Issues such as education and the decline in the public school system, low minimum wage, public policy, population growth, and various economic factors are the causes and contributing factors to poverty in Cincinnati.  Eradicating poverty is within our reach; however, there are few steps that are being taken by members of Cincinnati to fix these problems.  Poverty in itself appears to be a recurring cycle, which seems to be initiated by business loss or outsourced jobs within the city of Cincinnati.  As a result of jobs being moved to less expensive areas in which they can operate, citizens are losing their jobs and therefore losing income.  Less income means that there will be less money in the family income for food and other necessities.  Less income also means that there is less money for school supplies and less money available for school tax levies.  As a result, schools do not get the basic supplies such as pencils and paper that they need to operate, which results in lower levels of education and a smaller selection of jobs.             In 2002, nearly 60 percent of the students in Cincinnati Public schools qualified for federal programs.  According to Cathy Hamilton, director of Ohio Principals' Center, "there are students who are homeless and their teachers don't even know it."  She concludes that by identifying issues related to poverty, teachers can apply them to their classrooms.  As a result, students with stronger survival instincts and a more likelihood to act out are given a better chance to succeed in an educational environment.  (1)            As an Early Childhood Education major at Xavier University, I have observed the effects of supply shortages in the surrounding neighborhood schools.  In one of my education classes at Xavier, I was assigned to do observations at Hyde Park Elementary, located on the outskirts of Cincinnati, Ohio.  Although Hyde Park Elementary is not located in the deep inner city, it was suffering the consequences of poverty-stricken and low-income families.  The school itself appeared architecturally beautiful on the outside, but on the inside, the school was dark, bare, and run down.  I observed students in a third grade and seventh grade classrooms over the duration of several weeks.  Many students did not have the supplies they needed to operate in  everyday class settings.  I discovered that many of the students in the third grade classroom did not have pencils.  When I asked their teacher why, she responded that many student's families could not afford to buy school supplies, and the school district itself did not have sufficient funding to provide basic necessities either.

1.)  Buehrle 1