The Harlem Children's Zone

How One Man's Vision To Revitalize Harlem Starts With Children

(CBS) 
"We could not run a school under the current rules and regulations with the unions. It’s impossible. It’s just impossible. You can't fire teachers. Look, we fired three teachers last year. Ed, I will guarantee you we fired more teachers than the whole island of Manhattan in all the public schools," says Canada. "Now that's crazy. You come in, you teach. The kids all fail. You get to go home at three, and you get summers off. Now what kinda job is that?" he asks.

It costs $16,000 a year to educate a student at the Promise Academy; while $10,000 of those dollars come from the city, the rest is from the school’s coffers. Though the price tag may seem high, Canada says the investment is paying off.

"Our 4-year olds, they’re performing higher than the kids in general. Our kindergarteners are all on grade level. They’re doing terrific, and way above what you would consider to be the national norms right now in how these kids are tested, so we’re feeling really, really good about that," says Canada.

But Canada acknowledges he’s fighting an uphill battle to help the older kids in the zone who are not enrolled at the Promise Academy. That's why he runs an after-school program for them. In a city where half of all teenagers don’t finish high school on time, the graduation rate for students who come here is roughly 95 percent. Still, when 60 Minutes sat in on the center’s weekly rap session, we saw firsthand the challenges that Canada and his counselors are facing.

"High school right now, to tell you the truth, I’m saying to hell with it," says Shawn Seale, a struggling sophomore.

Bradley asked him how he saw his future in five years from now, when he's 21.

"I don’t know if I’ll be here when I’m 21," Seale replied.

Where else would he be?

"Locked up or dead, man, I don’t know," the teen replied.

"And that’s OK with you?" Bradley asked.

"Yeah," Seale replied.

Seale is still in high school — and still coming to the after-school center. He and all the other teens at the center are eligible for up to $150 a month if they complete their work. As for Canada, he has been meeting with groups from across the country that are interested in creating children’s zones in their cities.

"You ever hear those people who say, you know, 'this is crazy, you can't do it,' and think that maybe you bit off too much?" Bradley asked Canada.

"As long as I am here, we’re gonna push this envelope as hard and as far as possible," Canada says. "And I think that in the end, it’s gonna be important that we demonstrate that we can get even the toughest kids to make it in America."