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PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC SCHOOL N OTEBOOK

FALL 1994 "TURNING THE PAGE FOR CHANGE" ·::.@ _VOLUME 2 • UMBER I

Report blasts School District's failure Experts call for system overhaul

by Chip Smith that the Team's report is on target in its A refonn plan for Philadelphia findings ."

schools issued by an expert education While commending the many individ-panel on September 15 describes a uals and programs working hard to edu-school system in crisis, failing all its cate the city's kids, the seven experts on children, but especially those in racially the Education Team found individual isolated schools, and recommends sys- efforts swamped by the overall '·dys-tem-wide, fundamental reform. functional" organization of the school

The report was pre- district. pared by the seven mem- Their 40 reconunenda-ber Education Team for The main obsta- tions turn the system on its Commonwealth Judge [ t h head, and range from uni-Doris Smi th, who will C e 0 C ange versal full-day pre-kinder-

accept public testimony has been a lack garten through standards through October 25 and keyed to all high school

then issue her own plan of "public will." graduates having jobs or ma ru lmg later tl11s fall. 'J places m college.

The report calls for a massive infu- One of the core components is a sion of money into the district to pay for transfer of authority-and 85% of the much smaller class sizes, extensive resources-to School Councils made up train ing for teachers and parents, of parents and staff in each school. expanded early chi ldhood programs and Regional offices are abolished. The improved facilities. Central District is recast ia the role of

Superintendent: "Report on Target" Philadelphia' s new Superintendent,

David Hornbeck, unites with the find­ings. "I applaud the Team's decision to pull no punches," he stated in his September 26 remarks to the School Board.

"Let me say as emphatically as I can

Parents press demands for improvement.

Unity in the community

serv ice-provider. Underlying the report is a commit­

ment to equal outcomes for all the city 's children. Virtually all the city's institu­tions-from business to higher educa­tion to government agencies - are asked to play a role in assuring that every child becomes a productive mem­ber of society.

Sheppard parents show their power This interview by Cindy Engst,for

the Public School Norebook, is with Angelina Rivera. a leader with the Sheppard Parenr Association, a leader­ship ream organized by the Easrern Philadelphia Organizing Projecr . Ms. Rivera has 3 children who are currently attending the Sheppard Elementary School. She is also a graduate of rhe Sheppard School.

Sheppard Elemenrary School is local­ed at Howard and Cambria. Ir is a K-4 school that has abour 550 students. The building will be 100 years old in 1997.

Notebook: How long has the Sheppard Parent Association been in existence and what issues are you

involved with? Ms. Rivera: The Sheppard Parent's

Association was fom1ed about I J/2 years ago . Since then we've had two big acti ons.

Our first action was to get a full time police officer at the elementary school. It showed us how much power we actu­ally had.

Five hundred people turned out for a public action at the school. to demand a full time police officer at the school. The children wrote and performed their own play about the drug situation around the school.

Our elementary school kids didn't

See "Sheppard parents" on p. 7

Our students are ready to learn. Will our schools get the resources they need?

The original charge to the Team grew out of Judge Smith's February 4, 1994, ruling challenging the inadequate educa­tion provided in racially isolated schools. The report makes clear, howev­er, that the failure extends well beyond these 134 schools. A lack of commit­ment to early childhood education, little or no professional development, inade­quate supplies and broken-down faci li­ties, and a Jack of accountability run

Unidad en la comunidad

throughout the system. But in each case conditions are worse

in racially isolated schools. Central to the proposed changes is the

placing of power in the hands of parents and staff at each school. School Councils will have the responsibility -and the authority-to assess their school 's functioning, design instruction­al programs, set the budget and allocate

See "Panel" on p. 8

La asociacion de padres de escuela Sheppard muestra su poder

Public School Notebook, (Cindy Engst) hizo la siguieme e/llrevisra con Angelina Rivera, w1a /fder de la Asociaci6n de Padres de la Escue/a Sheppard. La Sra. Rivera riene rres hijos que acr11almenre asisren a la Escue/a Sheppard. La Sra Rivera rambien se gradu6 de la misma esc11ela.

La Escue/a Sheppard se 11bica e11 la esqui11a de Howard y Cambria. Sirve aproximadamew e 550 11i1los enrre kinder y el cuarro grado. En 1997, el edificio cumplira cien aiios .

Notebook: ;.Por cuanto tiempo ha existido La Asociaci6n de Padres de Sheppard? En cuales asuntos se enfo­ca?

Sra. Rivera: La Asociaci6n de Padres de Sheppard se fonn6 hace un aiio y medio. Desde entonces, bemos hecho dos acciones grandes.

Nuestrn primera acci6n se hizo para conseguir un policia de jornada comple­ta en la escuela. Para mf, fue una acci6n muy buena. No mostr6 cuanto poder realmente tenemos.

500 personas llegaron para una reuni6n publica en la escuela, para exigir que un policia fuese asignado todo e l dia alrededor de la escuela. Los niiios escri­bieron y dramatizaron en la forma de teatro la situaci6n de las drogas acerca de la escuela. lnterpretaron un tiroteo en

que mataron a una persona inocente. Los niiios en nuestrn escuela primaria

no tenian solamente "fire drills" como los otros niiios. Ellos tenian '"Code Purple drills". Esto pas6 cuando empez­aba un tiroteo aJrededor de la escuela. Todas las esquinas cerca de la escuela son esquinas donde se vende las drogas. El princ ipal, en el pasado, gritaria "Code Purple'' en el patio de la escuela. y los

See "Unidad" on p. 12

What's inside: Special education, a mother's story ....................... .... ................... 3

Broken promises, more budget cuts ................................... 4

Student work ................................ 5

Interview with the new superintendent ............. ...... .......... 6

Education Team report: ei.cerpts, timeline, responses .............. ...... 8,9

Teaching tip .............................. 16

En espanol: Entrevista con el neu' o superin-tendente ...................................... 12

Los diez puntos educati vos del superintendente ......... ................. J 2

PAGE2

"Turning the page for change"

·\ voice for parent,, students, and class­J room teacher.s who are working for quali ty

and equa lity in our schools. We 're puttmg together a School

'\'otebook 10 ro.1er exchange . discussion and organtzmg between the many people and organitations working for positi ve change in our school . Our city needs to hear our voices. Join u,.

Advisory Board Wilfredo ROJO\. Na11onal Congress for Puerto Rican Rights \ !al) Yee. Asian Americans United Debbie Wei. Steering Comm. :\'ationaJ Coali11on of Educational Activbts Eugene Wi lliams. Robert Fulton Parents A'"oc1auon Enuly St) le. Co-Director National !

S EE D ProJCCt Seekmg Educa11onal Equ ll) and D1vers1ty

I Colleen Davis. LULAC Education Project Rochelle ;\1chols Solomon North Ph1!a Community Compact for College Access and Success

I S.hafi.1k Abu-Tahir. New African Voices Alliance Efra in Roche. Community Focus ;\ewspaper Len Reiser. Education Law Center

Working Group Cindy Engst. Helen Gym. Eric Joselyn. Pat Lowe. Myrtle L. aylor, Chip Smith. Paul Socolar.

Philadelphia Public School Notebook is a project of the New Beginnings program of Resources For Human Development. We publish four times a year. Send mquires to School Notebook. 3721 Midvale Av .. Phila., PA 191 29. Phone: ('.! 15 ) 951-0330.

