.n Focus on i ,l...... race and equity '~ Teacher vacancies: -lftii! -an equity issue

Funding and racial justice

• Equal parental .& involvement

"Turning the page

for change."

o FALL 2001 Vol. 9, No.1 NOTEBOOK

Photo: Harvey Finkle

ACORN member Evelyn Gibson of South Philadephia joined parent and student activists at the offices of Edison Schools, Inc. in August to protest the awarding of a $2.7 million state contract to the firm to study Philadelphia schools.

Deadlines loom: no sign of a solution by Paul Socolor

With controversy swirling about the future of the School District, there is also talk among political leaders in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania that a permanent solution will have to come this fall.

But the answer to perhaps the most basic question is still unclear. Where is the money going to come from to keep the Philadelphia public schools open, operating, and away from the brink of financial crisis and exlreme austerity?

For years, city and school officials here have taken a stand against drastic cuts to school programs. With revenues mostly flat, they have seen the School District's deficits mount - to over $200 million this year.

In August, Governor Ridge and Mayor Street had to fmd a temporary solution 10 a crisis in meeting School District payroll, but it doesn't appear that there can be any more temporary solutions.

The city continues to argue that what is needed is a more equitable approach to state funding for school districts. Governor Ridge and political leaders in the state legislature say the problem is Philadelphia's.

A great deal is up in the air about who will be managing the District. The coming weeks will see debate about a number of related questions about who should be in charge.

Will the state take over control of the School District from PhiladeLphia? Will Edison Schools, Inc., a for-profit flIm, be hired to run some or all of the schools? Will other, outside partners be enlisted to try to make positive change in Philadelphia schools? Will those other outside partners ask for and gain control of pieces of the District, so that we no longer have one uni­fied public school system, but many?

Meanwhile, the parties to the discussion are in flux. Governor Ridge's resignation on October 5 to take a post in the Bush

administration means that Lieutenant Governor Mark Schweiker, taking office as governor, will be the one to engage in school negotiations with Mayor Street in October.

A new player, Edison Schools, Inc., arrived in Philadelphia in August to perform a 60-day, $2.7 million report on the School District for the governor. That report, pre­pared by Edison for submission to the mayor by September 29, is to be the basis for dis­cussions between city and state officials about how to resolve the crisis.

By agreement, Mayor Street and the gov­ernor have until October 29 to reach unity on a plan, or the state will take over Philadelphia schools. But the deadline could be pushed back in recognition of the dis­ruption caused by the change in the gover­nor's office, according to Debra Kahn, the mayor's Secretary of Education.

See "No sign" on p. 4

Reorganizaci6n: abren nuevas oficinas academicas "Oficinas Academicas de Area" han reem­

plazado los "ClUSTers". Las "Redes" (Networks) son cosa del pasado. Se han elim nado puestos administrativos y esto ha movido al personal de nuevo a las escuelas y a puestos de ensenanza en el sal6n de clases. Los departamentos de La oficina central se han reconfigurado.

El Distrito Escolar de Filadelfia comienza el otono con una nueva organizacion interna: pero nadie sabe cuanto tiempo durara La nueva estructura.

Lo mas probable es que haya mas reestructuraci6n. Aun en el mejor de los casos, el sistema tenctra un nuevo Oficial Ejecutivo

- ya se ha programado que el CEO imerino, Philip Goldsmith , deje esa plaza este OlOnO. Si el estado lOrna las riendas 0 privatiza de manera masiva las funciones administrativas, habria gran revuelo en el recien adoptado modelo organizacional.

En el antiguo sistema de clUSTers, las escueJas Ie reportaban a una de las 22 oficinas, que estaban ubicadas por toda la ciudad de acuerdo a las zonas de asistencia de las escuelas superiores. Quienes criticaron la creaci6n de las oficinas de clusters hace 6 aDos alegaban que con ello se habia creado una costosa nueva burocracia.

Ahora los clusters se han combinado para crear 10 Oficinas Academicas de Area; cada una compuesta de 21 a 40 escuelas (vea el mapa en la pagina 24). Los carnbios en el sistema de clUSTers y las oficinas del centro de la ciudad resultaron en la eliminaci6n de 177 empleos.

''El sistema anterior dividia demasiado el Distrito, por 10 que no se vefa suficiente uniformidad de un cluster a otro", dijo Goldsmith, "y desplaz6 a demasiada gente fuera del salon de clases" .

Entre las metas de la reestructuraci6n estiin

"Reorganizadon" continua en fa p. 9

Compiling a racial justice report card by Paul Socolor and Raymond Gunn

"The School District isfailing or refusing to provide an equal educational opportunity and a quality education to children attending racially isolated minority schools."

"The School District has not provided to Black and Hispanic students equal access to ... the best qualified and most v.perienced teach­ers, equal physicalfacilities and plants, equal access to advanced or special admissions aca­demic course offerings, or equal allocation of resources."

These were the words of Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith over seven years ago

in a scathing ruling requiring the School District to take steps to improve the District's predominantly African American and Latino schools.

An examination of racial equity in Philadelphia schools conducted by the Public School Notebook this summer found scattered signs of progress, but overall the findings were sadly consistent with the picture drawn by Judge Smith in her 1994 ruling on school desegregation.

We looked closely at a wide range of data about students and schools , most of which showed deep and continuing racial inequali­ty. In a series of interviews with close observers, the brightest picture that could be

I painted of the District is that a more serious push toward equity has been attempted in recent years. But even this effort is in danger of disappearing as new waves of reorganiza­tion hit the system.

Data on graduates One good starting point for examining

racial equity is to look at students coming out of the system after high school. The Notebook found that the graduation rate for African American and Latino students in Philadelphia remains shockingly low (see chart, p. 13). In fact, less than half of the District's Latino students and African American male students graduate on time in four years.

This is despite the fact that graduation rates for African American and Latino students have improved noticeably since 1996, and the gap in graduation rates compared 10 white and Asian students has narrowed. Nearly two­thirds of white students graduate in four years.

While the graduation rates of all other groups have been improving, the on-time grad­uation rate for Asian students has declined by roughly 4% since 1996. For Asian males the

See "Report card" on p. 10

NOTEBUOCOK Turning the page for change

Volume 9, Number I

All illdependent quarterly newspaper - a voice for parents, students, classroom teachers, alld others who are working for quality aJld

equality in our schools.

Advisory Board Eileen Abrams, Communi lY College of

Philadelphia Kira Baker, teacher Diane Bridges, Hartranft Parent Leadership Team Jane Century, Century Communications Cindy EngSl, leacher and parenl Helen Gym, Asian Americans Uniled Keith Harewood Kevin Muszynski , Local Task Force for a RighI

to Education Rochelle Nichols Solomon, Philadelphia

Education Fund Johannes Ponsen, educational consultant Linda Talbert, Young Voices in Prinl Len Rieser, Education Law Center Debbie Wei, Asian Americans United Debra Weiner, Philadelphia Futures OrgclIIizatiollS for ideruijicoIioll purposes only.

Executive Committee: Mynle L. Naylor. Ros Purnell , Sharon Tucker, Ron Whilehome

Editorial Board for this issue: Ei leen Abrams, Vinay Harpalani, Mynle L. Naylor, Ruth Curran Neild, Melania Page-Gaither, Ros Purnell, Amy Rhodes, Sharon Tucker, Debra Weiner, Ron Whi tehome Racial Equity Project Coordinator: Raymond Gunn Editor: Paul Socolar Design: Patricia Ludwig Art: Eric l oselyn Editorial assistance: Eileen Abrams, Len Rieser, Sandy Socolar Distribution: Irvin B. Shannon, Tom Brouillette, Donald Davis

Phi/adelphia Public School Notebook is a project of the New Beginnings program of Resources For Human Development. We pub­lish four times a year. Send inquiries to:

PhilmJelphia Public School Notebook 3721 Midvale Ave., PhiJa., PA 19129

Phone: (215) 951-0330, ext 107 Fax: (215) 951-0342

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Special thanks to . .. Kathy Schultz, Carlos Rodriguez-Acosta, Lorena Westler, Sleriin Daniel, the Samuel S. Fels Fund and our subscribers, advertisers, and volunteers who distribute the Notebook.

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PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK __ ----------- FALL 2001 ~

Whoya

. NOTEBOOK EDITORIAL

Justice for all Across the country, public schools consistent­

ly fail to provide the same quality of education for students of color as for white students. Our exam­ination of racial equity here in Philadelphia makes it crystal clear that most African American and Latino students are still receiving an inferior edu­cation from the School District. It is an experience that channels them away from academically chal­lenging courses, punishes them more frequently and more harshly, and ultimately pushes many of them out of school without a diploma.

Our findings should not be surprising. Who can fail to see the chasm between rich and poor, and between white and blacklbrown people in our society? Racial and economic segregation have left Philadelphia public schools serving thou­sands of the neediest students while starving for adequate funds and for skilled teachers.

Society's inequalities are mirrored within the School District itself. Students of color face much tougher odds of achieving success.

Step one in dealing with these deep racial disparities is to discuss them, putting aside all notions that we can or should try to be "color-blind." But many Philadelphia schools still function as if the way to malee sure students are treated equally is never to acknowledge or talk about race. 'This will not wode Rather than create divisions between rnces, frank discussions about race render visible the privileges whites enjoy at the expense of others.

Data about student outcomes broken down by race and gender need to be avail able at every school. When data show that whites are three or four times as likely to be admitted into the special programs for mentally gifted as other students, it should sound an alarm. If we fail to say "Something's wrong with this picture!" we become accomplices to the persistent and dangerous myths about racial superiority and inferiority.

For several years under Superintendent David Hornbeck, top School District leaders were

asking the right questions. Progress was modest, but the conversation about race and equity had started. We are alarmed about what will happen to an equity agenda if state officials or Edison Schools, Inc., are in charge of Philadelphia schools. Without a commitment to equity from the top, schools won't change.

A second necessary step is for District lead­ership to develop strategies to actually hold schools accountable for their treatment of differ­ent racial groups and provide greater support for efforts to equalize opportunities.

Step three in dealing with the racial disparities is for schools to make school improvement a cam­paign within their neighborhoods - tapping the energy and wisdom of parents, students, and other concemed citizens. Schools cannot succeed at their mission when they view their communities as part of the problem. The identities and concerns of their students must be at the center of the process.

Action is needed to address systematic inequal­ities in the application of discipline, in access to advanced and college preparatory coursework, and in teacher quality and educational resources:

• Schools must act immediately to correct the uneven application of the most severe discipli­nary actions, including suspension and expulsion.

• Schools must end academic tracking and at every grade level .open the way for all students to participate in a challenging cutriculum, includ­ing advanced classes.

• The District must ensure that students of color have equal access to experienced and qual­ified teachers, and that all teachers are adequate­ly prepared to serve a student popUlation that is over 80 percent students of color.

Today the District's futu re is uncertain. But an organized and vocal movement for racial equi­ty call keep alive the vision that Philadelphia pub­lic schools WIll proVIde an opportunity for all stu­dents to realize their dreams.

... and an injustice After years of underfunding, the School

District is on the verge of drowning in red ink. But instead of providing the money that is so crit­ically needed, our political leaders seem poised to talee the system apart piece by piece by find­ing accomplices who are willing to operate an underfunded system.

Most dangerous of these plans is the move­ment to hand over management of schools to a private company, Edison Schools, Inc. In Edison's track record of managing schools, there are many warning Signs. History aside, we are outraged at Governor Ridge's eagerness to put a for-profit company in charge of schools. Sooner or later,

the needs of kids and shareholders will clash. We know who will win out. Recent experience witll au-port secunty should remind us that vital pub­lic funcllons should not be left to companies dri­ven by thelf bottom li ne.

. Critical decisions about Our children's educa­llon are bemg made behind closed doors through POlillcal deals, with no opportunity for the ub­Ilc to shape the course of action. This is u~ac­ceptable. We must demand from city and state offiCIals Our right to decide who '11 schools and Our ri . WI run our f d' ght to receIve the Same level of c~:;~n:~~~ccesSfu l schools in more affluent

gonna call? PHlLADELPHIA PUBLIC OFFICiALs

School District of Philadelphia School board members Pedro A. Ramos, Esq., President: 215-299-7916

Dorothy Sumners Rush, Vice Preside . 215-299-7919 nt.

Martin Bednarek: 215-299-7914 Rev. Ralph Blanks: 215-299-7913 Sandra Dungee Glenn: 215-299-7799 Christine James-Brown: 215-299-7454 Michael Masch: 215-299-3597 Emilio Matticoli: 215-299-7920 Joy Alison Cooper (student adVisory

member): 215-299-7301 Harream Purdie (alternate student advisory member): 215-299-7301

City of PhilmJelphia Mayor John Street (0): 215-686-218;

City Council Members-At-Large (elected citywide) David Cohen (0): 215-686-3446 W. Wilson Goode, Jr. (0): 215-686-3414 James F. Kenney (0): 215-686-3450 W. Thacher Longstreth (R): 215-686-3452 Angel L. Ortiz (D): 215-686-3420 Blondell Reynolds-Brown (0): 215-686-3438 Frank Ri zzo (R): 215-686-3440

District City Council Members Frank DiCicco (0): 215-686-3458 Anna Verna (0): 215-686-3412 Jannie L. Blackwell (0): 215-686-3418 Michael A. Nutter (0): 215-686-3416 Darrell L. Clarke (0): 215-686-3442 Joan L. Krajewski (0): 215-686-3444 Richard Mariano (0): 215-686-3448 Donna Reed Miller (0): 215-686-3424 Marian B. Tasco (0): 215-686-3454 Brian 1. O'Neill (R): 215-686-3422

ComrrwnweaIth of Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker (R): 717-787-2500

State Senators Vincent 1. Furno (0): 215-468-3866 Christine Tartaglione (0): 215-533-0440 Shirley M. Kitchen (D): 215-457-9033 Allyson Y. Schwartz (0): 215-242-9710 Michael J. Stack (D): 215-612-0063 Vincent Hughes (0) : 215-471-0490 Anthony Hardy Williams (0): 215-748-781l

State Representatives . Louise Williams Bishop (0): 215-879-6625 Alan L. Butkovitz (D): 215-335-2521 Mark B. Cohen (0): 215-924-0895 Angel Cruz (D): 215-291-5643 Robert C. Donatucci (0): 215-468-1515 Dwight Evans (0): 215-549-0220 Michael Horsey (0): 215-747-0757 Harold James (0): 215-462-3308 Babette Josephs (0): 215-893-1 515 William F. Keller (0): 215-271-9190 George 1. Kenney, Jr. (R): 215-934-5144 Marie A. Lederer (D): 215-426-6604 Kathy Manderulo (0): 215-482-8726 0 Michael P. McGeehan (D): 215-333-976 John Myers (0): 215-849-6896 Dennis M. O'Brien (R): 215-632-5 150 Frank L. Oliver (0): 215-684-3738 John M. Perzel (R): 215-331-2600 Wi lliam W. Rieger (D): 215-223-1 501 James R. Roebuck (0): 215-724-2227 John J. Taylor (R): 215-425-090J

W. Curtis Thomas (0): 2J5-232-121072 LeAnna Washington (D): 215-242-04

Ronald G. Waters (D): 215-748-67J2 Jewell Williams (D): 215-763-2559 Chris R. Wogan (R): 215-342-1700 6426 Rosita C. Youngblood (D): 2J5-849-

D = Democrat, R = Republican

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FALL 2001

Charter schools and students with disabilities

With the number of charter schools glVwing, the role of these schools in serving students with special needs is significant.

Chorter schools in Philadelphia are required to admit, identify, and plVvide special education services to students with disabilities. Charter schools cannot turn away a student who has a disability or refuse to serve students wirh cerrain disabilities (such as children with emotion­al disabilities).

Here are allswers to some common questions abollr charter schools.

What is a charter school? In Pennsylvania, charter schools are independent poblic schools cre­

ated by agreement ("a charter") with a local school board. They must be operated as non-profit organizations, be free to students and parents, and

they cannot teach religion. Charter schools can be created and operat­ed by parents, teachers, communi­ty members, business people, muse­ums, nonsectarian coUeges, universities and others, and must include the words "charter school" in their name.

Charter schools are schools of "choice" and are considered alter­natives to traditional public schools. Charter schools are exempt from

some - but not a11- of the laws and regulations that govern other public schools. Charter schools must obey state law when they suspend or expel students, and must obey federal special education laws

Who can enroll in a charter school? Any child who is a resident of Pennsylvania is eligible for admission

to a charter school. First preference must be given to students who reside in the district where the charter is located. If more students apply than the there are spaces at the charter, qualified students must be selected ran­domly (e.g. by lottery).

Can a charter school limit admission to a particular group or exclude some students? ., ,,) .'

Charter schools cannot limit admission on any basis that would be ille­gal if used by_a schR,?1 district. Charter schools also cannot limit admission on the .basis of intellectual or athletic ability. measures of achievement, English profi­ciency" or disability. A charter SCh901 must admit students regardless of the nature and severity of their disability. as long as they meet the other general requirements for enroUment.

Can a charter school suspend or expel a student?

Generally, charter schools must provide aU students enrolled in the charter school with the same disciplinary protections that apply to children within other public schools, including notice of the offending behavior and an opportunity to challenge the decision to exclude the child. Charter schools must give students with disabilities and their parents the additional special disciplinary protec­tions mandated by federal law, including determining whether the behavior for which the child is being punished is related to the child's disability. In aU public schools, including charter schools, the procedures for disciplining students are different for children with mental retardation and for children who bring weapons or drugs to school.

