Town Square

Groups to Watch

Freedom Works Awards

On February 21, House Majority Leader Dick Armey inaugurated his "Freedom Works" Award, presenting the first one to Dallas Cowboy's running back Emmitt Smith. The award recognizes individuals who have made unique and meaningful contributions to their communities.

Smith was honored with the award for supplying more than 9,000 needy families with holiday meals. In addition to participating in the food drives of local churches, Smith has started a scholarship and mentor program that encourages underprivileged high-school students to graduate and attend college.

Armey gave a second award on March 20 to Joe Marshall, founder of the Omega Boys Club in San Francisco. Since its founding in 1987, the club has guided more than 600 teens out of gang warfare and drug dealing, and sent 140 of them to college--all without a penny of federal assistance. Democratic Representatives Ron Dellums and Nancy Pelosi joined Armey in saluting the Omega Boys Club and its four rules for life: There is nothing more important than an individual's life. A friend will never lead you to danger. Change begins with you. Respect comes from within. Armey says that he hopes his awards will serve as an inspiration for others to invest time and energy in their communities. "Government alone can't solve our nation's problems," says Armey. "That doesn't mean we simply throw up our hands in frustration. It means we must roll up our sleeves and do the work each of us is capable of doing to rebuild our neighborhoods and communities."

* To suggest candidates for the Freedom Works Award, contact James R. Wilkinson, Office of the House Majority Leader--tel.: 202-225-4000.

Community Renewal

On March 12, a bipartisan, bicameral group of congressmen and -women dubbed the "Renewal Alliance" unveiled the American Community Renewal Act, a bill designed to increase employment, strengthen families, and support faith-based programs in low-income areas. Senate sponsors Spencer Abraham and Joe Lieberman, and House sponsors J.C. Watts, Floyd Flake, and Jim Talent have based the bill on the institutions that have been most successful in building strong communities: churches, families, and private enterprises. According to a press release, the American Community Renewal Act represents a realization on the part of lawmakers that the solutions to our communities' problems lie in local charities and private philanthropy, not centralized government.

One section of the bill provides for the creation of up to 100 "renewal communities" across the nation. These areas will include those that are most afflicted by the problems of illegitimacy and family breakdown, drug- and gang-related violence, and unemployment. Recognizing the baneful effects of federal regulations on local philanthropic organizations, the Act provides tax relief and regulatory reform for these communities. Low-income parents will become eligible for federally funded scholarships that will allow them to send their children to the schools of their choice.

The bill also provides an incentive for citizens to become involved in philanthropy by providing a tax credit of 75 percent of any amount donated to a private charity. Individuals must volunteer at least 10 hours of work at a charitable organization to be eligible for the tax credit.

To fight the unemployment that plagues poor neighborhoods, the bill also provides tax relief to employers who hire welfare recipients and other "high-risk" citizens. Finally, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will transfer ownership of unoccupied housing to local jurisdictions. These houses will be sold to nonprofit corporations, which will offer the renovated living quarters to families at a low cost.

* The American Community Renewal Act-Rep. Floyd Flake, 202-225-3461; Rep. James Talent, 202-225-2561; Rep J.C. Watts, 202-225-6165.

The Chess Solution

A 10-year-old nonprofit in New York City promotes an unusual means of improving the academic attainment and life chances of at-risk children: after-school chess-playing. The group, Chess-in-the-Schools, draws its mission from Benjamin Franklin's observation that chess teaches logic and reasoning, improves memory and concentration, and develops critical thinking, patience and determination. It is also a relatively inexpensive extra-curricular activity.

Students at the participating schools receive instruction from a chess instructor one class period a week for either 15 or 30 weeks. According to the group, teachers who have taught students who enroll in the program report improvements in their students' classroom behavior, scholastic performance, attendance, and level of confidence.

Chess-in-the-Schools also commissioned a study in 1996 that showed the reading scores of chess participants improved significantly over the course of a school year compared with a control group that began the year at the same level.

Chess-in-the-Schools started in 1986 with a few volunteers in elementary and junior high schools in the poorest neighborhoods of Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and the South Bronx. Last year, the group taught chess to 12,000 students in 140 New York City schools; it also has affiliates in 18 other cities. It pays for its books, equipment, and salaries for 30 instructors and other staff entirely with private donations.

* Chess-in-the-Schools-tel.: 212-757-0613; fax: 212-262-3127.

The American Compass

The American Compass, an organization founded last year to help garner attention and resources for small, faith-based charities, has made its first series of financial gifts to four organizations.

The gifts were part of a two-day tour sponsored by the American Compass with congressional members of the Renewal Alliance (see above) including Senators Rick Santorum, John Ashcroft, and Tim Hutchinson and Representatives J.C. Watts, Ron Packard, and Joe Pitts. A total of $40,000 was given to four separate groups: the Darrell Green Learning Center, an after-school program for at-risk youth in northeast D.C.; He Is Pleased, a Wilmington, Delaware, program that moves homeless persons from the streets to full-time employment; the St. Clare Medical Van, a mobile medical unit providing routine care for the poor in Wilmington; and Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Philadelphia.