Special Thanks . ..

Public School Notebook wishes to 1hank all of our subscribers. production and distribution volunteers. Key support came from Kathy Fleming, Joan Winfield, and Fred's computer. Special 1hanks for th is issue are due to the Bread and Roses Community Fund and our advenisers for their financial support.

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SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

state Legislature~

The team got it right The report prepared by Judge Doris Smith 's Education Team, together with the new

Superintendent David Hornbeck' s program Children Achieving, provides a clear blue­print for reforming the city's schools. The report also gives an unflinchingly acc urate description of the conditions our ch ildren must face each day as they struggle to get an education. Parents, teachers-indeed everyone concerned wi th the furure of the city-should take heart from these proposals. The potential benefits for all of us are unmeasurable if all children in the city are one day prepared to lead productive, fulfill­ing lives.

That we have a plan is a start. Whether it is implemented is another matter. Opinions differ as ro what power Judge Smith has. Can she force through changes when the state legislature and city leaders are unwill ing to provide the fundi ng required to implement the change? The Education Team itself makes the point that reforms will fail if the public wi ll is not mobilized to see them to completion.

A number of public officials have aligned themselves with the report's findings, but when it comes to implementation they backtrack with comments like how much more can be done without new money. We've all heard this before, and it won' t wash. If our leaders won 't lead now when real leadership is required, then we need new leaders.

Small class size: no small matter It is essential that the core reforms in the Education Team's plan be implemented.

Not the ones that cost the least or ruffle the least feathers. The ones that will have the greatest impact on our children's learning. Universal pre-school and full -day kinder­garten programs. Equal outcomes tied to rea l-world employment and higher educa­tion. without dependence on the military.

Safe schools, in good repair, with enough books and computers. And - a key com­ponent that deserves strong parent and community support- smaller class sizes , espe­cially in the early years.

Reducing class size is a contentious issue. It costs money, potentially lots of money. Superintendent Hornbeck gives it little weight in his Children Achieving agenda. John _Street, president of City Council , has been quoted as advocating classes of up to 50 ch1ldr~n per teacher. And the union is painted as self-serv ing in raising the issue at contract time and in fighting against "flexible" class sizes.

The bonom line, by our reckoning, is not the cost but what works for children. Surveys that review all the research on class size have repeatedly concluded that small­er classes are linked to greater achievement. Dramatic improvement results when classes are brought below 20. A 1990 survey finds particu lar benefits for kindergarten and first graders, and for children of color compared to white children.

Depending on the design of a particul ar study or its location, an individual researcher may find no connection between class size and ach ievement. This fact leads some, including a recent Inquirer artic le, to claim that there is confusion in acad­emic circles on the subject. But the weight of the evidence as a who le, as accounted for_m surveys of research literature, supports smaller classes, especia ll y for children in racially isolated schools.

The weight of practice does as well. Just check out the sizes of classes in well-t -d suburbs and private schools. 0 0

Wake up, Eddie . Ou~ ~ayor calls the report of Judge Smith's educational team "unnecessaril es-

s1m1st1c . _He ~.ays the task of reforn1ing our schools is "much less daunting th~npthe report depicts. Does he now foresee the day that he would be pre ared to . . own son into the system from private school? Somehow, we dou:r it switch his

Mr. Rendell agrees that we need to lobby the state for more . · . need well over $300 million. How does our city's lead aid. The repo1 t says we "l 'm not expecting $300 million from the state" th er gear us up for the battle? before he ' s lifted_a finger. Perhaps the Mayor'~ mo~em~~~~::t~hes, conceding defeat to you 1f your v1s1on of Philadelphia's future revolves aroun approach makes sense and gambling on the Delaware. With a more modest school~;~;~ hotels, restaurants probably rurn out enough high school graduates to make all th program, we can ers, and even. m_ake change in the casinos. Some of us have hi ose beds, fl ip those burg-

Judge Smith s educational team and Superintendent H . gher hopes, however. and clear that Philadelphians need to insist on qual i edu~nbeck. have both said loud a lot more dollars. Mayor Rendell hasn't gotten the %essa ation, and that 1t will require syste": good enough for Mayor Rendell 's child, yours anle yet. We need a school our children for meaningful work and li ves. ours - one that prepares all

FALL 1994

Who ya' gonna can? This is a partial listing of loca l groups involved in advocar111g for educat ional change. There are n~an~ other organizati ons we were unable to list 111 this issue. Send yo_ur list ing lo Public School No1ebook, 372 1 Midvale Ave .. Philadelphia, PA 19129.

Asian Americans United Contact: Ken Hong, 925-1538 Focuses on equ ity issues involving Asian stu-

~:~~ ~~ :~~:;~~~~romotes multi-culntral, an ti-

AS Pl RA Contact: Delia Reverson, 923-2717 Infom1s and involves parents and students in school reform and the educational equ ity process.

Citizens Committee on Public Education in Philadelphia Contact: Gail Tomlinson, 545-5433 114 year-old civic group advocating for qual­ity education for all chi ldren. Serves as cata­lyst for and monitor of School Dis"·ict policies. Educational Quality (E-Quality) Contact: Cindy Engst, 329-2687 Membershi p organization of parents. teach­ers, students, community activ ists. Committed to action for schools that work for all students.

Educators' Roundtable Contact: Mary Randall, 842-08 14 Works to insure promotion of Blacks within school system and to address the concerns of minority students.

Fight the Right Network, Schools/Youth Working Group Contact: Maggie Hei neman, 849-4326 Community-based coalition to fight the Religious Righc 's attempts in Pennsylvania to control education issues.

LU LAC National Educational Service Center Contact: Nancy Alvarez, 423 -48 11 Provides programming and support services to students and parents in the Latino commu­nity of Philadelphia.

National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights Contact: Wi lfredo Rojas, 425-6150 Un ites with other groups to promote educa­tional opportunity for African-Americans, Asians, Latinos. women and working class whites.

New African Voices Alliance Contact: Bahiya Cabral, 472-4024 Local alliance of social change organizations, emphasizing youth issues fro m birth to adult.

North Phi ladelphia Community Compact Contact: Rochelle ichols Solomon, 739-9340 Partnersh ip between North Philadelphia high schools, colleges and commun ity organiza­tions. Working to significantly improve stu­dent achievemenr outcomes.

Parents' Union for Public Schools Contact: Sarah Gi lliam, 546-1166 Info1ms and educates parents, helps them become active participants in school reform process. Offers parent resource center.

Parents United for Better Schools Contact: Veronica Joyner, 844-5525 Educates parents of their rights and fac ilitates parent participation in the schools.

PATHS/PRISM Contact: Les ley Easley, 665-1400 Non-profi t public education fund supporting school reform in Philadelphia

PFT Community Outreach Committee Contact: Ron Whitehome, 342-6926 Union initiative to build a teacher-comm uni­ty alliance.

Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth Contact: Jane Malone. 563-5848 Tnfonnation c l earinghouse~ reports on truan­cy and budgets; has school by school data: genera l data on ch ildren, children's services.

Philadelphia Futures Contact: Marciene Mattleman, 790-1666 Works to motivate students ro stay in school. prepare for college and careers. Runs Sponsor-a-Scholar program.

Philadelphia Interfaith Action Con tact: Gary Rodwell, 329-8804 Network whose education committee is doing leadership training to prepare for com­munity organizing on school reform.