Do charter schools have to comply with special education laws? Yes. Charter schools must comply with all federal disability laws,

including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and pro­vide eligible students with all of the federally mandated rights and pro­tections. This means that children with disabilities enrolled in charter schools are entitled to a free appropriate public education, including appro­priate related services, and aU of the procedural protections guaranteed to students and parents by federal law. Charter schools do not have to com­ply with Pennsylvania's special education regulations, known as Chapters 14,15 and 342.

When parents feel that charter schools are violating a child's rights, where do the parents complain?

Parents should first seek to resolve their dispute with the charter school teachers and administration. If this is not successful, parents can contact the school board and report any violations. Parents of children with dis­abilities may request mediation and or special education due process hear­ings to resolve disputes that arise with charter schools. Parents of children with disabilities also have the right to file a Complaint with the Pennsylvania DepaJtJnent of Education's Division of Compliance.

Prepared by the Education Law Cell reI' - PA. For more information about charter schools and children with disabiliries, contact the Cel1ler at 215-238-6970 or see their web site: IVIVIV.elc-pa.org.

PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK 3

Edison's contract with state triggers protests

Coalition forms to fight takeover

ACORN member Rosemary Hunter rallied with students and others, protesting Edison's contract with the state to study Philadelphia schools: "We can make these schools better - we know what they need," she said.

by Paul Socolo.r

The award of a-S2.7 million contract to the for-profit company, Edison Schools, Inc., to conduct a study of Philadelphia schools for the governor has galvanized com­munity protests against a possible takeover of schools by Edison Schools or the state.

Edison was hired by Pennsylvania Govemor Tom Ridge to prepare a report offering proposals for how to deal with the School District's financial and acadeIpic crisis. With its foot now weU in the door in Philadelphia, the compa­ny, which manages schools across the country, has expressed an active interest in taking over management of some or aU of th~ ScqoolDistrict. ,.

In response, a multiracial coalition of 30 organizations has formed to oppose privatization of Phil9delphia schools and to caU instead for a,focus on increasing funding to sup­port improvement in public education. - ,

The group, calling itself Philadelphians United to Support Public Schools, is organizing against plans to hire Edison to manage some portion of the School Disllict. The growing coalition includes a wide array of groups, among them Asian Americans United, ASPIRA, the Black Radical Congress, Home and School Council, the League of Women Voters, Parents United for Better Schools, and Youth United for Change.

At a September 20 press conference ~nnouncing the formation of the coalition, the consistent message was "More funding, not Edison." Speakers highlighted con­cerns about the company's track record in other cities and spoke against privatization and for-profit management of public schools.

Several weeks earlier, Edison's anival in Philadelphia was greeted by a raucous protest at the site of their tempo­rary offices on North Broad Street, organized by the par­ent organizing group Alliance Organizing Project and the community organization ACORN.

ACORN, a national organization, played a sigrtificant role in community opposition to Edison in New York City last spring, where parents at five public schools over­whelmingly voted down a mayoral plan to have Edison run these schools.

In New York, parents had an opportunity to vote contracts with Edison up or down. But in Philadelphia, coalition members are expressing alarm that the deals and decisions may aU be made outside of the public eye, by the governor and possibly the mayor.

Criticizing the governor's deal hiring Edison, parent Wendell Harris of the Parents Union for Public Schools, said, "We don 't know what else they' ve agreed to behind closed doors. We're moving toward an end to any public accountability for how our Idds will be educated."

Coalition members backed a resolution by City Councilman Michael Nutter, passed by City Council, to put a referendum on the Philadelphia baUot in November to give the public a chance to vote on proposals to privatize. Mayor Street did not sign it, blocldng the referendum.

Coalition members have a range of specific concerns about the involvement of Edison Schools in Philadelphia.

"We know they have been kicked out of many other cities because they were too expensive, didn't help the stu­dents, and just kicked out the students they didn 't want," commented Day Augustine of the Philadelphia Student

Union, a student at West Philadelphia High School. "We will not accept that in PhiUy."

Edison claims that it has been able to achieve "hefty increases" in test scores at most of the schools it manages.

Augustine maintained that Governor Ridge's invitation to Edison to do business in Philadelphia was a bailout for the company, which has never turned a profit.

"Edison acts like they're coming in to save us, but in fact it 's us who are saving them. Edison is in worse finan­cial shape than our schools," Augustine said. "They want to take over more of our schools so they can finaUy make a profit."

,Edison reported losses of$38.1 million in fiscal 2001. Beset by a series of controversies, Edison saw its stock price decline to below $15 a share in late September, hav­

,ing lost more than hill' its value this calendar -year. pr. Karin C. Biv(ns of the NAACP's Philadelphia

Branch raised a concern that turning over portions of the School District to Edison could lead to a resegregation of the schools. Predicting that an Edison takeover of schools would not extend to predominantly white schools in Northeast Philadelphia, Bivins said "The NAACP sees the takeover as a plan to segregate the African American, Latino and Asian public school students into 'separate but unequal ' facilities ." Bivins said the NAACP would co'ri~Yder legal action to prevent such resegregation.

Another focus of the coalition groups has been on urg­ing that the Mayor and Board of Education immediately reactivate their racial discrimination lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The suit aims to rectifY funding disparities on federal civil rights grounds.

"Our Latino children live in some of the poorest neigh­borhoods and attend some of the poorest schools," said Raymond Alvarez, chair of the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights. ' 'We believe there is clearly a racial dispar­ity in the way the state provides funding to our children."

"We are convinced that Edison Schools or plivatization is not the answer to the school system's woes," Alvarez added. ''What we need is the state to provide funding; any­thing else is political subterfuge."

Not all education and community organizations are lining up in opposition to Edison, however. Some have remained neutral, and some are coUaborating with Edison, including the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition and the Philadelphia Chapter of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO). These two groups tearned up with Edison to co-sponsor a series of town meetings in September. At the forums, Edison executi ves introduced themselves as being in Philadelphia to do a study for Governor Ridge and then invited public comments from an open microphone.

Ernest Jones, director of the Philadelphia Workforce Development Council and co-chair of the BAEO, said his organization was trying to assist Edison in getting public feedback for their study. The Black Alliance is a new national organization whose mission is to "support parental choice to increase educational options." BAEO says it seeks members who are supporters of "educational options" including charter schools, government-financed school vouchers, and home schooling.

For iI/formation 0 1/ Philadelphians United to SUPPOI1 Public Schools, call 215-563-5848.

~4 ____________________________________ ~P~U~BL~/~C~SC~H~O~O~L~N~O~~~EB~O~O~K~ ____ ------~----~~~=-----~~ No sign of a solution, but there is talk of takeovers

continued from p. 1

The announcement of Edison's role brought charges that their report would be biased and that Edison has a conflict of interest because it wants contracts from districts like Philadelphia to manage schools. The company says it needs to expand in order to start making a profit.

The presence of Edison in Philadel phia has people watching and taking notice. A new coali­tion of groups, Philadelphians Un ited to Support Public Schools, has emerged (see page 3), and is responding with the message, "Yes to funding, no to Edison."

Others in the education community are getting ready to examine the recommendations from Edison and the governor - and what solutions, if any, they offer to key academic weaknesses in the School District, such as the high rate of ninth grade failure, the abysmal math and science scores of middle schoolers, and the problems .attracting and retaining top-notch teachers and principals.

The debate over whether Edison Schools should manage some portion of the Philadelphia public schools moved into pub-

lic forums in September, as Edison organized a series of well-attended public meetings to solicit feedback for their report about the current system.

For Edison, community meetings allowed them to introduce themselves and begin to make a case that Philadelphia schools are poorly run and can be better entrusted to their corporate management. Critics said that a survey Edison commissioned about the School District seemed to frame its questions to elicit negative feedback about the Philadelphia pub­lic schools, potential evidence that Edison could use to show strong negative community senti­ment toward the public schools.

But the community meetings also provided an open forum for Edison critics to air their concems about problems with the company.

No recommendation on funding Inadequate school funding was a frequent

theme of speakers in these community meetings. But the hopes of some here that Edison itself would provide conflfmation of the need for more funds were based on

misunderstanding. . . , "Assessing whether the School District s

funding is adequate is not part of our charge from the governor," spokesperson Adam Tucker, Edison 's Vice President. for Communications, told the Notebook JO a September 21 interview. "Our charge IS to fiQUfe out how to use the available funds more

efficiently." In Auaust, when the contract with Edison

was anno:nced, City and School District offi­cials put forward a different understanding of the process, expressing hope that the Edison review would fairly assess whether the DiStrict

is adequately funded. The language of the contract between

Edison and the governor neither addresses nor excludes the issue of funding adequacy. But the instructions from the governor ruled out the possibility of Edison recommending increased funding, Tucker said.

"Maybe it 's only been clear to us, but it didn't feel like this needed clarification," Tucker added.

Tucker maintained that in the community

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forums they organized, Edison offiCials had explamed the limited scope of their study. Bu some partiCipants 10 community foru . t agreed with this comment. ms dls-

"Edison bar~ly spoke at the community forums and didn t make anything very clear" srud Andl Perez, aS~,lstant director of You;h Uruted for Change. Nor did they respond to

-The instructions from the Governor ruled out

the possibility of Edison's recommend_ ing increased funding.

the call from our students to add in their evaluation that the School District needs more funding from the state."

"They [Edison 1 weren't up-front about the terms of their deal with the governor in com­munity forums and public discussions when people were raising questions of funding," said Helen Gym of Asian American United, a com­munity organization active in education issues here. "This taints their whole report."

State Representati ve James Roebuck of West Philadelphia, who serves on the House Education Committee, commented, "Absent additional resources, I don 't see how you can approach the fundamental problems facing the School District."

Other parties Meanwhile, other parties besides Edison

have been exploring the possibility of manag­ing portions of the School District. But these discussions may be slowing in anticipation of proposals from Edison and the governor.

In Northwest Philadelphia, State Represen­tati ve Dwight Evans has been developing a plan with university and foundation partners to convert schools in the former King cluster to charter status. Sources say State Senator Anthony Hardy Williams of West Philadelphia has done exploratory work for a plan to run some schools; Williams did not respond to requests for comment.

In South Philadelphia, Universal Companies. headed by Kenny Gamble, announced this spring their interest in a part­nership with Edison to privatize and manage the eleven public schools in the former Audenried Cluster.

Area universities have been-expanding their role in the system; for example, the University of Pennsylvania is providing extensive support for a public school in West Philadelphia that opened this fall .

With groups of schools or pieces of the District potentially being turned over to out­side management, some observers have begun to discuss the possibility of the whole District being taken apart - or "dismembered."

"Before all those decisions get made, there needs to be a conversation about what we've learned from all the back-and-forth between centralization and decentralization in big school districts," said Eva Gold, a senior researcher at Research for Action, a nonprofit research group.

Gold added, "What's missing from the cur­rent discussion is how to balance the benefits of increased autonomy for schools and sets of schools against broader issues like equity and public accountability."

"The road we're travelling is very danger-ous," added City Councilman Angel Ortiz. ':~ rrught end up creating wee or four differ systems, all relatively separate and unequal . That's taking us back to the 19505."

The Notebook has compiled a packet 0/ backg round articles on Edison Schools, which is available on the Web al

www.research/oraction.orgledison.html

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FALL 2001 PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK 5

Key facts about Edison, takeovers, and the school funding crisis by Amy Rhodes and Elizabeth Blair

Governor Tom Ridge has hired Edison Schools, Inc. to perjorm a $2.7 million analy­sis of allfinancial, administrative, education­al, facilities, and related operations of the School District.

An agreement between Mayor John Street and Governor Ridge specified that by September 29, the governor would present a long-term proposal fo r the District'sfuture based on these findings. Mayor Street and the governor then have until October 29 to reach an agreement on the pmposal. If they cannot reach agreement by that date, the state will take over the District.

Many observers predict that Edison will run some or all of the District. If so, the rela­tionships among the city, the state and the School District, as well as the structure of the District itself, will be dramatically altered.

This fact sheet, developed by Research for Action, provides information about Edison, the District's funding, and the governor's increasing influence over the District.

Who is Edison and how do they work.?

Edison Schools, Inc., is the nation's largest for-profit manager of public schools. They win contracts to run individual schools or clusters of schools and receive the per pupil expendi­ture the district would have spent at each school. Edison then has greater latitude in how they spend the money than local districts.

According to their website, Edison oper­ates 136 schools in 21 states, with a total student population of 75,000. Of these, 61 percent are elementary schools, 17 percent K-8, 13 percent middle schools, 5 percent high schools, and 5 percent other.

As a result of Governor Ridge's appointment to the U,S. Office of Homeland Security by President Bush, Lt. Governor Mark Schweiker assumes the governor's office on October 5. At press time, it is remains unclear how this change in state leadership may affect current negotiations between the city and the state about the District's future.

What is Edison's strategy for improving schools?

Edison uses a variety of educational approaches to inJprove student achievement, including: a longer school day and year, orga­nizing schools into smaller communities, enriching curriculum, career opportunities, professional development and planning tinJe for teachers, increasing parent and communi­ty involvement, and an increased emphasis on technology. Some of these approaches have already been implemented in Philadelphia through Children Achieving. Edison claims to be able to do all this while operating schools for less money.

Has Edison been successful in raising stu­dents ' educational achievement?

Edison has had lackluster results accord­ing to two independent studies. An American Federation of Teachers study found only "mediocre results." It states, "Students in Edison schools mostly perform as well or worse than students in comparable schools; occasionally they perform better." Researchers at Western Michigan University found that Edison schoo ls perform similarly to sur­rounding schools and do not deliver on the educational gains claimed by the company. Edison has commissioned its own study, COIl­

ducted by the Rand Corporation, due to be released in September 2001.

Photo: Harvey Fil"kre

School board President Pedro Ramos at a recent meeting. In the event of a state takeover, the school board would no longer have an active role in making District decisions.

Why did Governor Ridge choose Edison?

Governor Ridge strongly supports school privatization efforts and voucher programs, making Edison's for-profit approach a good match . Ridge also has political ties to Edison, most notably to Reverend Floyd Flake, presi­dent of Edison's charter school division, who served and worked closely with Ridge in Congress.

Ridge's choice was somewhat surprising given that Edison has little experience evalu­ating large urban school districts. Some have called Edison's involvement a conflict of inter­est because they are evaluating the District when they have also expressed a desire to run some or all of its schools.

Why can the governor bring Edison here?

The simplest answer to this question is that Mayor Street signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Governor Ridge on July 30,2001 that gave the governor permission to commission an analysis of the financial and educational state of the District and required the city's and District's full cooperation in the analysis.

This agreement, however, is part of a larg­er story of the state's increasing power over the District. In 1998, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed Act 46, which authorizes the state to take over the District if the secretary of education detemJines that the District is in finan­cial distress or its educational program does not meet state standards and regulations. Given the District's large and growing debt, it has been in nearly constant threat of a state takeover since Act 46's passage. No other school district in Pennsylvania is subject to Act 46.

If Ihe state took over the District using Act 46, who would be in charge?

A Chief Executive Officer (CEO), appoint­ed by the state secretary of education, would run the District. A School Reform Commission (SRC) would serve as an advisory board. It would be composed of five members: the state secretary of education, three appointed by the governor, and one by the mayor. The state­appointed CEO would have all of the powers of the District's current CEO, chief academic offi­cer, chief financial officer and the school board.

to provide the same amount of tax revenue it has provided to the District in recent years, but would play no role in rumJing the District. The school board also would not play an active role in making district decisions. Power would be concentrated at the state level.

What would happen 10 the teachers' unioll contract under Act 46?

The current contract would be upheld until the end of its natural tenn in August 2004. At that time a new collective bargaining agree­ment would be negotiated with the CEO. The new contract would require extending the school day and year to at least the state aver­age, and would exclude any pay increase to compensate for this change. Teachers would also be prohibited from striking for as long as Act 46 is invoked. If a new contract could not be agreed upon , the secretary of education would be authorized to establish new rates of pay until an agreement was ratified. As a result, teachers' power in setting the tenms of a new agreement would be significantly limited.

Is Act 46 the only way that the state could take control oflhe District?

No. It is also possible that Mayor Street and the governor will reach a deal about the District's future by the October 29 deadline. This deal could be a ''friendly takeover," in which the state has increased control of the District, but with the city's permission. In this case, the temns of the state's control would be negotiated between the governor and Mayor Street.

Has the state taken over other districts?

In fall 2000, the state took control of Chester-Upland School District's operations through the Education Empowerment Act, after managing its finances since 1994. This fall, the

Under Act 46, the c ity's power would be I Jliililijii gU:ll!J:I KQ\!.cect, .T.lJ.~"jJy..w~ml(l .. Q.~$_\Ltill.e(L _L

state hired Edison to run 90 percent of Chester­Upland's schools. The state monitors the per­formance of ten other districts, including Philadelphia, through the Empowenment Act.

How has the District acquired such a large debt that the state is threatening to take over?

A "Financial Update" delivered from the District to City Couilcil in Spring 2001 depicts how the District's financial problems have resulted from growing demands within the District that have not been accompanied by increased financial support from the city or the state. Increased demands include higher student enrollment, including a rapid increase in bilingual students, the addition of univer­sal full-day kindergarten, special education costs, an expanding school police force, and charter schools.

When adjusted for inflation, the District 's revenues have grown less than one percent a year since 1995. This is in part because the state capped the aid fonmula in 1993 so that increases in student enrollment were not met with new state funds .

