`THE URBAN CHALLENGE': IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RURAL AND URBAN POVERTY?

Poverty looks remarkably similar on paper in St. Louis City and Hayti school districts, but some officials say the difference is in the enrollment numbers.

Hayti, which enrolled fewer than 1,000 students last year, is a rural district in Pemiscot County, one of the poorest counties in the state. The St. Louis City district consists of 108 different school buildings; the city was recognized in Education Week magazine this month as one of the 10 worst cities for child poverty in the nation.

"The percentages may appear similar, but when you actually do a site visit and look at the differences ... then you get a different atmosphere," said Dr. Cleveland Hammonds, superintendent of St. Louis City schools. "When there's a higher density, it multiplies the problem."

The question of whether urban or rural poverty has a greater effect on students has grown as state agencies have began to recognize a link between poverty and poor academic achievement. Various studies have proven that the majority of students living in poverty-stricken communities or homes have a tougher time performing well academically. State legislators and education officials have begun working to provide additional resources, monetary and otherwise, to improve learning conditions for these students.

But battle lines have been clearly drawn as urban and rural districts began clamoring for their share of the poverty funding resource pie. Rural school administrators believe there are no real differences between urban and rural poor students. Regardless of the setting, the students face similar challenges and have the same needs, they said; therefore, funding should be the same when the question of poverty arises.

"They're (the state) wanting us to do certain things but at the same time they're giving large city schools a large amount of money," said Hayti schools Superintendent Bob Simmons. "We're like a stepchild down here -- we're trying to beg for money."

But urban opinions differ. Hammond said students in urban areas face poverty that is more intense and affecting because of its concentration. The students have to battle factors such as crime, peer pressure, lack of parental support and enticement from a variety of alternate activities just to make it into the classroom each day, he said. Then they have to attend school in rundown facilities and often crowded classes, he said.

"St. Louis is older than the country itself and many of the schools go way back," he said. "It's just a tougher atmosphere in urban areas: Tougher for the health department, tougher for the police department, and tougher for the students in the classrooms."

Simmons disagreed. He said poverty affects students essentially the same throughout the state and regardless of whether there are 100 students or 1,000, the state should pay districts the same to educate them.

"The situation in rural Pemiscot County is worse or equal that in urban districts," he said. "Percentage-wise we're tough down here as far as low income and people on welfare and one-parent families and latch-key kids. We have the same problems.

"Why would it cost more to educate a kid in St. Louis and Kansas City than it would down here? We order the same textbooks from the same companies at the same prices. If they get $100 a child, I want $100 a child."

Jim Morris, director of public information for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said although urban and rural child poverty are very similar, the effects of urban poverty are probably harder felt by students.

"We have tried to emphasize that when it comes to a matter with student achievement and the connection with poverty and minority student achievement, it is not simply an urban problem; there are definitely high poverty and low academic performance in other areas of the state," he said. "It's a matter of scale. There are many of the same factors, conditions and challenges, just not on the same scale."

Beyond that, Morris said the battle is more political than educational. Each legislator wants to see his community benefit, he said. In order for that to happen, a dissimilar community will have to lose something in the deal.

"There will always be perceived regional differences, and particularly in times when money has been tight," he said. "Elected officials are going to say they will fight for every dollar they can for cities in their community. Perhaps what's different today -- in my own view -- is maybe the stakes are a little higher. Perhaps it's unavoidable; maybe it's inevitable."

Hammonds, Simmons and Morris agreed that the students are the real losers when political battles for funding are waged. Everyone wants higher achievement, they said; the question becomes at what cost and to whom. None had an answer.

Said Morris: "How can legislators help assure the financial stability of the districts in our two major cities and still provide an adequate support system to every other student in the state? How can they assure a stable, effective system that provides quality education for every kid?

"It's going to be a struggle because the political divisions on this one are clearly evident."