Philadelphia Parents of Down's Syndrome Contact: Hana Sabree, 242-950 I Network of parents who meet ro share infor­mation, resources on Down's Syndrome and provide support for parents around inclusion and IEP issues.

Philadelphia S.E.E.D. Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) Contact: Myrtle Naylor, 248-4834 . Parents, teachers, school staff and corn.munif ty members working towards the creauon ° multicultural curriculum and school clmiate.

FALL

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FALLJ994

A Mother's Story

Special education: bastion of apartheid

by Hana Sabree Special education has become the last

bastion of apartheid.

PAGE3

Children across the state of Pennsy lvania are still needlessly segre­gated by busing, by classrooms and by schools. As the mother of a specia l needs student, I have watched my own son suffer from the segregation in our schools. I have experienced a consistent pattern and practice to steer my child into a tracked and limited educational career.

suffered. Even as a tenth grade student, Hassan ha essentially been taught the same 25 ight words he has had since the first grade. Simi larly, his mathematics education still consists of learning basic counting ski lls. He has never been taught basic operations sk ills such as addition or subtraction. 1 have had to fight to have Hassan learn how to tell time beyond the hour and ha lf-ho ur. He has rarely had any homework. In addi­tion, he has had no health or sex educa­tion in his classes.

Action for safety. Parents demonstrate for a crossing guard at the 5th and Cayuga School.

Hassan's Story Hassan Adib Sabree is 14 years o ld

and currently a tenth grade student at Roxborough High School. He is labeled as Trainable Mentally Retarded (TMR) and is in a Li feskills support class .

Hassan has been educated in a segre­gated environment since the first grade when he was displaced from his neigh­borhood school because the school did not provide TMR classes.

He was bused to another school on a bus separate from the other students. Once at school, he was hustled through a separate entrance. He was not allowed to play in the school yard with other children; he had a separate recess. During school hours, he never mingled with non-special education children in his classes, even in gym when he could participate meaningfully with the other students.

Not only has Hassan's social environ­ment been poor. his education has also

Fighting for inclusion

Like many special needs children, Hassan has an Individual Education Plan (TEP) which outlines how he is supposed to be educated. I have found the IEP is more like an EEP, "Everybody Else Plan." For example, I have requested numerous times that Hassan be taught to read. I have been to.Id just as often th at, "Everybody knows a Down's Syndrome child can't read." I have been di scour­aged by the schools from placing Hassan in an Educable Mentally Retarded class­room where he could get reading skills.

Even when an order is written into an IEP, there is no guarantee the school will follow the plan. At Emlen Elementary School. , Hassan, in accordance with his IEP, was supposed to have integrated gym classes twice a week. The school did not oblige this minimal request until I threatened to fil e a due process complaint.

Take Charge Parents of special needs 'students need

to take charge of their children's educa-

t.ion . When Hassan was in middle school , I decided that my son should not take a separa te bus to school , but take public transportation instead. Despite strong objections from school personne l. I fe lt Hassan could not learn the commu­niry by being separated from it. I want­ed him to learn how to behave socially in public, how to ask for directions, and how to pay attention when traveling. Hassan has been successfu ll y using pub­lic transportation and is very proud of his independence.

I have accepted the fact that, despite my strong belief that integration is important for many special needs stu­dents, it would be difficult at this point to mainstream Hassan into a high school curri culum.

I accept this for Hassan but not for students and fami lies who are beginning early in the specia l education system. Knowing what I know now, I would have insisted that Hassan be main­streamed upon entry into t.he public school s. Education is supposed to pre­pare you for life after high school. The TMR curriculum is not preparing

Hassan for anything. I have had to do the work of the schools.

Segregation in pecial education pro­grams has left chi ldren bankrupt emo­tionally and socially by denying them interaction wi th their peers and by deny­ing them goa ls and opportunities to learn. Segregation has also denied non­special education children the opportuni­ty to become more diverse and more knowledgeable about differently-abled students.

I am now teaching Has an how to read. Th is summer, he took three buses to Holy Family College for a reading/ writing program with non-special educa­tion chi ldren. The personnel at Holy Fami I y did not tell me, "Down's Syndrome ch ildren can' t learn to read." They didn ' t ay, "You're TMR: you can't use the computer." They just did what they did with the other children, modifying where needed.

I cannot go back in time for Hassan, but I can make it better for other children by forewarning parents to avoid the apartheid that is special education.

Lawsuit demands access for special ed students For most students, choosing a high

school presents a seemingly end less array of academic, vocational and orga­nizational offerings. It's a different story for the 6,000-plus special needs students in the district.

Parents of special needs students are charging that their children are den ied access to specialized high school oppor­tuni ties . Thi s includes schools-within­schools like charters, magnet and moti­vation programs, and academies. In July, parents filed a class action lawsu it against the di strict on behalf of the city's high school-aged special education stu­dents .

Leonard Reiser, an attorney with the Education Law Center representing the pla intiffs, said district procedures thwart many attempts by special needs students to enter specia lized high school pro­grams.

"The district procedures are set up so they work against a child and do nor help the child in any way," Rei ser said. 'T hey (the students and famili es) are left to fend for themselves."

Most speci al education students end up at the comprehensive high school s. Only 10 percen t of a ll charter students are enrolled in special education classes for a significant period of time, accord­ing to a 1994 Philadelphia Schools Collaborative report. In academies and district magnet schools. the percentage of spec ial needs students is 2.2 percent 0.7 percent respectively.

Special needs students make up about 15 percent of Philadelphia 's high school

students. The special needs category includes any student with a di sabiliry, such as a learning disability, sensory impairment, mental retardation , or emo-

"' tional problem. Specialized programs are proliferating

throughout the district as a key compo­nent of high school improvement strate­gy. Over 60 percent of the district' s high school-aged students are registered in charter programs alone. According to the complaint, studies show that students in

are unaware of charter options and the magnet and motivation programs provid­ed by the various high schools.

"What doesn' t happen is that the team says there's a whole range of high school options," Reiser said. "It i not the business of special education people to be brokers of high school programs."

The district 's booklet li sting high school options is noticeably silent on whether a school accepts specia l needs students, and, if the school does. the

"The district procedures are set up so they work against a child and do not help the child in any way. They are left to fend for themselves."

specialized programs perform better than their peers at the comprehensive high schools.

Typica lly, when a spec ial education student is ready to enter high school, an Individual Education Plan (IEP) team meets to discuss the student's options. District guidelines state that the team consist of a teacher, counselor and pro­gram superv isor. According to Reiser. problems occur because the IEP team meets in the spring, long after the fal l app lication deadlines for most high schoo l programs.

In addition , many IEP team members

- Leonard Reiser, Ed11c01ion Law Cell/er

admissions process for that student. Personnel at t.he annual high school fair also frequently claim ignorance of their own high school' s acceptance criteria and admissions procedures for chi ldren with disabilities or special needs.

Reiser sa id one high school fair repre­sentati ve told him it would be illegal for her chool to accept a student with spe­cial needs since the school was not pre­pared to provide the student with special services. lronically, the 1975 Individual with Disabi lities Education Act states that it is illegal for a school not to pro­vide services to a special needs student

if that student can otherwise partic ipate in the program.

Some of the district' s special pro­grams and schools also have admis ions criteria, such as standardized test scores, which may exclude special needs stu­dents. Some special needs students do not take standardi zed tests ..