How does Pennsylvania's education fmm­ing match up to that of other states?

In January 2001, Education Week gave Pennsylvania a grade of D- on funding equi­ty in comparison to other states. It was grad­

ed according to its contribution to equalizing funding across all school districts in the state. Pennsylvania was followed by only seven other states.

Have there been suggestiolls for other strategies to work on the fUllding problems?

City Councilman Michael Nutter recently suggested creating a $300-500 million bond issue to cover operating deficits and stabilize future district finances. The bond would be construct­ed so that the city would have low debt service payment for the first ten to fifteen years. Nutter further suggests amending the Pennsylvania school code to give the mayor and City Council full fiscal authority over the District.

The District has also attempted several legal strategies to increase state funding . The only lawsuit still active is a federal civil rights suit, Powell v. Ridge, ftIed against the state in 1998 by the District, the city, and assorted officials and interest groups. The suit contends that the state 's funding practices are discriminatory against school districts with large numbers of non-white students. The lawsuit is currently suspended under an agreement between Mayor Street and Governor Ridge.

Statewide coalition-building is another strategy. Good Schools Pennsylvania, a newly formed coalition of grassroots, state, and national organizations, is one attempt to gain adequate and equitable funding for schools throughout Pennsylvania by uniting organizations and individuals from both urban and rural areas.

The authors are researchers at Research for Action, a Philadelphia-based organization engaged in educational research and reform. A more detailed fact sheet is available on Research for Action's website at www.research­foractioTl.orglwhatsnew.html or by calling (215) 823-2500, ext. 508.

6 __________________ ~P~U~B~LI~C~SC~H~O~O~L~N~O~T,~EB~O~O~K~-~_:===:__:::::===FALL 2001 - --The state's charter school law does not allow still has to make significant reductions OV

School -~; calendar

2001 Oct. 8 Columbus Day -

Administrati ve offices/schools cl~sed Oct. 9 Staff only -

Professional Development Day Nov. 9 Half day for pupils Nov. 12 Veterans' Day­

Administrative offices/schools closed Nov. 22-23 Thanksgiving­

Administrative offices/schools closed Dec. 24-Jan. 1 Winter Break -

Schools closed Dec. 24-25 Christmas Holiday -

Administrative offices/schools closed

2002 Jan. 1,2002 New Year's Day -

Administrative offices/schools closed Jan. 18 Half day for pupils Jan. 21 Martin Luther King Day -

Administrative officeS/schools closed Feb. 18 Presidents' Day -

Administrative offices/schools closed Feb. 19 Staff only -

Professional Development Day Mar. 11 Half day for pupils Mar. 25-29 Spring Recess - Schools closed Mar. 29 Good Friday -

Administrative offices/schools closed Apr. 1 Staff only -

Professional Development Day May 6 Half day for pupils May 27 Memorial Day -

Administrative offices/schools closed June 21 Last day for pupils June 24 Last day for staff -

Long-range Planning Day

Charter cluster? Building on three years of experience with

the West Oak Lane Charter School, State Representative Dwight Evan is organizing what he ca lls the "Neighborhood School Network," which would potentially involve and overhaul the set of 16 schools formerly in the King Cluster in Northwest Philadelphia.

Details are sketchy, but a charter school assistance organization, Foundations, Inc., is providing technical assistance for the project, which would create an independent network of schools including the former King Cluster schools as well as West Oak Lane and !mhotep Charter Schools.

Evans has letters of support from Teachers College of Columbia University, Mayor Street, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation and is seeking state funding for the project.

The District's recent reorganization took the initiative into account by appointing rwo Area Academic Officers to head the Northwest Area Office. One of them, former King Cluster leader Linda Silverberg, continues to oversee those same schools and work with Evans on his plans.

If the network does undertake a conversion of the 16 schools in the neighborhood to char­ter schools, it would have significant impli­cations for teachers and their union contract with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFr). The PFr could not then be the bar­gaining agent for teachers at those schools.

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teachers at charter schools to be represented the next rwo years In the number of stude er by the same union that represents teachers m scormg m the bottom quartile in order to av~~ the spo

nsoring school district. a state takeover as ordered under the stat ' - Education Empowerment Act. e s

Teacher vacancies Schools opened this year with 95 full-time

teaching positions vacant, compared to 281 unfilled positions last year, the School Dtslnct

rep~:~. the School District and advocacy groups made the problem of teacher vacancies a focus last year. The recent droppmg of the residency requirement for teachers was one factor cited by District CEO Philip Goldslllith as contributing to the decrease in vacancies. Another was the District reorganization, which moved 115 educators from administrative jobs to positions in schools.

The District's Literacy Intern Teacher pro­gram has provided the District with a source of new teachers with classroom expenence. This fall, 130 of last year's 500 Literacy Interns (who had been paired with veteran elemen­tary school teachers) moved into teaching posi­tions in their own classrooms. This year there are 1050 Literacy Interns in K-2 classrooms.

PSSA scores up Philadelphia students' scores on the state's

standardized test, the PSSA, continued to climb this year, according to preliminary results. The overall trend for Philadelphia since 1996 has been upward in all grade levels in both math and reading. Further information about how schools did and about performance relative to the rest of the state will be released later this fall.

Despite that upward trend, Philadelphia

Not all the District's test SCore news \Vas pOSIDve, however. On the other maO dardi zed test, the District's SAT-9 t~O; stan_ average was down slightly overall ~e:~~re straight years of gains. ur

Results by grade level were varied. But sci­ence scores dropped across the board after showmg steady unprovement every year since 1996 at vutually every grade level.

The School District will be modifying its performance Index for rating schools this fall,

:~s~: :~~ :c~~n~r:;.rmance on the PSSA

Kids coping with the 9-11 violence

The National Coalition of Education Activists recommends two web sites for those trying to help children and young people deal wim the confusion and emotion of the recent national tragedy:

• Educators for Social Responsibility (www.esmational.org)hasrevised Talking to Children About Violence and Other Sensitive and Complex Issues in the World. It includes suggestions for when and how to talk to chil­dren, ways to respond to revenge and retalia­tion fantasies, anti-Arab sentiment, rage, fear, and ideas for collecti ve action.

• The National Association of School Psychologists (www.nasponline.org) has use­ful materials, including resources that have been translated into Arabic, Farsi, Korean, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

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FALL 2001 PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

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. . l con la diversidad de la poblaci6n ESOL y otros programas bilingiies del Dzstnto crecen a a par d· t d. , Oficina se enfoca en la necesidad de 10,000 estu Ian es e Ingles

Los programas que silven a los estudiantes cuyo primer idioma no es el Ingles (as( como a susfami/ias) son vi/ales para lograr la equidad educativa ell el DistrilO EseaIOl: MOl)' RamIrez. qllien fue Directora de la Ojicilla de ASlllltOS de Equidad ell el [dioma par cllatro OliOS, ahara dirige la Ojicina de Instruccion y fue entrevis­tada por Raymond GIIIIII, de La revista Notebook.

Notebook: lCu:!n extensos son los programas de ingles del Distrito?

Ramirez: Tenemos aproximadamente 10,<XXJ estucliantes en el ESOL (Ingles para personas que hablan otro iclioma- English for Speakers of O/her Longuages) y otros prograrnas bilingUes. Aproximadamente 3,000 de esos estudiantes estan en programas bilingiies. Actualmente, tenemos alrededor de 125 escuelas. Los program as bilingUes con que contrunos son espanol, chino, ruso y un pequeno modele de camboyano 0 jemer. Este pr6ximo septiembre esperamos empezar un prograrna de vietnarnita.

Tambien tenemos estudiantes de habla inglesa provenientes del mundo entero que han tenido clificultad en su transici6n debido a asuntos cul­turalcs. A veces es cliffcil para los maestros enten­derlos por el acento 0 la cadencia particular con que hablan. Nos asegurarnos que tienen acceso a servicios de apoyo como tutona, pronunciaci6n y vocabulario. Estos estucliantes de habla inglesa (solamente superados en nllinero por los que hablan espanol) son el grupo n,as grande en el pro­grarna ESOL, ya que recibimas muchas estuclianres provenientes de Africa que estan en proceso de adaptarse a la cultura de los Estados Unidos.

En total tenemos entre 450 a 500 maestros.

Notebook: l Culil es la diferencia entre ESOL y la educacion bilingiie?

Ramirez: EI prograrna ESOL ofrece dases para aprender ingles as! como sobre otros asuntos culturales de los Estados Unidos. Es una c1ase de ingles que se ensena mediante contenido; 0 sea, que integra la ensenanza del iclioma con historia y estuclios sociales.

Los programas bilingiies ensenan las materias como matematicas, ciencia e historia en el idioma nativo de los estucliantes. Por 10 tanto, en el programa bilingiie, los estucliantes no wlamente apij!(\den c6mo hablar otno idioma, sino que tambien mantienen al rna sus destrezas de Iectura y escritura medfante contenido.

Notebook: lQue pasa con los estudiantes que necesitan ayuda con el ingles pero est:!n en escuelas que no cuentan con programas bilingiies 0 de ESOL?

Ramirez: Hace algunos anos iniciamos 10 que se conoce como "maestros ambulanres" de ESOL para aquellos estudiantes que no esran en una escuela que tiene prograrna. Estos maestros van de escuela en escuela cuando hay menos de 5 6 10 estudiantes que necesitan la ayuda y les d~n apoyo de una manera diferente a la que darian en un sal6n de c1ases regular. No obstante, recomendamos que estos estudiantes traten de transferirse a un prograrna completo.

Notebook: lCOmo es que eI Distrito decide si un estudiante debe estar en un program a bilingiie 0 en ESOL?

Ramirez: Los estudiantes no son selecciona­dos para el ESOL 0 los prograrnas bilingUes. Las leyes federales, estatales y del Distrito requieren que los estudiantes que necesitan ayuda con el idioma reciban algUn tipo de servicio.

Cuando un estudiante llega al Distrito Escolar a matricularse, la secretaria Ie hace entrega del fonnulario ''Home Language Survey" (Encuesta sobre el idioma en el hogar). Ese fonnulario pide que se indique cual iclioma el estucliante habla en su hogar, si se habla ingles en el hogar, y cuantos estudios de ingles ha tenido anterior­mente. Dependiendo de c6mo el estudiante contesta estas preguntas, se recornienda si debe

Foto: Harvey Finkle

La escuela Moffet es una de las muchas escuelas del Distrito que cuenta con una gran ~iversidad de idiomas entre sus estudiantes. Se han realizado estudios que revelan que los estudlantes que aprenden diferentes idiomas tienen destrezas verbales mas fuertes y piensan mas l6gicamente.

o no tomar un examen inicial de aptitud. Con los resultados del examen, podemos entonces asignar al estudiante al nivel apropiado de ayuda o conduir que el estudiante no necesita estar en el prograrna de ESOL.

Si el estudiante y los padres desean educaci6n bilingiie (en el Distrito esto es una opci6n, no un requisito), entonces pueden ver cuaIes escue­las tienen prograrnas bilingUes y solicitar trans­ferencia a una de ellas, si hay espacio disponible.

Notebook: Una vez el estudiante est:! en un programa de ESOL 0 educacion bilingiie, lcu:into tiempo va a permanecer en el mismo?

Ramirez: La meta de nuestros programas de educaci6n bilingiie es lograr que nuestros estucliantes sean biculturales. La idea no es que tomen el prograrna por 2 a 3 anos, como ocurre en Nueva York y California, y luego se integren al curriculo regular de todas las materias en ingles. La meta es que continuen trabajando para tambien lograr completa competencia en su idioma nativo.

Nuestnos estudiantes del prograrna de ESOL se transfieren a las clases regulares al cabo de 3 a 4 anas. En el programa de educaci6n bilingUe, sin embargo, recnicamente el estudiante puede per­manecer hasta el ultimo ano de escuela superior.

Notebook: lSe ha notado si el desempeiio de los estudiantes es mejor en alguno de los programas?

Ramirez: Los estudiantes de ambos pro­grarnas (ESOL y educaci6n bilingiie) obtienen puntuaciones similares en examenes de aptitud para materias como matematicas, ciencia e his­loria. Los estudiantes que han completado nuestro prograrna genemlmente se desempeilan tan bien 0 basta mejor que los demas estudiantes.

Notebook: lQue inquietudes tiene usted sobre los programas de ESOL y educacion bilingiie?

Ramirez: Primero que nada, ho existe una certificaci6n estatal para ensenar en los programas de ESOL 0 educaci6n bilin ~iie Somos uno de alrededor de LO estados :n l~ naci6n que no 10 tienen. Si se obtiene certifi­caci6n para ensenar ESOL en Nueva Jersey, no se puede ensenar en Pensilvania. Se tiene que obtener otro tipo de certificaci6n porque nunca hemos contado con una certificaci6n para ESOL o educaci6n bilingiie. Dentro del Distrito tenemos nuestros propios requ isitos.

En segundo lugar, Pensilvania tambien tiene asistencia tecnica muy limitada para los

maestros de ESOL y educaci6n bilingUe. De hecho, solarnente contamos con una persona que se ha encargado de los programas de ESOL y educaci6n bilingiie todos estos anos, rnientras que otros estados cuentan con un equipo 0 con una oficina 0 departamento completo.

Mi tercera inquietud es que el estado no asigna fondos para los estudiantes que necesitan aprender ingles, por 10 que cada clistrito tiene que proporcionar sus propios fondos y sus propios prograrnas.

Finalmente, el estado ha requerido que los estucliantes que necesitan aprender ingles participen en el examen estatal de evaluaci6n, pero hasta este ano no habian hecho los ajustes necesarios para esto. Los estudiantes tenian que tomar el rnismo examen que el r.esto de los estucliantes del programa regular, por 10 que muchos de ellos no obtenian buenas puntuaciones. El estado no ofrece ningun examen en el idioma nativo de los estudiantes.

Notebook: lPorque es dificil reten.er a nuestros maestros bilingiies?

Ramirez: Uno de los retos mas grandes para los maestros dentro del Distrito Escolar es el requisito estatal. Tienen que aprobar el examen estatal para maestros, que no ha side cambiado para acomodar el hecho de que el ingles no es su primer idioma. Si no 10 aprueban dentro de los primeros 2 a 3 anos, el estado no les permite

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obtener una certificaci6n proviSional, Aquj perdemos la mayoria de nuestros maestros

~:~~~::i~POS de estuclio, pero todavia ~

~otebook: Si los rondos son tan llimtados, lcomo es que el Distrito auspicia tantos programas?

Ramirez: Nuestro Distrito y el personal de la oficina se han esforzado muchisimo para obtener grants. Actualmente tenemos dos grants federales llamados Titulo VII, y uno de esos es por la cantidad de $3 millones de d61ares en un plazo de 5 anos para comenzar un programa de educaci6n en dos idiom as.

Hemos planificado comenzar el programa de educaci6n en dos idiomas en 10 de nuestras escuelas. En este programa, los estudiantes del programa regular y que hablan ingles estrin juntos con los que necesitan aprenderlo. Asi todos pueden aprender ambos idiomas desde kinder en adelante. De esta manera, mas y mas estucliantes tendran acceso a clistintos idiomas. Este va a ser un tipo de prograrna de integmci6n cruzada. i,Porque esperar hasl<1 Uegar a escuela superior para estudiar un iclioma por tres anos y luego no recordar nada del rnismo? Con este programa, los estudiantes comienzan a conversar con otros estudiantes cuyo idioma nativo es extranjero y que les sirven de recurso de aprendizaje.

En el Main Line, estan pagando de $10,000 a $15,000 para asistir a la escuela bilingiie de frances. Por eso es que ahora estarnos impulsando el concepto de dos idiomas.

Notebook: lCu:!nto impacto cree que el programa bilingiie est:! teniendo en el Distrito?

Ramirez: No es s6lo el programa bilingiie el que est:! teniendo el impacto, sino todos los programas de instrucci6n. Si se tiene un programa con personal bilingUe cualificado y balanceado que cuenta con suficientes recursos, desarrollo profesional y apoyo, este va a tener tanto 0 mas exito que un programa de ingles solamente. Se han hecho estudios que demuestran que al pasar del tiempo, los estudiantes que son bilingiies y aprenden otro idioma obtienen mayores puntuaciones en el examen SAT por tener mayor habilidad verbal. Aprenden c6mo pensar mas 16gicamente pOl-que han sido expuestos a cliferentes idiomas.

Pero tal programa educati vo tiene que ser uno bien completo y bien planificado.

Para mas informacion sobre la Ojicilla de Asuntos de Equidad en el !dioma, /lame al 215-299-7791.

Traduccion por Mildred S. Martinez.

Siudentl'teachingsluiknl.raoout their righk

Freedom of Expression School Searches

Diseriminafion Harassment Censorship

~~Kt&lYOR~~ info VOOr cIasmrn « orgaoizalilrt! (215) 592-1513, ext. 122

ktobin@ac1upa.org

A public education program of the

ACLU

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FALL 2001 PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK 9

Comunidades de color no consiguen suficientes maestros cualificados Distribucion de vacantes de maestros revela discriminacion racial por Linda Jones, Carol Hemingway, y Kelley CoUings

Estudios en Filadelfia han demostrado finalmente 10 que los padres y estudiantes han experimentado por MOS: las escuelas ubicadas en las comunidades de gente de color y bajos ingresos estiin en desventaja.

