From the new Poverty & Race: In our new issue, we present a fascinating trio of articles on “Critically Engaged Teaching and Race” – including a précis of Meira Levinson’s new book, “No Citizen Left Behind,” and contributions from Lawrence Blum on teaching about race in high school, and from Leigh Patel (and colleagues) on effective uses of mindfulness in education. Plus an article on charter school policy in New York City – and more. Click here to see the new issue or look in your mailbox at home…
Preserving the Low Income Housing Tax Credit: The LIHTC program is a crucial housing resource for low income families – last week, along with six other national civil rights groups, we submitted a strong statement of support to a House Ways and Means Committee panel considering tax reform. See the statement here.
Other news and resources
Quantifying the benefits of housing opportunity: A recent decision from the federal court in Connecticut explores the economic value of “moving to opportunity.” Click here to see the decision and expert report (by Columbia Professor Lance Freeman, a member of PRRAC’s Social Science Advisory Board).
New report on fair housing impacts of Hurricane Sandy: NJ Fair Share Housing Center has just released “Faces of Sandy: A Fair Share for Renters,” showing the devastating impact of a lack of resources for lower-income renters to rebuild through the stories of six families.
A new generation of city planners? The president of UN Habitat addresses the challenges of rapid urbanization in the global south in the Atlantic Cities blog.
————————————
Finally, congratulations to HUD Assistant Secretary John Trasviña on his recent appointment as Dean of the University of San Francisco School of Law. As we noted in our recent review of HUD’s enforcement record during the first term, John’s division (FHEO) has been doing important work to ensure that HUD grantees comply with the affirmative integration goals of the Fair Housing Act. Obviously much more needs to be done to promote fair housing across all the divisions at HUD, but we are grateful to John for his leadership during the past four years, and we hope that President Obama and Secretary Donovan select a successor who is equally committed to expanding fair housing choice.
