Spring 1996

I iJ: Ile·l ~! ~: I '-t il'l:J! 8'13: [-X -l ,Z\ o OTEBOOK

SPRING 1996 "TURI'<ING THE PAGE FOR CHANGE"

Public hot at school budget hearings

Council fiddles, schools feel heat

by Tom Gilhool On Thursday night March 7, during

the longest, most vivid and edllcalionally rich City Council hearings on a school budget since the Educational Home Rule Charter of 1965 , hundreds of Philadel­phians left behind a Ci ty Hall echoing with their demand and promise: "Fund the Schools. We' ll Be Back."

What action City Council and the

More than 85 parents, students, teach­ers, principals, clergy and business peo­ple testif ied vividly in an extraordinary eight-hour Saturday session March 9 that carried over to the fo llowing Monday evening.

Several times the outpouring seemed to discomfort many Counci l members, including some who in the past had themselves come to Council in simi larly

vivid fo rce. It fell Mayor will take remains to be seen. Wi thout City action, schools will likely face even more severe budget cuts than those already announced (see p. 8) . But the City Council hearings put many things in sharp focus.

Meetings are being set up with Mayor Ed Rendell , Council President John Street, and Council Education Com­mittee Chair Jannie Blackwell to insist that they take leadership to reverse the District's budget cuts and close the $1 ,500 per-child gap in school funding between Philadelphia and its suburbs. To get involved or to link organizing iit your school with that of others around the city call :

to Councilman Ortiz to say, "I haven' t seen so many people here in a long, long time. I'm glad you' re here. I hope you'll come back often until you get what the schools need."

Presentations from both the School District and families had

Foremost, more than 1500 Phila­delphia parents,

Coalition to Close the Gap: 546-1166

fami ly members, and students came to Counci l from all parts of the city to express their conviction that Philadelphia schools must be made at least as good as those across City Line and that the gap in school funding must be closed - a gap of $1,500 less per student in Philadelphia than in the average suhurhan di strict.

far more educational content than is usual in school budget hearings . Yet Council members did not seem able to engage in a conversation about what effective education would look like and what is necessary to get it.

Fac ing public anger over fiscal neglect. Council tried to duck responsi-

Restructuring schools to aid learning

What's an SLC? by Dina Portnoy

"Teachers dOIl 't have like a thousalld kids . YOLI kllow all the teachers and the teachers know you 0 11 a olle-oll -one basis because it's like a lillie school. "

"We're all like a family. Everybody tries to work with evely body."

"1 know a couple of people, and when 1 first met them they didn 't 11'0111 to go to college, bur they were around people who want to, and they see that and say, '1 can do more. 1' m in this charter and I might as well try.'"

"We should get studel1ls like ourselves involved with other students that have problems. If you help other people then you' re helping yourself too. When I first came here 1 had problems and students talked to me a lot. It's like a real close unit."

--Bartram High School studel1ls jrom the Malh, Science and Technology Small Learning Community: Quincy Stallworth, Naomi Belizaire, Genteil

Small Learning Commun ities (SLCs) are conceived as a way to break up large schools into more cohesive units. Current ly the re are 130 SLCs in the District's middle and high schools. Under Children Achiev­ing all schools are to have them. The budget cuts currently being forced on the schools put all these programs in peril.

Gantt, Adaminah Tankersly and Norman Gibson.

These comments reflect some of the feelings of high school students about Small Learning Communities (SLCs). Though not everyone feels the same about establishing these SLCs, for these Bartram students, it represents a major change for the better in their high school experience. This large build ing with close to 2,000 students is now broken down into five smaller units, each in its

See "SLCs" on p. 5

VOLUME 3 • NUMBER 3

PholO: Fred Engsl

Students are bearing the brunt of the devastating cuts imposed on all schools in the wake of the City Council's budget hearings.

bility for the fund ing shortfall through a series of diversions. The most fundamen­tal diversion came first from Councilman Kenney and then from President Street: "Council has no authority over the school budget. We don ' t cut. We are empowered only to authorize local rev­enues. Only the School Board increases or cuts the budget."

Three students and a teacher neatly cut through this di version. A junior at

Bodine High School said, "Well , what you do certainly has a lot of influe nce on whether our schools are improved, or cut even more."

The fact is that Philadelphia's is the only school board among the 500 in Pennsylvania that does not have its own revenue-raising powers. For Philadelphia alone, City Council and the Mayor as welJ as the General Assembly and the

See "Council fiddles" on p. 8

Escaso interes del concejo en la reforma

por Tom Gi/hool El dfa 7 de marzo jueves por la noehe.

durante la mas larga, la mas colorida y, educacionalmente, la mas rica audiencia del concil io de la ciudad acerca del pre­supuesto escolar desde la Regia Educa­cional del Hogar del 1965, cientos de fi ladelfianos dejaron la alcaldfa llena de ecos con sus demandas y promesas: "Fondos completos para las escuelas. Regresaremos ...

Hay que esperar y ver la acci6n que tomaran el concejo y el alcalde. Sin acci6n de la ciudad, las escuelas se enfrentan'in con reducciones mas severas de presupuestos que las ya anunciadas. Pero las audiencias del concilio de la ciu­dad ponen muchas co as en enfoque.

En primer lugar, mas de 1.500 padres, miembros de fami lias, yestudi antes fueron al concejo de todas las partes de la ciudad para expresar su convicci6n de que las escuelas de Filadelfia tienen que hacerse tan buenas como las escuelas fuera de la ciudad y que la brecha en los fondos escolares - de $ 1,500 menos por estudiante que en los destritos de los sub­urbios - sea cerrada.

Mas de 85 padres, estudiantes , mae­stros, principales, clerigos y gente de negoeios testificaron avidamente en una sesi6n extraordinaria de oeho horas el dla

9 de mano que sigui6 el pr6ximo lunes por la noche.

En varias ocasiones el numero de per­sonas hizo sen tir inc6modos a los miem­bros del concejo, incLuyendo algunos que en el pasado, e l10s mismos vinieron al concejo con tan fuena simi lar. Le toc6 al miembro del concejo Ortiz decir. "No he visto tanta gente aqui en mucho tiempo. Me alegro que esten aqui. Espero que regresen a menudo hasta que las escuelas

"Escaso interes" continua en la p. 6

What's inside: Special Ed : Wrap

around services ............................ 3 School councils ' powers, parents ' role di minished ............................. 3 Harmful effects of tracking .. .. .... .4

What 's in a (racist) name? ...... .. .. 9 Ending the culture of silence ..... l0 " Where 's the fat?" contest winners ........................ ... ..... ....... . ll

Dentro Los efectos daftinos de ' t racking' 0 seguimiento ....... _ ...... 7

PAGE 2

"Turning the page for change" A l'oice for parents, students. and

classroom leachers who are working/or quality and equality ill Our schools.

Advisory Board Shafik Abu-Tahir_ New African Voices

Alliance Coleen Davi;. LULAC Education Project Rochelle 1\ichols Solomon, Nonh Phi la.

Community Compact for College Access and Success

Len Rieser. Education Law Center Efrain Roche, Commun;tv Foclls

"'ew'paper Wilfredo Rojas. :-'ational Congress for

Pueno Rican Rights Emil) Style. Co-Director, National

S.E.E.D. Project - Seekmg Educational Equity and Diversity

Debbie Wei. Kational Coalition of Education Activists

Mary Yee. Asian Americans Un ited

Working Group Cindy Engst, Kathy Fleming, Helen

Gym. Eric Joselyn, Amy Lippman. Par Lowe_ \1yrtle L. ;\'aylor. Shawn Poole. Hana Sabree. Chip Smith, Paul Socolar.

Philadelphia Public School Notebook is a project of the New Beginnings pro­gram of Resources For Human Develop­ment.

We publish fou r times a year. Send inquiries to School Notebook, 372 1 Midvale Ave., Phila., PA 19129. Phone: (2 15) 951-0330. Fax: (2 15) 951-0342.

Special thanks to ...

Ken Flaxman, Nancy Harris, Oscar Hernandez. Cannen Morrero, Sandy Socolar and all of our subscribers. adver­tisers, and the good people who worked on production, translation and distribu­tion. Special thanks for this issue are due to the Philadelphia Foundation, Bread and Roses Community Fund and CoreStates Bank for financial assistance.

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SCHOOL NOTEBOOK SPRING 1996

Who ya gODDa caii?' Listed here are the SchOOl District's sLr pilot clusters together With the Jlatnes and phon.e /lumbers of the cluste:' le~ders and the Alli­ance Orgamzfng Project s parem organizers.

CASE (Audenreid) Cluster

Leader: Frances Williams, 351-7228

AOP organizer: Gladys Inman, 755-1014 CHAIN (Wash ington) Cluster

Leader: Linda Gottl ieb, 281-5903

AOP organizer: Alan McHale, 546- 1156 Martin Luther King Cluster

Leader: Alfred Farlino, 248-6684

AOP organizer: Marty Mason, 878-4253 Olney Cluster

Leader: Ali ce Reyes, 456-5595

AOP organizer: Gordon Whitman. 634-8922

Strawberry Mansion Cluster

Leader: Karen Del Guercio, 684-8980

AOP organizer: Ma.rissa James. 236-1289 West Philadelphia Cluster

Dead end Street What are we to make of City Council's performance during

the recent budget hearings for the School District? It's time to examine the words and deeds of the Council

under the leadership of John Street. First the words. Time and again during the hearings, Council

members asked the School District representatives, "Why aren't there books for every child?" - a reasonable question for sure. But COUIlcil latched onto this point as if it were a new revela­tion , not the sad state of affairs that has ex isted from Street's first day in office.

