon as I was old enough to drive my dad gave me a second-hand car to avoid the bus ride. The school community was not necessarily a carefree place to learn and I learned to keep my head down. My home community was much nicer however with my dad being a doctor. Our home backed up to a golf course and we had nice shops and restaurants nearby. I knew I was much more fortunate than many of my school friends.

26. If I grew up in Flint….. I actually lived in an apartment in Flint for a year when I was 19 years old. I had just finished my freshman year at Western Illinois and wasn’t sure about college so I was trying the living-on-my-own-being-independent route. I share this because I can still recall the unsafe feelings I experienced while living in Flint. I was heckled at if I walked the sidewalks, so mostly I stuck to using my car. I moved out when my apartment was robbed while I was at work. So with that being said, I can’t imagine being a small child and not being able to grow up with a carefree attitude. How sad to look around my neighborhood as a child and see boarded up homes or people just wandering the streets that you have been taught to fear. How can a child know that there is more than this out in the world? And if your school doesn’t have the funding for up-to-date books or field trips how can you be adequately taught about the big world at your feet? Honestly, as a parent I would do whatever it took to move to a safe community to raise my children.

27. Contributing Factors I believe there are several contributing factors at play here that explain the differences between the two communities. First and foremost, both communities have had generation after generation of families being born and raised in these towns – primarily poor and black in Flint, primarily white and financially sound in Clarkston. With this pattern repeating itself, what’s to change? Flint used to be a big GM town that provided many jobs. Now with the plant closed a lot of people are out of work. Clarkston is home to many more college graduates. Higher education meaner higher earnings. And with taxes based on home values, if you make more, you own more, the town collects more, the school take in more, period. For Flint, if you graduate high school, then you might be lucky to find a good paying job. Overall homes values are low, the city takes in less taxes, and the schools receive less. This is all a big repeating pattern that will not change any time soon.

28. If I were a Community Leader… Clarkston is an exemplary town with an exemplary school district. However, I believe a problem that is often seen in small, mostly caucasian towns is a lack of tolerance for people different from themselves. The townspeople and especially the children could benefit from some type of organized diversity awareness. Flint needs a lot of help. Jobs need to be generated. Perhaps if a Super-Walmart was built it would provide a few hundred jobs. This would be a start. Also it is not often that I see police officers about town. I would put more officers out in the community to help its people feel safer. I would also implement more job training, parenting skills, and rehabilitation programs. I would also offer free daycare for parents in school or in job training.

29. This project was an opportunity for me to examine my thinking more than anything else. I became conscious of things that I am often unaware of or take for granted. I have learned…. • To look beyond poverty • To look beyond wealth. • We cannot control the situation we are born into. • I should continue to develop my compassion for others. • To see the innocence in children. • To resist the urge to criticize. • To be grateful for all I have. • That most teachers want to give and do their best. • That we should be more active in making our communities a better place to live and learn. • More is not always better. • All children need to feel safe in their home community. • All children have the right to a quality education.