April 1st

Today, I read about the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) project.  Congress provided $70 million to 4600 low-income U.S. families with children living in public housing within some of the worst disadvantaged urban neighborhoods.  These families were assigned to one of three groups: a group that was offered a housing voucher to be used in a low-poverty neighborhood, a group that offered a voucher to live in a Section 8 area, and a control group.  In terms of education, the thought was that the neighborhood conditions would have a positive impact on students' education.  The 10-15 year follow up showed that physical and mental health improved in adults.  However, for youth, the program had no effect on physical health, improved mental health for females only, had little impact on arrests, and had no effects  on math or reading achievement.  From what I've read, parents were spending more time commuting to work and were more focused on the fact that these neighborhoods were safe, rather than the benefits of the school system.  What do you think?