The answer to "Where are the books?" lies, in part, in the Council 's own books - the diminishing percentage of city taxes dedicated to the schools.

Almost as hot a topic for Street and company was, "Where do the superintendent 's cabinet members live?" While a debate over a residency requirement may be reasonable at the proper time and place, it's hardly the heart of the budget issue. Hours were spent question ing addresses and discussing uniforms rather than how to close the $ 1,500-per-child gap between the city and suburban spending.

Perhaps the saddest words came from President Street as he feigned ignorance over issues central to school reform. "Help me out here. I am puzzled about the expenditure for professional development for teachers, Mr. Superintendent." Was Mr. Street pretending the reform agenda was new? The fact is Superinten-

dent Hornbeck has never been shy about hi s program, and Council has been extensively briefed on Children Achieving.

And so, we then take a look at Street's actions. Basically, he toyed with the Superintendent, making him jump through hoops without Council's promising even a single penny more in fund­ing .

Money matters. The high test scores of suburban students come at a cost - higher school budgets. And City money mat­ters. We can't expect others to finance improved city school s, if the City won,'tJ!j.ke the le~d itself. , _

We know that it is not the responsibil·ity of the City of Philadelphia alone to fund the schools. The state and the federal governments bear an even greater share of the responsibilities. However, City Counci l's pointing fingers at Harrisburg does not diminish their obligations to our schools, especially at a time when the City has a large surplus .

City Council, with Mr. Street at its head, must shift its budget priority from satisfying corporate heavyweights to improving the education of our kids. Their proper role is to pressure, fight, negotiate, finagle ... do whatever must be done to build the political will in the city that puts children first.

The bottom line is that Council members need to start acting as champions of the basic educational needs of our students -rather than as so many potholes scattered around a dead end Street.

The whole package At the heart of what 's "right" about the current school

reform initiative is the desire for accountable schools. We agree that accountabiliry means that a school is able to show it spends our money well. But doing so requires that school staff respect the cu ltures of their children's communities; that they foster mean ingful partiCipation of fam ilies in school life; and, most importantly, that they impart to our ch ildren the academic and social skills needed to assume usefu l roles in society.

As lIll.tIally articulated , the Children Achieving reform agen­da envIsioned a school system committed to accountable schools. It held out the promise of decentralized decision-mak_ ing in local school councils, professional development to assure top-notch instruction for our kids, restructured schools made up of small-scale learning units, and high expectations for all our children - and it demanded adequate reso urces to get the Job done. While not without flaws, this bold plan put forth the whole package - all the parts needed to ass ure our students a producllve future upon graduation.

But now a business-oriented political process combined wilh entrenched interests within the system and open hostility from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) leadersh ip has sl.,ced away at thiS package piece by piece. What remains are dlsJolllted fragments -books, full -day kindergartens, and powerless school counc il s . . And while teachers and programs are being axed - even as the number of students in the system conllnues to grow- accountability is becoming focused On the

classroom teacher alone. And children's performance is being reduced to scores on standardized tests.

This progression is a formula for di saster. First, teachers may well refuse to be the fall-guys for the city's fa ilure of political will, laying the groundwork for a bitter strike this fall. Second, the eventual settlement of the ci ty 's long-standing desegregation suit will likely res ult in cuts to better-off schools to bring the racially isolated schools up to a (substandard) par. Thus, the failure to fund accountable school s today - and achieve racial equity in the process _ is likely to be a perilous descent in to division and antagoni sm throughout the city. The only certa inty is that the children will be the losers.

Much is at stake in the fi ght over accountability. We think our children deserve the whole package, and the promise of a decent, productive future that comes with it.

Let's hold our leaders accountable to thi s end: The School District - to follow through on its vision of accountable . schools as presented in Children A chieving The PFf leadershIP - to move beyond an us I'S. them framewo rk to address quali­ty of teaChing issues and td welcome parental involvement and shared power at local sites. City and state politic ians - to end the neglect of Our schools and close th e $ 1,500 per-chil d fund­

Ing gap between Philadelphia and its suburbs. And most 1_ Im portantly, the people of Philadelph ia _ to build a pro-equa Ity movement for public education that can turn our demands Into reali ty.

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SPRING 1996

EYE ON SPECIAL

EDUCATION by Hana Sabree

As the parent liaison at Parents Exchange, I receive many requests for assistance from parents who are called to school because of their children's behav­ior. Chi ldren are often disciplined or sus­pended, sometimes for minor infractions like spitting water in kindergarten. Students with troubles at school may also show difficu lt behavior at home.

Some parents have heard about "wrap around services" but do not fully under­stand what they are, or how to obtain them. The fo llowing information was gathered from "The Layman's Guide to Wrap Around Services," by Kevin Muszynski, and "My Experience in Obtaining Wrap Around Service for my Son," by Caroline Hopkins. These writers are parents just like you, who have suc­cessfully used wrap around services to help them overcome some of the hard­ships and horrors mentioned above

What are wrap around services? Wrap around services help maintain a

child at home and in a community setting where existing services have failed and the situation is not covered by private insurance. Made available through the mental health system, wrap around ser­vices provide therapeutic staff support, mobile therapy, and behavioral specialist consultants to assist your child in hislher daily living. In order to qualify for wrap around services the individual must have the following:

• an Access card from Medical Assistance;

• eligibili ty for Early Periodic Screening Diagnostic Testing (EPSDT);

• a documented need for mental health services, as prescribed or recommended by a licensed physician or psychologist, and a psychological or psychiatric evalua­tion done within the past four months that supports an appropriate diagnos is -including DSM IV: Axis I to V, or with an ICD-9-CM, then DSM IV, Axis III to V;

• a provider agency or individual that is identified and approved by the Base Service Unit (BSU);

• an approved treatment service plan developed by a county inter-agency ser­vice planning team.

Wrap around services are set up by the county inter-agency service planning team. Kevin Muszynski states that "the school and MRlMH [Mental Retarda­tionlMental Health] are obvious partici­pants. Civic organizations, cultural agen­cies, religious groups and sports clubs could all be part of the wrap around pro­gram."

Parents Union's

Resource Center welcomes parents to

visit our library

Come find out about your schpol

311 5 . Juniper St. Rm.602

Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 546-1166

For example, Caroline Hopkins states that the individuals in her case were "folks that were professionals but who we could call our friends and family." They included her case manager and psycholo­gist from the Base Service Unit, her advocate from the Parents Union, a repre­sentative from the Big BrotherslBig Sisters organization, and a friend and a mentor from Future Leaders Network. "It is the BSU case manager's responsibility to set up this meeting, but you may find that you will have to invite these people to insure their involvement."

Obstacles to gaining services You may be told that your chi ld does

not have a mental health diagnosis and, therefore, is not el igible for wrap around services. However, according to the Pennsylvania Health Law Project, "Chi ldren without a mental health diag­nosis can now also get wrap around ser­vices although the procedure to obtain services under these circumstances has not yet been developed."

Another obstacle is being told you can not get wrap around serv ices without an Access card - HMOs do not cover it. True, some HMOs do not pay for wrap around but there are some that do, such as Mustard Seed.

Be sure that you understand how many months the program is for, when the pro­gram review is scheduled that determines the need for continuation of services and their level, and anything that could cause your services to be interrupted or termi­nated. It can be devastating to children -leading to setbacks and emotional or physical harm - when there are unex­pected breaks or an end to arrangements that are working for them.

The role of Therapeutic Support Staff According to Kevin Muszynski, "The

EPSDT part of wrap around services involves the use of a Therapeutic Support Staff (TSS). These individuals are guided, mentored and trained by Behavior Specialists who also will work with your child at times." The TSS person can also be someone that the child is already involved with, such as an after-school counselor - as in the case of Caroline Hopki ns' son - as long as they meet the requirements.

The program can take place anywhere - at home, in school or at a playground. The TSS person shoul d keep a daily jour­nal that will help you maintain an ongo­ing dialogue with them. This situation can become very intrusive into your lives and your home. Cooperation from everyone is

. needed. Special thanks to Caroline Hopkins

and Kevin Muszynski/or their help. For more in/ormatioll. cOlltact the PA Health Law Project at (800) 274·3258 or your local Base Service Vllit case manager.

AMERICA'S CHILDREN ARE IN TROUBLE.

ON JUNE 1, 1996, YOU CAN HELP CHANGE THAT.

June 1, 1996 Lincoln Memorial Washington, DC

JOIN US. For mort infonnation. ,,,J1l·8OI).663-1Q32,

orE·maiJ us at [email protected].

