Brookings Press Blog

HOPE VI and the New Promise of Public Housing in America’s Cities

Book launch hosted by current HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and former secretary Henry Cisneros

Among lessons learned, HOPE VI has taught us that replacing public housing with vouchers isn't always the best option for displaced families. “Many of them ended up in new ghettos of Section 8 because they took the path of least resistance and because landlords were unscrupulous and piled people on top of each other to get the money,” said Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under President Bill Clinton. “In some cases we didn’t improve people’s lives as we could have done,” he added. Today, current HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan faces many of the same challenges.

On July 14, the current and former HUD secretaries teamed together to host a discussion on the next steps for urban revitalization and opportunity. Secretary Donovan announced new funding for the current HOPE VI program and outlined the future of Choice Neighborhoods.

In the new book From Despair to Hope: Hope VI and the New Promise of Public Housing in America’s Cities, Cisneros and co-editor Lora Engdahl document the evolution of HOPE VI, one of the most ambitious urban redevelopment initiatives yet. The authors also chronicle the major federal effort to replace desolate public housing with mixed-income communities, and discuss the lessons learned.

- Learn more about the book, From Despair to Hope

- Read articles on the event from CQ Politics and Next American City

Beth Noveck interviewed on government transparency

Author discusses transparency as means of driving innovation with Government Technology

With the White House blog publishing new posts nearly every day and the accompanying Twitter feed boasting more than 670,000 followers, it seems that the “open government initiative” may be succeeding. In a July 6 interview with Steve Towns, editor of the news collective Government Technology, Beth Noveck discussed local, state, and federal governments’ current transparency efforts in a digital age. Noveck, author of Wiki Government: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful, cited the blog and Twitter feed for the Office of Science and Technology Policy as one example of the successful integration of technology and government issues. On the simplicity and ease with which governments can utilize technology, Noveck had the following to say:

“Many of these tools are cheap. They're free. They're easy to maintain. It's just a matter of being ready and willing to put a toe in the water and say, ‘We're going to try this, and we're going to see what works for us and really try to adapt new innovations.’”

- Learn more about Wiki Government

- Read and watch the full interview with Beth Noveck

'When Mayors Take Charge' editor discusses the NYC school system

Joseph Viteritti on the success and room for improvement of mayoral control over public schools

The ideas espoused within editor Joseph Viteritti’s When Mayors Take Charge: School Governance in the City offers an innovative solution to the problem of public school governance. The Teachers College Record, a journal of analysis and research published by Columbia University’s Teachers College, recently produced a video in which Viteritti went into greater detail about the claims found within the book. According to Viteritti, the advent of mayoral control over public schools has begun to gain popularity, but many cities must now judge whether those who have already taken the step have proven successful. Using New York’s public school system as a case study, Viteritti outlines in the video the findings of a study conducted in preparation for the state legislature’s June decision to either renew or eliminate the 2002 law that handed the city’s schools over to its mayor. Viteritti’s conclusions show that mayoral control, while effective, does require certain checks and balances on the mayor’s power and increased accountability between the mayor, schools, and citizens.

Joseph Viteritti is currently Blanche D. Blank Professor of Public Policy at Hunter College, CUNY and chairman of the Department of Public Affairs.

- Learn more about When Mayors Take Charge

What happens when mayors take charge of schools?

School governance in the city

Public schools have been a source of contention when deciding who controls what in school districts. The Economist and The Detroit News take advice from Joseph Viteritti, editor of When Mayors Take Charge: School Governance in the City, in their reports on mayoral control of public schools. When Mayors Take Charge investigates cases of mayoral control in New York, Detroit, Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C. The Economist's "Mayoral control of schools in New York: Political prisoners" asserts that “lawmakers in Albany are not thinking about New York’s children or any of their constituents at the moment.” Correspondingly, The Detroit News comments in "Mayoral control of Detroit schools debated" that “parents and constituents are frustrated with what they perceive to be the incompetence of the 11-member school board they fought to elect, ending the 1999-2005 mayoral control.”

Viteritti pools insight from leading experts on how to tackle the factors behind the development of mayoral control and possible ways to improve the system as well its prospects for the future. He is the Blanche D. Blank Professor of Public Policy at Hunter College, CUNY. He previously served as special assistant to the chancellor of schools in New York and as senior adviser to superintendents in Boston and San Francisco. He was also recently the executive director of the Commission on School Governance in New York.

In When Mayors Take Charge, the urgent problem of low-performing urban schools is expertly sliced and diced by a band of historians and political scientists. Policy elites and street-level reformers need to know that mayoral control does matter to democratic participation and managerial efficiency but not necessarily to students' test scores. —Larry Cuban, Professor Emeritus of Education at Stanford University

- Learn more about When Mayors Take Charge

- Read the articles from The Economist and The Detroit News

What is "The People Factor?"