This tour will be followed by four separate congressional tours in Texas; California; Michigan and Ohio; and Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. In addition, the American Compass will sponsor fundraising events for several groups this year, including two San Antonio-based groups, Teen Challenge and Victory Outreach.

* The American Compass, David Kuo, director-tel.: 703-548-8143.

Classical Accreditors

In the late 19th century, educators developed accrediting agencies to ensure quality among institutions of higher learning. At that time, the motivating factor was the fear that the federal government would standardize higher education. Today, the American Academy for Liberal Education (A.A.L.E.) serves as an accrediting agency for the same purpose-to guarantee that colleges and universities maintain high academic standards in the liberal arts and humanities. This time, however, the motivation was anxiety over the increasing politicization of college campuses at the expense of academic excellence.

The A.A.L.E. is a five-year-old national, nonprofit accrediting agency based in Washington, D.C., and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The A.A.L.E. was founded by a group of academics including Jacques Barzun, Gertrude Himmelfarb, and John Agresto, the president of St. John's College of Santa Fe. The primary concern of the AALE is the liberal-arts component of institutions of higher learning. In order to receive accreditation by the AALE, an institution must have mandatory courses in literature, science, and foreign languages, and a strong humanities program. The accreditation process typically takes about one year, and includes an on-site visit by a team of evaluators and a recommendation by the AALE's Council of Scholars. Already, more than 150 institutions have contemplated AALE membership. Colleges will have the option of using the AALE as its primary accreditor, or of holding membership by both the AALE and a regional accreditor.

* American Academy for Liberal Education-tel.: 202-452-8611.

American Civil Rights Institute

Last November, California voters passed Proposition 209, an initiative modeled after the 1964 Civil Rights Act that ended state discrimination and racial preferences in employment, education, and contracting. After a federal judge suspended the enactment of the law pending a review of its constitutionality, a group of citizens formed the American Civil Rights Institute (A.C.R.I.) to support the enactment of Proposition 209 in California and to "aggressively" pursue similar civil-rights measures across the nation. Says Ward Connerly, an African-American businessman who led the fight for Proposition 209 and now serves as chairman of the A.C.R.I., "Every citizen should have an equal chance at the starting line of life's race. But there should not be a guaranteed outcome in the race. If you discriminate for someone, you discriminate against someone else." Other founders of the organization include Thomas L. Rhodes, the president of National Review, and Clint Bolick, the director for litigation for the Institute for Justice.

The A.C.R.I., which is financed by individuals and private foundations, will aid state movements to put equal-protection initiatives on the ballot or pressuring legislatures to pass laws ending affirmative action. About a dozen states, including Colorado, Oregon, Florida, and Washington, have indicated that they may need the A.C.R.I.'s assistance with civil-rights legislation.

* American Civil Rights Institute-tel.: 916-444-2278, fax: 916-444-2279.

Sensible Philanthropy

Declining public trust in "big government" institutions, has paralleled a growing confidence in private, philanthropic efforts. In fact, says the Philanthropy Roundtable, the realm of private philanthropy is poised to become the most dynamic and fastest growing sector of domestic life in America.

The Philanthropy Roundtable, which recently moved to Washington, D.C., from Indianapolis under new leadership, is founded on the principle that philanthropy is most likely to succeed when it focuses on individual achievement, and where it rewards not dependence, but personal initiative, self-reliance and private enterprise. The Roundtable's publications, conferences and consulting services assist the philanthropists who are shaping America's institutions as well as reaching out to those preparing to enter the world of philanthropy.

The Roundtable also helps grantmakers from the trustees and staff of large foundations to individual donors-obtain information on all sides of the issues facing American philanthropy.

* The Philanthropy Roundtable-tel.: 202-822-8333; fax: 202-822-8325.

What Works

Successful Job Training

In 1995, the federal government appropriated more than $20 billion in 163 different job-training programs, nearly all of them failures. By contrast, Harlem-based Strive is a successful job program that refuses to accept government money. Funded entirely by foundations, it targets ex-offenders, former drug abusers and the homeless. Its success rate is excellent. After two years, 80 percent of Strive trainees are still working.

What distinguishes Strive from other programs is that instead of focusing on "hard skills" like computer literacy or word processing, Strive emphasizes "soft skills": initiative, punctuality, and an understanding of the alien culture of the mainstream work world. Above all, Strive seeks to break down their clients' "attitude"-a quasi-defensive, quasi-aggressive posture that rejects such essential workplace traits as diligence and helpfulness. Strive believes this attitude condemns their trainees to a life of poverty.

The confrontational techniques Strive employs to change attitudes often seem insensitive and even brutal, but they work. By insisting on clear, tough, impersonal standards, Strive gets its trainees to think of themselves as mature adults rather than damaged victims, and this psychological change, it turns out, works wonders.

* "At Last, A Job Program That Works" by Kay S. Hymowitz, City Journal, Winter 1997.