SundForOuldn:nlsconvcncdbyth.e Olllar.:n's Ddcnsc Fund andcndorscd by mon::than l100nluQnal,sulc,andlocll OrSll1JUuon$.SlandForChlld~nl!Oll'lO(­

for-profilorlanluhon~nddN:' nO(xcep( :anYlovemmcnl funds ..... ~

PAGE 3

Parent participation scaled back

School councils' powers diminished

School based management - placing true decision-making power at the school level - was a key component of Superintendent David Hornbeck's Childrell Achievillg program when he unveiled it in January 1995 . Hornbeck's commitment to the idea that those clos­est to students should be the ones mak­ing decisions in the schools signaled the second district-wide push for school based management (SBM) in recent times. The first effort, under the previous superintendent, Constance Clayton, is judged by many to have been a failure. Now, due to major revisions that disre­garded solicited input from parents and community people, many observers fear the current initiative will meet the same fate.

The Clayton model About six years ago schools were told

they could submit a letter of intent to form an interim school governance coun· ci l, and about 60 out of the District 's 258 schools responded. This number dwin­dled to 13 during the implementation process as each school's staff, after a period of plannin g, had to approve the plan by a 75% margin for their school to adopt SBM.

Parents had no say in thi s decision. Where councils were establi shed, parents constituted no more than 20% of the members and were supposed to be cho­sen by lottery. Local deci sion·making was limited by the need For approval by a c ity-wide Joint Council made up pri­marily of admini strative and uni on repre· sentati ves. The only parent included at thi s level was the head of the Home and School Council.

A move toward parent power Children Achievillg's new model of

governance origi nall y called for counci ls with 5 1 % teachers and 49% parents plus the principal. At the secondary level two students would also participate. All council members wou ld be voted into office: teachers, by their peers in a process monitored by the Philadelphia Federati on of Teachcrs (PFT); paren ts, by an election where at least 35% of the school's households participate; and stu­dents, by their student counci l. Members of the community would be invitcd to participate in deliberations but would not have a vote. Childrell Achieving's com­mitment to move decision·making to local schools eliminated the vote by school staff on whether to adopt gover­nance counci ls or not.

ResponSibilities of the councils under

this new model included oversight of food service, health care, library ser­vices, security, transportation, facilities operation and maintenance. Councils would review the budgets, space alloca­tion and ed ucation plans of its small learni ng communities (see article, p. I). Final control over the school's budget would remain with the principal; but in coordination with the cluster leader and the Office of Schools, the council had the power to select, oversee and conduct performance evaluations of the principal. Finally, councils were charged with developing a public engagement plan of acti9n to involve parents, commun ity people, civic leaders and local businesses in support of the school.

Soliciting parent and community input Last spring the Danforth Foundation

provided funding through the School District to the Alliance of Public School Advocates for a series of cluster meet­ings to publicize the new plan and sol icit parent, teacher and community opinion on the new structures. A report summa­rizing the results of the 22 meelings was written to provide critical guidance for the training of new council leaders.

The main result reported from this round of meelings was strong approval for parcnt invo lvement in local school decision-making. From cluster to cluster, the composition of the school councils generated the greatest response. In J 7 of 22 meetings , participants did not like the imbalance between parent and staff rep­resentatives. The counterproposa l most frequently mentioned was that parents and community have a Simple majority (51 %) of the seats , with the principal and staff occupying the remainder.

The word parellts was also a cause for concern. Many people feil a more Inclu­sive and realistic term shou ld be used -one that includes grandparents or other ad ults actually caring for children in the school. Monitoring of e li gibi lity for par­ticipation in e lections shou ld be sensitive to the variety of circumstances in which ch ildren find themselves.

Finally there was considerable diSCUS­sion of the selection process, with some participants questioning the Impartiality of the PFT and the Philadelphia Home and School Council in running the man­dated elections.

Countercurrents While the report from the "Danforth

meetings" speaks with a dear VOice in favor of parcntalmvolvcment, Indica·

See "Parents' role diminished" on p. 4

PAGE 4

Parents' role on councils diminished

Continued from p. 3 tions of potent ial problems in imple­menting the model were present even in the spri ng of 1995. Speakers who identi­fied themselves with the PFr spoke out against the basic concept of governance counci ls, as well as against the strength­ened role for parents and community members in school decision-maki ng. These objections would later take shape formally when the District and PFr reached an agreement this past fa ll that restricted the role of parents in the coun­cils compared to the origi nal Children Achieving plan.

A second indicator was the relati vely low turn-out of people at the "Danfo rth meet ings." The District's top-down tradi­tion is largely intact despite the leader­sh ip change at the top. Even now, after a year of worki ng on public engagement and clusters, too few parents and staff members know much about school gov­ernance or the plans fo r counci ls. The inertia of the school bureaucracy works against any "radical" change, to use Horn beck's term for his proposa ls. School counci ls with signi fica nt dec i­sion-maki ng and budgetary powers wou ld mean that many of the people who have been in co ntrol - pri nc ipals, regional and central office adm inistrators - wou ld lose much of their authority. And the PFr's opposition to counc ils has been voiced by a union leadership that made little attempt to engage rank and file membership in the discuss ion.

Finall y, Judge Dori s Smith had made clear her opposition to decentrali zat ion.

While she has not intervened in the process of setting up the councils, her November 1994 rul ing together with continued questioning of Hornbeck's cluster approach works to underm ine the shift of power to parents at local schools.

Where things stand today Lack of strong organi zation among

parents made it impossible to fo llow through on the recommendations in the Danforth report. By contrast, the PFr was able to negotiate significant changes to the plan, moving it closer to the pat­tern of the earlier, staff-dominated Clayton model. Parent representation on e lementary school councils has been reduced to 31 %; and on middle and high school counci ls, with the incl usion of student representatives, to 26%. Powers of the councils have also been reduced, so that now they can reali stically be viewed as ad visory in nature. Either the principal or the newly recreated Joint Comm ittee on School Governance will make the fi nal decisions. By contrast, Children Achieving had projected an image of real local authority, with the power - and responsibili ty - to impact school outcomes.

At many schools, the power given to Home and School Associations to select council representati ves remains problem­atic. A random telephone survey of 90 schools by the Notebook revealed that onl y 27 had a Home and School organi­zati on. Moreover, the Notebook fo und that the Phi ladelphia Home and School Council does not keep records on which

Attention Parents and Community Organizations!!

The School District Of Philadelphia

is seeking P a rents and C o mmunity Organization Representatives to partic ipate on S tandards W ri ting Te ams .

Dut ies During the s um mer of 1996, the Children Ach ieving Actio n DeSign calls for the development of s tanda rds fo r a ll of P hiladelphia's students within the following areas:

• Social S tud ies • Health & PhYSica l Educa tion ~ • World Languages • Techno logy

D The Writing Teams wi ll be responsible fo r develo ping the first d rafts of concepts, skills, and abilities a ll students s ho uld know a nd be a ble to do within these areas.

Tea m Composi ti on

The teams will consist of P hiladelphia teachers and a dmin istra to rs, higher education representatives, parents, and comm unity orga niza tion representatives.

T ime Comm itment The teams will meet ten (10) days du ring the summer, from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. Some Saturdays may be required. Additiona l days may be required for editing of the standards

Compensat ion Parents and Community Organization Representatives will be paid $500 for 10 days of work.

Appl icati o n For further tnformation andlor application, please contact:

Shereese Williamson Program Coordinator Philadelphia Education Fund 215-665-1400, ext. 3310

of the dues-paying schools have active

organ izations. . . Fi nally, critics point to the lImited par­

ent representation on the Joint Commit­tee on School Governance. Together with the lack of a strong, organized par­ent base, thi s situation threatens to doom any meaningful , independent parent voice in school policies.

Ultimately, a shi ft in power balance to inc lude parents, both at the school and district levels, will depend on the success of school-by-school and cl uster-by-c1us­t~r organizing. The Alliance Organi zing Project (AOP), currently working in the

A second look:

six pilor clusters, is an example of Such a grassroots strategy. C ounterposed to them is the ine rti a of the entrenched school bureaucracy as well as a c ity business and political leadership that devalues education.

A parent commented , "The evo luti on of the Children Achieving governance plan is a lesson in organi zed power. The PFr is organized and has the power to influen.ce certa in outcomes throughout the system. Parents remain unorgani zed, and as a resul t paren ts have lost out on the promise ori gina lly provided by the Hornbeck plan. "

The harmful effects of 'tracking' Reprinted/rom A Phil adelphia

Primer: The School District of Phil adelphia Ed ucati on Team Report, September 1994. This report was pro­duced by a team 0/ educational experts appointed by Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith to a;sess the Philadelphia school system.

Administrati ve, organi zational and moni toring problems aren' t the onl y obstacles to ensuring a quality education for all children. The District 's misguided approach to academic equity extends into the classroom. Phil adelphia's public schools have established a damaging pat­tern that begins in early grades and com­pounds learning di ffic ulties throughout a child's school career.

The District requires a certain ski ll level for every child entering each grade. Students who fa ll below this level are generally categorized as "slow learners," and are tracked into remedial classes or retention groups. These classes further retard students ' learn ing by taking more time to teach less . The next year, these children arc even further behind the ir peers, and so on each year until the lack of success overwhelms and discourages students into under-achievement or drop­pIng out.

