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SYNDICATE CONTENTCitizens Agenda: Education
Nov. 25, 2007
In Philadelphia, not enough childhoods grow into productive adulthoods.
The public schools are supposed to bridge the chasm that separates the child of poverty and chaos from the child of plenty and familial care. But this bridge carries too few across. Too many are lost to abuse, ignorance, bloody disorder.
One in three city public-school students arrive in kindergarten behind in reading readiness. Some never catch up; the city dropout rate remains hideous. Four out of 10 who enter ninth grade don’t graduate in four years.
The bridge needs to be wider, steadier, better tended. But know this: Real progress has been made in improving the schools that serve 201,000 Philadelphia children since a new state-city partnership was declared in 2001. It’s not enough progress to declare victory, but it’s far more than many in the city suspect.
After the state takeover, smart curricular reforms took root. Experiments in management of individual schools multiplied – and some succeeded. Charters and magnet schools proliferated. Test scores rose as impressively as in any big-city district in America. Huge, unruly high schools were broken up into more manageable units. Given bigger say in how the city schools were run, the state proved willing to give the district more aid; per-pupil spending in the city rose to the state median.
That level of funding is not enough, given the deficits and problems so many of these students bring to school, but it represents progress.
The story of those hopeful signs has been poorly told by the district and dimly heard by the public. In the last years for lightning-rod CEO Paul Vallas and School Reform Chairman James Nevels, the din of budget problems, personality conflicts and school violence drowned out any message of hope.
At citizen forums this year, the majority view was that the time had come for the city to take back its schools. Although originally agreeing, Mayor-elect Michael Nutter has downplayed that goal lately. He talks of using the bully pulpit of the mayor’s office to get more resources for the schools, to get parents to take their duties more seriously, to get employers to give parents the flex time they need to be more involved in school.
He is emphatic on one point: For his city to revive and thrive, its public schools must do much better at preparing children for college, work and citizenship.
Here are a few ideas:
The No. 1 Priority: Maintain the city-state partnership, and the progress it made.
Why it matters:
The takeover made Harrisburg lawmakers far more likely to support increased aid to Philadelphia – and gave the governor from Philadelphia, Ed Rendell, more running room to increase state education funding generally, without that being denounced as backdoor favoritism to Philly. The takeover law gives the school system needed leverage to extract contract changes from the hidebound teachers union. The takeover brought a productive spirit of experiment and reform, even if it now needs to be leavened with more accountability for results.
The takeover made Harrisburg lawmakers far more likely to support increased aid to Philadelphia – and gave the governor from Philadelphia, Ed Rendell, more running room to increase state education funding generally, without that being denounced as backdoor favoritism to Philly. The takeover law gives the school system needed leverage to extract contract changes from the hidebound teachers union. The takeover brought a productive spirit of experiment and reform, even if it now needs to be leavened with more accountability for results.
What to do:
Get together for lunch, Gov. Rendell and Mayor-elect Nutter. Figure out how to revive the city-state cooperation that marked the early days of the School Reform Commission. Don’t let the new SRC exploit the fiscal missteps of the Paul Vallas regime as a pretext to roll back the useful reforms and innovations he instituted. Don’t let the schools be used as a political football by those who care more about headlines and contracts than education.
Get together for lunch, Gov. Rendell and Mayor-elect Nutter. Figure out how to revive the city-state cooperation that marked the early days of the School Reform Commission. Don’t let the new SRC exploit the fiscal missteps of the Paul Vallas regime as a pretext to roll back the useful reforms and innovations he instituted. Don’t let the schools be used as a political football by those who care more about headlines and contracts than education.
Near-term actions
A new leader:
Hire a steady manager who can consolidate and build on progress, not a new messiah with a new plan. Vallas’ kinetic, frenetic style was just right for the takeover’s early days. Now, what’s needed is a steady manager who can clean up some broken crockery but will not throw out the good with the trash.
Hire a steady manager who can consolidate and build on progress, not a new messiah with a new plan. Vallas’ kinetic, frenetic style was just right for the takeover’s early days. Now, what’s needed is a steady manager who can clean up some broken crockery but will not throw out the good with the trash.
