Education Discussion Group at Holy Innocents

A City That Works - May 5, 2008

Report by moderator Jean Haskell

What does this goal mean to you?

• I have two sons and am terrified that my children will not be safe in the Philadelphia School System.

• I have spent my life trying to defeat ignorance; the opposite of education is ignorance.

• I want to see more kids come to school on time.

• Young people are our future; they must be educated.

• Schools must prepare kids for the workforce, and the curriculum must be de signed to engage kids.

• We need to get input from kids in school as to what is going on.

• Education is my livelihood. I’m concerned. The media is at fault for trashing education.

• I’m concerned about the violence in schools; girls get raped.

• I'm concerned with truancy.

• Kids don’t respect teachers. Classrooms are out of control.

Performance measures (What would success look like?):

• Increase attendance rates in all schools to 90 percent.

• Reduce violence in schools by 10 percent each year for the next five years.

• Increase college scholarships by 25 percent each year.

• Increase teacher retention by 50 percent in five years.

• Increase percentage of students attending public school  -- moved from private and parochial schools.

Customer-service standards:

• Phone should be answered  by a person, as opposed to a machine, and there should be one-call resolution. (First contact solves problem or gets solution.)

• E-mail should get a 24-hour response and questions to be answered with courtesy and respect.