For this week's Monday Mailbox, I chose to focus on poverty:
“What is your plan to bring down crime in Wilmington?” -
I firmly believe that crime is primarily caused by a lack of opportunity. Too many young people resort to crime because of a lack of good jobs, public education, and family structure.
It is unacceptable that our state’s largest city, Wilmington, is known for their record crime leading the U.S. in teen shootings and ranked 5th in overall violent crime. Over a third of children in Wilmington live in poverty.
Delaware spends nearly $14,000 per student on public education ranking 10th highest, while our state’s education system continues to rank in the bottom tier nationwide. We must look at how every dollar in public education is spent to make
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If more parents have good stable jobs, they will create a better home life for their children. Students will then be capable of focusing on their schoolwork rather than their lack of basic needs such as food and housing. Too many of our children are burdened by their basic needs not being met, and so it’s no wonder they underperform at school, and subsequently turn to criminal activity in their teens and early twenties.
Only when we ensure all communities have an opportunity to prosper will we ever realistically tackle crime. If opportunities exist, Delawareans will likely break the debilitating cycle of resorting to crime that has riddled our city with violence. I will not standby and watch the next generation of young adults fall victim to their current circumstance.
It’s time Delawareans have an ally in DC who will fight on the side of low income families to provide them a solid foundation in public education that prepares them for modern careers. Only if we encourage economic growth will we be able to compete with the gangs that bring violence and instability to our