New math:
Get the district’s $2.18 billion annual operating budget back on solid financial footing. The district clearly needs tighter fiscal controls, but its lapses don’t relieve Nutter and Rendell of the urgent task of finding new revenues for the schools.
Get the district’s $2.18 billion annual operating budget back on solid financial footing. The district clearly needs tighter fiscal controls, but its lapses don’t relieve Nutter and Rendell of the urgent task of finding new revenues for the schools.
Safe schools:
No more alibis, no more fudging of statistics to minimize the problem. Kids can’t learn if they fear being assaulted or watch their teachers being attacked. Put more police officers in the schools. Strengthen the process for reporting incidents. Expand alternative schools so there are more spots for chronically disruptive students.
No more alibis, no more fudging of statistics to minimize the problem. Kids can’t learn if they fear being assaulted or watch their teachers being attacked. Put more police officers in the schools. Strengthen the process for reporting incidents. Expand alternative schools so there are more spots for chronically disruptive students.
A real bargain:
Don’t let the 17,000-member Philadelphia Federation of Teachers exploit chaos at the top the district to roll back the flexibility the district gained in 2004 to assign teachers to the buildings that need them. Keep pushing for a system where good principals can assemble teaching teams that are on the same page.
Don’t let the 17,000-member Philadelphia Federation of Teachers exploit chaos at the top the district to roll back the flexibility the district gained in 2004 to assign teachers to the buildings that need them. Keep pushing for a system where good principals can assemble teaching teams that are on the same page.
Clear the air:
Be more transparent and welcome input. Vallas was a whirlwind of activity, but community members often couldn’t tell what was going on for all the dust churned up. The old SRC was secretive and led parents to conclude being loud was the only way to get attention. The district needs both a bold marketing campaign touting the real achievements of school reform and a new effort at civic engagement, to offer parents and taxpayers real and timely input into decision-making.
Be more transparent and welcome input. Vallas was a whirlwind of activity, but community members often couldn’t tell what was going on for all the dust churned up. The old SRC was secretive and led parents to conclude being loud was the only way to get attention. The district needs both a bold marketing campaign touting the real achievements of school reform and a new effort at civic engagement, to offer parents and taxpayers real and timely input into decision-making.
The 3-6 shift:
Figure out which providers offer the best after-school programs, and give them more work. The city and district have ramped up spending on after-school programs, which can help students keep up in school and keep out of trouble. That’s good. But awarding of after-school program contracts has been politicized, and accountability is weak. That’s bad.
Figure out which providers offer the best after-school programs, and give them more work. The city and district have ramped up spending on after-school programs, which can help students keep up in school and keep out of trouble. That’s good. But awarding of after-school program contracts has been politicized, and accountability is weak. That’s bad.
Protect the vulnerable:
Children from homes where abuse happens or where family order breaks down will have a hard time learning. Support those children by following through on needed reforms to child protective services at the city Department of Human Services, and by giving the Family Court a much-needed, new, appropriate home.
Children from homes where abuse happens or where family order breaks down will have a hard time learning. Support those children by following through on needed reforms to child protective services at the city Department of Human Services, and by giving the Family Court a much-needed, new, appropriate home.
Long-term efforts
Smaller is better I:
Reduce class size, but in careful, research-backed ways that don’t break the bank. Research shows that small classes – meaning 15 or so in a class – foster learning, discipline and social skills. It also shows that the biggest payoff is in grades K-3, and with kids from at-risk backgrounds. Class-size initiatives are incredibly expensive, so target the money on getting classes to the magic number in early grades at schools with many at-risk students. Spending millions to get class sizes to 22 generally across the system is a massive waste.
Reduce class size, but in careful, research-backed ways that don’t break the bank. Research shows that small classes – meaning 15 or so in a class – foster learning, discipline and social skills. It also shows that the biggest payoff is in grades K-3, and with kids from at-risk backgrounds. Class-size initiatives are incredibly expensive, so target the money on getting classes to the magic number in early grades at schools with many at-risk students. Spending millions to get class sizes to 22 generally across the system is a massive waste.