Integration in the Military

Although the U.S. Army is rarely thought of as an engine of social change, racial integration and black achievement have in fact progressed much further there than in any other American institution. Indeed, the Army is the only place in America where blacks routinely boss whites around. The contrast between the Army-where whites and blacks inhabit the same barracks, eat in the same facilities and work together without animosity-and the university campus, where racial self-segregation is the norm, is especially striking.

From 1991 to 1995, sociologists Charles C. Moskos of Northwestern University and John Sibley Butler of the University of Texas investigated the state of Army race relations through extensive surveys of active-duty soldiers. They sought to discover whether the Army's success in achieving racial integration and interracial comity contains lessons applicable to America's civilian sector.

The main lesson the Army teaches us, Moskos and Butler conclude, is that race relations can be positively transformed by an absolute commitment to non-discrimination, coupled with uncompromising performance standards. But high standards can only be maintained by offering opportunities- through education, training and mentoring-to otherwise disadvantaged individuals. The authors call this approach a "soft" affirmative-action program, which they favorably contrast to the quota-driven programs adopted by other American institutions.

* All That We Can Be: Black Leadership and Racial Integration in the Army by Charles C. Moskos and John Sibley Butler (Twentieth Century Fund/Basic Books).

Cautionary Tales

Misguided Mainline Churches

According to Amy L. Sherman, the director of urban ministry at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, mainline churches that denounce congressional welfare reform as "appalling" and "brutal," and lobby to maintain the welfare status quo, are doing the poor a grave disservice. "Is it really 'destructive' and 'morally reprehensible' for the government to withhold cash payments to drug addicts," she asks, "or to require single women to help establish the paternity of their children, or to insist that teenage moms stay in school?"

These congressional requirements, Sherman points out, are the very measures that innovative, faith-based groups working at the grassroots have employed in their own outreach efforts. Lawndale Community Church, for example, which works in inner-city Chicago, asks able-bodied people to work for a short period in exchange for emergency cash assistance or groceries. At STEP 13, a faith-based outreach program in Denver, workers offer tough love, but never money, to drug-abusers and alcoholics. And religious groups working with at-risk teenagers in Washington and Phoenix preach sexual abstinence and staying in school.

Effective faith-based anti-poverty groups typically offer help that is personal (rather than bureaucratic) challenging (making demands as well as dispensing help) and spiritual (addressing religious as well as material needs.) For example, in Richmond, Virginia, social-service officials and church pastors in the impoverished East End have formed a partnership called the Spiritual Family Development Program that provides families of juvenile offenders with church-based counseling. In Mississippi, churches are "adopting" families on welfare and helping them find jobs. And in Michigan, churches are establishing "compassion circles" of lay persons to provide practical help and emotional support to welfare recipients. Sherman concludes that religious leaders should "exert themselves in mobilizing their own congregations to sacrificial service on behalf of the have-nots."

* "Get With the Program," by Amy L. Sherman, American Enterprise, Jan.-Feb. 1997.

What We Don't Know . . .

Since the publication of "A Nation At Risk: The Imperative of Educational Reform" in 1983, improving America's schools has become a leading national priority. Despite a great deal of activity, however, there has been astonishingly little improvement. According to educational theorist E.D. Hirsch Jr., who pioneered the concept of "cultural literacy," this is because most educational reformers are themselves working under a false set of assumptions about the nature of education. Developed at Columbia University's Teachers College in the 1920s, these wrong-headed ideas disparage traditional approaches to education, in favor of a more natural, "holistic" approach based on projects and hands-on experience.

Unfortunately, he argues, what children actually bring away from such a naturalistic approach to learning tends to be highly variable and uncertain. He calls for a return to the traditional approach, with its emphasis on high standards, book learning, and hard work. To be effective, a K-12 school system must carefully define the knowledge and skills required of students at each grade level, and must administer fair and incorruptible tests of student achievement. Unless the educational establishment adopts this traditional approach, and abandons such progressive innovations as individual pacing, discovery learning, thematic teaching, and nonobjective testing, America will remain a nation at risk.

* The Schools We Need and Why We Don't Have Them by E.D. Hirsch Jr. (Doubleday).

Thoughts on Civil Society

A Libertarian in Civil Society

Freedom's primary justification, argues Charles Murray, is to enable individuals to exercise personal responsibility for the choices they make. Such responsibility is essential if people are to live satisfying, meaningful lives.

Unfortunately, the most serious effect of government's metastasizing role over the past thirty years has been to deprive individuals of responsibility for much of what happens in their communities. In turning over to bureaucrats a large proportion of the responsibility for feeding the hungry, caring for the elderly and nurturing the young, we have inadvertently "stripped daily life of much of the stuff of life." As a result, our lives have grown morally impoverished.

Murray embraces the libertarian ideal of a return to limited government. He would get rid of Social Security and Medicare, end the regulation of products and services, and place strict constitutional limits on government. He contends that government intervention in complex social processes has caused "incalculable human suffering."

Radically reducing the government's power to a few core functions will help to end that suffering, while simultaneously reinvigorating our civil society. "America under a restored limited government," he writes, "will. . .be a society with far greater texture, far less anomie and alienation than now."

* What It Means To Be a Libertarian by Charles Murray (Broadway Books).