Editor's note: In a seven-part series of reports, the Harris Group newspapers will explore the growth of poverty in Kansas this decade, the factors causing it and what communities are doing to curb it.

By Edie Ross

The Hutchinson News

Billy Bass likes reading non-fiction books, enjoys music and, according to his mother, taught himself to play the piano.

The 11-year-old can talk -- at 100 miles per hour -- on a range of subjects from technology to music.

He makes friends easily and is, by all accounts, very intelligent.

Billy Bass has a lot going for him.

And, the Hutchinson youth has a lot going against him.

Billy is homeless.

Because of his socioeconomic status, statistics indicate it's likely Billy will score lower on state assessments than his peers and will be less likely to graduate from high school.

Talya Bass, Billy's mom, hopes Billy and her other sons, 8-year-old twins Dean and Dusty and 2-year-old LeDoux, someday pursue higher education.

To succeed, however, the boys will have to overcome difficulties other children will never face -- and she knows the odds aren't in her children's favor.

"I didn't grow up with a lot of money, and the boys from the neighborhood I grew up in are either going to prison or just getting out," she said. "I want my children to go to college, but mostly I want to keep them out of the legal system."

Billy is among the 40 percent of Kansas students labeled "economically disadvantaged," and with a secure place in that subgroup, he faces what Kansas Education Commissioner Alexa Posny says is the biggest obstacle to learning in the state of Kansas: poverty.

"There is nothing more important than fighting the war on poverty," Posny said. "Until society has taken care of the disadvantages of children who live in poverty, they will continue to enter the school door lacking basic skills. This gap seldom goes away, and the likelihood of these children ever catching up to their more advantaged peers relies totally on educators."

Costly issue

Poverty is affecting a growing number of the state's school children.

Nearly 40 percent of Kansas students qualify for free or reduced lunches -- up from 32.5 percent a decade ago. These are students from households that are 200 percent or less of the poverty line, which was $21,200 annually for a family of four last year.

The growth in this population is significant to everyone -- even those who aren't experiencing poverty directly -- if for no other reason than the affect on school districts, school officials say.

The cost to educate the average pupil ranges from $5,000 to $9,000 every year, depending on the size of the district, according to the Kansas Department of Education.

Add another $800 to $2,000 annually to that for educating an at-risk child.

It is nearly impossible to know how much of the extra expense is borne by the state as compared to local taxpayers, though.

For example, with the cost of food fast outstripping federal subsidies for free and reduced-price lunches, districts with large economically disadvantaged populations are left to foot a growing bill, which cuts into the money available for educational projects that would enrich all students.

An ever-widening gap between the cost of lunches and how much the government will pay often translates to increased lunch prices for families who pay full-price for lunch.

"The bottom line is the state Legislature has determined it costs 45.6 percent more to educate an at-risk child," said Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis. "And it is tremendously expensive if we fail. Anytime a child drops out of high school, their chances of success are very slim."

The problems

The obstacles to learning that are experienced by children in poverty are created long before the kids step into the classroom.

The period prior to age 3, a time when research suggests children in poverty are at a severe disadvantage, is integral to a child's ability to keep pace with peers once school starts.

A 1995 study discovered toddlers in poverty hear one-third the vocabulary of toddlers in middle and upper-class families -- putting them behind before they start.

The study was conducted by Betty Hart and Todd Risley, professors at the universities of Kansas and Alaska, respectively, and authors of "Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experiences of Young American Children"

"This is not a commentary on being a good parent or a bad parent, it's just circumstances," Posny said.

And the gap between impoverished students' readiness to learn and that of more advantaged students is tough to close.

However, teachers face obstacles to connecting with children in poverty, much less getting them to learn at a faster rate than their classmates.

One of the biggest hindrances is the culture difference between the impoverished and the middle class.

Teachers find it difficult to get students to set high academic goals when they are used to focusing on simply getting by from day to day.

Another challenge for teachers is the task of creating a lesson that can reach high-, medium- and low-level students.

"The teacher has to be a juggler," Posny said. "They have to be able to enhance the level of instruction for the kids who are so far above -- so they are getting an increased curriculum -- while not forgetting the child in the middle and then still absolutely spending additional time with the kids who are low to help them catch up."

If it seems impossible, it is, educators say.

Posny and others indicate that there is no way to catch up lower students in a normal school day -- especially when those students leave the classroom and return to a home with little exposure to language and literature.

