Welfare Reform and the Schools
Will it throw more than a million people into poverty, or will it increase family self-sufficiency? Whatever position you hold on welfare reform, one thing is clear: It will have profound, if indirect, effects on public education. Some of the major changes and their likely impact on families and children are highlighted below, along with legislative provisions that potentially offer schools a role in welfare reform.
First, let us recap what happened as a result of the federal welfare law signed by President Clinton last year. Some 5 million families who received Aid for Families with Dependent Children cash payments are to be converted to a new system called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, or TANF. This means that parents will be expected to work within two years after assistance begins (or earlier in some cases), that they will lose all assistance after five years, and that there will no longer be a federal entitlement to assistance. States will have a great deal more authority over the program. For example, they may impose more stringent requirements than outlined above and set financial-assistance levels without federal approval. Federal officials are largely forbidden to interfere with how states run their programs.
Whether or not the numbers of children and families in poverty will change depends on several factors: how states elect to use their authority, future changes in the economy, and behavioral changes on the part of clients. Proponents of welfare reform focus on the social benefits that will accrue over time, particularly for children who reside in multi-generational welfare families. They see a working parent (as contrasted with a stay-at-home parent receiving public assistance) to be a better role model. Furthermore, they suggest that the elimination of an entitlement to cash assistance may result in more responsible behavior (marriage, later childbearing, and graduation from high school). Finally, they believe that the working family will be financially better off...
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