Smaller is better II:
Stay on Vallas’ course of adding small high schools and shrinking existing ones. Research shows that smaller schools produce fewer violent incidents and more graduates who go onto college. Explode old-fashioned ideas of high schools. Scrap eight-bell schedules and hulking high schools in favor of smaller, open settings. Help high schoolers do more internships and co-op job placements, take more college courses, and tackle more collaborative projects. Let more teachers serve as team leaders and mentors, not skill-and-drill task masters.
Stay on Vallas’ course of adding small high schools and shrinking existing ones. Research shows that smaller schools produce fewer violent incidents and more graduates who go onto college. Explode old-fashioned ideas of high schools. Scrap eight-bell schedules and hulking high schools in favor of smaller, open settings. Help high schoolers do more internships and co-op job placements, take more college courses, and tackle more collaborative projects. Let more teachers serve as team leaders and mentors, not skill-and-drill task masters.
Drop dropout rates:
Do the previous idea right, and it might help address this challenge. Fewer students drop out of interesting schools whose curriculum clearly connects to real-world success. Meanwhile, support programs such as Project U-Turn, a citywide collaborative effort to target resources at the students who show warning signs of dropping out. For example, targeted efforts are needed to help students who are also parents stay the course and get degrees.
Do the previous idea right, and it might help address this challenge. Fewer students drop out of interesting schools whose curriculum clearly connects to real-world success. Meanwhile, support programs such as Project U-Turn, a citywide collaborative effort to target resources at the students who show warning signs of dropping out. For example, targeted efforts are needed to help students who are also parents stay the course and get degrees.
Tech time:
Accelerate the early progress made in bringing state-of-the-art learning technology into district classrooms. Students are sparked by laptops, desktops and SMART Boards that bring the Internet into classroom learning in a big way. These high-tech advancements are not luxuries. Revamping all the district’s aging schools is a huge order, but classroom technology is an area where city students’ resources can be brought up to par with their suburban counterparts.
Accelerate the early progress made in bringing state-of-the-art learning technology into district classrooms. Students are sparked by laptops, desktops and SMART Boards that bring the Internet into classroom learning in a big way. These high-tech advancements are not luxuries. Revamping all the district’s aging schools is a huge order, but classroom technology is an area where city students’ resources can be brought up to par with their suburban counterparts.
Ideas from citizen forums
Local control:
To be honest, the top priority listed here differs from the yearning for a return to local control that was the majority opinion at Great Expectations forums. Citizens seem to zero in the controversies (Edison Schools, etc.) that haunted the stake takeover, while being very unaware of its successes. Few explained why local control would succeed better the second time around.
To be honest, the top priority listed here differs from the yearning for a return to local control that was the majority opinion at Great Expectations forums. Citizens seem to zero in the controversies (Edison Schools, etc.) that haunted the stake takeover, while being very unaware of its successes. Few explained why local control would succeed better the second time around.
School-to-school exchanges:
Have students exchange visits with students from a school in a very different neighborhood. Have each school’s students study the history of their neighborhood, and take their visitors on a guided tour as part of the exchange activities. Citizens thought this would address the parochialism and failure to grasp other groups’ problems that they say afflicts Philadelphia’s spirit.
Have students exchange visits with students from a school in a very different neighborhood. Have each school’s students study the history of their neighborhood, and take their visitors on a guided tour as part of the exchange activities. Citizens thought this would address the parochialism and failure to grasp other groups’ problems that they say afflicts Philadelphia’s spirit.
Edmunds.com for the schools:
Create a jazzy, user-friendly, honest Web site where parents can scan thorough data on all district schools, so they can decide which are best for their children.
Create a jazzy, user-friendly, honest Web site where parents can scan thorough data on all district schools, so they can decide which are best for their children.
Ms. Manners to the rescue:
In some areas, at least, citizens said schools have to step in where parents fail and teach children basic manners, hygiene and life skills.
(Illustration by Tim Ogline)