En cuesti6n de maestros, las escuelas en las comunidades de color tienen mas vacantes, el promedio de aiios de servicio de los maestros es menor, y tienen mas maestros sin certificaci6n que las escuelas ubicadas en comunidades donde la mayoria de los residentes son de la raza blanca.

Todo esto significa que los estudiantes de color progresan mas lentamente y tienen menos recursos que los estudiantes blancos.

Por ejemplo: a mediad os del ano escolar 2000-01, el grupo de escuelas Bartram tenia 24

Reorganizaci6n: nuevas oficinas academicas

continua de la p. 1

disminuir costos, mover personal de nuevo al sal6n de clases y lograr mas uniformidad. Otra prioridad fue separar las responsabilidades no relacionadas a la inslrUcci6n y alivianar la carga de trabajo de los lideres de las Oficinas Academicas de Area (quienes supervisan las escuelas de su area) para que se puedan enfocar en la calidad de la ensenanza.

Los lideres del Distrito dicen que la vieja eslrUCtura no estaba produciendo suficientes resultados en el desempeiio academico de los estudiantes, y 10 atribuyen a falta de enfoque.

La nueva estructura esta disenada de modo que las 10 nuevas Oficinas Academicas de Area del Distrito no tengan que enfrentar directamente asuntos de transportacion, seguridad, planta fisica, disciplina 0 recursos humanos. Cada oficina tendra un Director de Servicios de Apoyo a las Escuelas que se encargara de esas funciones .

Ademas de estas dos posiciones, cada oficina de area incluira un Director para Servicios de Enseiianza, un Entrenador Lfder de ni vel elemental y secundario, y un Entrenador Lfder de Educacion Especial.

El apoyo adicional para el personal de cada escuela provendni de "entrenadores academicos" y "gerentes de educacion especial" que estaran ubicados en las escuelas. La idea basica del nuevo modelo es que mas servicios de apoyo para los maestros estarlin disponibles dentro de cada escuela.

Las nuevas oficinas del centro de la ciudad que colaboraran con 10 academico incluyen:

• Curriculo, InSlrUccion y Evaluaci6n • Desarrollo de Principales y Maestros • Apoyo a las Escuelas Secundarias • Apoyo a la Familia y el Estudiante • Intervencion Instruccional y de

Comportarniento Cada una de las Oficinas Academicas de

Area combina dos de los antiguos cluslers, excepto las oficinas Sur y Noroeste, que combinan tres. No es coincidencia que los oficiales de Distrito en estas dos areas estan discutiendo la posibilidad de separar grupos de escuelas para que sean admini strados por organizaciones extemas.

En el antiguo cluster Audenried del Sur de Filadelfia, se ha considerado una alianza sin fines de lucro entre las escuelas Edison y Kenny Gamble's Universal Companies para administrar las escuelas. En el antiguo cluster King, el Representante Estatal Dwight Evans ha estado trabajando en un plan para convertir un cluster completo en escuelas de tipo charter schools.

Traducci6n por Mildred S. Martillez.

vacantes de maestros, mientras que el grupo de escuelas Lincoln, ubicado en un area mucho mas acomodada y de residentes blancos, tenia so lamente una. EI promedio de aiios de experieocia en el grupo de escuelas Audenried es 10.4 anos, mientras que el promedio en el grupo de escuelas Northeast es de 24 aiios.

No existe una causa unica que se pueda distinguir para la distribucion desequilibrada de vacantes de maestros y maestros certificados a traves del distrito. Los factores que influyen son el proceso complicado y burocratico de contratacion del Distrito, las estipulaciones restrictivas de contrato impuesras por la union en relacion a la colocacion de maestros, y la falta de voluntad politica colectiva para que se enfoque atencion y recursos a las escuelas de las comunidades de color.

Un estudio hecho por investigadores del Distrito Escolar sobre las transferencias intemas de maestros encontro que "los maestros mOSlraron una tendencia a moverse a las escuelas con menos incidencia de pobreza, menos por ciento de estudiantes de minorias y cuyos estudiantes obtienen mayor puntuacion en los examenes" (vease el Education Week del 18 de abril de 2001). Los patrones de transferen­cia aumentan las desigualdades del sistema.

Los padres han comentado que les da gusto que por fm alguien con educacion y un poco de influencia esta hablando sobre estos problemas; ellos los han vivido ya por muchos aDos.

En camino a la igualdad Cuando el aDo pasado la Maestra del Ano

de Pensilvania, Faith Kline, trato de transferirse ala Escuela E. M. Stanton (una escuela con alta incidencia de pobreza, deficiencia academica y ubicada en una comunidad predominantemente afroamericana) la solicitud de transferencia fue negada.

Esto ocurrio a pesar de que habia muchas posiciones disponibles en Stanton y la principal la habia reclutado . Kline qued6 entonces en una escuela que no solicito, la Finletter (una escuela no tan necesitada de mae­stros como Stanton).

Aun asi, los oficiales de la union y el distrito aiegaron que el sistema habia funcionado en el caso de Kline. (Un recuento de estos acontecimientos fue publicado en la edicion del 11 de julio de 2001 del Education Week).

Los padres y estudiantes no estiin de acuerdo con esto. Cuando hay vacantes en una escuela de alta pobreza y bajo rendimiento academico, y la Maestra del Ano quiere trabajar alii pero su solicitud de transferencia es negada, el sistema no esta funcionando. De hecho, no sirve.

Los grupos de organizaci6n y defensa de los padres estiin ejerciendo presion sabre el Distrito, la uni6n y el estado para eliminar las barreras que contribuyen a tales injusticias y para reducir el numero de vacantes de maestros en las escuelas de color pobres.

La !ider de padres Michelle Quarles, del Alliance Organizing Project, dijo, "La demografia no debe detemninar el destino".

"Si nuestros ninos fueran imponantes, si fuesen la prioridad, las cosas no serian asi. Los politicos figurarian las cosas. Los oficiales del Distrito Escolar encontrarian los fondos. Y nosotros contariamos con maestros de alta calidad para nuestros nifios".

Darlene Cradle, madre lider de ACORN (Association ofCommullity Organizationsfor Reform Now), tambien estuvo de acuerdo. "Nuestros nifios son el futuro, y no es justo que no tengan 10 que necesitan para aprender: maestros cualificados y recursos equitativos.".

Los grupos se unen AOP, ACORN, Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth (pcCY), Philadelphia Education Fund (pEF), y el Centro de Ley Educativa han comenzado a juntar sus esfuerzos y poder colectivo y a des­arrollar estrategias para enfrentar estos asuntos.

Shelly Yanoff, directora de PCCY, not6 que en una reciente discusi6n en mesa redonda un

foto: Harvey Finkle

"Nuestros ninos son el futuro, y no es justo que no tengan 10 que necesitan para aprender."

estudiante de la Escuela Superior Kensington les dijo a los presentes que durante el pasado ano su maestro de trigonometria era un mae­stro asistente de Espano!.

"Ese estudiante de undecimo graclo no tenia idea de como iba a entrar a la universidad. Los adultos no Ie pudieron dar una respuesta. Mientras no tengamos respuesta a su pregunta (0 hasta que ya el no tenga razon para preguntarla), la desventaja educativa continuara creciendo", dijo Yanoff.

Mas pasos de accion El bono de incentivo de $2,500 (que

recientemente se implemento para atraer a mae­stros a las escuelas que pasan dificuitad en con­seguir maestros) es un comienzo, pero se pueden tomar mas pasos para proveer a los estudiantes

acceso igual a maestros cualificados. Se deben tener mentores de maestros con

oficinas en cad a una de esas escuelas y que trabajen exclusivamente con los maestros en esas ubicaciones. Se deben tam bien tener incentivos financieros orientados a los maestros con experiencia para atraerlos a ensenar en esas escuelas que tienen dificultad para conseguir maestros.

Linda Jones estci en la junta directiva del Alliance Organizillg PlVject. CalVI Hemingway es presidellle de la organizaci6n comllnitaria ACORN de Pensilvania. Kelley Collings es maestra en la escuela Central East. Para rruis infonnaci6n, comun[quese con el AOP a1215-625-99160 con ACORN al 215-765-0042.

Traducci6n por Mildred S. M0I1inez.

IIYo se que no estan aprendiendoll

Como es que la escasez persistente de maestros afecta a los estudiantes y sus padres:

"Soy una madre que trabaja en la escuela como asistente de salon de clases. los ninos en mi clase tuvieron 6 maestros durante el ano escolar 2000-2001. Son ninos de 10 anos en 4to grado que estan tratando de graduarse de la escuela y que necesitan pasar sus examenes para ser promovidos al proximo grado.

los maestros substiMos simplemente se sientan todo el dia a leer un libro. No hay planes de ensenanza ni nada por el estilo. Es muy triste. De veras que me preocupan los niiios. Yo sl! que no est1n aprendiendo".

- Michelle Quarles, fider del Alliance Organizing project

"La maestra de mi hija renundo justo antes de que empezaran las clases y no fue sino hasta fines de noviembre que tuvo un maestro permanente asignado. los primeros meses fue enviada a diferentes dases can diferentes maestros. No aprendie nada.

A veces hasta fue enviada a clases can otros grados. Como no tuvo un maestro consistente, la escuela ni siquiera pudo darle notas a mi hija para el primer periodo de notas. i Ni siquiera redbio un reporte de notas!"

- Felicia Randolph, fider de A CORN

"Mi hija estaba en primer grado y tenia maestros sustitutos uno tras otro. No hadan nada. Todo 10 que hadan era jugar. Mi hija llegaba a la casa todos los dias y al yo preguntarle, "l Que hidste hoy?" Me deda, "Jugar". iMe canse de eso! Ella fue promovida al siguiente grado sin saber leer al nivel que correspondia:

- Gladys Malave, madre fider del Alliance Organizing Project

School District of Philadelphia

Office of Language Equity Issues

ESOL & BILINGUAL PROGRAMS

21 st and the Parkway· Room 302 Philadelphia, PA 19103

(215) 299-7791 • Fax: 299-7792

10 PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK FALL 2001

A racial justice report card continued from p. 1

rate has dropped to 62.8%; for Asian females, whose rate is still the highest in the District, it is 73.3%. This decline is one of a number of signs that the District needs to provide more effective supportS for its Asian students.

Rac~, ~u;ty

Compounding the significant weakness in graduation rates are big disparities in post-sec­ondary plans for those who graduate from Philadelphia's public schools. Among Asian males and Asian and white females graduating from Philadelphia high schools in 2000, three­fourths or more said they plan to go on to 2- or 4-year coUeges. But the coUege-going rates of other groups of high school graduates are significant­ly lower (see graphs). According to students' reportS of their plans, they range from 66% for African American female graduates down to as low as 40% for Hispanic male graduates.

While the coUege-going rate for white males is below 60%, researchers say that white males who do not attend college have more employ­ment opportunities open to them than other groups.

Opportunity gap The School District has touted its progress

in raising the standardized test scores of all groups. But the Notebook's analysis of the data found that progress in test scores did not whit­tle away at the significant divide between racial groups (see p. 12). African Americans and Latinos continue to score much lower on these tests, which playa significant role in deter­mining access to the system's strongest acad­emic high school programs.

These di sparities often are cast as an "achievement gap" - that African American and Latino students do worse in school. But there is a significant "opportunity gap" as well in Philadelphia. Students of color do not have the same access to high-quality instruction and challenging coursework as their white coun­terpart.>. Lacking fundi ng [0 build many new school buildings, the District continues to oper­ate a large number of aging facilities, which are concentrated in communities of color.

The Notebook fou nd evidence of the opportunity gap in many areas. Access to certified and experienced teachers - or even a

regularly assigned teacher - is much more of a problem in schools where students of color predominate.

Asians, Latinos and African Americans all continue to be identified to participate in men­taUy gifted classes in much lower percentages than do white students, though their numbers in these programs have grown. African American and Latino students continue to face long odds in applying to the District's special admission high schools such as Central (see page 18). And they continue to be under-rep­resented in Advanced Placement (AP) class­es, which provide a chance for high schoolers to earn coUege credit and do more challeng­ing work.

Of all Philadelphia public school students enrolled in AP classes last year, 39% were white, 31 % were African American, 20% were Asian and 8% were Latino. Whites represent­ed 17% of the total student popUlation, African Americans 65%, Asians 5%, and Latinos 13%.

Signs of progress Some point to significant, positive changes

in tlle District in the last six years, such as the creation of an Office of Equity, the holding of an annual "All Means All" conference high­lighting the need for high standards for aU stu­dents , and efforts to redirect resources to schools with the greatest needs.

Students of color do not have the same

access to high-quality instruction and

challenging course work as their white counterparts.

Data about the performance of different racial groups was readily available to the Notebook for the pedod beginning in 1996, whereas prior to that date it was difficult to obtain breakdowns of how these groups were doing.

Equity was a major theme of Supelintendent David Hornbeck's Children Achieving agenda.

"Thc rhetoric about equi ty was out there in some places," commented educational consul­tant and activist Rochelle Nichols Solomon. "That's significant, but it's not sufficient:'

Solomon maintained that repeated empha­sis in the District on "All children can learn" had begun to change the tenor of conversations

50

Dropout rates by race, 1999-2000 (per 1,000 students)

40

30

20

10

o African African Asian Asian American American Males Females

Males Females

Source: School District of Philadelphia

Latino Latino Males Females

White White Males Females

postsecondary plans of June, 2000 Philadelphia high school graduates

(% by race and gender)

Asian Male ~~~--;-~~_ Unemployed

or Unknown 12,4%

Civilian Job 3.0%

Military 1.2%

OtherEdu.lnst.3.6%

CollegelUniversity79.7%

African American Male

1-- -- Unemployed or Unknown 24.3%

White Male

_IIIIIIIIliliiii11--- Civilian Job 12.0%

"-=~~;i-~~- Military 4.4%

Olher Edu.lnst.7.3%

Source: PA Department of Education

about schools here. There were gains in student performance, too, but "everybody's standards went up, and the gap still remained," she said.

Biggest obstacle is funding Parties to the desegregation case in which

Judge Smith presides say that the big obstacle to achievmg the court's equity goals has been the failure to secure additional fund ing, not lack of effort by the District.

''There is a feeling that the District, within the parameters. of its resources, has attempted to address the Issues it's been ordered to, pur­suant to the court's orders," said attorney Michael Churchill, who represents communi­ty groups III the desegregation case.

But underfunding continues to be a perva-

Asian Female

Unemployed Unknown 12.2% ...--IIIIi--__ Civilian Job 2.2%

MililaryO%

African American Female

1---- Unemployed Unknown 17. 1%

_______ -- CivilianJob7.1%

~=='!!\----- Military1.7%

Latino Female

1----- Unemployed Unknown 14.4%

______ --- Civilian Job 9.8%

I!!!!!!~!!'mm----- Military 2.1%

White Female

__ Unemployed or Unknown 11.8%

!!!!!!!!!I!!!!!!I!!~=--- Civilian Job 6.2%

- Militaryl.6%

OlherEdu. lnst.5.5%

Coliege/University74.9%

sive problem. The Notebook spoke with staff of a number of School District offices prOVIdIng valuable supports to help schools meet the diverse needs of their students, and found that these offices are understaffed and in some cases underutilized. In particular, the Disbict has strong resources addressing issues of language equIty

and developing a multicu ltural curriculum~Oler Observers expressed concern ~bOUl W:

ould the District's various eqUlty IfuttatIves survi ve a state takeover or a management takeover by Edison. The state of pennsy~:; has never broken down data these student performance by race to exanune

eq~~il~::~~nos have a way of evaporating

co;tinued on p. 11

>01

lyed 2%

.2%

0%

,5%

1.1%

lyed '1%

'1%

7%

'9%

;.2%

Dyed 1.4%

l.8%

~ . 1 %

).0%

3.7%

Dyed 1.8%

3.2%

1.6%

5.5%

4.9%

atf of ·iding ~t the d that cases ;UDOg

:qui ty

o. lether vould ment vama

Ibout

these

·ating

FALL 2001

Report card continued from p. 10

very quickly. The approach of the District's leadership is very critical," said Solomon.

"People in leadership need to give voice to an equity agenda. It has to be deliberate and bold," she added.

Other major findings Here are the other key find ings of the

Notebook 's study: • Salary data for District employees show

that whites are dispropOlt ionately represented in higher level positions and African Americans in lower level positions. Among school per­sonnel, the racial di sparity was particularly

PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

noticeable in jobs such as department chair­person; counselor and psychologist. Numbers of Latino and Asian District staff are tiny.

these. 93% were out-of-school suspensions. African American (344 per 1000 students) and Latino (3 17 per 1000) students are suspend-

• African Ameri-can and Latino stu­dents experience the harshest discipline. The District contin­ues to suspend stu­dents at an alarm­ingly high rate, particularly African American males. The School District appears to have made little headway at

The District continues to suspend students at

an alarmingly high rate, particularly

African American males.

ed at much higher rates than whites (232 per 1000). Rates for Asian students are lowest by far (82 per thousand). There has been little change in these rates si nce 1995-96. Expulsion numbers are small , but it is a pun­ishment that a lmost exclusively applies to African American stu­

implementing alternative di sciplinary strate­gies. There were 308 suspensions per 1000 students in Philadelphia in 1999-2000. Of

dents (53 of 62 expUlsions in 1999-2000 were African Americans) .

• African Americans are persisting in

11

school at essentially the same rate as whites; in fact, the dropout rate for African Americans is slightly lower. But the effort on the part of African Americans to stay in school has not translated into comparable graduation rates. Dropout rates continue to be highest among Latino students. The dropout rate for Asian males is comparable to that for white and African American males.