~.-

For children with limited English pro­fi c iency (e.g. ESOL) , these remedi ation problems are multiplied by a lack of effective academic support. Although a few bilingual education programs exist, they are too few in number to serve all children in need. Moreover, parents and educators are not always aware of their options; thus a valuable teaching and learning resource - parents - are often shut out of the ir child's day-to-day progress because the District makes no attempt to send information in Spani sh or in Asian languages/dialects to parents who do not speak English. T his effec­ti vely closes the door to parent in volve­ment by non-English speakers. Worse, the District has fa iled to meet basic per­formance standards for limited English students rai sed by a lawsui t brought by Asian students and parents in 1985, in spite of court orders and consent decrees requiring improvement.

Thus , any hope of e liminating acade­mic achievement disparities between rac iall y isolated and integrated schools depends on placing hi gh-quali ty schools in all neighborhoods, ensuring that stu­dents are allowed to transfer to those schoo ls , and prov iding struggling stu­dents with more, not less instruction.

BREAD AND ROSES COMMUNITY FUND

Celebrating 25 Years of Funding Change, Not Charity presents

A GATHERING FOR CHANGE MA Y 3 - 5, 1996

Friday, May 3 Saturday, May 4 Sunday, May 5 30th Street Stat ion Houston Hall AME First 6:3 0 - 9:30 PM University of Penn District Plaza Music, Dancing Oral History, Work- Tribute to

~ Memorabilia shops, Music Change Lunch I~ Refreshments 930 AM - 6 PM I - 3 PM ~ AdmISSion $10 Ad mISSIon Free Tickets $50 '~ I~ F ~ or more mformatlOn call Bread & Roses at 215/731-1 107 ~ ~ ~'-~:JI ~ ~ :JI:JI:JI:JI:JI::IOI=-="T:££L--.::..::.--__ =-=-=- _:II=- w::w::-~

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SPRING 1996 SCHOOL NOTEBOOK PAGE S

S II L 'C 't' Restructuring rna earning ornrnunl les: to aid learning Continued from p. 1

own section of the building, where 400 students spend their high school years with a group of 12 to 15 teachers.

The positi ve comments these students made about their concern for others and for their Own educational experience mark a shift in comprehensive high schools. For these students, the large, anonymous, uncaring environment of the past is beg inni ng to be transformed into a caring environment where students and teachers know each other, where there are high expectations for student achievement, and where all partic ipants feel some sense of responsibility towards each other.

This transformation, however, can be a long and difficult process, and the 130 SLCs that exist in the high schools are the result of many years of hard work by teachers.

SLCs in high schools Many of the 22 comprehensive,

neighborhood high schools in Phi ladel­phia have already been di vided into

ules, to allot sufficient time for teachers to meet and plan together, and to main­tain stable facu lties in the schools were barriers to developing independent SLCs within the high schools.

Another important concern has been the tendency to "track" students in SLCs and into courses in such a way that not all students have options for higher edu­cation and successful employment when they leave school. For example, in the last twenty years, many students in com­prehensive high schools were not taking foreign languages or algebra and geome­try. In order to go to college, these cours­es are necessary. In order to pursue any kind of post-secondary higher education, students are required to at least have algebra. So if Philadelphia's students are to leave high school fully prepared for future success, these courses must be available to students in all SLCs

Currently, Superintendent Hornbeck's reform plan, Children Achieving, call s for the creation of SLCs in all of the schools:

"National research, local experience SLCs. The process ___________ _

and common sense tell us that the chil­

Initial data show attendance dren of this city started in 1988, when the Philadelphia Schools increased, students showed

cannot be success­fully educated in huge factory- like schools.

Coll aborative (now the Phi ladelphia small gains in achievement, Education Fund after a merger with and suspensions dropped.

Students need to arrive each day at schools where PATHSfPRISM)

had a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts to tackle enormous problems at the high school level - a large dropout rate, a high rate of failure in 9th grade (about 60%), and low attendance.

Based on national data, one of the key strategies to deal with these issues and t.o improve the academic preparation of stu­dents was to restructure the large high schools (usually with 1800 -3500 stu­dents) into smaller educational uni ts . These SLCs (originally called houses, and then charters), were often created around academic or career "themes."

Teachers were encouraged to develop new curricula and to work with students in new ways: to include more problem­solving strategies in classroom work; to engage students in cooperati ve learning; to use more projects and exhibitions of student mastery as part of teaching and assessment; and to involve community groups, parents, higher educational insti­tutions, and local businesses as partners.

Initial data from studies in 1993 and 1994 show some progress. Attendance increased, students showed small gains in achievement, and suspensions dropped. Students who remained in the same SLCs over a period of several years showed the most gain.

At the same time, some problems emerged. One of these has been schedul­ing conflicts within the schools. In order to really enable students and teachers to know each other and work together, they must have classes assigned consistently within the SLC, but this has often not been the case.

Another issue of concern has been student mobili ty from school to school. It is very difficul t to develop a real com­munity when one-third of the students change from year to year. Although many teachers hope that eventually stu­dents wi ll want to stay with thei r SLC even if they move to another area of the city, at presen t schools experience a heavy turnover of studen ts from year to

ye~~ other cases, the failures of the cen­tral District to support changing sched-

teachers see them as individuals, where the schools have a sense of community beyond the simple sharing of space, and where all staff and students are engaged in serious work and share a clearly defined sense of purpose."

Under the District's Children Achieving plan, key elements of SLCs include:

• 200 - 500 students; • multi -age, heterogeneous groups of

students (students from all abili ty groups, including special education stu­dents);

• multi-year relationships among stu­dents, teachers and parents ;

• multi-year connection of instruction­al approaches ;

• sense of shared responsibi li ty for student outcomes;

• instructionally-based shared deci­sion-making;

• accountabili ty for student outcomes and decision-making authority commen­surate with that responsibility.

Policy changes required Children Achieving also points out

that this effort requires dividi ng large buildings, changing "policies, proce­dures and structures that work against the small, community atmosphere," and allowing" . .. for more time for teachers to work together and ... create more intense and sustained relationsh ips between teachers and students." It also states that SLCs in different schools and at different levels may not necessari ly be similar.

Other elements of SLCs in Children Achieving, however, require negotiations between the School District and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT): for example, "the development of a process for interviewing prospective newly hired staff before they are assigned." In the current PFT contract, all teachers are re-assigned to schools with vacancies based on their seniority in their area of appoin tment (for example, elementary teacher, high school math teacher, physical education teacher, etc.),

and there is no process of interv iewing either by other teachers or principals.

Other cities, particularly New York, have been working towards small er schools for many years. In The Power of Their Ideas, New York education reformer Deborah Meier argues for the necess ity of smaller schools, for "only in a small school can deep ongoing discus­sion take place in ways that produce change and involve the entire faculty­and even there it's tough to sustain." In small schools, teachers " ... can get to know a student 's work, the way he or she thi nks. If it's thinking that we' re seeking, then it's thinking we must get to observe, and this requires seeing children over time." She adds that, "small schools offer safety .. . . Teachers know when students are likely to explode and can respond rapidly. . . They offer what metal detectors and guards cannot: the safety and security of being where you are known well by people who care for you."

Currently, SLCs also ex ist at many middle schools and in some elementary schools, such as Harrity (the Afr ican Village) and Birney. All schools are sup­posed to be working on deve lop ing SLCs; the schools in the first six clusters (Washi ngton, Olney, Martin Luther King, Strawberry Mansion, Audenried, and West Philadelphia) have been given resources to use for professional devel­opment and planning time to pursue thi s goal.

Although SLCs offer the potential fo r more caring and engaging educational environments for students, as well as teachers and parents, they are not neces­sarily a panacea. Without sufficient time, resources, and support for the hard work that is required, they will not be able to meet their promised goals.

For more information about Small Learning Communities, call The Phila­delphia Education Fund (665-1400) or the North Philadelphia Compact (739-9340).

Hand in Hand

~ PARENTS· SCHOOLS. COMMUNITIES

United for Kids

Parent to Parent Conference

SATURDAY, MAY 4,1996 University City High School

36th and Filbert Streets (1/ 2 block ahove Market)

8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Dynamic Workshops Presented by Parents and Caregivers

Showcasing Parent Organizing What's Standards Got To Do With It? • The Media: Reading Between the Lines

College Access: What You Need to Know • Unde~tanding Your School Budget College Begins in Kindergarten. Just What Are Small Learning Communities?

Effective School Councils - How Do We Get Them? • Safety Issues/School Security

Lobbying, Testifying & Other Legal Stuff • The Role of Communities in Schools

The Challenge of Special Education. Handieapable: Non-liearing Caregive~

Kinship Care. Anger Management. Truancy and Dropout Prevention

Teen Parenting. Fathering in the 90's. Writing Grants

Lunch Time Roundtable Discussion

KIDS SPEAK OUT!

