Chilton: Economic inequality greatest challenge to overcome

Ken Chilton
Ken Chilton
photo Ken Chilton
My father used to lament the fact that he worked "from the neck down." As long as he was punctual, reliable and competent, he was well-compensated and employed. His industrial economy absorbed millions of high school graduates and dropouts who eagerly traded manual labor for a middle class life. Those days are gone. Failure to learn a skilled trade or acquire a post-secondary education is a prescription for a hard scrabble life.

Chattanooga 2.0 is a compelling analysis of the human capital challenges facing the city and the region. It is brutally honest and represents the lofty ambitions of Chattanooga leaders to create more equitable opportunities for success. The report underscores the point that human capital is the heart of the innovation economy. Unfortunately, areas of concentrated poverty are ill-equipped to prosper in the future without radical change in exposure and education pedagogy.

According to the 2.0 report, " an African-American student in Hamilton County is 33 times more likely than a white student to attend a school in the bottom 5 percent of the state." It is no surprise that these communities are plagued by violence and chronic under-employment. In the absence of functional markets and schools, new markets arise that reflect a different rationality.

The report does not point out that roughly 23 percent of school-aged children in Hamilton County attend private schools. It is hard to get taxpayers enthused about additional property taxes for public schools when thousands of families are stretched to cover private tuition. Families opt out of public schools because of quality concerns which fuels a self-fulfilling prophecy. Research finds that low-income children have better educational outcomes in mixed-income schools.

The study also declares "Either we face this challenge or Hamilton County runs the risk of permanently creating two Chattanoogas - one for the prosperous, and one for those being left significantly behind." As a recent study by the Chattanooga NAACP pointed out, prosperity experienced in North Shore, Southside and downtown has not resulted in tangible benefits to high-poverty communities. Rates of poverty have increased over the last two decades.

The crux of Chattanooga's challenge is economic inequality. The impacts of economic inequality are especially profound in local schools where increasing numbers of students are from lower-income backgrounds. In Chattanooga, 49 percent of white households earn $50,000 or more annually. Eighteen percent of white households earn $100,000 annually or more. Convincing the latter groups to support more equitable programs and policies is the critical challenge to Chattanooga 2.0.

For African Americans, only 25 percent of households earn $50,000 or more per year and 30 percent earn less than $15,000 annually. Economic inequality manifests itself in the problems highlighted in Chattanooga 2.0. Chattanooga 1.0 was not inclusive and benefits accrued disproportionately to college-educated households and strategically targeted neighborhoods - North Shore, Southside and downtown.

Untangling the impacts of geography, income and race will require a greater commitment than the bricks and mortar projects associated with Chattanooga 1.0. The hundreds of millions of private and foundation dollars invested in Chattanooga's renaissance changed neighborhood design and settlement patterns. Hundreds of millions more are needed to empower all Chattanoogans to reach their full potential in the future knowledge economy.

Dr. Ken Chilton, who headed the Ochs Center for two years, is teaching at Tennessee State University.

Upcoming Events