• Schools with a significant number of whites are more likely to provide opportuni­ties for parents to participate in school deci­sion-making. fn 1999, a study found that only 58% of Phi ladelprlia's "racially isolated" schools (defmed as schools that are more than 90% African American and Latino) had nmc­tion ing schoo l councils, while there were councils at 90% of the schools not consid­ered to be racially isolated .

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12 PUBLIC SCHOOL NarEBO

Standardized test score results by race

White .. Asian Latino • African-

American I

% of 4th Graders Scoring Basic or % of 8th Graders Scoring Basic or % of 11th Graders Scoring Basic or

Better, SAT·9 Test in 1996 and 1999 Better, SAT·9 Test in 1996 and 1999 Better, SAT·9 Test in 1996 and 1999

READING READING READING

% 77.8 %

% 78.5 80 80 80

64.4~74.4 ~77.3 70 70 70 64.4

63.,/58

.3 60

57.8 60 62.9 53.6

1

60

42.8~52.2 50 ~~52.2 50 53.0 50

37.9 1 40 44.3

40 40

30 33.7 30 35.8 30 35.0 ____ 31.0

20 20 20 20.2"------ 28.9

10 16.4

10 1 10

0 0 0 1996 1999 1996 1999 1996 1999

MATH MATH MATH

% % % 80 77.7 80 80

70 67·~72.6 70 62.7 70

60 60

44.9~2.6 60

60.3 50 50.4 50 50

40 31.1_~42.8 40 40 37.3 41.3

29.6~ 30 1

30 23.1 30 32.1 30.9

20 20 13.9~1.5 1 20 26.0 10.9

10 10

1 '~ 5.8 -11.3 5.0 8.2

0 1996 1999 I 0 1996 1999 1999 1996

Test scores went up for all groups between 1996 and 1999. But at each grade level shown, both in reading and in math, scores of Latino and African American students continue to lag behind those of whites and Asians.

Expulsion of Students from the School District of Philadelphia

White 9%

1995·1996

Latino Asian 5% 0%

Total Expulsions: 55

1999·2000

White Asian Latino 5% 2%

Total Expulsions: 62

Expulsion numbers are small, but it is a punishment almost exclusively applied to African Americans. African Americans rep· resented 64·65% of the students, but accounted for 86% of the expulsions.

Suspension numbers are very high, es~e· cially for African American and LatmO

males. This gap did not narrow betwee; 1996 and 2000. Suspensions continue to e frequently dispensed, primarily to males.

----

;CHOOL NOT.EBOOK • FALL 2001

or 99

I

~ I ores

it is a 1iedto IS rep-Sf but IS.

espe-~ atinO tween ~ to be nales.

--

%

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

o

School District of Philadelphia On-time High School Graduation Rates for 1996 and 2000 (% by race and gender)

r-

r-

61.3

f-,----

52.7

48.3 ,--

r- ,--

- 37.6 -

f-

r-

f-

African African American American

Males Females

66.0 r-

~

ASian Males

78 1 ~

73.3 f---

ASian Females

41 .1 r--

30.2 r--

Latino Males

48.8 r--

40.4 r--

Latino Females

60.6 r--

53.6 r--

White Males

~~

White Females

1995-1996

1999-2000

The most rapid gains in graduation rates were made by African Americans and Latinos. But the on-time graduation rates for these groups still remain shockingly low.

%

15

12

9

6

3

Participation in School District Mentally Gifted Programs for 1996 and 2000 (% of student population of that race/gender)

9.2

7.3

6.3

5.4

3.8

2.9 3.1

10.7

8.7

3.4

12.4

9.8

~ ~

o L--L--L-~~-L~~-A~s iLan~~~A~siLan~~~La=ti~no~-L~=-~~w~hi~te~~~W~hi~te~ American American Males Females Males Males Females

Males Females

More students of all races are participating in mentally gifted programs. The programs are still disproportionately white - the gaps are still extremely wide.

Suspension rates by race - number of incidents per 1,000 students, 1996 and 2000

500 r-

400 r--

300 r-

200 r-

100 r-

0

~ 471 F=o

Afncan American

MALES

~ ~

-

~ 128

1-

ASian Latino

~ 500 FEMALES

2000

400

~ ~ 300

233 215

200

131

102

100

0 African White White American

13

All data are from the School District of Philadelphia for its schools.

Readers may note that the break­down of data by racial groups on this page does not include data for Native Americans. A breakdown with data for Native Americans was not available for some of the reports we compiled. In addition. the numbers of Native Americans reported were in most cases very small. The Notebookconcluded that the information we had gathered was too fragmentary to provide a picture of the situation of students in the Philadelphia public schools who are Native American. This situation merits further study.

These charts give "disaggregated" data - broken down by racial groups (and in some cases. broken down further. by gender). We disaggregate data because an examination of districtwide data on student performance (for exam­ple. test scores) fails to show the sig­nificant variations among groups.

These charts also give a historical perspective: for each indicator examined on this page. by showing data for 1996 in comparison to more current data. one can observe trends. The year 1996 was selected for comparison because it was the first full year of data collection for the "Children Achieving" reform plan of former Superintendent David Hombeck.

Test score resuHs: Results are for the Stanford Achievement Test. Ninth Edition (SAT-9). administered to a ll students in selected grades in Philadelphia each spring. The tests are given in Reading. Math. and Science. Science resuits are omitted here because of space considera tions.

Graphs show percentages of students from each racial group with a score of "Basic" or better. indicating that the students have achieved at least partial mastery of the subject matter - percent­ages shown inc lude students who scored Basic. Proficient. and Advanced. (The remaining students scored Below Basic or were untested.)

On-time high school graduation rates: These charts indicate for each demographic group what percentages graduated on time of the students who were due to graduate in June 1996 and June 20c0 (because they entered high school four years earlier). Students who graduated in more than four years are not included in these percentages.

PartiCipation in Mentally Gifted pro­grams: Students in Philadelphia public schools can be enrolled in menta lly g ifted classes if they have undergone an evaluation (includ­ing IQ testing by a psychologist) and have been identified as gifted. Typically the initial referral for an evaluation of a student is by a classroom teacher. (A parent can a lso request an evaluation.) Students identified as menta lly gifted participate in specially designed programs and receive support services.

Expulsions: For each racial group. figures shown are percentages of the tota l number of students expelled by the School Dis1Tict.

Suspensions per 1000 students: For each demographic group. the data are based on the total number of suspension incidents in the year in question. in comparison to the population of students of that group in the School District. This rate reflects multiple suspensions for individual students.

FALL 2001

14 PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

Born of struggle, a District office teems with culture, history

· · · h ontent for teachers African AmerIcan Resource Center. rIC c by Raymond Gunn

A large poster of South African leader Nelson Mandela greets you as you fust enter the African American Resource Center at the District Office building on 21st Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Look to the right and there is Rosa Parks smil ing benevolently at you.

Large bookshelves line the walls where books for a ll ages can be found. Books by and about wr iters from Chinua Achebe to Richard Wright line the shelves, threatening to spill over for lack of space. In another sec­tion of the Center, a gold mine awaits in the form of the well-preserved Journal of Negro History, dating back to 1916.

The office teems with history and culture. The African American Resource Center

has been in existence since 1970. It carne about because many African American par­ents and students expressed their concem that the School District was not devoting enough attention to African and African American history.

Gilda Coker Johnson, who attended Girls High School in the early 1960s , offers one parent's view of the need for African American studies. "Things have not really changed since my daughters were in school. .. not to mention si nce I went to school. They're stiil teaching the same thing. Black children need to leam more than just a little paragraph about slavery, Martin Luther King, and Rosa Parks."

Coker Johnson, whose three daughters are Philadelphia public school alumnae, says that the little that has changed in the schools is because of the efforts of the African American Resource Center, which she regards as a godsend.

The Resource Center is run by Dr. Carolyn Hoimes, supervisor, and Dianne Partee, cur­riculum specialist, both of whom echo Coker Johnson's frustrations.

"The largest staff we 've ever had was five," Partee says with a sigh . For the past few years, it has been just the two of them and secretary Sharon Whitner, who also works for the Latino American Studies and Asian American Studies offices.

"When there were five of us, we used to go from school to school. But because there are only two of us, we can' t get to every school in the same way," says Hoimes.

Holmes has been supervising the depart­ment since 1975, and Partee has been in her position since 1980. Together, they have cre­ated a department that is rich with programs and resources.

At the beginning of every school year and throughout the year, they run workshops for teachers either at the central office or at indi­vidual schools on how to incorporate African American topics into their curriculum. In the summer, the staff of the multicultural offices trai n teachers to incorporate multicu ltural themes into their lesson plans.

They just completed the sixth year of "Culture Connection," a monthly half- hour cable television program. On the department's web site, teachers will fi nd a host of teachi.ng tips, lesson plans, and transcripts of ail past episodes of "Culture Connection."

While they provide help to teachers by tele­phone, they encourage teachers to visit the Resource Center, where they can borrow books, reference materials, and videos like ''Eyes on

Curriculum specialist Diane Partee, shown here at the Resource Center, is particularly proud of the African American Oratorical Contest.

the Pri ze," the award-winning series on the Civil Rights struggle in the 1950s and '60s.

Haimes and Pattee are particularly proud of their annual African American History Oratorical Competition, which is in its 21st year.

Each year students in al l grade levels can participate in the competition in which they incorporate leaming, writing, and speaking about topics related to African American his­tory. Students of ail nationalities and ethnic­ities are encouraged to get involved; in this year's competition, a Chinese-American stu­dent compared the abuse of human rights in China today to the past experiences of ensla ved African Americans. For the past six years, participants in the event have had their speeches published in Vita l Issues: Journal of African American Speeches.

'Black children need to learn more than

just a little paragraph about slavery, King,

and Rosa Parks.'

Despite the success of the oratorical com­petition, many schools do not participate. For example, only 12 out of 41 high schools par­ticipated in the last competition.

"I think it has a lot to do with the high teacher turnover rate each year. Many of the new teachers are just trying to keep their heads above water and tend to see events such as the oratorical competition as something extra," says Holmes.

She believes that another reason there isn' t more participation is that teachers are never compensated for getting involved in African American Studies events. It then just becomes something burdensome that already overworked leachers feel they simply cannot take on.

Partee added that there also hasn' t been real commitment from the top to the stan­dards of including African and African American Studies to the curriculum that were first mandated in the early 1970s, fo llowing massive community protest.

One strategy that they hope wi ll boost teacher participation is their web site, which gets inquiries from all over the world.

"Our resources are not meant to be a pri­vate club. The idea is for everyone to use them," Dr. Hoimes says.

As a result , they have not on ly African American teachers and'principals coming to them for assistance, but also whites, Latinos and Asian Americans. Their mission is for African and African American Studies to become embedded in the curriculum so that it is inseparable from the content areas .

They say it is crucial for this to happen in a school district like Philadelphia that is over 65 percent African American, with other stu­dents of color making up another 17 percent.

While some teachers make admirable attempts to bridge the divide between culture and content, many others make only nomi­nal efforts to ta lk about African American topics, usually during Black History Month in February.

Hoimes comments, '''The students can pick up on it when the teacher has no enthusiasm for the subject. This can really damage African American kids, who have never been given an education in which they are at the core."

A way that Hoimes and Pattee have tried to remedy this is by forming an African American Student Advisory Committee . Made up of students from a variery of high schools, the committee discusses ways for teachers and students to be more engaged by African and African American Studies.

Nevertheless, even these two sta lwart advocates of African and African American Studies have days when they wonder if all their efforts are for nothing. Each year they face a new crop of teachers who know little to nothing about how to make African and African American Studies a part of the ir lesson plans.

Holmes comments, "For the past 20 years, I have been telling the same story. The same thing is being said in 2001 that was said in 1981. When does it chanoe?"

In spite of occas ionall~omen ts of di s­couragement, Holmes and Partee are com­mitted to making African and African American studies an essential part of every teacher's lessons.

The reason for their tireless efforts can be summed up in the words of Marcus Garvey in a poster that hangs prominently in the Center: "A people without knowledge of its history is li ke a tree without roots. "

Multicultural curriculum: School District resources

The African and African America n Studies department provides a useful web site (www.phila.k12.pa.uslofficeslafrican& american) w ith links to numerous resources on African and African American history and culture. It also has lessons and activities developed by teachers in the District about many themes; examples are "African American myths and stereotypes in the media " for grades 5-8 and his­tory lessons for high school students on the slave trade and the Middle Passage. Call 215-299-7707.

The AsIan Padflc Amerkan Studies program offers a web site (www.phila.k 12.po.usJlllcurriculum­supportlasionj esources) with critical reviews of Internet resources and cur­ricula related to Asian themes. For example, "The Age of Imperialism" looks at K-12 curricula on critical thinking about US colonialism in Asia over the past 100 years. Debbie Wei is the curriculum specialist (215-299-7128).

The Latino American Stucles program puts on a monthly cable TV program that looks at the many varieties of Latino American culture . District teachers can participate in any of the several staff development workshops the program runs. The pro­gram also offers teachers a credit­bearing course called "Spanish la nguage and Puerto Rican Culture." Maria Mills Torres is the curriculum specialist (215- 299-7182).

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FALL 2001 PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK 15

District's ESOL and bilingual programs grow with diverse population

Office addresses needs of 10,000 English language learners Programs serving students wlto are speak­

ers of languages other than English - and their families - are vital to the achievement of edu­cational equity in the School District. Mary Ramirez now directs the Office of Instmcrion. Her office oversees operation of the Office of Language Equity Issues,for which she served as director forfour years. She was interviewed by Raymond Gunn of the Notebook.

Notebook: How extensive are the District's English language programs?

Ramirez: We have about 10,000 students in ESOL [English for Speakers of Other Languages] and bilingual programs. About 3,000 of those students are specifi cally in bilin­gual programs. We have about 125 schools right now. The bilingual programs we have are Spanish, Chinese, Russ ian , and a small Cambodian or Khmer model. This September we hope to be starting Vietnamese.

We also have "world English" students, some of whom had difficulty in transitioning because of cultural issues. It's difficult sometimes for their teachers to understand them because of the accents or the cadence tilat tiley have. We make sure that they have access to support services like tutoring, pronunciation, and vocabulary. English speakers, second only to Spanish, make up our largest group in the ESOL program, because we get many students coming from Africa who are acculturating to the United States.

Altogether we are responsible for about 450-500 teachers.

Notebook: What is the difference between ESOL and bilingual education?

Ramirez: ESOL is when you offer classes in learning English as well as American cultur­al issues. It is English taught waugh content, such as Waugh history and social studies.

Bilingual programs teach in the native lan­guage courses like math, science, history. So, if you go to our bilingual program, you can see that the students Me leatrning not just how to speak in another language, but they Me also keeping up their reading and writing wough

~onteI]t. ...

Notebook: What happens to students who need English language support but are in schools that don' t haw bilingual or ESOL . programs?

Ramirez: Several years ago we iItitiated what we call "Itinerant ESOL" teachers for students who are not in a program school. They travel from school to school when there are fewer than 5 or 10 students in a school, and they support those students in a different way than in a reg­ular classroom setting. But we recommend that these students try to transfer to a full program.

Notebook: How does the District decide whether a student belongs in a bilingual pro­gratrn or ESOL?

Ramirez: Students are not chosen for ESOL or bilingual programs. It is a requirement at the federal , state, and district level that students who are in need of language services receive some kind of service.

When students come uno the School District f~; registration, they are supposed to be given a Home Language StUvey." That survey asks for the language that the student speaks at home, if they speak English at home, and how much English they have studied before. Depending On how the student answers these questions, he or she is recommended for initial placement testing. Based on the test results, we can then assign tlle student a level or we can say that the student doesn't need ESOL.

If the student and the parents desire bilin­tual education-which is an opt ion in the [stnct, not a requirement-then they would

Credit : Harvey Finkle

Olney Elementary School is one of many Philadelphia schools that have a great diversity of languages among their students. Studies show that students who learn different languages will have stronger verbal abilities and think more logically.

look at the schools with bilingual programs and they can request to transfer into that school, if there is sufficient space.

Notebook: Once a student is in a bilingual or ESOL program, how long can he/she expect to stay in it?

Ramirez: The goal of our bilingual pro­grams is to have our students become bi-Iiter­ate. It's not that you just take it for 2-3 yeMs, like in New York and California, and then go into all-English classes. The goal is to have them continue working towards proficiency in their native language as well.

Our ESOL students transition to mainstream courses in 3-4 years. But with the bilingual pro­gram, technically, a student could take that to 12th grade.

Notehook: Do students in one program tend to do better than students in the other?

Ramirez: Both ESOL and bilingual students do similarly in perfOlmance on tests in content areas like math, science, and history. Students who have gone tlliOUgh our program usuall y perform just as well as or better than the other students.

Notebook: What concerns do you have about the ESOL and bilingual programs?

Ramirez: First of all, there is no state certi­fication or endorsement for either ESOL or bilin­gual. We're one of maybe 10 states in the coun­try that don 't have that. If you get your certification in ESOL in New Jersey, you can­not reach in Pennsylvania. You have to get anoth­er type of certification because we've never had a certification for ESOL or bilingual. We have our own requirements within the District.

Second, Pennsylvania also has very limited technical assistance for ESOL and bilingual teachers. In fact, there has been one person to oversee ESOL and bilingual for all these years, while other states have a team or a bureau.

