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April 10, 2012 | Make Jon Bon Jovi Proud!
Youth-driven solutions, self-expression, first-hand experience - that's the spirit behind SparkAction's new SparkOpportunity Challenge that will launch on April 12. Jon Bon Jovi, rock star and philanthropist supreme, is helping spread the word about this exciting competition that encourages young people to share their solutions for rebuilding pathways to education and jobs. (Adults allies are invited to compete - with each other - too!) Submit your ideas, vote for your favorites and help spread the word!
Speaking of self-expression, here's a riveting video from a teenager and her friends about the ugly problem of school bullying.
Everyone seems to be jumping on the Hunger Games bandwagon - see our section on hunger in America, including a new philanthropy encouraging movie fans to donate to Oxfam.
If you don't remember much from when you were two, that doesn't mean your body has forgotten. Check out what a Harvard neuroscientist has to say about the lasting developmental effects of adversity during the first two years of life.
Finally - are you ready for the hype of Tax Day? Get your letters to the editor and talking points ready to set the record straight on the impact of unfair tax policies on families and the economy. Start with today's webinar (April 10) on the impact of budget cuts on struggling families. Make sure low-income families in your community know how to apply for tax credits.
By the way, I couldn't fit everything into this week's Update - so be sure and check out the latest postings on our SparkAction website!
Onward,
Jan
We heart feedback! Email jan@sparkaction.org
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RT @the99spring: Today we all make history, training 100k ppl to take #directaction for economic justice http://bit.ly/HpXNCd
Follow us @sparkaction!
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Connect with SparkAction!
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| The SparkOpportunity Challenge - Jon Bon Jovi Takes the Lead 
Jon Bon Jovi is excited to help announce the Spark Opportunity Challenge, encouraging young people to "get creative, test the boundaries, and share the ideas you think can really work." The SparkOpportunity Challenge is coming April 12!
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| Quote of the Week
In response to a question about where to locate school-based health clinics. Lorraine Tiezzi's pithy email caught our eye:
"There are a number of ways you can do this: look at poverty %, look at birth rates for teens, where are they highest ..., manpower shortage areas, look at insurance status of the students attending school - GO WHERE THEY WANT YOU THE MOST, FIRST!"
--Lorraine Tiezzi, former chair of the citywide coalition for school based health centers and currently director of adolescent health for the New York City Office of School Health
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| Get Ready for Tax Day 2012
Where Do Federal Tax Dollars Go?
Check out your tax receipt, compliments of the National Priorities Project. It's a good way to talk about where our tax dollars go with your neighbors.
Tax Burdens - A Question of Fairness and Efficiency
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds that a bipartisan effort over the last two decades to reduce state income taxes on working-poor families has stalled and is in danger of reversing.
Meanwhile the National Women's Law Center has a good infographic on the cost of large tax breaks for millionaires.
Not all tax breaks are for millionaires. According to the Obama administration, as quoted by Care 2, "an estimated 4.9 million women were kept out of poverty in 2010 because of expansions in refundable tax credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit." Make sure the low-wage families in your community have the information they need to apply for these uplifting tax credits.
United for a Fair Tax Economy says we need tax solutions for the 99%. Make your voice heard.
April 10 Webinar: Impact of Looming Budget Cuts on Low-Income Families, Our Communities, & Our Economy
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| Hunger Games - American Style
Want to raise money for a worthy cause? Try riding the coattails of a popular movie. Oxfam meets Hunger Games.
April 12 Forum (and live webcast): Hunger Games: Rethinking U.S. Nutrition Policy
The American Enterprise Institute will discuss current food policy and proposed reforms, such as taxing foods according to fat or sugar content.
Great American Bake Sale
16.2 million children in America are at risk of hunger - more than 1 in 5. Participate in the Share our Strength Great American Bake Sale on Global Youth Service Day (April 20-22, 2012) to help end childhood hunger.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is one of our largest safety net programs. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities documents how the food stamp program worked to alleviate the prevalence, depth and severity of poverty during the last two recessions.
While food stamp benefits have risen to the occasion of greater need during recession and unemployment, welfare benefits have not, showing the weakness of welfare reform as a safety net for those who can't find a job during hard times. The New York Times reports.
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| The Early Years Matter - A Lot!
The Science of Early Adversity
Babies that experience unrelieved distress or hunger may eventually stop wailing, but that doesn't mean their bodies have forgotten. Charles Nelson, a neuroscientist and professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, says that while some babies do ok later, stress hormones released in response to adversity in the first two years can lead to problems with "planning ability, cognitive flexibility, [and] memory" for some children.
Reading by the End of Third Grade
The Education Commission of the States looks at third grade literacy policies with examples from New York City and Florida.
Math Matters, Even for Little Kids
The emphasis may be on reading fluency by the end of third grade, but Ed Week cites the research to indicate that number skills are equally important, and predictive, for later school success.
The State of Preschool Yearbook 2011
State policies on preschool education will influence how successfully America's next generation will compete in the knowledge economy. The National Institute for Early Education Research annual report finds that, for the first time in the history of this annual report, state pre-K funding has declined. There is good news - a few states have bucked this trend.
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Caitlin Johnson and Thaddeus Ferber
SparkAction and the Forum for Youth Investment
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