"If we are truly going to catch these kids up, we have to have them for more than six and a half hours a day," Posny said. "These kids need to be provided additional time -- on top of the core curriculum -- for intense interventions with a reading coach or math coach."

Billy and his brothers briefly attended an after-school program during the family's 30-day stint in a Tucson homeless shelter. Talya Bass said it was especially helpful with the boys' homework -- a task she doesn't feel prepared to undertake.

"My parents -- neither one got past junior high," she said. "So once my homework got beyond their understanding, their way of dealing with it was to yell at me. My oldest will try to manipulate me into doing his homework for him, and after awhile, I'm like -- all I know how to do is yell at you or do your homework for you.

"I don't know how to teach him."

Finally, teachers face the challenge of a high mobility rate among impoverished students. Poverty-stricken families often move for financial or other reasons, and their children go with them, changing schools or possibly school districts.

For example, Billy and his brothers are attending their third school since the beginning of the school year. Their mother, seeking a new start after suffering domestic abuse, moved three times in six months.

Their current home, a transitional living facility at Hutchinson's New Beginnings, has offered more stability than the children have seen in six months.

Denise Neighbors, principal of Hutchinson's Faris Elementary School, where nearly 75 percent of the enrollment is economically disadvantaged, said 20 percent of her students were new to the school this year. That adds up to about 50 kids -- 80 percent of which were new to the district.

"That creates a big problem with having a foundation of learning," Neighbors explained.

It also means teachers have to spend time acclimating new students when they need to be teaching them.

Even with these challenges, Posny said Kansas teachers are making strides in reaching this growing student population.

Patience and persistence, it seems, is key.

"A lot has to fall into place when it comes to helping kids in poverty succeed," Posny acknowledged. "It is not something that is going to happen over night. But when I look at results over the past eight years, we have absolutely improved."

Solving the problem

The state's improvement in the area did not come easily.

Districts and communities have worked for every inch of progress -- addressing one-by-one the road blocks to success impoverished children face, educators say.

To help bridge the culture gap, many districts have undertaken staff training on successfully interacting with economically and otherwise disadvantaged students.

The Ruby Payne framework for understanding poverty is popular for its basic theory that hidden "rules" govern each socioeconomic class.

It teaches that since most teachers are middle class, they need to better understand how the poverty class operates to successfully reach those children.

For example, the Ruby Payne model would say personal relationships are of high importance for children in poverty.

Whether or not those relationships are present will determine the child's desire to pursue an education, said Corbin Witt, executive director of school improvement for Salina Public Schools, where about half of the enrollment is economically disadvantaged.

Salina schools have immersed employees -- from bus drivers to principals -- in Ruby Payne poverty training, starting in 2006 and continuing through this school year.

Witt said teachers have seen improvement in their ability to teach children from poverty since implementing the model.

"It's very exciting," he said. "I think the teachers have felt that it's been a good use of the district's time and money."

Once teachers know how to reach students in poverty, it's important to give the kids a chance to catch up to their peers.

At Ottawa's Community in Schools after-school program, kindergarten through fifth-grade students have time to finish their homework and also receive some tutoring. About 75 percent of the students who attend the program are economically disadvantaged, said Becky Nevergold, Community in Schools executive director.

Tutoring typically consists of academic games that provide experiences the kids might not have otherwise -- such as playing store where kids use an "allowance" to buy goods.

A unique aspect of Ottawa's program is the inclusion of a 4-H club that meets as a part of the after school program.

"Kids get to do demonstrations and project talks in front of their peers and then they have projects they work on for the rest of the time -- from rocketry to electricity to macramé to singing and dancing," Nevergold said. "All opportunities to expand their base knowledge."

Districts also are responding to the non-educational obstacles at-risk kids face.

Garden City's Buffalo Jones Elementary School has, at 83.8 percent, the highest percentage of economically disadvantaged students in its district.

Although the school has an after-school tutoring program, it also reaches out to families through movie nights in the gym and other activities to help create a family structure that can be imitated at home, counselor Juana Loya said.

As districts and educators continue to identify and address the educational, emotional and basic needs of economically disadvantaged children, they will continue to win battles against poverty, Posny said.

To win the war, it will take a continued concerted effort and an attitude that does not accept excuses, she said.

"Poverty is never an excuse for why students don't learn," she said. "Any child can learn."