Third, the state does not provide any funding allocations for English language learners, so every district has to provide its own funds and its own programs.

finall y, the state has required English lan­ouaae learners to participate in the state assess­;;'e;t, but up until this yeM, they didn 't have any accommodations available. The students had to take the same test as mainstream stu­dents, and most of them did not do weil. The

. stare doesn't offer any tests in the nati ve lan­guage of the students.

Notebook: Why is it hard to retain our bilingual teachers?

Ramirez: One of the biggest challenges for bilingual teachers within the School District is the state requirement. They have to pass the state teachers' test, which does not make aCCOm­modations for the fact that English is not their first language. If they don ' t pass within 2-3 years, then the state will not allow them to have an emergency certification. This is where we lose the bulk of our teachers. We run study groups, but it is still challenging for them.

Notebook: If funding is so limited, how does the District sponsor so many programs?

Ramirez: Our District and our office have been very aggressive in writing grants. We have two federal grants right now called Title VII, and one of those is for $3 mill ion over 5 yeMs to begin dual-language.

We have 10 schools that we've targeted for the dual-language program. We' ll have the reg­ular, native-English speaking c1lildren and the English-language iearne(S IOgetb.er so thar tl1.ey will learn each other 's language from kinder­garten on up. In this ·w.ay, ,more ~nd more stu­dents will have access to langiiage because this will be a kind of cross-mtegration program.'Why wait until you' re in high school and study a lan­guage for three years and not remember any of

it? In this way, we start you speaking with a nati ve speaker who 's a resource.

If you go to the Main Line, they're paying $10,000-$15,000 to go to the French bilingual school. That's why we're pushing the dual­language now.

Notebook: How much of an impact do you think the bilingual program is having in the District?

Ramirez: It's not so much that people should think that it's bilingual education that is having an impact; it's the implementation of any kind of instructional program. If you have a program with quali fied, balanced bilingual staff with sufficient resources and professional development and support, it will be just as successful as an English-only program, if not more successful. Studies show that after time students who learn another language who are bilingual have a greater test score perfonnance on the SAT because of their verbal abi lity. They learn how to think more logically because they are exposed to different languages.

But you have to have thaI as a very comprehensive, well thought out instructional program.

For more information 011 the Office of Lallgltage Eqltity Issues, caI/ 215-299-7791.

Research for Action

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FALL 2001 16 PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

High expectations are key to equity, excellence Researchers suggest strategies to motivate all students to become high achievers

by Raymond Gunn

An emphasis on high teacher expectations for all students is at the top of everybody's list when thinking about what makes for academ­ic excellence.

Concern about the impact of teacher expec­tations on student achievement was spurred by a 1968 San Francisco study of public school teachers.

In that study by researchers Rosenthal and Jacobson, teachers were given false information about the learning potential of certain students in grades one through six in an elementary

Rac£'J ~u;ty

Today, the problem of low teacher expectations is as prevalent as it was three decades ago.

Philadelphia School District curriculum specialist for Latino American Studies Maria Mills Torres observes, "Some teach­ers don' t see a future for our kids. Sometimes they don ' t even realize that this is how they are feeling about the kids."

But she says that students are usually able to pick up on a teacher who has low expec­tations of them by the way the teacher talks to them or the atti­tude the teacher has when dealing with them.

Educational researcher Charles Downey adds that since teacher expectations are often not explicit, students who don't meet the teacher's expectations can find themselves pushed aside in the classroom without clearly understanding why.

school. Teachers were told that these particular students - who had actually been selected at ran­dom - were children who had been tested and found to be on the brink of a period of rapid intel­lectual growth. In reality, these students were intellectually indistinguishable from any of the other students in the school.

This can lead to "acting ouf' behavior from shunned stu­dents, who can then be labeled

Students can detect whether a teacher is 'setting the bar' high or low. Research shows high teacher expec­tations spur students to greater academic success.

The result of the experiment was that the students whom the teachers thought were intel­lectually gifted scored higher on IQ tests than the other students. This was especially true for students in the first and second grades.

Rosenthal and Jacobson concluded that these results came about because the teachers had heightened expectations of that select group of students in the experiment.

troublemakers and subjected to harsh school disciplinary policies. Such students, research shows, are likely to drop out of school alto­gether.

How can school administrators and teach­ers prevent low teacher expectations?

Researchers Kathleen Cotton and Karen Reed Wikelund have developed a list of what can be done to ensure that classroom practices

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foster and motivate all students to strive for high achievement. Among their recommenda­tions are the following ten strategies:

I) Avoid unreliable sources of information about students' learning potential, e.g., social stereotypes or the biases of other teachers.

2) Set goals (for individuals, groups, class­rooms, and whole schools) in terms of floors (minimally acceptable standards), not ceilings; communicate to students that they have the ability to meet those standards.

3) Use heterogeneous grouping and coop­erative learning activities whenever possible; these approaches capitalize on students' strengths and take the focus off weaknesses.

4) Develop task structures in which students work on different tasks, on tasks that can be pursued in different ways, and on tasks that have no particular right answer. This will min­imize harmful comparisons.

5) Emphasize that different students are good at different things and let students see that this is true by having them observe one anoth­er's products, performances, etc.

6) Concentrate on extending warmth, friendliness, and encouragement to all students.

7) Monitor student progress closely so as to keep expectations of individuals current.

8) Stress continuous progress relative to

previous levels of mastery, rather than comparisons with statistical norms or other individuals.

9) Focus on giving useful information, not

just evaluation of success or failure. 10) Diagnose the learning difficulty for

students who do not understand an explana­tion or demonstration, and follow through by breaking down the task or reteaching it in a different way, rather than merely repeating the same instruction or giving up.

Source: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's School Improvement Research Series, Close Up #7, "Expectations and Student Outcomes," by Kathleen Cotton and Karen Reed Wikelund. The report is available on the Web at www.nwrel.orglscpdlsirsl 4lcu7.html

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FALL 2001 PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK 17

Communities of color d~n 't get enough qualified teachers

Teacher qualIty, teacher vacancies: there's a racial bias by Linda Jones, Carol Hemingway, and Kelley Collings

Research in Philadelphia has finally borne out what parents and students have experi­enced for years: schools in low-income com­munities of color get the short end of the stick.

[ COMMENTARY I

When it comes to teachers, schools in com­munities of color here have more teacher vacancies, lower average teacher tenure, and more uncertified teachers than schools in white communities.

All of this means that students of color progress at a slower rate and have fewer resources than white students.

For example, midway through the 2000-01 school year, the former Bartram cluster had 24 teacher vacancies, while the whiter and more affluent former Lincoln cluster had just one. The average teacher tenure in the former Audenried cluster is lOA years of experience, while the average in the former Northeast clus­ter is over 24 years of experience.

There is no single root cause of the unequal distribution of teacher vacancies and certified teachers across the district. Factors that come into play are the District's cumoersome and bureaucratic hiring process, restrictive union contract provisions governing teacher place­ment, and a lack of collective political will to focus attention and resources on schools in communities of color.

One study by School District researchers

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of teacher transfers within the system found that "teachers tended to move to schools with better test scores, lower poverty rates, and lower percentages of minority students" (see EducatIOn Week, April 18, 2001). Transfer pat­terns mcrease the system's inequities.

Parents have Commented that they are glad that someone with a degree and some clout is fina lly talking about these problems, which parents have been aware of for years.

Roadblocks to equity

Last year, when Pennsylvania's Teacher of the Year, Faith Kline, tried to transfer to E. M. Stanton School - a high-poverty, low-per­forming school in a predominantly African­American community - the transfer request was denied.

Teachers tend to move to schools with better

test scores, lower poverty rates, and

lower percentages of minority students. Transfer patterns

increase the system's inequities.

This happened even though many positions were ol2ening up at Stanton and the principal had recruited her. Kline instead landed at a school she didn'r request, Finletter - a school not neaFly as needy as Stanton.

Yet both union and district officials claimed the system had worked in Kline's case. (A story on these events appeared in the July 11,2001, issue of Education Week) .

Parents and students don't buy that ratio­lIale. When there are vacancies at a high-pover­ty, low-perfornning school and the Teacher of the Year wants to transfer there but her trans­fer is denied, the system is not working. It is broken.

Parent organizing and advocacy groups are pressuring the District, the union, and the state to alleviate barriers that contribute to such inequities and to reduce the number of teacher vacancies in poor schools of color.

As parent leader Michelle Quarles of the Alliance Organizing Project (AOP) said, "Demography shouldn 't determine destiny."

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'I know they aren't learning'

How persistent teacher shortages affect students and their parents

"I am a parent who works at the school as a classroom assistant. The kids in my class had six teachers during the 2000-2001 year. These are 10 year olds, 4th graders who are trying to graduate out of the school and who need to pass their tests to get promoted.

The substitutes just sit there all day and read a book. There are no lesson plans or anything. It's very sad. I really worry about the kids. I know they aren't learning."

- Michelle Quaries, Alliance Organizing Pro;ect Parent Leader

"My daughter's teacher quit just before the school year started and she had no perma­nent teacher assigned until late November. Until then she was farmed out to different classes with different teachers throughout the first few months. She didn't learn a thing.

Sometimes she was even put in classes in a different grade. Because she didn't have a consistent teacher, the school couldn't even grade my daughter for the first marking period. She didn't get a report card! My child was made to suffer because the School District couldn't find a teacher for her.

I'd never heard of anything like that happening before. Then I started asking other parents about their schools and I found out that stuff like this is happening every day all over the city."

- Felicia Randolph, ACORN Leader

"My daughter was in first grade, and she had substitute after substitute. They didn't do anything. All they did was play. My daughter used to come home every day and I'd ask her, "What'd you do today?" She'd say, "Play". I was fed up!

My daughter passed without knowing how to read at her grade level. When she got bilo second grade, she was behind in reading a whole year. She was confused, and she'd get upset and cry when it wasn't her fault."

"If our kids mattered, if they were a prior­ity, things wouldn't be like this. The politicians would work it out. The School District offi­cials would find the money. And we:d have high-quality teachers for our kids."

Darlene Cradle, a parent leader with ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Refonn Now), agreed. "Our children are our future, and it isn't fair that they aren't getting what they need to learn­which is qualified teachers and equal resources."

Groups come together AOP, ACORN, Philadelphia Citizens for

Children and Youth (PCCY), the Philadelphia Education Flmd (PEF), and the Education Law Center have begun to leverage their collective power and develop joint strategies to address these issues.

Shelly Yanoff, director ofPCCY, noted that at a recent roundtable discussion here, a Kensington High School student told those present that he had an assistant Spanish teacher as his trigonometry teacher this past year.

"That 11th grader didn 't know how he was going to get into college. The grown-ups had no answer. Until we can answer the question - or until he has no reason to ask it - the edu­cation gap will grow," Yanoff said.

More action steps The recently innplernented $2,500 incen­

ti ve bonus for teachers to teach at hard-Io-staff schools is a first step, but more steps could be taken to provide students with equal access to qualified teachers.

School-based teacher mentors and coach­es should be anchored at every single one of those schools ~llld work solely with teachers

- Gladys Malave, Alliance Organizing Pro;ect Parent Leader"

at those schools. And financial incentives should be targeted at experienced teachers to attract them to teach in hard-to-staff schools.

Linda Jones is on the board of the Alliance Organizing Project, a parent organizing group in Philadelphia. Carol Hemingway is presi, dent of Pennsylvania ACORN, a community organization that works for public school Improvement. Kelley Collings teaches at Central East Middle School.

For more information, contact the Alliance Organizing Project at 215-625-9916 or Pennsylvania ACORN at 215-765-0042.

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FALL 2001 18 PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

Special admission schools: are they for the best and brightest - or are they for the privileged? by Raymond Gunn

For most people in Philadelphia, the names Central, Masterman, and Girls are associated with academic excellence. Images of bright and industrious students poring over textbooks and deftly solving indecipherable mathemati­cal equations are not uncommon.

We tend to think

s ideration is offered to ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) st udents because of their limited proficiency in English.

The School District requires the special admission schools to maintain racial balance and meet equi ty goals. The admissions require­ments and how they are implemented by the

of these students as simply the smartest and most hard work-

ANALYSIS principals vary from school to school.

Dr. My les says, "Girls does not con-

ing of the public school students in Philadelphia.

This image is helped along by school administrators who speak about the schools as ameritocracy - a system where advancement

is based on individual ability or achievement. Dr. Geraldine Myles, principal of

Philadelphia High School for Girls, says, "It is an achievement for a student to come to Girls. So, all of our students are high achievers."

Sheldon Pavel, principal of Central, adds, "Central attracts many students who left the Philadelphia public schools K-8, but who return for high school just to attend Central." In fact, many middle-class parents send their children to private school only until they can send them to one of the special admission high schools, saving themselves tens of thousands of dollars on private school tuition.

The appeal these high schools have for middle class parents is the relatively large num­bers of graduates who go on to highly selec­tive colleges and universities, often rivaling the numbers at the best private and suburban public schools.

The jewel in the crown Special admission schools can be found in

all of the major urban centers . New York has its Stuyvesant and Bronx High School of Science, San Francisco its Lowell, and Boston has the Latin School. They have been instru­mental in drawing middle-class whites back to the cities from the suburbs and as a way to reverse the trend of white flight.

With its 150-year history and scores of prominent alumni, Central holds the preemi­nent spot in Philadelphia.

Since they are reputed to have the very best students in the public school system, they also tend to atrract the most credentialed and expe­rienced teachers. Additionally, the school dis­tricts and alumni keep the schools amply sup­plied with a well-stocked library and up-to-date textbooks, as well as state-of-the-art comput­ers and laboratory equipment.

These elements together make for highly charged academic environments.

But as retired teacher Carolyn Pinckney, who worked in a predominantly African American middle school for 35 years, observes, ' 'The only thing that Central offers is an academic curriculum. Why should only a handful of students in the District have access to that? An academic curriculum is something that all schools should offer."

Who gets in? Special admission schools like Central,

Masterman, and Girls require applicants to take and score well on a standardized test given by the School District, maintain a certain grade point average, and have no unsatisfactory behavior marks on their record. Special con-

sider race in its admissions policy. The only thing we're interested in is the applicants' test scores, grades, and behavior marks."

Of Central, Dr. Pavel says, ''The school has a mission to encourage diversity on many lev­els, not just racially and ethnically, but in every pennutation, including sexual orientation and family su·uctures."

The schools select from among the thou­sands of students who apply to choose those who are deemed most "deserving" of receiv­

'ino the finest academics the Philadelphia School District offers. The result is that white students have disproportionately high num­bers in the special admission schools, and that African Americans and Latinos have dispro­portionately low numbers.

Although whites make up only 17% of the students in the District (and 32% of Philadelphia's total under-18 population), they are 53% of Masterman's student population and 42% of Central's, the two most selective of the special admission schools.

White students have disproportionately high numbers in special admission schools. African

Americans and Latinos have disproportionately

low numbers.

Acceptance rates are also disproportionate, according to high school admissions data from the School District. In 2001 at Central, white applicants were accepted at a rate of 29%, African Americans 8%, Latinos 12%, and Asian Americans 31 %.

At Girls, white applicants were accepted at a rate of 54%, African Americans 22%, Latinos 26%, and Asian Americans 55%. (At Masterman virtually all of the students are initially admitted in fIfth and sixth grades.)

One important factor in the admissions process is the SAT-9, a standardized, norm­referenced test that many say favors white, middle class students. Chi ldren who come from neighborhood schools that are predomi­nately African American and Latino are far more likely to be underprepared for this com­petitive exam. Tbese schools are the most like­ly to be overcrowded and dilapidated, and to have inexperienced teachers in their class­rooms, high turnover of faculty and staff, as well as poor faci lities and resources.

Ideas of meritocracy fly out the window when we realize that the vast majority of stu­dents at the special admission schools are able to gain acceptance in the first place because they had opportunities in the earlier grades to acquire the ski lls needed to be academically successful. They could not have gotten accept­ed to Central, Girls, and Mastennan otherwise.

African American boys African American boys, who are singled

Neighborhood schools that are predominantly African American an~ .~tino are most like­ly to have inexperienced teachers. high staff turnover and poor faClhtles.

out for discipline, especially starting in the 6th and 7th grades, are put at a disadvantage because special admission schools do not accept students who are considered discipline

problems. Suspension rates for African American boys

climb as they move through the middle grades. In 1999,58% more African American boys were suspended in 6th grade than in 5th grade. Among 8th graders, 65% more African American boys had been suspended than in 5th grade.

Regardless of how well these students do on the exam or how high their grades are, they already have virtually no chance of getting into any of the more selective special admis­sion high schools. They are likely to be rele­gated to their neighborhood school, most of which are mired in the problems that typical­ly beset inner-city public high schools.

Students labeled as "discipline problems" are also more likely to overlap heavily with those students who have the most troublesome academic problems.

These students, having come from poor ele­mentary schools, tend to go from poor middle schools to poor high schools, and the chances are almost inescapable that they will drop out, get kicked out, or graduate with substandard academic skills. In any case, the post-secondary life chances of these students are severely lim­ited by the time they reach puberty.

In his books Streetwise (1990) and Code of the Street (1999), sociologist Elijah Anderson vividly documents the unrelenting­ly harsh street life that many Urban black males must learn to negotiate in order to survive. They learn a "code" on the streets that they must quickly unlearn in school if they are to have any school success at all. For many, this code-switching is extremely hard to do.

One counselor at a special admission hi oh school tells the Notebook that teachers a~d schools are not prepared to deal with the special needs that black urban males have because of a lack of funding for professional development.