Reiser said many special needs stu­dents can participate successfully in spe­cialized programs with the appropriate support. For example. a student with a learning disability may need more help in language classe , but may do well in an arts program; a student with an emo­tional problem may require counseling but may need relatively little academic support.

Reiser noted that Limited English Proficient (LEP) students are also denied opportunities to participate at the spe­cialized high schools. The lawsuit does not name LEP students as part of the plaintiff team. but Reiser said it was clear that LEP st udents cannot partici­pate in these programs because the schools fail to provide LEP erviccs.

Reise r said the Education Law Center is currently collecting information from the School District and individuals who have had experience with the rrocess. A trial elate has been set for February.

The Ed11ca1io11 Lall' Cen1a wo11lcl like pare111 and communilv i11p111 011 1/1e spe­cial ed11ca1io11 process as ii re/ares w high school·a[;ed s111de111s. If rnu hare experiences or i11fornw1io11 IO shan•, COlllacr rhe t.LC al (!15) ns-6970

PAGE ./

Now you' refunded, now you' re not

Broken pro-• mises mean

deeper cuts for schools

by Paul Socolar Jr ' sfall in Philadelphia - rime again

ro make do with less. Ar Fels High School, teachers reporr­

ed classes with 70 or more srudenrs on rhe roll rile firsr day of school, and 50-60 srudenrs in auendance.

Ar 13 other schools. musical instru­ments gather dusr: srudents who were learning ro play instruments have no one to teach them this year.

Still feeling the gaping wounds from $91 million in budget cuts a year ago, the School District is under the budget ax again this year- despite local politi­cians' promises that money wou ld be found to avert most of the cuts.

The cutbacks have hit hard in areas such as instrumental music. high school adm inistrative staff and teacher allot­ments. and availability of substitute teachers.

Adding further injury is a second con­secutive year of severe reductions in supplementa l funds to schools from the federal government - funds that are separate from the district's basic operat­ing budget. These federal cuts in Philadelphia's Chapter One program have wiped out 173 positions for teach­ers, classroom assistants and other staff - primarily in schools based in low income communities.

Promises, Promises The school board adopted a general

operating budget with $29 mi ll ion in planned cuts last spring, but they also got a commitment from Mayor Ed Rendell , City Council President John Street, and Board President Rotan Lee to join forces and find $30 million in addi ­tional revenues so that the cuts could be restored. To date, only about one-third of that revenue has been obtained, and so programs have been cut.

Last May, Street said, "We 're going to deliver the funds that are necessary in order to avoid the necessity of budget cuts."

Street, Rendell and Lee came together at that time to support a $30 million bailout package for the schools that included a city liquor tax; additional city revenues from fees on hospitals and un i­versities or from the planned sale of a city asset such as the Civic Center; and $10 million more in aid from the stare.

All three leaders agreed last spring that further cuts would be devastating.

"The mayor. council president and board president are our on a limb saying they will work togerher to solve these problems." Rendell's chief of staff David L. Cohen said last spring about their commitment.

But the added funds that have materi­alized <,ince then total only $9.8 million, according 10 Mark Spector. assistant finance director for the School District.

Both the \1ayor's office and Council President Street declined to comment on this shortfall.

The li4uor tax. \\hich wa<, approved last spring and" 111 take effect in Jan­Ual). is pro.1ected to raise 53.9 million b} the end of the school year. Spector said he expects the tax will raise $13.7 million for the 1995-96 school year.

The current state budget included a 1.3 million increase maid for

Looking with hope to the future.

Phi ladelphia schools. In addition, the School District was able to negotiate a one-time advance of $4.6 mi llion from the state for transportation expenses .

"[Superintendent] Hornbeck has been instrumental in getting those addi ti onal fu nds from the state," Spector comment­ed . He also maintained that city officials have made "a good faith effort" to get more money for the schools.

But the city itself has failed to provide any additional reven ue for schools since the passage last spring of the tax on liq uor by the dri nk. Some critics of the tax, such as City Council members David Cohen and Angel Ortiz, had pre­dicted as much; they described the tax as a token gesture designed to get local elected officials off the hook for provid­ing more school funding.

The city has failed to generate any money from the sale of an asset; negoti­ations between the City and the University of Pennsylvania about the Civic Center have stalled.

Efforts by the Ci ty to start collecting payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) from large non-profit institutions have not yet produced any income. Spector said the School District is not now budgeting any income from PILOTs.

However, the city expects to announce agreements this fa ll with some large non-profits that wi ll be making payments or providing free services to the city in lieu of taxes, according to Greg Rost, deputy mayor for policy and planning. The School District will receive more than half of any revenue generated from the PILOTs, Rost added.

The additional revenues obtained by the School District fro m the liquor tax and the state did foresta ll the planned elimination of several popular programs like parent cooperative nurseries, muse­um education, exception-to-policy bus routes, after-school recreation programs and Community High School.

Even so, serious damage to these pro­grams had already occurred. Experienced. key staff people in pro­grams like the parent cooperative nurs­eries and museum ed ucation have lefr they did not wait around to see if thei; layoffs would be rescinded. Families with children who depend on these pro­grams were left in limbo for weeks or months, forcing them to seek other options.

The Music Stopped The failure to find more money for

the schools is wreaking havoc on the School District's instrumental music

program. T he program has lost 12 fu ll­time teachers as well three administra­tors. As a result, 52 schools have scaled back their instrumental music programs, and the fu ture of the six regional music

festivals is in jeopardy. T he 12 "itinerant class instrumental

High Schools Hit Hard

FALLJ994 -Admini strative staff in the high

schoo ls were another target of the curs. Pos1t1ons for 35 secretaries were elimi­nated; schools no w have one secretary for every 400 students. T his was cou­pled with the elimination of 42 depart­ment heads, whose reduced teach ing role a llows them to p lay an admini strative role in areas like rostering.

Philadelphi a Federation of Teachers treasurer Jack Ste inberg, said the high school cuts are so di sruptive that "it has us asking when school will really start for high school students."

The district also cut teacher allot­ments at high schools with low atten­dance rates. When more students show up for school, these schools find they are understaffed, as Fels High School did.

One of the largest cutbacks was a $ 1.7 mi llion reduction in funds for sub­stitute teachers, increasing the chances that no substitute will be available when a teacher is absent. The cut al so means much less opportunity for teachers to do professional development work, such as observing programs at other schools or organizing special activities themselves .

Cuts to schools rece iving fundin g from the federal Chapter One program approximate $6.8 million , according to Carmen Gaspero, Manager of Categor ical Finance for the School District . The positions cut as a resul t incl ude 52 teachers and 108 classroom and instructional aides, Gaspero said .

According to Philadelphia Federation

The school board got a commitment from Rendell, Street and Lee to find $30 million in additional revenues so that the cuts could be restored. Only one-third of that has been obtained. music teachers" who were cut provided lessons and led musical ensembles at 78 schools, according to music teacher John Zisk, who has been organizing teachers and parents to restore the cuts. Instrumental teachers served anywhere from three to eight schools, but teachers who fonnerly covered three to five schools have now been given more schools to cover, Zisk said.