CHILD CARE AND LUNCH PROVIDED

Pre-Registration for Child Cere required by April 24, 1996 Call (215) 299-7774 for addtional infonnation

PAGE 6 SCHOOL NOTEBOOK SPRING 1996 -

Molestia de los asistantes en las audiencias sobre el presupuesto de las escuelas

Escaso interes del concejo en la reforma educativa Viene de /a p. 1

reciban 10 que necesitan. Las presentaciones del distrito escolar

y familias ten ian mas contenido educa­cional que en orras oca iones durante las audiencias para el presupuesto de las escuelas. Sin embargo, los miembros del concejo no podfan mantener una conver­saci6n sobre 10 que una educaci6n efecti­va podria ser y 10 que se necesita para lle­varIa a cabo.

Confronrandose con la ira del publico sobre negligencia fiscal, el concejo trat6 de evadir la responsabilidad por la falta de fondos a traves de una serie de digre­ciones. La digresi6n mas fundamental vino primero del miembro del concejo Kenney y luego del presidente Street: "EI concejo no tiene autoridad sobre el pre­supuesto escolar. Nosotros no reducimos. Solamente aulorizamos entradas loca les. Solamente la junta escolar aumenta 0 dis­minuye el presupueslo."

Tres estudi-

filadelfianos que asistieron a la audiencia del concejo - y la major parte de los miembros del concejo tambien, a pesar de palabras desviadoras - entendieron los datos basicos politicos: el conseguir que el estado produzca mas recursos ade­cuados para las escuelas de Filadelfia requiere que el concejo y el alcalde aumenten primero las contribuciones locales.

EI numero que nunca se mencion6 en las audiencias del concejo fue la cantidad sobrante del presupuesto de Fi ladelfia para este ano, reportado por el peri6dico Fi/adelphia Inquirer, que llega a los 80 millones de d61ares (con ajustes para la nieve). Muchos observadores po liticos creen que un aumento de 20 millones de d61ares en apoyo local para las escuelas - solamente 1/4 parte del sobrante­pondrfa a los oficiales del estado de Pensilvania en un aprieto politico para este ano, y para el futuro.

atra digre­antes y un mae­stro pudieron detectar esta digresi6n. Un estudiante de tercero ano en la escuela secun­daria Bodine dijo: "Bueno, 10 que ustedes hacen cierta­mente tiene mucha influen­cia en que las escuelas se mejoren 0 empe-

La responsibilidad del consejo de fondos escolares

si6n que presen­t6 el miembro del concil io Kenney ytam­bien por el pres­idente Street ­pero pronto rec­hazada por el superintendente Hombeck­fue "Saquenlo del contrato con los maestros." Una arruga

La junta recaudara fondos anualmenle con tales limites y tales sujelos como la asamblea General del estado de Pensilvania 0 el consejo de la ciudad puede de tiempo en tiempo prescribir, en cantidades suficientes para proveer fon­dos para la corriente operci6n de las escuelas del distrito. -Philadelphia Educational Home Rule Charter

oren. EI hecho es que Filadelfia es el unico

distrito escolar entre los 500 que hay en Pensilvania que no tiene una junta esco­lar con el poder propio para recaudar fon­dos. Para Filadelfia solamente, el concilio de la ciudad y el alcalde tan bien como la asamblea general y el gobemador son responsables de recaudar fondos para las escuelas. Por esto, depende del concejo y del alcalde de que el distrito escolar tenga mas 0 menos entradas locales para realizar su presupuesto.

Ademas, la mayor parte de las 1500

nueva, tambien rechazada por el

superintendente Hornbeck fue "Saquenlo del desarrollo profesional; dejen que los maestros y los principales paguen por su propio desarrollo profesional como otros profesiones" - ignorando que doctores, abogados y arquitectos anaden el costa de aprender nuevas practicas profesion­ales en 10 que cobran por sus servicios a los clientes.

Dos antiguas digresiones - residencia y libros - recibieron la atenci6n de los peri6dicos y fueron entretenidas por el concejo por unos dias. Ambas tienen cierta validez. Como los bomberos y los

policias, los maestros y administradores se beneficiarian en conocer la ciudad y contribuir en todos los aspectos de la vida en la ciudad, como los residentes 10 hacen. Pero hace 14 ai\os que los que hacen las leyes establecieron requisitos de residencia. Estas son cuentas viejas que no se dirigen a la necesitad financiera de hoy.

Li bros - su edad y su habilidad en el hogar y en la escuela - son necesarios. Pero aqui tambien, el concejo no ha resuelto la deficiencia imperdonable

Los estudiantes y las maestras de Filadelphia participaron en la manifeslacion "Boricua F I" I Photo: Newspaper Irs e 29 de marzo en Washington DC.

Photo: Fred Engst

sobre un largo tiempo. Aun ,~on el com-, promiso del distrito a mover unos 5 mil­lones de d61ares adicionales para com­prar libros, 10 que los fi ladelfianos gastan en libros seria menos de la mitad de 10 que gasta Pensilvania de 141 d61ares por cada estudiante anualmente. Ademas mientras hay que mantener libros corri­entes es crucial, tam bien es mantener materiales sustaneiales en el sal6n de clases - manipulati vos para los grados primarios; laboratorios, investigaciones y otros materiales para los grados intenne­dios y avanzados .

Una nueva pero acostumbrada digre­sion - "No entendemos los grupos esco­lares (clusters)" - hizo su aparici6n en el concejo por segunda vez en dos anos. Debe entender cualquier miembro del concejo que se ha de preocupar por asis­tir las reuniones de padres, maestros Y principales en la biblioteca de cualquiera de los grupos escolares (clusters). Segun Dan McGinley, presidente de la aso­ciaci6n de principales testifico, "La mayor parte de los di stritos escolares en Pensilvania son grupos (clusters) . Tienen como base una escuela secundaria, varias escuelas intetmedias y un numero de escuelas elementales . En esa escala, todo el mundo puede cO;lOcer sus escuelas y conocerse mejor a cad a uno y puede actuar para mejorarlas."

Solamente una vez el conci lio de la ciudad trato de romper su molde de COtl­

ducta, cambiando la discusi6n a un inter­cambio esencfal. EI presidente Street pre­gunto enfaticamente, "i,Por que no hacen clases pequenas?" y permanecio en este tema 10 suficiente como para promover

una discusion educativa real. Parece que el ley6 en cuanto a la diferencia tremen­da que ha hecho el tener 16 ninos en kindergarten hasta el lercer grado en dos empresas llevadas a cabo a traVes de todo el estado de Tennessee e Indiana en la maestria de lectura y matetn',1 ica en. . ninos de familias pobres. Estas son dlfet-

"Escaso in teres " continua en /s p. 7

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Los efectos daiiinos de 'tracking' 0 seguimiento

Reproducido por "A Philadelphia primer: The School District of Philadelphia Education Team Report, September 1994. " Este reporte fue pro­ducido por un equipo de expertos en educacion quienes fueron eligidos por la j uez municipal Doris Smith para evaluar el sistema escolar de Filadelphia.

Los problemas admi nistrativos, orga­nizacionales, 0 de evaluaci6n no son los unicos obstaculos para asegurar una edu­caci6n de calidad para todos los ninos. EI metoda err6neo que usa el distrito esco­lar para conseguir la igualdad en edu­caci6n se eXliende hasta los sal ones de clases. Las escuelas publ icas de Filadelphia han establec ido un sistema danino que comienza en los grados pri­marios y complica [as dificultades de aprendizaje

nan por sa[irse de [a escue[a. Para ninos con pocas destrezas en

ing[es (por ejemp[o, ESOL), estos prob­lemas se comp[ican mas por la inefectivi­dad de apoyo academico. Aunque existen algunos programas de educaci6n bil­ingUe, el numero es muy poco para ayu­dar a todos los estudiantes necesitados. Ademas los padres y educadores no estan siempre conscientes de las opci6nes. Los padres - un recurso importante de ensenanza y aprendizaje - no estan al tanto del progreso de sus ninos ya que el distrilo escolar no hace ningun esfuerzo en enviar informaci6n ni en espanol ni en lenguaje asiatico para esos padres que no hablan ingles. Esto [es cierra las puertas a los padres que no hablan el lenguaje. Peor que eso, y a pesar de una demanda hecha por parte de [os eSludiantes y

padres asiaticos en durante el transcur-so de la edllcac i6n Estas clases atrasan maS el del nino.

EI distrito aprendizaje del nino ya que

1985 y de ordenes por parte de la corte requiriendo mejoria, el di strito escolar no ha a1canzado ensenar el nivel basico

req uiere cierto nivel de destreza toman maS tiempo, pero que para cada nino transferido al sigu- ensenan men os. iente grado. Los estudiantes que caigan bajo ese nive[ son categorizados como "ninos lentos", y son colocados dentro de grupos de clases "remedial" 0 especiales 0 grupos de retenci6n . Estas c1ases atrasan mas el aprendizaje del nin o ya que toman mas tiempo, pero que ensenan menos. Al ano siguiente, estos ninos estan mas atrasa­dos que el resto de sus companeros. Esto sucede ano tras ano hasta que la falta de exito 0 logros los lleva a darse por venci­dos y no tratan de hacer mejor 0 terrni-

ingles.

para estudiantes de poco habla en

Asi pues, cualquier esperanza de e[im­inar la desigualdad entre escuelas con concentraci6n racial y escuelas que estan integradas depende en la colocacion de escuelas de cali dad superior en todas las vecindades, asegurando que [os estudi­antes puedan transferirse a esas escuelas, y proveyendo a esos estudiantes que estan luchando para mejorar mas instruc­cion, no menos de 10 que se ensene.

