The Conversation

• LOS ANGELES, March 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Wayfinder Family Services recently honored banking executive Camilla Walker at The Conversation.
• Over 200 guests gathered at the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles for the luncheon and panel discussion co-presented by Wayfinder Family Services and the Aspen Institute.
• Walker is a senior vice president and senior relationship manager within the commercial banking division of City National Bank and an alumna of the University of Georgia, where she graduated summa cum laude.
• Walker shared her passion for Wayfinder, "There are a lot of charities in Los Angeles that you can give your time and donations to, but what sets Wayfinder apart is that it all-encompassing … from child welfare and disabilities to mental health services.

• The panel discussion presented by Wayfinder Family Services and The Aspen Institute Society of Fellows explored the topic of loneliness and highlighted U.S.
• Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's advisory: Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, which warned that the health risks of loneliness are comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.
• The engaging panel explored the problem and state, county, school and philanthropic solutions.
• The event also honored Harold A. Davidson, Camilla Walker and the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation for their commitment to children, youth and families in Los Angeles County and beyond.

• That’s because country music is often falsely seen as “white music,” even though its Black historical roots are well documented.
• But Beyoncé’s new album is so much more than a country album.
• It honours other Black musical legends, and challenges the segregation we still see and hear in the music industry today.
• Her current research, called SongData, uses data — like radio airplay, charts, and streaming numbers — to examine representation in the country music industry.

• Bubbling paint mars some walls, evidence of leaks spreading inside the aging building.
• The lack of funds is a result of tax breaks Kansas City lavishes on companies that do business there.
• The program is supposed to bring new jobs but instead has starved schools.

Property tax drain

• Read more:
  Students lose out as cities and states give billions in property tax breaks to businesses − draining school budgets and especially hurting the poorest students

  Abatements have long been controversial, pitting communities against one another in beggar-thy-neighbor contests.

• A three-month investigation by The Conversation and experts in economic development, tax laws and education policy shows that the cash drain is not equally shared by schools in the same communities.
• In multiple cities examined, tax abatements often take critical funding from districts that disproportionately serve low-income students from racial minorities.

In Kansas City, for example, nearly $1,700 per student was redirected in 2022 from poorer public schools, while between $500 and $900 was taken from wealthier schools. Other studies found similar demographic trends elsewhere, including New York state, South Carolina and Columbus, Ohio.

The result

• All told, tax abatements can harm a community’s value, with funding shortfalls creating a cycle of decline.
• Researchers agree that a lack of adequate funding undermines educational outcomes, especially for poor children.
• The study estimated a 21.7% increase could eliminate graduation gaps faced by children from low-income families.
• Perversely, some of the largest beneficiaries are politicians who boast of handing out breaks that inflict so much pain on poorer communities.
• In Philadelphia public schools, asbestos is a major problem, and the district needs $430 million to clean up such environmental hazards.

A tale of two cities

Baton Rouge is a tale of two cities, with some of the worst outcomes in the state for education, income and mortality, and some of the best outcomes. “It was only separated by sometimes a few blocks,” said Edgar Cage, the lead organizer for the advocacy group Together Baton Rouge. “Underserved kids don’t have a path forward”

• Dawn Collins, a district school board member from 2016 to 2022, said that with more funding, the district could provide targeted interventions for academically struggling students.
• The campus of Exxon Mobil, which has received $580 million in tax abatements since 2000, sits not far from schools in desperate need of maintenance.
• The company received its latest tax exemption, $8.6 million, to install facilities at the Baton Rouge complex that recycle plastic and purify isopropyl alcohol.
• Meanwhile, school bus drivers staged a sickout in protest of low pay and a lack of air-conditioned vehicles.

• Christine Wen worked for the nonprofit organization Good Jobs First from June 2019 to May 2022 where she helped collect tax abatement data.
• Nathan Jensen has received funding from the John and Laura Arnold Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.