Criticizing the cuts, Zisk comment;;;i,-­"There' s no respect for the fact that music promotes self-pride. It' s anti­violence, and it really motivates kids to come to school. "

Dozens of parents, students and teachers took their opposition to the music cutbacks to the September 26 school board meeting. Superintendent Hornbeck said the School District has no fu nds available and called on the protest­ers to take political action to demand more fund ing for the School District. Hornbeck made no specific commit­ments to support the instrumental music program.

of Teachers' grievance coordinator Linda Harri s, Chapter One cuts have caused the layoff of 80 classroom assistants, pri­marily in elementary schools. Reading teachers and librarians have been elimi ­nated at some schools, she added.

Harris observed that the overall bud­get constraints have also stalled initia­tives like expanding full-day kinder­garten. While the District is attempting to e liminate the waiting list for kindergarten this year, many of the programs are half­day only. Pre-school and Head Start are also areas that have been hit by past bud­get problems and are still suffering.

Echoing Hornbeck' s call for political action, Harris urged parents to "voice your concerns to the School Board and Superintendent, City Council and Mayor."

Last year's massive budget cuts failed to produce a political uproar in Philade lph ia. It remains to be seen whether thi s year local organizations, teachers, parents and students can ri se to the challenge of buildi ng a popul ar mobilization aga inst the budget cuts.

College going should be a c hoice for a ll young peo­ple. The partners of the North Phila de lp hia Community COMPACT believe that with consol idated resources, committed leadership and a community-wide focus on results, more fami lies in North Phi ladelphia w ill realize the dream of seeing their children graduate from college.

i11ilitll't1111 111 for College !II

Access and Success

North Philadelphia Community Compact

Roche lle Nic hols Solomon. Director The Lighthouse 152 West Lehigh Avenue Philadelphia . PA 19133 (2 150 7 39-9340

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Memories of ... My first home

Sometimes I remember about myself in the first times . I think I was about four or five years old.

In those days, Cambodia had a war. Every Cambodian men in the family had to go away from their fam ily to be a sol­diers. They went to fi ght for a war.

When Cambod ia has a war, the people have to leave their homes. We has to leave our home because the war came close to our village. If we doesnit leaves, we can get killed. Some people taking clothes, some people taking food and some people taking noth ing except themselves. Everybody had to find a new place to live.One night there was loud noise sound and some houses got fire. People die, some breaking their legs or hands off from their body. Red blood on some place. People crying. People losing their parents or parents Jost their children. My mom took me and my sister to find another place to live. I had to leave my old home.

I was walking after my mom and holding my mom shirt. I did not take my hand away, or I would get lost. I have walk many days, many nights to find a new place to li ve. At nights, I had walked and stepped on nail s and stepped on the water with mud. I walked past many tall grass . In the night it was so

dark. Nobody had flashlights, some peo­ple have no candlelight. My mom have nothing but ourselves.

Then , l saw a biggest truck I ever saw that in my life. It was a man and hi s wife. That man was very kind. He let the people ride on his truck and go to find a new place to live

After many days, we all found a new place to li ve. That place was called SIDE-B. Everybody making a new home lived in SIDE-B. I have find my new home in SIDE-B. -by Samnang Sem, a 6rh grade

srudenr ar JR . Lowell Elemenrary School

My first home When I was eight years old the weath­

er in Nigeria was bad. It was always hot and there was no air conditioning. The houses in Nigeria were made out of mud. When it rains, the houses got muddy. Sometimes when it rains badly, some of the houses would fall apart. The people would stay in and pray to God so the rain would stop. I lived with my Grandmom and all my cousins. I sleep in one room with my big brothers. Sometimes my sister will go to my grandfa therfs house because it was too crowded in the house.

- by Abdullah Jamiu. a 6rh grade srudenr ar JR. Lowell Elemenrary School

Forget the storybook family Forget the storybook fami ly - that is a mom and dad, two kids and a house. All

wrong! To have a fa mily, you need a guardian , no matter if it is your mom or dad, aunt or uncle, stepdad or stepmom. Then you need children, no matter what age or size, any number from one to one hundred. Then you need love and understanding. You need a relationship. You need to be able to talk to each other. You donit need to be in a big mansion with a big yard. Forget that! You can be in a sandy desert, li ving in a hut, and rest assured, therefs a family that loves each other in there. Sure some families live the typical storybook li ves like on !Full House,! but not most. The bot­tom line is a family loves each other and accepts each otheris way of living.

- by Denise Donaghy, J.R . Lowell Elemenrary, 4rh grade

PAGES

My teachers are trying to kill me by Chris McNatr, student, Olney High School

My teachers are trying to kill me with tons of reports and tests. One more report and I will be exhausted from Jack of rest.

In my Engli sh class I have a report due. T go to Biology and now th ere are two.

Then on to wretched American History. Lo and behold, now there are three.

All assigned the same day, all due tl1e same week: one more report and I'll jump in the creek.

To the library I go for the books that I need. T" s so tired from carryi ng them that l can't even read.

So procrastinate do I till the due date is near. Then I work fast driven by fear.

Seven days before the due date, 1 get a report in Geometry and yet another for history.

I'll fai l three classes if I don'tfin ish these reports. Now fi ve reports due and no time to waste

So I read and I write and I type in great haste. .. Oh no! My god! The computer just died!

AU my work is gone !" I lay down and cried. For all of these problems. the only explanation cou ld be

that a ll of my teachers are trying to kill me 1

Self Portraits Self Portraits If P

I really don ' t like my head because it is kind of long. I have teak eyes , they are ro und and my eyebrows are very

dark. My nose is rounded at the tip and its not very big or long. l have rectangu­lar sized ears wirh a li ttle poin t at the top. My hair is dark fawn and it's cut in a fade. The co lor of my body is light russet and I would say my skin is smooth . .

I have respect for the elder! y. I don ' t really have no magical abil ities but l can jugg le a little. I don' t rea ll y know how popular I ani but just about everybody in the school knows me. I like to ride my bike and go swimming. At night I fee l sleepy. T'm happy when I go to my par­ties. I am sad when someone dies th at I know. I'm surprised when things that happen that I don "t expect. My greatest success is going to college. T like pink­lemonade and pizza.

Friendship is someone to talk to and someone who li kes you the way you are. I like to co llect all kinds of cards. I have interest in cars, work ing on cars, and dri­ving nice clean cars. I can draw but not so good but I like what I can draw. - by Michael Williams, eighrh grade, Amy NW

B ill usually wears shorts and a t­shirt. If thi ngs don 't march it doesn' t really matter to him . He

will often wear an eag les hat with a pi c­ture of an eag le on it. He doesn ' t real ly wear rings or anything un less it is a holi ­day . He used to have his ear pierced. until one day, he kept saying to his mother. "Oh I'll put it in tomorrow."' And everyday he sa id that, unti I he found out it closed up on him, and then he would blame it on hi s mother. -by Bill Sheerin, Eighth Grade, Amy NW

M y soul i pure to love like a Teddy Bear 's. I'm very hand­some and well dres ed. My

eyes are brown and are as beautiful a bark or syrup from a maple tree. My hands are small and rough which how my many battles. My skin is go lden brown and full of scars to how how many times l tried to make th ings better for worse. r am as average as any stu­dent but my heart is above average and is open to anyone who needs it. - by Brian Sermons. Brh grade, Amy NW

PAGE 6 SCHOOL NOTEBOOK FALL 1994 -One-on-one with the new superintendent

have done by the fourth grade? I al o thi nk that on test scores, we

need to repon them by school. I think we need to report them in a way that doesn't compare School A to School B in terms of absolute scores, but instead

Dal'id Hornbeck became S11per-1111e11de111 of the Philadelp/11a Public Sclwols a11A11gus115. 1994.fallowi11g a year-Ion!? search. Hombeck. who holds a law de!iree and a rheology degree. was pre1·io11sly Maryla11d' s Commissio11er of Education and a national ed11ca1ional co11su!ra111 who was ins1rume111al in sys­/em-wide school res1ruc1uring in Kemucky and Washing1011 stale.