Traduccion por Iris Losada

Escaso interes del consejo Viene de fa p. 6

encias importantes ya que en el cuarto grado [os ninos se mueven de "aprender a [eer" a " leer para aprender".

Ir6nicamente, se habia asignado dinero en el presupuesto para empezar c1ases pequenas en 18 escuelas y ser implemen­tado por completo en un periodo de tres anos . Pero por falta de recursos, no se puede iniciarlo.

EI contraste fue rigido entre [a cali dad de la atenci6n del con-

entender 10 que grupos (cluster) son, y despreciando el titulo de posici6n de los maestros que trabajan ayudando a Olros maestros a descubrir e implementar metod os de ensenanza poderosos. Actuaron inmovib[es por el aumento tan alto de a[umnos que se graduan en Mansion y el numero tan alto de estudi­antes tomando cursos avanzados de matematica.

Casi Lodos los 1,500 fi[ adelfianos que fueron al concejo

cejo cuando el presi­dente de banco Richard Smoot dio su testimonio y su aten­ci6n a los otros. Cada miembro del concejo en el pi so - la camara se habia lien ado otra

Casi todos expresaron su expresaron su deter­minacion a regresar una vez y otra y euan­tas veces sea neee­sario para recibir recursos adecuados.

determinacion a regresar hasta que reciban

A pesar de di ver­siones ret6ricas y oportunidades aun no

adquiridas por el concejo a aprender y dirigir educae iona[mente, el coneejo que­br6 nuevas tierras educati vas al ex tender estas audiencias tan pro[ongadas y tam­bien todos los fi[ ade[fi anos que fueron. Las posibilidades para mas estan abiertas.

recursos adecuados. vez cuando el empez6 - fue profuso y elocuente en darl e las gracias, e[ aprecio por su trabajo, y la aceptaci6n de recomendaciones de la fuerza de tarea que dirigi6. Los miembros del concejo Ri zzo y Kenney ya habian endorsado todas sus recomendac iones en las primeras horas de las audiencias que inc1uyen e[ eliminar muchas rutas de autobuses protegidas hace tiempo politi­camente a pesar del alto cos to de tal ruta.

Ciertamente el concejo refl ej6 e[ respeto y [a admirac i6n por e[ arduo tra­bajo y esfuerzo de [a fuerza de tarea. Sin embargo igualmenle e[ buen y ard uo tra­bajo de muchos maestros, pri ncipales y pad res no recibi6 simi lar aprecio. En vez de eso, el concejo hi zo sombra a[ reporte del gran progreso en e[ grupo (cluster) de Strawberry Mansion, pretendicndo no

Tanto en cuanto que c1 coneejo tenga las responsabi[idades uni cas que el Titul o de la Regia Educaciona[ [es da, [a direc­ci6n del concejo acerca de las eseuelas y sus fondos han! la diferencia. Este ano , las acciones del concejo en el pre­supuesto - si deciden aumentar fondos [ocales para la escue[a aun en estos tiem­pos tan apretados - 0 pondran al estado en una esquina politica de [a cua[ no puedan sa[ir 0 [os dejara [ibres.

Traduccion por Miguel Rivera-Diaz

PAGE 7

Riege las noticias

l emil es su opinion? Las bienvenidas del Public School

Notebook a su correspondencia, las criticas, u oponiendo puntos de vista. Por favor envielos al School Notebook, 3721 Midvale Ave. Phila. PA 19129.

Ay ude a distribuir Philadelphia Public School Notebook.. Usted puede ser parte del equipo que distribuye School Notebook a traves de la ciudad. Copias estan di sponible para la dis­tribuci6n en su escuela, [ugar de traba­jo e igles ia. Esta~ di~poni ble para un evento publico, una reuni6n en la escuela 0 en un centro comunal.

Favor de ll amar al School Notebook, 9:51-0330. si esui interesado en fonnar parte del eq ui po.

HAND in HAND

~ PARENTS· SCHOOLS. COMMUNITIES

United for Kids

Become a part of

Project 10,000 A Children Achieving Agenda Initative

Recruit and Match 10,000 New Volun teers with Schools

For !TIore information contact

The Project 10,000 Office The School District of Philadelphia

21 st Street & The Parkway, Room 3 II Philadelphia, PA 19 103

(215) 299-7774

Yes, I want to devote time to the Philadelphia Public School

students and I want to be a PROJECT 10,000 volunteer.

Name. ________________________________________ __

Address, ___________________________ Zip Code ____ _

Phone ( __ ) _____________ __

PAGE 8

Council fiddles, schools feel heat Continued from p. 1

Governor are responsible for school rev­enue. Thus, whether the District has more or less local revenue with which to make "its" school budget depends entire­ly upon City Council and the Mayor.

In addition, most of the 1500 Phila-delphians at the Council hearings - and most of the Council members too, despite diverting words - understood the basic political fac t: getting the state to produce adequate resources for the Philadelphia schools requires that Council and the Mayor first increase the local contribution.

The number never mentioned at Council hearings was the amount of Philadelphia's budget surplus for this year, reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer to be $80 million (wi th adj ust­ments for the snows). Many politi cal observers believe that a $20 million increase in local support for the schools - only 114 of the surplus - would put Pennsyl.vania state official s on the politi­cal spot for this year and for future years.

Another diversion offered early by Councilman Kenney and again later by President Street - but promptly rejected by Superintendent Hornbeck - was "take it out of

only one high school, a couple of middle schools, and several elementary schools. On that scale, everybody can know their schools and each other beller and can act to improve them."

Only once did City Council seem to break its behavioral mold, turning the discussion to a substanti ve exchange. President Street asked emphatically, "Why don ' t you do small class sizes?" and he stayed on it long enough to in vite a real educational di scussion. It seemed that he may have read about the tremen­dous differences class sizes of 16 in kindergarten through 3rd grade have made in two large state-wide undertak­ings, Tennessee and Indiana, in the mas­tery of reading and math by children from poor families. These are important differences, s ince fourth grade is when children are supposed to move from "learning to read" to "reading to learn ."

Ironically, small class sizes had been budgeted to begin this school year in 18 schools and to be fu lly phased in over three years. But inadequate resources have prevented it.

The contrast between the quality of Council's attention to bank president Richard Smoot during his testimony and its attention to most others was stark.

Every the teachers' contract." A new wrinkle, also rejected by Hornbeck, was "take it out of profes­sional devel­opment; let teachers and principals pay for their own just like other

City Council's.responsibility Council member on

for school funding the f1oor-the Chamber had fi lled up

The Board shall leVy taxes annually wlthin such

limits and upon such subjects as the General again when

Assembly of the Commonwealth or the Council he came on

of the City may from 1i!ne to time prescri~, In

amounts sufficient to provide funds for the cur· rent operation of the schools of1he District.

-was fluent and profuse in their thanks to

-Philadelphia Educational Home. Rule ClJatter him, their . . ... appreciation

professional s" - ignoring that doctors, lawyers and architects put the costs of learning new professional practices into the fees they charge their clients.

Two old, standard diversions - resi­dency and books - got the newspaper headlines and were massaged by Council for days. Both have a core validity. Like firemen and policemen, teachers and administrators would benefit from know­ing the city and contributing to all aspects of its life, as residents do. But state lawmakers established the resi­dence rules fourteen years ago. This is old news that does not address our finan­cial needs today - and may cost stu­dents vibrant district leadership.

Books - their age and their availabi l­ity at home and in school - are crucial. But here agai n, Council has not resolved this unforgivable defici ency over the long run . Even with a District commit­mentto shift an additional $5 million to purchase books, Philadelphia's spending on textbooks will be less than half of the Pennsylvania-wide average of$ 141 per student annually. In addi tion, while up­to-date textbooks are crucial, so are sub­stantive classroom materials - manipu­lables for early grades; laboratories, research and other hands-on materials for later grades. Effective programs require such materials and they cost money, well beyond what heroic teach­ers now take out of their own pockets.

A new but now also standard diver­sion - "We don ' t understand the clus­ters" - made its second an nual Council appearance. Put aside that this year any Council members wou ld understand if they had taken the trouble to attend any working meeting of parents, teachers and principals in the school library of any cluster school. As Dan McGinley, PresIdent of the Principals Association testIfied, "Most school d istricts in Pennsylvania are clusters. They have

for his work and their embrace of his Task Force's recommendations. Counci­lmen Rizzo and Kenney had in the first hours of the hearings already endorsed all its recommendations which include eliminating many bus routes long pro­tected politically despite their high cost.