In the time it takes to watch this video, Federal government agencies will have...

• Solved multiple crimes

• Supervised the safe take-offs and landings of hundreds of airplanes

• Paid food stamps to hungry citizens

• Issued a national weather forecast

• Monitored the skies for any sign of enemy attack

• Rescued struggling ships at sea

• And processed some $50 million in banking transactions.

But after a century of neglect, the cracks are beginning to show. Due to rapid globalization, business has changed and adapted in order to survive. By contrast, the government systems and structures that served an earlier age are still in place. In The People Factor: Strengthening America by Investing in Public Service, Linda J. Bilmes and W. Scott Gould provide a compelling business case for investing in the civil service so that it may better serve the nation. By investing $10 billion to improve recruiting, training and management of the federal workforce, the authors predict that investment will yield $300-$600 billion in productivity gains.

- Follow The People Factor, the blog

- Watch The People Factor, the video

- Learn more about The People Factor, the book

Should Mayors Take Over Schools?

Wall Street Journal article looks at the pros and cons of mayoral control

City schools have been the weakest link in American education, driving middle-class families into the suburbs and contributing to a learning gap between the races. Activist mayors in major cities such as New York, Boston, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. have responded by taking control of their public schools. The Wall Street Journal examines this practice in the article “For More Mayors, School Takeovers Are a No-Brainer.” The piece quotes Joseph Viteritti, editor of When Mayors Take Charge, who says:

"There's no compelling evidence that mayoral control improves performance." Still, Mr. Viteritti, a former New York schools official who headed a commission on mayoral control, says the arrangement can spark needed change in a troubled system.

- Read the Wall Street Journal article

- Learn more about When Mayors Take Charge

Journey into America

Journey into Islam team featured on CNN.com

In 2006, Akbar Ahmed and a few students from American University embarked on a "voyage of discovery" that became the basis for Journey into Islam. Today Ahmed, the Islamic studies chairman at American University in Washington, and his group - a number of whom joined him on the first trip - are in the midst of the ir "Journey into America." CNN.com featured the new adventure today in "Muslim in America: a 'voyage of discovery'". CNN also offers a selection of photos, biographies, and video documenting the group's journey. You can also follow the group's blog, Journey into America.

- Learn more about Journey into Islam

- Read CNN.com's "Muslim in America: a 'voyage of discovery'" by Jessica Ravitz

- Follow the Journey into America blog

Do You Vote Like Your Neighbor?

Political Polarization in America

This summer, when you find yourself at the July 4th neighborhood gathering, look to your left, then look to your right. Please do not be shocked when you find yourself staring at a mirror, reflecting your own political ideologies and beliefs. That’s right, you’re living in a neighborhood of clones—politically speaking that is! Whereas some may find comfort in living amongst people with similar political opinions, William Galston and Pietro Nivola believe this issue points to a deeper problem for the America of tomorrow. The two Brookings scholars summarized their thoughts regarding the political polarization of the United States in The New York Times on May 11, 2008. The problem with political segregation is that it points to a perpetually enlarging gap between the two political ideologies that underlie our country. Galston and Nivola report: “Our study shows that this geographical sorting worsens polarization in several ways. . . .Polarization feeds on itself.” While Galston and Nivola mention the positive aspects of partisan competition, they also note that “hyperpartisan politics also do damage, not least to public trust and confidence in government.” Allow Galston and Nivola to guide you through a more in-depth look at the causes and effects of political polarization in Volumes 1 and 2 of Red and Blue Nation?

- Read “Vote Like Thy Neighbor” on nytimes.com.

- Learn more details about political polarization in America in Red and Blue Nation? Volume 1: Characteristics and Causes of America's Polarized Politics and Red and Blue Nation? Volume 2: Consequences and Correction of America's Polarized Politics.

Twenty-First Century Gateways

New book examines the popular destinations of immigrants

As we have seen in 2008’s Presidential Election, the issue of immigration has reemerged once again. In Twenty-First Century Gateways: Immigrant Incorporation in Suburban America (Brookings Institution Press, 2008), a multidisciplinary group of top-flight analysts focus on the fastest-growing immigrant populations in metropolitan areas with previously low levels of immigration—places such as Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, and Washington, D.C. Today, one in five immigrants live in these gateways. This book explores how the pace of change in this new geography of immigration has presented many local areas with challenges—social, fiscal, and political.

“In their remarkable new book, Singer, Hardwick, and Brettell reveal the new contours of immigrant adaptation and reception in places with little experience of immigration within living memory. Through nine carefully chosen case studies, Twenty-First Century Gateways offers new insights into the promises and pitfalls of America's diverse, multi-ethnic future.”—Douglas S. Massey, Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, Princeton University

- Learn more about Twenty-First Century Gateways.