Hombeck has already shown it's nor "business as usual" ar 21st Street, demanding resig11a1ionsjrom his emire cabinet and working on a pay-for-per­formance comract. He has s1umped around the city with his Chi ldren Achieving agenda. arguing that his 10-poinr planwil! e11able Philadelphia to become the first major city where a majority of the childre11 succeed in school. His current project is designing a

"The proof of the pudding in the final analysis is going to be whether I'm successful inf act in sticking to my commit­ments on this. If I am, then you will see the results, and if I'm not, you'll be sitting here sometime asking the next superinten­dent how you're going to do this."

four-and-a-lw/fyear ac1io11 plan 10 imp/e- report them in how School A compares menr his agenda. The pla11 will be to School Bin which one has produced u11l'eiled 011January31. more improvemenr in student perfor-

He wlked wi1h Notebook reporter mance. Helen Gym about his agenda and his I think we also need to di saggregate pla11s 10 achiei·e his goals. test data so we break down scores by

In a school district where nearly racial and language minori ties because every a rea is in a sta te of crisis, what sometimes you can hide the fa ilure to kind of changes ca n we expect to see succeed with some groups of kids in the nea r future? You ' ve identified behind an overall average if you haven ' t nine points where we need work. looked underneath the average to dis-W her e ar e your priorities? cover how you ' re doing with Latino kids

.. . You cannot pick off one or another or kids whose first language is not of those things and have that one sue- Engli sh. ceed. If you establish standards and you If you argue the ability to teach have no way of measuring it. then those effectively is connected with the abili-standards are useles . lf you set a course ty to understand and relate to the chil-for changing the nature of teaching and dren's lives and being able to make learning and you don't have professional teaching applicable to thei r li ves, you development, then you won't accom- need to deal with the issue that many plish it. If you don ' t deal with early of our teachers are quite distant from intervention, which is more effective and the experiences of their children. Do Jess expensive than intervening later, vou thi nk we need to transfor m our then you won't reach all the kids. So it is teaching base to include more teach-not by accident that I say we have to in ers of color , teachers of different fact set out a course that impacts on all socio-economic classes, or teachers those things. who better understa nd the experi-

Now the nagship effort or the driving ences of their children? piece in a sense will be an initiative Yes, I think that racial, language and which focuses on post-graduation work ethnic characteristics of the teaching and education. The que tion is what force are very important along all those should the culminating standard be for fronts . l th ink, for example, that Latino determining where youngsters in the Central the school system ----------- East reg ion ought to has been success- "The culminating more routinely have not ful'1 And in my only Spanish-speaking

judgment the cul- Standard is Whether teachers but Latino minating standard Spanish-speaking teach-is whether a tu- a Student within 18 ers. I think that leader-dent within 18 ship positions, principals, months after he months after he ought to reflect those graduates has been racial, language, ethnic demonstrably sue- graduates has been characteristics . cessful in school I think, for example,

and or work. We demonstrably SUC· among African-American will be establish- , teachers that not on ly is ing mea urable cessful in school the racial composition criteria for how do important, but even the you know that for and/ or work." gender composition is both work and important. Ini tiati ves like school. the Concerned Black Men teacher intern

What abo ut accountability? Getting accurate data on a ny kind of statistics, from drop-out ra tes to le ting a nd assessment, is extremely difficult. How are ) ou going to hold the system accoun ta ble if \l e can ' t get our num­bers straigh I'?

We'll have to change the way we both collect and share our numbers ..

We have to begin that by something that identifies how well they do in school and work after they graduate because that is the culminating point of public schoolmg. And then you back up from that and say if you want them to be succe'>\ful m work or school, what does that means they have to have done by the twelfth grade. what does that mean they have to have done by the eighth grade, what does that mean they have to

program is an important program to increa e the number of African­American males in our classrooms. So those wi ll all be among the kinds of ini ­tiatives that we wi ll be accelerating.

Hundreds of parents relate to their schools through the Home and School Associations. Can you elaborate on how you foresee the role of Home and Schools?

My feeling is that Home and School Counci ls have generally have not been taken very seriously over the years, and when you're not taken seriously you fre­quently don't act seriously . I take the Counci ls extremely seriously and think there's a central role fo r parents . ..

Too often neighborhood groups, whether they 're Home and School coun­cils or other kinds of neighborhood

David Hornbeck, Philadelphia Public Schools' new superintendent as of August 15

groups, simply become the school eq ui v- schools, has passed, but there' s not alent to the company union in which the much money or strong backing to see principal or the superintendent pays it implemented. Do you support it and attention to them only when the princi- how do you see making it real? pal or superintendent tells them what to I do support it, and it needs to be do . That's not tile kind of independent cranked into the Children Ac hiev ing base ... which is necessary if neighbor- design. Everything we do needs to be

hood and community ------------cranked inro the parent groups are going to become "I think that leader- Chil dren Ach iev ing

design. Anything that is not a centerpiece of Chi ldren Achiev ing is a separate issue as far as l 'm concerned in the School District.

partners in this h • , , process . S lp positions ... in s;~-~~e~e~t:~~·en t ought to reflect neighborhood group h , [ l might take a differ- t ose racza ' an- So the point of

Pol icy 102 is to deal with issues of mu lti­cultural perspective . . So what we need to do is that as we establish

ent point of view d h • from me on some- guage an et nic thing, and that might h . . r if make it uncomfort- c aractenstics l 0 able fo r me some- our students' 1." times. But I think J that 's a necessary

standards in the Children Achiev ing

risk to have neighborhood, parent, com­munity groups who are able and willing to insist that schools produce good things for their children and also to insist that elected officials both at the city and state level produce the resources neces­sary to help create schools for their chil­dren.

A number of schools are struggling to make local governance councils viable and effecti ve. With all the changes going on now, what is your advice to schools which are exploring this method of management?

Well , ul timately I don't know all the details of the powers that they have right now. In fact what I've discovered is that some of the schools that are involved in local decision making have as many as six or eight or even nine different deci­sion-making bodies in the same school _ all of them trying to figure out decisions.

My objective is to have a situation which, as the Children Achieving docu­ment says, places budget, personnel, cur­riculum, instructional strategies, sched­uling'. teacher and student assignment and disc iplinary code decisions at the school level. Not with nine different councils but with one or two. And have those decisions not be adv isory or con­sulting but to be decisive.

. Policy 102, which deals with infus­mg multiculturalism throughout the

context, we wi ll have to decide what kids need to know or be able to do as relates to African-American hi story or Latino history or whatever in that way and have that become a part of the stan­dards that we expect a ll kids in the city need to know and be able to do.

And, as I said earl ier, a standard is worthless unless it' s measured. So that means we would have to have tests, assessment strategies that wi ll measure whether the kids know the stuff that in fact grows out of Po li cy 102.

W ha t 's your approach towards union involvement in the process of developing the reform agenda?