"The teachers get burned out," she says . ' 'They then develop an attitude toward the stu­dents that says, 'You come ready fo r me, because I can't come ready for you.'" She says she believes that teachers and counselors are overwhelmed by all the social problems the students bring with them to school

Race matters

. Race continues to be an unpopular topic of dlscusslOn for administrators and teachers at special admission schools. Meritocracy serves

as a much handier topic. But it is race - not meritocracy - that lies

at the very core of the special ad mission

schools. They have been used by local politicians to keep middle class white parents in the urban centers, ensuring that white

students are disproportionately represented at these schools. At the same time, African American and Latino students remain under­represented, and these students are rarely well represented in the schools' most challenging academic enrichment classes and programs.

It is largely predetermined which students get to walk in the hallowed halls of the spe­cial admission schools.

Many African American and Latino stu­

dents learn early in their public school expe­rience that \hese schools are reserved for the "best and brightest" - a label they come to

believe does not apply to them.

Spread the n •• 11 Help distribute the Philadelphia Public School Notebook. You or your organiza­tion can be a part of the neiWork that puts the Notebook in the hands of people across the city. Bulk copies or bundles are available for distribution. Contact the Notebook at (215) 951-0330. ext. 107; or email psnotebook@aol.com

Friends of the Notebook

The Notebook is looking for a "friend" at every school in the

District. Friends of the Notebook make sure the papers that are

dropped off at your school office four times a year are promptly

distributed to parents and staff at the school. Friends also notify us

about interesting stories from their schools.

If you'd like to volunteer to be a "friend," contact the Notebook at

(215) 951-0330 xl07 or email psnotebook@aol.com.

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School funding inequities: a racial dimension? by Sharon Tucker

A discussion of ed ucational equity in Philadelphia would not be complete without addressing the Phi ladelphia School District's funding troubles. For years Philadelphia has functioned with a lower level of school spend­ing than neighboring districts.

flac~J ~ . ~u;t~

State officials claim it is simple econom­ics: wealthier communities raise more money for ed ucati on, the less wealthy raise less. However, many educational advocates say this disparity also has a racial dimension, claim­ing that the state discriminates against Philadelphia in its education funding because the majority of the city 's residents are people of color, including African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans.

Philadelphia city officials take this charge seriously enough that in 1998 they joined with the School District and others to fi le a feder­al civil rights lawsuit claiming that the state's funding formula is racially discriminatory. The lawsu it has been at the center of debate between the city and state about Philadelphia's school budget crisis ever since.

What is indisputable is the impact of inad­equate funding: teachers in Philadel phia are paid less, classrooms are more crowded and receive fewer resources, and students with spe-

cial needs are less likely to receive adequate servIces. Many Philadelphia students lack the comprehensive and challenging educational expenences they deserve. Underfundino in turn conlributes to a further decline in the city's economy, as Philadelphians leave for the sub­urbs in search of better schools.

Consider a comparison between Philadelphia and nearby Lower Merion. Nearly 80 percent of all students in Philadelphia are African American or Latino. Lower Merion, in contrast, has an 86 percent white population.

Total per pupil spending in 1999 in the Lower Merion school district was $13,139-$5,600 more per student than in Philadelphia. As a result, the two districts have very differ­ent levels of resources available to their stu­dents - differences reflected in the facilities class sizes, computers, and course offerings. '

A federal civil rights lawsuit charges that the state's funding formula is racially

discriminatory.

Moreover, Philadelphia teachers are likely to have less teaching experience than their counterparts in Lower Merion. The median teaching experience in Philadelphia is five years, compared to 15 years in Lower Merion. New teachers in Lower Merion make nearly $9,000 more than new Philadelphia teachers.

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In addition, nearly 50 percent of all teachers in Lower Merion are paid $68,379 or more each year. No Philadelphia teacher is at this salary level.

While struggling with fewer resources, Philadelphia schools must also provide addi­tional educational services for students who need more than most students statewide. Costs are greater here for programs for English lan­guage learners and for special education. The high rate of poverty in the city increases the need for school health services and emotional support services. All of these factors drive up Philadelphia's educational costs.

Many argue that the funding disparities that beset Philadelphia are to blame for the low level of academic achievement in the District.

Some states do more Low school funding for poor communities

is not the norm in every state in our nation. Over the past 30 years, some states have increased funding as a result of legal challenges from local districts. In New Jersey, for exam­ple, recent funding increases have meant that a less affluent community like Trenton has seen its state aid increase by $3,000 per stu­dent. Other states have increased their contri­bution to school funding to decrease taxpay­erburden.

The 1998 lawsuit against the state of Pennsylvania, which alleges that the state's funding practices are racially discriminatory, is one tool for Philadelphia to address the fund­ing issue. But in May 2000, Mayor Street agreed to a one-year moratorium on this fed­erallawsuit in return for an advance of fund­ing from the state to postpone a looming fman­cialcrisis ..

This summer, the city of Philadelphia was ready to reinstate the suit. However, facing the inability to meet the District's August payroll,

the city agreed to postpone the lawsuit again for three more months, in return for another advance of state funding.

If the suit is reinstated and is successful, it could force the legislature to overhaul the cur­rent funding system, ultimately providing Philadelphia with an increased amount of state funding .

Suburban districts may prove powerful allies to Philadephia, as they join thejlghtforincreased

school funding.

Another potential catalyst for change in Pennsylvania's funding system could come from suburban, mid-wealth districts. These districts, which have historically fared well even without a high level of state education funding, have begun to push for school fund­ing reform. The reason? Economic pressures mean many middle-class families are feeling the burden of local property taxes.

Suburban districts may prove powerful allies to Philadelphia, as they join the fight for increased school funding from the state.

Sheila Ballen, spokesperson for the educa­tion reform group Good Schools Pennsylvania, commented, "I think people are realizing it 's not just a problem in cities and rural areas ... Suburban districts are facing their own prob­lems, where more people are moving in, the schools are growing by leaps and bounds, and they ' re not getting the education funding to keep up with that. We're at a crisis point, and we need to make significant changes."

Basics about school funding There are three main contributors 10 the

city's school budget

Local support Across the nation, local school districts

have traditionally had primary responsibil­ity for raising money for local schools. The main local source of school funds has been the property tax. In the early days of school finance, this tax proved to be the most attractive for school funding, as property values change slowly and provide a rela­tively stable stream of revenue from year to year.

Each district's tax contribution varies, depending on local property values and the level of taxation applied to property values. Wealthy districts are often able to raise a substantial amount of money for their schools, since even a low tax rate on expen­sive property yields a significant amount of funds.

In districts like Philadelphia, however, many factors contribute to the low amount of money that can be raised locally:

I) Eroding tax base: Businesses and pe0-

ple have been leaving Philadelphia. Between 1990 and 1998, 150,000 residents of Philadelphia left the city, more than any other city in the United States during that time.

2) High poverty: Philadelphia has an increasing number of residents in poverty and the fourth largest welfare caseload among U.S. cities.

3) Low property values: Since­Philadelphia's propelty values are relative­ly low compared to many other districts, the revenue yielded from the property tax is low.

Last school year, Philadelphia raised over $600 million for schools through local sources. This amount represents about one­third of all school funds.

State support The state contributed $900 million last

year, just over half of the School District's total revenues.

Over the years, Pennsylvania's contri­bution to the total education funding for local districts has been decreasing. In the 1974-75 school year, the state contributed 55 percent of the total cost of education throughout the state. In the 1998-99 school year, on the other hand, the state contributed only 35 percent of total school funding in the state.

This lack of state funding has forced many districts, including Philadelphia, to operate with less financial support in the face of rising enrollments. Since 1996 the amount of revenue per student in Philadelphia schools has actually declined, when adjusted for inflation.

Federal support The federal government's contribution

in Philadelphia schools is about 12 percent of total revenues. Unlike local and state subsidies to education, which usually are used to cover a wide array of school expens­es, federal funds are usually targeted to meet specific education needs through compen­satory education programs. The largest of the federal programs, Title I, is targeted to low-income children across the country.

With these three contributors combined, Philadelphia's school budget exceeds $ 1.6 billion.

20 PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK FALL 2001

Parental involvement in schools: what role does race play? by Melania Page-Gaither

Parental involvement in schools varies from grade to grade, school to school, and district to district. It is difficult to predict which parents will become involved; many factors come into play.

One factor is grade level. Research shows that parents are more likely to become involved in elementary schools than in middle or high schools.

Another determining factor in who gets involved in schools is the parents' perception of the school. "When my older daughter was at [this school], I was very involved, Now I don't feel welcome. I don' t volunteer in the school the way I used to," a parent said.

Some educators argue that race is also a factor in levels of parental in volvement. Parents of color are often thought to be less likely to get involved in their chndren's schools than are white parents. According to research conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, low-income minority parents have less contact wi th school than their better-off counterparts.

Such perceptions of parents of color can lead school officials to believe that these par­ents are less interested in their chi ldren's achievement than white parents.

The Notebook looked at three elementary schools in Philadelphia with very different demo­graphic breakdowns to see what could account for differences in parental involvement.

One school had a predominantly Latino population; another had a 98% African American population; and a third had a fair­ly even mix of white and African American students.

Conversations with parents at these schools suggest that parents' level of involvement has more to do with how they perceive school officials and educators than with their raciallethnic background.

At th e large ly Latino school, parental involvement had been low. One parent explained, "Parents were not respected. The principal made us wait in the office until she was ready to see us . We didn't feel welcome."

Several parents commen ted that they

sensed in the principal a lack of cultural understanding , which heightened tension between parents and principal and kept the parents feeling alienated from the school.

But a change in principals two years ago brought a change in culture at the elemen­tary school and an increase in parental involvement. One mother commented that as a new parent she was immediately intro­duced to acti vities like the Homework Club, which allowed her opportunities to meet and talk with other parents.

At the predominantly African American school, parents said the school lacks a receptive climate. One parent observed, "Teachers talk down to [parents]. I won't go to someone who talks down to me."

The result is obvious. Out of approxi­mately 1,000 students, the highest parent turnout at the school has seen in recent years is 25. "Parents are discouraged from being involved in anything more significant than bake sales," another parent complained.

Although parents have expressed to school administrators their frustration and

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feelings of disconnect from the school, they say that the school has not done anything to create a more welcoming environment for parents. One parent noted that it is not uncommon for a parent to stand at the counter of the main office and go unac­knowledged by the three secretaries there.

Another parent observed that some teach­ers do try to bridge the gap between school and community - often the teachers who actually live in the community. These teach­ers have been able to create within their own classrooms a voice for parents, but it is not enough to counter the overall school climate.

At the racially balanced school, the ties between school and community are strong. According to one parent , "Teachers are accessible and the principal is accessible." Parental involvement is fairly equal across racial lines, another parent adds.

One parent attributed the high parental involvement to the positive school environ­ment, explaining, "The principal takes time to speak with parents, and we feel invited to be a part of the school. "

Large numbers of parents are involved in school activities. A parent observed, "We have just as man y parents at Report Card night as we do when children are getting awards."

In these three schools, race does not appear to be a factor in how much parents want to be involved - overwhelmingly, par­ents expressed a desire to be involved. However, race may playa role in how wel­coming schools are to parental involvement

If parental involvement is to increase , schools must be willing to open their doors and invite parents to participate. They can do this by actively recruiting parents to vol­unteer for any number of school activities .

It is not acceptable for school adminis­trators and teachers to shrug and subscribe to handy cultural explanations when parental involvement is low.

"Schools should continue to find ways to make schools inviting and accessib le to parents , particularly those from diverse backgrounds," said researcher Chris Erickson and colleagues in a 1996 talk at the Ainerican Psycholog.ical Association.

The researchers suggested that schools use a number of approaches, including ensur­ing that all outreach efforts to parents are made in several languages, encouraging par­ent-initiated activities, and organizing before­and after-school activities for parents.

It is the responsibility of the school to find ways to get parents involved by employing a variety of strategies . One strategy will not work equally well for all communities .

PARENTS UNION FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

IN PHILADELPHIA, INC,

A resource for Parents and Professionals

New Location: 228 W. Chelten Avenue Philadelphia, PA 191 44

215-991-9724 www.parentsunion.org

email: parentsu@aol.com

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Probing'more deeply for racial bias in discipline Philadelphia schools continue to su.spend

,d expel African American and Latr.no ~~Idents at higher rates than whlle andAswn tudents (see pages 12, 13). A school 111 San ~rancisco offers some pronllsmg strateg~es for identifying and addressmg racwl bws 111

discipline, as described III the follow~ng article rom the Applied Research Center s ERASE

~'itiative (Expose Racism and Advance Schaol

Excellence).

What can happen when a school takes a race-conscious approach to iliscipline? That's what staff at James Lick Middle School in San Francisco, California, decided to fInd out.

Heidi Hess, Focused Effort Coorilinator at James Lick, says that teachers at her school were concerned that African American students, who make up less than a trurd of the student body, receive almost half the referrals for iliscipline.

"The fIrst thing we had to do," to address this disparity, says Hess, "was to really become rioorous about collecting the data. We devel­o;ed forms for teachers to use, which docu­mented when a student was sent out of class (for a disciplinary referral), who sent them out, and why."

CoUecting this data yielded some surpris­ingresults.

"We found that over 75 percent of the refer­rals given out last school year were for defI­ance of authority or ilisruption of class," says

Hess. Furthermore, most ~ases involved con­flicts between students and teachers, rather than between students. More serious offenses, such as possessIOn of a weapon, were rare. , CoUecting the data was just the fIrst step. We developed a system to feed the data col­lected,?irectly back to the teaching staff," Hess says, so they can better understand what is gomg on" and gauge their progress. 'We looked at how teachers set the rules in their classrooms and whether and how teachers involved stu: dents m definmg classroom rules." They found that when students participate in fonmno the rules, they are less likely to perceive the~ as unfatrly applied.

James Lick staff began holding monthly professIOnal development meetings to work out alternative strategies for de-escalating con­flict. They sought to emphasize teachers' roles in these interactions, rather than focusing

solely on methods of changing students' behav­ior. Although most of the power resides with the teachers, "it was a paradigm shift for the teaching staff to buy into the idea that it is their responsibility to minimize defIance situations," Hess continues:"We had to ask, 'What might be going on in the students' minds? What's going on for the teacher? And what would be alternative practices?'"

"One of the best exercises we did was to role-play the beginlling of a defiance scene. For example, a student walks into class and puts a soda on the table, even though no drinks are allowed in the classroom. The teacher asks the student to remove the drink. Just acting out dif­ferent possible responses to this scene, with the staff taking not only the teacher's role, but also trying on the student's role - it was profound."

James Lick's revamped approach to disci­pline is still too new to determine whether these

interventions will reduce the racial disparities in suspension referrals. But already teachers are experiencmg some success.

Hess offers an example: "One teacher reported that she was just about to yell, from across the room, at two African American girls who appeared to be talking and carrying on excessively. But she gave herself a few sec­onds to think of an alternative strategy for deal­ing with them. Instead, she walked over to them, and much to her surprise, found that they were talking about their work assignment. Far from yelling at them, she realized she didn 't need to say anything at all."

Reprinted from the report Facing the Consequences: An Examination of Racinl Discrimination in U,S. Public Schools, Applied Research Center, 2000. The full report is available 011 the Web aJ www.arc.orglerase.

Tools for addressing racial iuslice in schools "Many people are alraid to open a can of worms by directly

dealing with racism," write Terry Keleher and Tammy Johnson 01 the

Applied Research Center, in a recent article about racism in schools. "But the alternative - keeping the can 01 worms sealed - has even more pernicious effects."

The Applied Research Centers ERASE initiative (Expose Racism & Advance School Excellence) has developed a research tool to help those concerned about racial equ ity in schools describe the problem. Making the Grade: A Racial Justice Report Card is an easy-to-use computer program that assists with a series 01 tasks aimed at evaluating racial equity in schools.

The Report Card is designed lor studying a school or school dis­trict. Once one collects and enters inlormation and perlormance data lor different racial groups (such as dropout rates, gilted or AP classes, and staff training), the soltware analyzes the data and

provides a letter grade lor each area, pointing to areas where the school or district is strong or weak.

The soltware can be obtained by downloading from the ERASE web site at www.arc.org/erase or by calling 510-653-3415.

Also on the ERASE site is inlormation about the National Day 01 Action for Racial Justice in Schools - October 30 - a day for orga­nizations to locus public attention on racial inequality in education.

The National Coalition 01 Education Activists (NCEA) has anoth­er tool lor examining racial equity at a school level. "Is Your School Challenging Racism," the survey designed by NCEA is a guide to going "beyond tinkering at the edges .. . to develop a school envi­ronment that proclaims racism is wrong and tries to challenge it structurally."

For inlormation , call NCEA at 914-876-4580 or email ncea@aol.com.

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22 PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK FALL 2001

Racial identity issues and children of color: a challenge for educators by Vinay Harpalani

To work effectively with all children in schools, teachers and other educators must have an understanding of minority child and ado­lescent development.

\ COMMENTARY I

Too often, children and adolescents are treat­ed as miniature adults. This "adultiflcation" can have dire consequences, particularly for children of color, whose identity and social development are often misunderstood.

When dealing with kids in the often stress­ful context of urban schools, adults can forget about aLI of the issues of normal human devel­opment that they themselves went through dur­ing childhood and adolescence: physical changes such as puberty, fmding friends and peer groups to fit into, making educational and career choices, and just gaining a sense of iden­tity-figuring out who we are and how we flt into this world.