Certainly the difference reflected Counci l's respect and appreciation of the hard and good work of the Task Force. But the similarly hard and good work of many teachers, principals and parents did not often draw a similar apprecia­tion. Instead, Council gave short shrift to the report of great progress in the Strawberry Mansion cluster, pretending not to understand what cl usters are and belittling the position title of teachers whose job it is to help other teachers dis­cover and implement powerful teaching methods. They acted unmoved by major jumps in Mansion 's graduation rates and a swelling of the number of students tak­ing advanced mathematics.

Nearly all of the 1500 committed Philadelphians who came to Counci l expressed their determination to come back agai n and again for as many years as it takes to get adequate resources.

Despite rhetorical diversions and as yet unseized opportunities for Council to learn and lead educationally, Council did break new ed ucational ground by hold­ing these extended hearings, and so did all the Philadelphians who came. The poss ibilities for more are now open.

So long as Council has the unique responsibilities the Educational Home Rule Charter gives them, Council's lead­ership on the schools and on funding them will make all the difference. This year, Counci l actions on the budget­whether they decide to increase local school funding even in these tight times - wi ll either put the state in a political corner from which they may not escape, or it will let them go free.

SPRING 1996

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J!!ING 1996 SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

What's ina (racist) name? As we move into a new baseball sea­

son, and in the wake of a Wo rld Series and NFL playoffs with teams featuring images of American Indians (Braves, Indians, Chiefs), the Notebook reprints here excerpts from a discussion primer. What is the Point to All this Protesting? The subject is all the more pertinent since several Philadelphia schools have mascots based on images of Native Americans. We hope this information will be useful to staff and students when con­sidering the issues of cultural sensitivity and racism in relation to Native Americans - and particularly how the issues arise around names of spons

teams. For those who don't understand the

offense taken by Indian people about derogatory team names, mascots and ac«ompanying behavior, this is a basic primer. It responds to the arguments most often used by those who are insensiti ve to the pain they are causing.

What's the point to all of this protesting? It's honoring the Indians.

Would you paint your face black, wear an Afro wig and prance around the foot­ball fi eld trying to imi tate your percep­tions of Black people? Of course not!

That would be insul ting to Black people, so why IS It okay to do it to Indians? (Tim Giago, Lakota ; Editor- in-chief The Lakota Times) ,

Shouldn ' t we protest the California Angels a nd the New Orleans Saints because they a re offensive to Christians?

When you go to one of their games and they are sell ing toy crucifi xes as sou­veni rs and every time the team scores the fans wave those crucifixes and a little mascot dressed li ke the Pope runs around and sprinkles holy water on all the drunks, then you should start protesting . . . and Indians will be right there beside you. (Clyde Bellecourt, Anishinabel; Director, American Indian Movement)

Aren' t there more important issues for Indian people to be worried about?

People of faith need to stand up and take this issue seri ously. The use of demeaning caricatures of American Indian people as "mascots" or logos for sports teams is morally wrong. It denies human beings the respect they deserve as brothers and sisters created in the image of God.

The church strongly opposes any use of racial stereotypes, especiall y for com-

mercial profit. The time has come to put an end to this form of racism in our soci­ety. (The Rt. Rev. Steve Charlston , Choctaw; Episcopal Bishop of Alaska)

This has been going on for years. Why didn 't the Indians protest when the symbols were adopted?

The issue that these logos and mascots offend has always been there. We have a chance to change it with respect to Indian people and be enlightened in the process. We don' t know our own racism in using these logos and mascots. (Rev. Marlene Whiterabbit Helgemo, Winnebago)

I know some Indians who think the logos are fine and· some even sell plas­tic tomahawks. Isn't it just a radical minority that is protesting?

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), as the voice of Indian Peoples and Tribal Governments, recog­ni zes the sovereignty and rights of each tribe to determine their own destiny. NCAI and other national and regional Indi an and non-Indian organizati ons strongly oppose the denigration and stereotyping of rich Indian cultures and heritage and do not sanction the pander­ing and pecuniary gain by those perpe­trat ing these negati ve images . Our sacred songs, dances, ceremoni es, languages and reli gions are precious to us as a peo-

PAGE 9

pie. (Gaiashkibos, Oji bwe; President, NCAI; Chairman , Lac Courte Orei lles Tribal Governi ng Board)

How does it harm Indian people? As a group of professional men tal

health providers, we are in agreement that using images of American Indians as mascots ... is damagi ng to the self- iden­tity, self-concept and self-es teem of our people. (American Indian Mental Health Associati on)

The issue of the Indian mascot has affected the perceptions of both Nati ve Americans and non-nat ives toward the image of Native American people, as well as leaving emoti onal and psycho­logical scars in those parents and stu­dents invol ved in the continuous struggle of unlearn ing Indian stereotypes. (Cornel Pewewardy, Comanche-Kiowa; Principal, American Indian Magnet Schoo l, St. Pau l, Min nesota)

What can I do to support Indian people and efforts to change attitudes and use of stereotypes?

1) Consult with local triba l leaders in you r area. 2) Write to HONOR, Inc., 2647 North Stowell Ave., Mil waukee, WI 53211 ; phone: (4 14) 963- 1324. 3) Write to local universities and schools that use Indian nicknames and mascots. 4) Write to the owners and commission­ers of national profess ional teams.

"This school reform plan gives the community a voice and a vote in the way their schools are run." "These are my kids . They deserve rea l change."

"More power should be given to princlpats, parents, teachers and students"

David Samboll n. Ed uca flon La wyer Eve lyn Brlganty, Parent Orga nizer Neshamah Dillard-M ail lard. Parent and Children's AdvocaTe

JOIN THE VOICES FOR SCHOOL CHANG~.

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GREATER PHILADELPHIA URBAN AFFAIRS COALITION

PAGE 10

INSIDE OUR CLASSROOMS • •• Pulling students in from the margins

Ending the culture of silence

by Debbie Wei As a community activist, educator,

and public school parent, I approach edu­cation as a means toward an end - the end being social justice. In the foreword fo r Paulo Friere's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Richard Shaulol writes:

"There is no such thing as a neutral ed ucational process. Education either functions as an instrument that is used to fac ilitate the integration of the younger ge nerati on into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it becomes 'the practice of freedom,' the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to

the hallway outside the door to watch how they would respond . Another stu­dent offered: "You' re mature when you grow up, go out on your own and stop dependi ng on your parents. You stand on your own two feet and you are indepen­dent." The teacher agreed this was an excellent defin ition and the class di scus­sion moved on.

My ESOL students sat silenced in the back of the room, afraid to gi ve voice to their own experiences and cultural reali­ty. What they had just heard - abandon­ing one's famil y and relinq uishing the responsibility to care for one 's parents, siblings and extended family members

participate in the transformation of

- was the epitome of immaturity in

'Equality' and 'liberty and their world view. their world."

1 am in the camp justice for all' ring hollow And yet, in the con­text of thi s educa­tional institution, they could only view their own cultural

that wants ed ucation to help create critical in the lives of so many of thinkers - an educa-tion that seeks to give our students. young men and women tools to understand and change what they see for the good of all .

Friere's work talks about " the culture of silence of the dispossessed." He rec­ognizes that oppressed peoples are silenced - not by choice but by being placed in a situation of economic, politi­cal, social and cultural domination. He recognizes that the ed ucational system is one of the major instruments used to maintain the culture of silence.

This silenci ng maintai ns a status quo built on inequities. Our greatest chal­lenge is to find ways to shatter the silence, to give our students voice.

One great area of silenc ing occurs in our communities through cultural. hege­many. As a child, I was led to believe that there was one great, standard c ul ture in America. But thi s culture has been largely informed by upper-class, male, Eurocentric values. Such values, sti ll in ex istence today, s ilence students in sim­ple yet profound ways.

For example, once as I was pass ing a classroom in a school on my way to lunch, I overheard a teacher pose a ques­tion to the class, " How do you define maturi ty?" Some of my ESOL students were sitt ing in the back and I paused in

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reality as abnormal and inferior.

The arts, as physical manifestation of our cultures, in a similar way often become marginalized. "Classical music and dance" bring to mind images of Beethoven and ballet. The rich heritage of other classical traditions - from Peking Opera to Khmer court dance -are soundly denied. And folk arts, suffer­ing the double denial of culture and class, are relegated to the land of the primitive, the underdeveloped, the quaint trappings of culture that become important only as fashi on trends, not as arti stic forms.

Teaching our studen ts to value the rich cultural heritages reflected in folk art

by Debbie Bambino What is science? Are you the scientif­

ic type? What do scientists look like? These are just a few of the questions I ask my new students each September. Sometimes I give them a survey to fi ll out, and sometimes they just discuss their answers, but they always illustrate their views of scientists. The pictures they draw speak very clearly for my stu­dents. Scientists do not look like them! Scientists are mostly male, mostly white and always nerdy. They wear white lab coats with pocket-protectors and they are always having a bad hair day.