Well, we've got to be partners in that and I think the clearest concrete example of that is the new contract. For the first time in the School District's hi story we have a contract with major reform ele­ments in it. And that represents, in my view, the beginn ing not the end of the

partnership. The contract passed 3 to I , but diere

was a concerned minori ty and a con­cerned non-voting membership.

lf anybody wins by 75 %, that' s. . almost always considered a landslide 111

any election l' ve ever heard .. · I thi nk it' s incredible that a contract which rep­resented a f irst in the history of Ph ila­delphia' s labor relations, won by a 75%

margin.

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FALL 1994 SCHOOL NOTEBOOK PAGE7

Sheppard parents build power

(continued from p. 1) only have fire dri ll s. They had "Code Purple" drills, when a shooting would start around the school area. The princi­pal , would yell "Code Purple" in the school yard, and the kids would know what was happening.

One day two undercover police offi­cers chased a drug dealer into the school yard and wrestled him to the ground. They were go ing for their guns, until they realized that the kids were scream­ing all around them. After that, we had om firs t action for a full time police officer.

"We try to build a sense of community."

Notebook: Now you have a full time police officer at Sheppard School . Does that help?

Ms. Rivera: For the kids, it makes them feel safe and that's good. However, it doesn't actually help the drug prob­lems in the neighborhood. The officer tells us he doesn't deal with drugs, only children. He doesn ' t write tickets for their cars on the pavement, and he doesn't stop them selling.

Our second action was to fight for full day kindergartens.

Notebook: Why did you think the kindergarten issue was important?

Ms: Rivera: We felt that fu ll day kindergartens were important because a lot of kids in thi s neighborhood come from predominately Hispanic families .

Parents have trouble speaking or read ing English. This makes it more difficult for the children when they gel to school. In half day kindergartens, teachers work with the kids fo r 2 hours, and with 30 kids. It 's not enough school.

A result was that a lot of our kids were going into l st grade and flunking, and being held back.

Notebook: So how did you go about getting a full day kindergarten?

Ms. Rivera: We won the kinder­gartens through our action . Then we approached the Lighthouse building for space. We met with the School District and asked a lot of questions.

After that, we organized a public meeting in the school yard. About 150 parents came.

Then this summer the School District negotiated a contract with a local com­munity center for our kindergartens. So, as of today (September 26, 1994) we have 2 full day kindergartens open, and two more full day kindergarten classes will open later this week.

We learned a lot and we were able to spread it. Our group went through the neighborhood and did our own registra­tion for kindergarten. The Sheppard Parents Association doesn't on ly put fl y­ers out. We go to people's homes and we speak to people about the issues.

Notebook: What lessons have you learned from dealing with the School District?

Ms. Rivera: First, always get things in writing. Secondly, you learn what happens when you ask for promises in wri ting. All the sudden, people under­stand that they can be held accountable, and it makes them nervous. Thirdly, we want to have a good relationship with the School District, but we find that we have friends as long as we are not step­ping on anyone's toes.

Notebook: What would you like people to learn from what you have gone through?

Ms. Rivera: I want to teach people

that power is in unity. When you have a problem you can't just bellyache. You need to go out and change it.

Notebook: What are the goals of your organization?

Ms. Rivera: We want to see our neighborhood change and to be made safer for our children. We wrote a con­venant that we all agreed to.

"When you have a problem, you can't just bellyache."

Notebook : How did you go about building such a strong organization.

Ms. Rivera: We didn 't do it alone. We have been working closely with the Eastern Philadelphia Organizing Project. We invi ted Gordon Whitman and Steve Honeyman to work with the parents in

our school. They are the organizer for the Eastern Philadelphia Organizing Projecr. They taught us the tool we need to organize.

When we began last year, our group met from April to September without working on any issues. A lot of work goes into vi iting people in their homes. We try to build a sense of community. We try to trengthen relationships between parents.

We broke down into committee , information, research. etc ... We formed questions and decided who was re pon­sible for what we wanted to change. Parents voted on the issues.

The idea is to build a community group that is based in the chool. Parent are the central players, but people in the community who don't have children at Sheppard are also involved. Education issues are critical for our community. The Sheppard School is the center of the community because people feel comfort­able there.

Night time is the right time In a departure from standard practice, the Philadelphia School Board will be

holding its next several meetings in the evening at sites around the city. The schedule is as follows :

October 24, 7 p.m. Pepper Middle School. 84th and Lyons Avenue.

November 7, 7 p.m. Dunbar Elementary School. 12th Street North of Moore Ave.

November 21, 7 p.m. Fit.zPatrick Elementary School. Knights Road and Chalfont Drive.

December 5, 9 a.m. Administration Building's Boardroom, 21st and the Parkway.

December 12, 7 p.m. Pickett Middle School , Wayne and Chelten Aves.

January 9, 7 p.m. Kensington High School. Amber and Cumberland Sts.

All subsequent meetings are planned for tile Administration Building's Boardroom, 21st and t/1e Parkway, at J :30 p.m.

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Join Today ! ! Bring this coupon and receive a free uniform.

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l •

PAGEB

Panel calls for overhaul

Continued from p. 1 fund~. enforce professional develop­ment. select the principal and staff. order repairs and generally assure that their children's learning is equal to that of any throughout the sy tern.

Moreover. the plan proposes that School Council members be trained so that parents will be able to hold their own with principals, teachers, and dis­trict administrators. Regular reporting to the public and eva luation and feedback from outside experts will help keep each chool on track and in line with the over-

all district standards. The plan is thus a blueprint for parent and community empowerment.

Enthusiasm for the report expressed by parent activists and community peo­ple has been tempered by the ongoing harsh reality in many schools and the apparent unwillingness of state and city officials to provide the required resources. In Harrisburg politicians have been quoted as laughi ng at the esti­mated $300 million price tag , calling it "unrealistic."

Meanwhile Mayor Rendell , suggest­ing things aren't as bad as the report makes out, quickly nixed the Team 's idea that city serv ices to the schools are a public obligation and should not be paid for out of the school budget.

Nonetheless. the likelihood of a Court ruling backed by the new Superintendent makes the Education Team's recommen­dations a real basis for hope.

The missing ingredient required to

push through the reform may well be a broad-based coalition like the one that beat back the state school vouchers ini­tiative in 1992. The Education Team sees its plan going the same way as pre­vious reforn1 efforts without ''input and support from the public." The main obstacle to change, in their view. has not been a lack of "know-how." but a lack of "public will." The report states that "the public must generate the wi ll and commi tment for sustained education reform."

Several possible shortcomings in the

Individual efforts are swamped by the overall "dysfunc­tional" organization of the District. report have been noted. Magnet school critics question the report's proposed expansion of magnet programs, raising concerns of elitism and exclusion. They criticize U1e expansion of Junior ROTC programs and the new racial composi­tion guidel ines that may work to limit Asian-American student participation.

Possible conflicts exist between the union contract and the proposed School Councils, the eleven month work year for teachers, and the flexibility called for Lo lengthen the chool day.

Finally, the suggested external and internal monitoring processes seem to overlap--but the essential need for external accountability come through clearly.

Ar press trme. copies of the report ca11 ml/ be obrai11ed at 110 charge from the Filing Office of rhe Commonwealrh Court 011 rhe 9rhfloor of the Widener buildi11g . 1 South Pe1111 Square-one per person . up to 4 PM daily .

SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

Making our schools a place they want to stay.