All of these challenges have become even greater in recent years, as children are exposed to more contradictory messages about their identities than ever before-through the media, the Internet, and other sources.

These developmental issues are even more salient for children of color, who in addition to all of the above challenges also must grapple with finding their own sense of racial and ethnic identity.

While some limited understanding exists about how poverty and related factors affect children of color, issues of racial and ethnic identity are often ignored or misunderstood by well-meaning individuals.

For exam)Jle, many believe that African

American children see doing well in school as "acting White" because they feel that African American culture does not value education. Such beliefs ignore both history and child development and portray Black culture in a negative light.

Blacks have always demonstrated a passion for education. Many built their own schools for years after slavery. They risked bodily harm during the Civil Rights Movement to integrate better equipped white schools, and they con­tinue to struggle for educational equity through afflrmative action policies.

African American teenagers, like everyone else, are exploring new identities during their adolescent years, and these include different views of what it means to be Black. Finding a sense of racial identity is an important and salient challenge for these youth.

If schools are not providing a nurturing atmosphere for this and other challenges, Black youth may reject the school environment. But this does not mean that Mrican American teenagers or the ir communities do not value education.

However, there are numerous stereotypes and in1ages that tell African American children that they are not smart, and these do have an in1pact. As Claude Steele, a Stanford University psychologist, has shown, Black stu­dents may be subject to "stereotype threat"; by subconsciously associating their race with poor school performance, they may do worse in the classroom.

Howard Stevenson, a University of Pennsylvania psychologist, has written an arti­cle, entitled "MisSed; Dissed and Pissed," about the impact of media and public misunder­standing of the experiences of African American y'ou~ . Stevenson',s study describes

National Middle School Association presents

Middle Level Education:

how Black males, in particular are "missed" and "dissed" by mainstream media portrayals and how they can become "pissed" as a result. Poor school performance may be a result of this phenomenon, but this again does not mean that these teenagers or Black culture in gener­al undervalue academic achievement.

Challenges for other youth of color may differ, but they all center on being marginal­ized and devalued. This devaluation can take different forms, but it includes stereotyping and negative assumptions about culture.

Asian American students are often thought of as "model minorities"-high achievers who do not have challenges to contend with. But many Asian American children are not doing as well; they may come from poor, in1migrant homes and their fanUlies face numerous obsta­cles, both fmancial and cultural.

Asian American teenagers face the same issues of personal and intin1ate relationships as other adolescents. However, cultural mores against dating may make these issues more stressful. Thus, educators must pay special attention to the social development of Asian American teenagers, even when they are doing well academically. Sin1ilarly, issues of cu lture and development must be considered for Latino youth.

With the growing proportion of children of color in America and the continuing racial inequity in school systems across the country, educators will need to take the initiative to leam about all of these groups. It is not enQugh to treat all children the same; educators will need to be proactive in learning about the history, culture, and social circumstal1ces of each different group. '

There are tremendous within-group differ­ences that exist among ~hilqren of color. Not

all Mrican American youth react to the same circumstances in the same way, nor do all Asian American or Latino youth. That is why sweep­ing hypotheses such as the "acting White" assumption and "model minority" stereotype. are flawed and misleading.

Schools and teaching practices must be structured to promote a strong, proactive sense of ethnic identity an10ng aU students. This goes beyond superficial representation of different cultures; it means using the curriculum to actively combat harmful racial stereotypes and to build positive identities linked to learning and achievement.

High expectations are also a must. Studies have shown that if students become aware of lenient feedback and false praise, these can be as harmful as discouraging comments. Nurturing students is important, but it must be done with integrity and true caring about their learning and success.

Finally, rather than accepting white children as the "noID1," educators must recognize that developmental issues for children of color are also normal, even if different from those of white children. Along with cons idering the issues raised here, this also means studying white privilege and other issues specific to children of European descent.

These are difficult challenges for educators and school administrators. But as the popula­tion of children of color grows, it is vital that everyone interested in eliminating racial inequity pay attention to these issues.

Children of color have demonstrated tremendous resilience in spite of all the chal­lenges they have' faced. We must keep in mind that.it is not the children w.ho are the problem,

, but the system that perpetuates inequity and misunderstanding.

A Capit¥ldeqj NMSA's

28th Annual Conference and Exhibit.r:. .

Washingt n,_n,:~~~----­

November ,~I!~· ~~~

Attend the only national conference dedicated exclusively to middle level education, with over 500 sessions to choose from on topics such as:

• School Reform and Improvement • Curriculum and Instruction • Standards and Assesment • Technology • School Leadership • Classroom Management • Research

Keynote Speakers: Linda Ellerbee Lorraine Monroe

Other featured speakers include: Clifton Taulbert James Beane Pat Sqhroeder Jody Powell Gayle Davis

Visit our Exhibit Hall featuring over 350 companies with school-based products and services.

C~me network and gain ideas from 8,000 of your mIddle level colleagues from around the world.

For more information, visit www.nmsa.org or call1-800-S28-NMSA

-+

--+'

!DO 1

rs : same ,Asian :weep-{hite" !otype,

ust be : sense lSgoes fferent urn to esand 3.rning

,rudies 'are of can be nents, lust be It their

lildren ~e that lor are ose of ng the ldying ific to

Icators opula-al that racial

,trated ! chal-1 mind lblem, tyand

~ PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK 23

Edison should not be making a profit off students I oppose the Edison

Schools, Inc.,takeover and their evaJuauon of Phila­delphia schools because theY are here to make a profit off srudents,

As a high school stu­dent and active member of youth United for ~hange, I believe that public edu­cation is a right, not a pnv­

'ilege, Public schools shou ld not be run by pn­vate corporations.

concerns. We are in the schools every day, We know the problems and Can suggest some solu­tions.

What we need in Philadelphia is for the higher powers, the state, to give us money to run the schools, What we do not need is for them to bring in a company to make money off of us,

I also am concerned about the way that they conduct their e:a1uatlOns.

EMMANUAl FllPO

This is not to mention the bad reputation that fol­lows Edison Schools, Inc, How can the Governor

They are holdmg publJc forums, I say that if they want to come to philadelphia and evaluate our schools, they should take time from their busy schedule and visit the schools and listen to srudents and our

, and the Mayor agree to bnng a corporation that is in debt and has its own internal problems and expect them to fix the many problems of the Philadelphia public schools? It does not make sense,

I went to one of Edison Schools, Inc. 's, public hearings and raised these points and some additional points that they need to address, Edison needs to:

• Include in the evaluation that srudents' voices should be part of decision-making in Our schools,

• Include in the evaluation that we need an anti-racist multicultural curriculum, not the one that they provide,

• Include in the evaluation that we need more money to run our schools.

• Include in the evaluation that we need a change in the state's funding formula for education,

• Include in the evaluation that the Mayor should reinstate the racial discrimination

lawsuit against the state.

• Include in the evaluation that public schools should remain public - not be run by pri vate corporations,

• Include in the evaluation that srudents in Philadelphia do care about our education -because I am tired of hearing that we do not.

• Include in the evaluation that we do not have a price tag, and we will stop anybody from trying to put one on us !

Emmanual Filpo is a senior at Edison High SchooL Youth United for Chonge is a lion-prof­it organization with clwpters in Olney, Edison, Kensington and Strawberry Mansion High Selwols thot organizes high school students to demalld a better education and a voice in the schools, Emmanua/'s article ref/ects the slwred views of the organization,

What's your opinion?

The Public School Notebook welcomes your letters,

critiques and point of view.

Letters to the editors Write us at:

Philadelphia Public School Notebook

3721 Midvale Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19129

Fax: (215) 951-0342 email: psnotebook@aol.com

Public schools protect our values To the editors:

The forces of hatred and intolerance have dealt an extraordinary blow against freedom, using terror as a weapon. While condemning the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, I have confidence that the American people and our public instirutions, such as pub­

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resilience in the face of this tragedy. We need to praise and acknowledge

America's school leaders and teachers who were able to keep schools open, provide coun­sel and comfort to students, and maintain a safe and strucrured learning environment dur­ing a time of great fear and confusion, The many highly trained professionals in our nation's public schools deserve both our grat­itude and our praise.

Access to a high-quality public education is the bedrock of our democracy. Public schools are the institutions in most communi­ties where common values are expressed, shared, and taught Strong public schools­with safe and modem facilities, qualified teach­ers, adequate resources, high standards and accountability measures, and strong links to the communities they serve-are an important line of defense against ignorance, hatred, and intolerance,

In the coming weeks, as important calls for rethinking our commitment to our national defense and the war against terrorism are made, I urge pol icymakers and citizens to remember the important role that public edu­cation plays in preserving, protecting, and defending our shared democratic values. It is my hope that open public dialogue about our national readiness and preparedness to respond to threats against our freedom wi] I amplify efforts already underway to increase the qual­ity of America's public schools.

-Wendy Pllriefoy President, Public Education Network

K-8 model has some disadvantages To the editors:

Your issue on middle schools was excel­lent, and I greatly enjoyed it I was particular­ly interested in the comparison between mid­dle schools and K-8 schools, because I have worked in both types of schooL

All of the reasons given for the academic and social advantages of K-8 seem right on the money, But there are some disadvantages and problems in the K-8 school organization that I would like to point out. First of all, the greatest advantage ofK-8 schooling, the small­ness of the middle grades, is also its greatest disadvantage, There are only 1 to 3 classes in each !!fade at a K -8 school, so there can be far fewe; opporrunities for choices,

A large middle school may offer a science lab, foreign language instruction, art, music

(including, a choir), and a specialized middle school library program, while a K-8 school can never have so much to offer, They can't afford the luxury, because there aren't enough teachers to support the specialized prep teach­ers, The gym/health teacher is spread over the entire school's population, so the middle grade students may get to see hirnfher only once a week, even though everyone agrees that 6-8 grade srudents need extra instruction in health, puberty, sexual development, and so on, These additional subjects must be added to the advi­sor's already full guidance schedule.

Furthermore, some parents are worried about the proximity of their young children to very large (and potentially dangerous) ado­lescents, While this is in great measure a per­ceprual problem rather than an actual one, it remains an obstacle to successful implemen­tation of a K -8 program,

Prin~ipaIs of K -8 schools need all the attrib­utes of good principals at any level, but they

, also need to understand and enjoy the special attributes of children at a wide range of ages, something not everyone is suited for,

While these disadvantages probably don't outweigh the advantages you cited for K-8 schools, I feel that they should at least be made public, in the interest of giving everyone involved all the facts so that good decisions can be made,

-Margaret Plotkill Librarian, Wagner Middle School

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or email to psnotebook@aol.com.

24 PUBLIC SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

Area Academic Offices and their Schools

t'd) (formerly Bartram Leidy & West Phila.) Lamberton Gaeton Zorzi, MO Locke 215-471-8334 Mann

(formerly Audenreid, Anderson McMichael Barry MYA

South Phila., Overbrook E.C. & Furness) Bartram

Overbrook Elem. Bryant Arthur Rubin, MO Catharine Overbrook H.S. 215-351-7445 Comegys Powel Alcorn Hamilton Rhoads, 1 Arthur Harrington Shoemaker Audenried Harrity Sulzberger Barratt Huey University City Bok Lea Washington, M. Bregy Longstreth CAPA Miller, E.5. Childs Mitche ll Durham Morton (formerly Gratz, Fell Parkway Straw. Mansion) Furness Patterson GAM P Penrose Ed Williams, MO Girard Pepper 215-684-5132 Greenfield Sayre Allen, Ethel Jackson Shaw Bethune Jenks, A.S. TIlden Blaine Key Turner Cleveland Kirkbride West Phila. Dick McCall Wilson,A. DobbinsAvr McDaniel Douglass Meredith Duckrey Nebinger

(formerly Univ. City FitzSimons

Palumbo Gideon Peirce, WS. & Overbrook) Gillespie Philadelphia Regional Janet Samuels, MO Gratz Sharswood 215-471-2271 Hill, L.P. Smith Beeber Kenderton South Phila. Belmont Peirce, T.M. Southwark Blankenburg Pratt Stanton, E.M. Bluford Rhodes, E.W Taggart Cassidy Stanton, M.H. Thomas Daroff Steel VareM.5 Drew Strawberry Mansion Vare,A. Gompe!S Walton Washington, George Heston Wright

Note: • AAO' is Area Academic Officer, the director of the Office.

(formerly Franklin & Penn) Michael Clayton, MO 215-684-8487 Bache-Martin Bodine Boone Carver Clymer Dunbar Elverson Franklin L.c. Ferguson Franklin H.5. Harrison Hartranft Kearny Kelley Masterman Meade Morris Penn Reynolds Spring Garden Stoddart-Fleisher Vaux Wanamaker Waring Youth Study Ctr.

(formerly Edison & Kensington) Nilsa Gonzales, MO 215-291-5680 Adaire AMY-l Martin Brown, H.A. Conwell Cramp DeBurgos Douglas, S. Edison Elkin Fairhill Hackett Hunter Jones Kensington Ludlow Marin

McKinley Moffet Penn Treaty Potter-Thomas Richmond Sheppard Sheridan Stetson Webster Welsh Willard

(formerly Fels & Olney) Ellen Linky, Acting MO 215-456-0998 Barton Birney Carnell Carroll Cayuga Central East Clemente Cooke Creighton Fels Feltonville/Horn Finletter Franklin Elem. Lowell Marshall, T. Mastbaum McClure Morrison Olney H.5. Olney Elem. Taylor Washington, Grover

(formerly Frankford & Lincoln) MaryLouise DeNicola, MO 215-961-2066 Allen, Ethan Bridesburg Brown, J.H . Disston Edmunds, H.R. Forrest Frankford Harding Holme Hopkinson Lawton Lincoln Marshall,l Mayfair Meehan Pennypack House Pollock Smedley Stearne Sullivan Swenson Ziegler

(formerly Northeast & Washington) Harris Lewin, MO 21 5-281 -5903 Baldi Comly Crossan Decatur Farrell FitzPatrick Fox Chase Frank Greenberg Hancock Labrum Loesche Moore Northeast Rhawnhurst Rush Shallcross Solis-Cohen Spruance Washington H.S. Wilson, W

(formerly Germantown, King & Roxborough) Linda Silverberg, George Schuler, MOs 215-248-6684 AMY-NW Central Cook Wissahickon Day Dobson Edmonds, ES. Ellwood Emlen Fitler Fulton Germantown Girls' Henry Hill/Freedman Houston Howe Jenks,lS. Kelly, lB. King Kinsey Leeds Levering Lewis Lingelbach Logan McCloskey Mifflin Pastorius Pennell Pennypacker Pickett Prince Ha ll Roosevelt Rowen Roxborough Saul Shawmont Wagner Widener Wistl!r

FALL 2001

Reorganization: Clusters are out, new offices open

"Area Academic Offices" have replaced ·'Clusters." "Networks" are gone. Adminis­trative positions have been cut, moving many staff back into schools and classroom teach­ing positions. Central office departments have been reconfigured.

The School District of Philadelphia enters the faU with a new intemal organ.i zation - but nobody knows how long the new structure will hold up.

Further restructuring is likely. Even in the least turbulent scenario, the system will be oertino a new Ch.iefExecutive Officer at its head ~ interim CEO Philip Goldsmith is slat­ed to step down this fall. A state takeover or massive privatization of management func­tions would likely wreak greater havoc on the newly adopted organ.izational model.

In the old cluster system, schools report­ed to one of the 22 fie ld offices, organized along the feeder patterns for the city's neigh­borhood high schools. Critics ma.intained that a costly new bureaucracy had been created when the cluster offices were set up six years ago.

Now clusters have been combined to cre­ate 10 Area Academic Offices, each one con­ta.in.ing from 21 to 40 schools. Changes in the clusters and downtown led to the elimination of 177 jobs.

"The previous system divided up the District too much, and so there wasn't a lot of consistency" from cluster to cluster, said Goldsmith, "and it pulled too many people out of the classroom."

Cost-cutting, moving staff back .into the classroom, and achieving greater consistency were all goals of the restructuring. Another priority was to separate out non-instructional responsibilities and free up the leaders of the Area Academic Offices - who supervise the schools in their area - to focus on the quality of academics.

District leaders say the old structure was not producing strong enough gains in student achievement, and they attribute that to a lack offocus.

The new structure is designed so that the District's 10 new Area Academic Officers won't have to deal d.irectly with transporta­tion, safety, facilities, discipline, or human resources issues. Each office will have a Director of School Support Services in charge of those functions.

Besides these two positions, each area off.ice includes a Director for Instructional Services, an elementary and a secondary-level Lead Coach, and a Special Education Lead Coach.

Additional support for school staff will come from "academic coaches" and "special education case managers" who will be based in schools. A theme of the new model is that more support for teachers will be in the form of on-site coaching.

New downtown offices involved with aca-dern.ics include:

• Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment • Principal and Teacher Development • Secondary School Support • Family and Student Support • Instructional and Behavioral Intervention. The Area Academic Offices each encom-

pass two of the former clusters, except for the South and Northwest offices, which combine three. It is no coincidence that in these two areas District officials are having discussions about break.ing off groups of schools to be managed by outside organizations.

In the former Audenried Cluster in South Philadelph.ia, there has been exploration of a for-profit management partnership involving Edison Schools and Kenny Gamble's Un.iversal Companies. In the former King clus­ter, State Representative Dwight Evans has been working on a plan that may convert a cluster of schools to charter school status.