Belmont 112

Belmont 112 (also known as the Belmont Program) was a project attacking poverty in Philadelphia.  In 1987, philanthropist George Weiss began supporting 112 sixth-grade  girls and boys from  Belmont Elementary School in West Philadelphia.  He guaranteed them that he would pay for their education through college if they met some conditions.  The conditions were  that they did not use drugs, commit any crimes or have children unless they were married.

In addition to paying for their college educations, Weiss's program supported the children by giving them tutors, counselors, after-school programs, and medical and dental care.  

The program was the first one of Weiss's Say Yes to Education, Inc. efforts. Say Yes is a nonprofit set up to improve inner-city education.

The results were that twenty graduated from college, but 45 did not even finish high school.  In addition, twenty were convicted of crimes, and more than half of the girls had babies by the time they were eighteen years old.  https://everything2.com/title/The+Belmont+112 John McWhorter calls this a failure due to not considering cultural factors.  Conservative commentator Larry Elder, saying that since the college-graduation rate for the group was not different from that of children with similar backgrounds but without pre-paid education, "The money was wasted." He said the reason for the failure was a problem of character.  Thirty years after the project started, a CBS article said that Weiss "believes you can overcome poverty with education, but admits his expectations were probably unrealistic." 

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Category:Philadelphia