After we get this image out on the table, I tell my kids that my goal is to help them change their minds about sci­entists. I tell them that science is the way to find out through experimenta­tion. I ask them what they know and how they know it. We talk about what they want to know and how we mi ght be able to find out about it. Besides all of this talking, we start doing "hands-on, minds-on" activities. We investigate mysterious substances like "oobleck," a green mixture that is wet and dry, solid and liquid. We observe "dancing corn" and come up with a reason for why and how it dances. We bury garbage and trash for sill months to see just how landfills really work. When the micro­scopes are brought out and kids are

SPRING 1996

Our classroom practices must give students the means to become critical thinkers.

clearly helps students see the mythology created by holding up one set of stan­dards as supreme above others. Seeing the beauty of traditional art forms, hear­ing the lyricism of poetry in a language denied and vilified by the majority cul­ture. dancing to the music that our ances­tors and forefathers and mothers found liberating to the spirit - all work their own form of magic on our children and serve to create voices. They break the silence.

1 grew up in a society in which to say "I am Asian American" was considered a radical statement. To say, 1 am Asian American and proud of it was downright revolutionary. And it was the arts of my people that led me to feel a sense of pride and put me on the path toward being a revolutionary I

Another source of silence for children is when the written word is a hammer of

allowed to use them, thc::,ir ellcitc::meni'is music tirpe they realize llkfl lte cubes or plant celIs look like brick potential medical r~~~rch .

We also invite goest scientists ,ntb our class and school. Guests who love science but don' t fit the"picture that we've gotten from 1V and the:movjes. We start making the math-science con­nection, recognizi ng that math is the lan­guage of science. The literature connec­tion is also made whe~ we do projects linked to the novels read in English class and examine mythology and sci­ence fiction for the wealth of scientific information that awaits us there.

Science starts to come to life for stu­dents when they become aWare of the role that it plays in every comer of their lives. When the food thai they eat becomes "chemical" and their bodies are viewed as the complell machines that they are. When their cosmetics are developed by "industrial chemists" and their favorite video games are designed by "computer engineers" or "program­mers." When they see faces like theirs in these occupations and all the branches of science and technology, then we can tap into the natural curiosity that will tum our kids into the scientifically liter­ate citizens that the 21 st century will require.

oppression. not a sword of liberation. They struggle at the boundaries of litera­cy, resisting reading and writing because to them, the written word represents all too often the oppressor: the bills past due, the eviction notices. Myths about "equality" and "liberty and justice for all" ring hollow in the lives of so many of our students . But through drawing and painting, music, dance, theater and poet­ry, students can begin to see themselves reflected in the world around them. They begin to see expression as a positive force - as something that they can con­trol and give voice to. I know of many times when the arts helped break the hold of chosen illiteracy and infused in stu­dents a passion for expression.

And finally, my personal experience as an ESOL teacher has shown me that stu­dents whose first language is not English are often silenced by an educational sys­tem that can't honor their skills, thoughts and dreams. Children such as these often spend years sitting in the back of rooms, silent, longing to sing songs of heroes and of hopes and pain or to express thoughts about osmosis, plate tectonics, and the nature of humankind - all held mute by the tyranny of language. I have seen the arts allow these students to express some of what they think and feel.

And so, to me, the arts and community acti vism, the arts and liberation peda­gogy are inseparable. Ultimately, our strugg le as educators must be to bring more of the community arts into our classrooms - more of the community itse lf into our classrooms. When educa­tion becomes real to our students -when it re fl ects their own li ved experi­ences - then I believe we will see, using today's words of the moment, our "chi l­dren achiev ing."

Spread the news Help dis tribute the Philadelphia

Public School Notebook. You can be a part of putting the Notebook in the hands of people across the cil y. Copies are avail able for di str ibution to yo ur school, community center, place of worsh ip, special publi c even t, or Home and School meeting.

Contact us at Public School Notebook, 3721 M idvale Ave., Ph il a. PA 19129. Phone: (215) 951-0330. Fax: (215) 95 1-0342

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SPRING 1996 - SCHOOL NOTEBOOK ,- ,

RE(iI)ER RESPONSE Act 26: More hurt than help To the editor:

Thank you very much for your limely article on Act 26, the Pennsylvania school weapons law that crimina li zes the possession of any sharp object (i .e., any­thing that can be "construed" as a weapon) or a weapon. It came to my attention the week following an incident at my sons' public school in which three of my friends' nine-year-old children were threatened with expUl sion, hand­cuffing, and arrest - later reduced to suspension - for a playground incident that pre-Act 26 would have resulted in a stern talking-to by the assistant princi ­pal. This resulted in the traumatization of all three. One child is still worried that Ihe police are coming to take him away from his mother forever.

I realized after this incident that my own ch ildren cou ld have been arrested and expell ed under Act 26 for innocent acts. The sharp scissors I sent to school

with my twelve-year-Old could be "con­strued" as a weapon, according to a note sent home by hi s middle school. The bread knife I sent to school with my nme-year-old along with a homemade Challah (sent to share our ethnic celebra­tions) would have been a weapon under Act 26 just by virtue of its being a knife. ~nd my fi,:e-year-old is always finding weapons ' m nature to play make­

believe, which is what the weapons were 111 the aforementioned incident with the three nine-year-Olds.

It is a mad world we live in when innocent children can be arrested at school for acts which would be crimes nowhere else. This law is so broadly wntten that it encompasses behavior that all children engage in. I, therefore, believe that it deprives our children of their civi l liberties and am sendino a copy of this letter along with you; article to the Philadelphia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and my representatives in the State Legislature in the hope that they will stand up for the children of this state.

Wendy Gosfield, parmt

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PAGE 11

[~~ Where's the fat~ Where's the dough? ~t $$'1 . Contest winners announced Laf1 Council budget hearings

In the winter edition of the Noteboo k, readers were invited to mail in suggestions for ways the District could "find the dough"

(( $ (obtaih additional funding) as well as "find the fat" (eliminate a'.;) %', $ wasteful use of scarce resources) Congratulations to the winners! ' ~-Ti.~

~~._' ","-< ' Winner: Where's the Dough? .. 'iir~0/~ ~\).)' _ .. Martha·M. Mo'sefy, NW Philadelphia: "Why not collect ten cents

$ ({~ per ticket [from professional sporting events] for our schools? c,~ 9 V Everyone knows about all the recent deal-making in the sports 'I, ~

(J: world and now theirs talk of another stadium for the Phillies. '~"'-. Clearly there is more than enough money being made by these '

• ~< sports teams that they can afford to cough up a little bit extra for :'.' our kids' sake."

$$~1 Winner: Where's the Fat? Car: ".? ... Mi lo Banning, Olney: " ... perhaps it's time to cut or eliminate

the millions in public money the state spends each year to subsi-m. dize services for re ligious schools. 0 )I;' '<!e' Honorable mention goes to Margot Kellor of North Philadelphia $0

who suggests the District seek additional dollars through an aggressive recycling campaign of materials used in the s choolS,

t~~ launch a student fundraising drive modeled on Pennies-For-The- ;-~~J V>,J Park, and rent out classrooms and schools buildings for use by <,<v

"j groups in the community. <: ill ~ Thanks to all who submitted suggestions! $ ill

~!e,~~ ~!l,~~~S~~!~ ~$~~!$

In early March City Council held hearings on the School District's bud­get.What was your impression a/these budget hearings?

Harry Clement',parent, Carver High School fo r Engineering and Science: "It seems City Council wants hard proof that the reform plan will work before they wi ll push for more fund ing. The reform plan is a good one; but unless the money is there, we wi ll never know. They seem to be trying to blame Hornbeck for not providing a plan which is guaranteed not to fai l. "

Debra E. J ohnson, parent, Rowen Elementary: "I think it was a worth­while effort to participate. The people needed the opportunity to voice their opinion. I am not sure City Council was as interested as they needed to be. They seemed to take the whole process too nonchalantly. Mr. Street and members of the Council consistently said they did not have the power to get the money that the School District needed; however, I am confident they do have enough

Architect's renderin of a 12-classroom annex for grades K-2 to be built behind the Fi.nletter School a t Fr~,nt St. .and GOdfrey Ave. in Oln~ . The earliest projected completion date is Sep tember, 1996. ThiS ~rawl n g , dubbed The LI.tt1e Schoolh " . Y . n lanned for several othe r elementary school sites to relieve overcrowd tn g. The t °duse: IS a prot~type for construcdtlo

l ~ I ded in the "Schoolhouse" are des igned to serve up to 12 class rooms .

s an ardlzed plumbing and HVAC mo u es tnC u

power and influence to do so and they are not u ing it."

Cynthia Johnson, caregiver, Mann Elementary and Lea Elementary: " I had some good reactions. The groups who came out acted very well. I feel as though fohn Street is not going 10 give the School District any money, and r think Hornbeck has a very good idea about Children Achieving. Some of the programs scheduled to be cut are target­ed to get the public 's attention. We need the money and I think we need to go to Harrisburg in order to get it."

Alfred Muslaski, parent, Central East Middle School: "I was very pleased to see the participation and very disappointed in some of the responses from the Council. I hope that different people can get together and try the Harrisburg route to petition them for more funding. I feel that not enough is being done. [t is time that more thought is given to the teaching of our children today because our children are the par­ents of tomorrow."

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PAGE 12 SCHOOL NOTEBOOK SPRING 1996

School supporters pack the chambers

'Full funding for full reform'

Pho.os: Fred Eng"

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