Guest Post: Child Poverty

Reminder: let’s be poverty abolitionists! Particularly for the sake of children.

To meaningfully address childhood poverty, we need to adopt a poverty abolitionist framework. This means rejecting short-term, individual-level interventions and focusing on dismantling the capitalist and racist systems that reproduce poverty. It’s not enough to offer after-school programs or meals; we need systemic change that includes reparative justice, universal basic income, and equitable school funding.

Educators, policymakers, and communities must collaborate to push for policies that dismantle poverty at its root. This includes advocating for increased funding for public schools, particularly those serving low-income and marginalized students, as well as broader social policies that address housing, healthcare, and employment inequities.

If you haven’t yet, consider reading Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond!

The poverty we see in Rochester—and in cities across the U.S.—is not inevitable. It is a policy choice, perpetuated by systems that prioritize profit over people. Childhood poverty is not a byproduct of individual failure, but of systemic neglect. If we are to create classrooms where every child can thrive, we must first dismantle the systems that ensure some children will never have that opportunity. The path forward is one of abolition, equity, and justice.

Dr. Tyana Velazquez-Smith is the Director of Early Childhood at Rochester Area Community Foundation. With a doctorate in Teaching and Curriculum from the University of Rochester, Dr. Velazquez-Smith is an adjunct instructor at U of R, teaching courses like Race, Class, Gender & Disability in American Schools. She is the Founder and CEO of Sensational Inclusion, dedicated to building equitable educational ecosystems. Dr. Velazquez-Smith is a native Rochesterian, passionate activist, educator, and dedicated researcher.