Poverty is the global phenomenon that stretches across both time and place, affecting
every region of the world in some way, and because of this, it is is a
phenomenon of humanity that pervades every feasible culture of man. With
this  in mind, it is possible to recognize certain universal causal
factors that can be directly linked to the fundamental nature of
poverty. Recognizing the local circumstances within the regions of the country are key when
it comes to properly understanding the issues involving poverty and
proposing strategies to further the understanding of this phenomenon. It
is both history and geography that act as the greatest common
denominators in explaining the intrinsic reasons that perpetuate any one
society’s poverty level.

Although there is no agreed upon strategy about how the government
should go about mitigating the high percentage of impoverished
populations, there is a theory of commonality that maintains public
education is the institution most likely to have an effect on poverty
levels. Just as poverty cannot be made sense of outside of the location
it affects, neither too, can public education be used to the benefit of a
community if the needs of that community are neglected. With this in mind, public education should be promoted on a level of locality...fully equipped to address any given community according to its own foremost needs.

Poverty in the city of Birmingham is astronomically higher than the rest of the rest of the United States and levels have remained at a plateau for the last half a century. Birmingham's unique history
correlates to its public education system, and if we are to attempt to
remedy the growing problem of the city's poverty level, we must look
into the past to see the connections to today, and to realize what we as
a citizenry can do to change tomorrow.

Begin this path: Introduction

1. The Different Definitions of Poverty
2. The United States' Definition of Poverty
3. Unintended Ramifications of the War On Poverty Movement
4. Where does Education fit into the equation?
5. A Historical Southern Sentiment on Race and Education
6. A Survey of Hoover High School
7. Explanation of Today's Circumstances
8. Insights to Possible Future Research
9. Works Cited

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