SEATTLE — “Community colleges are this country’s poverty abolitionist.”
DeRionne Pollard, the new president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), said she would like to see that on a T-shirt. That’s what sociologist and best-selling author Matthew Desmond called community colleges and other community organizations during an on-stage interview with Pollard at the AACC annual convention this week.
“One of the honors I have of being in this room is to recognize that I’m surrounded by all these poverty abolitionists,” said Desmond, a Princeton University sociology professor and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Evicted and best-seller Poverty, by America. “Folks who are working in community college are not just at the forefront of education; they are at the forefront of our homelessness crisis, of our child poverty crisis, of our housing crisis, of our lack of food.”
Pollard echoed that community colleges “sit at the intersection of these issues.”
“We serve students who are navigating poverty while also trying to create pathways out of it,” she said.
A deep-rooted problem
Desmond’s comments tie into Pollard’s vision for AACC to serve as part of an ecosystem that supports economic mobility for individuals and communities. She unveiled the association’s Strategic Compass 2035 this weekend, which will drive that work.
And there’s a lot of work to do to uplift poor Americans. Desmond — who himself attended a community college in rural Arizona — noted the U.S. is the richest country in the world with the worst poverty. Its child poverty rate is double that of Canada, South Korea and Australia.
“Europeans have this phrase: ‘American-style deprivation,'” Desmond said.
Poverty, by America argues that this is often not in spite of the country’s wealth but because of it, and the connection is often not recognized.
“We exploit the poor in the labor market, in the financial market, in the housing market. A lot of us benefit from that exploitation,” he said.
Policy decisions often drive these outcomes, said Desmond, who cited the U.S. tax system as an example. He noted a study that found that eliminating tax breaks for the top 1% of wealthiest Americans would yield $175 billion annually — “which is almost what we need to lift everyone out of poverty,” he said.
Desmond also criticized those who dismiss the idea as unrealistic.
“We have the resources. We just have to deploy it better,” he said.
What the sector can do
Although tackling poverty is a huge challenge, there is a way to deconstruct it, Desmond said. As an example, he suggested extending free and reduced lunches into meal plans at community colleges.
New policies could also reallocate federal funding more effectively to address poverty, Desmond said. He cited the TANF welfare program, where only 22 cents of every dollar goes to parents. Meanwhile, states are “sitting on piles of TANF dollars,” he continued, noting Tennessee has about $700 million in unused TANF money, while Hawaii has so much unused TANF funds that it could give every poor child in the state $10,000.
Two-year colleges can have a role in finding better ways to use those resources, Desmond said.
“What we need is creative funding solutions so we can do that at scale and sustainability,” he said.
Community colleges already play a crucial role not only in preparing students for careers but also in building their self-worth and a foundation for participating in democracy, Desmond said.
“One of the beautiful things community colleges can do is to really help people redefine their own stories and recognize their own worth,” he said.
He cited Bunker Hill Community College‘s culinary program, which not only helps students in Boston to develop the skills and knowledge to work in the field, but also gives them “an identity and value structure.”