Community responds to the report

'Stand behind the Judge' Habibah Abdus-Shahid, parent­

We've waited twenty years, and now the politicians say they won'tgive the money? The issue will have to be fought. It 's not fair for us, for the chil­dren. It 's obvious-there' s not equal opportunities in different neighborhoods. We're not going to stand for the politi­cians not coming up with the money for the children. We're going to raise Cain about it-for the millions of children over the past twenty years, and now for the future.

Mike Churchill, attorney for the intervenors-It's a credible plan that puts teaching and improved teaching at the center of its recommendations.

Dwayne Ming, parent, Coalition for Educational Reform-The report is rea lly important. There's a lot to do in U1e community to stand behind the j udge. We need grassroots organizing and protests at the state level. For the young people. we have to make it a real­ity.

Veronica Joyner, Parents United for Better Schools- The politicians laughing at the request for money shows how much they value the children. We need new representation. They don 't fee l our chi ldren are worth it. You can judge a city or state by the way it treats the children.

Manny Ortiz, ASPIRA- The rec­ommendations from the Judge Doris Smi th panel go from A to Z, with very specific areas that need to be looked at. Funding is the hardest part. To have recommendations without financial backing is like having nothing. Hope­fully people will come out and support that effort.

Stelle Sheller, teacher-The report was real ly great, right on target. For the first time an official panel has been hon­est enough to say what is reall y needed.

How are they doing?

Although the reforms come with a high price tag, people have to begin to realize that that's what's necessary to educate chi ldren in big cities .

Israel Colon, parent-This docu­ment confirmed what many of us believed. But it quantified it with shock­ing statistics like "nearly half of the ninth graders fail that grade" and "as many as 70% of the students in elemen­tary schools read below grade level." What does that mean for minority com­munities? If this performance has been the standard for the last two decades, then it is easy to understand why we have lost a generation to violence and drugs.

Dwight Evans, State Represen­tative, by way of his press agent- The theme of the report is consistent with my efforts to find a way to refinance educa­tion. The Education Equity compromise in 1992 should be a starting point for ongoing discussions with educators and people in the local areas. Everything should be on the table.

Jannie Blackwell, Chair of City Council Education Committee-I am very encouraged. Overjoyed. Judge Smith's ruling and now this report will focus attention and help initiate school reform.

Between the report and the new Superintendent, I think we will finally get about the business of changing edu­cation.

Angel Ortiz, Councilman-The report from Judge Doris Smith's Panel gives community and activist parents an agenda they can follow for broad-based reform of the system. But it can't hap­pen and will not happen unless we have a strong organizational movement for reform from the grass- roots. If you leave it to the politicians, they will not bring about the change unless they are forced to.

Philadelphia's students need your help. Let our elected official s know what you t!unk about the JOb they're doing to improve our schools:

Rotan Lee - President of the_ School Board, 21st & Parkway, 19130, 299

_7000

John Street- President of City Council , Ph.iiadelphia City H 11 19 107 68 Ed Rendell - Mayor of Philadelphia, Philadelphia City Hall , ~9107 68

(;_ 1 7~~442 Key members of the Pennsylvania Legislarure on education and funding matters.

Vincent Furno - State Senator, 1208 Tasker Street Ph'l d 1

· . Dwight Evans - State Representative 7174 Ogom~ A~ a ePhp'hlta, 191.48, 423-7670

• e., 1 adelphia 19138

FALLJ994 -A timeline of District's deseg suit Twenty four years and two generations of students

This is a timeline of the Philadelphia School District Desegregation Case which led to Judge Smith' s Educati~n Team's report.

•October 1970 The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission fi les a complaint against the Philadelphia School District for running a segregated school system.

•June 1971 The Commission orders the Philadelphia Schools to eliminate racial segregation by 1974-75.

•April 1974 Philadelphia's plan to voluntari ly move students is rejected by the Commission

•February 1976 Commonwealth Court rejects both the District' s argu­ment that it has desegregated as much as it can afford to and the Commission's proposal to bus 53,659 students.

• Ju.Ly 1977 The Court orders that the District's voluntary "1976" plan cen­tered on creating magnet schools be implemented.

•April 1982 Commonwealth Court says that voluntary steps such as magnet schools are inadequate but refuses to order the busing of students; the District is ordered to modify its 1976 plan.

• October 1983 For the first time the School District.and the Commission agree on a Modified Desegregation Plan; the Modified Plan is the first to make educational improvement a central part of the desegregation suit.

•March 1991 A "Settlement Team" jointly appointed by the District and the Commission finds the District did not do everything it could to desegregate.

•November 1992 The Settlement Team gives Commonwealth Court a plan it thinks both sides agree with which includes the pairing of schools .

•March 1993 Six education groups intervene in the 23 year old law suit say­ing that the School District has not kept its 1983 promise to provide eq ual educa­tion to all students; the groups do not take a position on the busing question.

•May 1993 Judge Doris Smith orders the District to release achievement data; it reveals little progress since 1983 in eliminating racial disparities .

•February 1994 Judge Smith issues a scathing opinion saying "the District is failing or refusing to provide equal opportunity and a quali ty education to children attending racially isolated schools." She appoints a panel of educa­tion experts to advise her.

•May 1994 Community Participauon Kick-Off Meeting; distribution of school report cards.

•May-July 1994 Four regional meet­ings and other public events give parent

input to the panel. •September 1994 A panel appointed

by Judge Smith, presents a report with 40 proposals to overhaul educanon Ill

Philadelphia. . . •October 25 DEADLINE for fi lrng

written comments on the plan presented

by the panel . •Mid-November 1994 Judge Smith

will issue her judgment based on the panel's findings and the public 's

res:~:s:~mber 1994 on All people con­

cerned with our children's education will work to ensure that the Judge 's decision becomes a reality.

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FALL 1994 SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

Excerpts from the experts

What's in the report? Tile report from Judge Smith's

Educarion Team has two main secrions. The firsr lisrs rhe Team's fi11di11gs. The second gives proposals fol· change. Here the Notebook staff has abridged the reporr and grouped findings and recom­me11darions together to make the con­nections clearer.

Teaching and learning Outcomes and standards

Findings: A minimum of 30 percent of the District's ninth graders drop out before graduation. This is but one of many grim outcomes produced by a School Distri ct that has been more concerned with balancing budgets than with prepar­ing students or their teachers to excel.

Student achievement has also been limited by low expectations spawned by the myth that poverty limits what stu­dents can learn. The primary responsi­bility of the School District is to ensure that high quali ty teaching and learning occurs in every school.

Each of the District's 267 schools sets their own standards and develops related curriculum and instruction. Many public school students see no relevance between their schoolwork and future employment.

Solurions: The Philadelphia School District shall establish exemplary stan­dards and instructional practices that sig­nificantly increase academic performance and learning outcomes for all students.

The District shall collaborate with the business and higher education and train­ing community to develop a comprehen­sive school-to-work transition system. The District must integrate the last two years of high school with the first two years of college, post-secondary training or entry-level employment.

The District shall evaluate its special education programs and make the improvements necessary to ensure that all special education students have effec­tive schooling that increases their chances for a productive life .

Early ch ildhood education Findings: The District's goals and

planning documents pay almost no attenti on to early childhood education. It apparently has ignored compelling evidence that pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs can sig­nificantly improve student achievement.

Solutions: Beginning with a ll raciall y isolated schools, the District shall estab­lish full-day kindergarten and fu ll-day pre-kindergarten programs by September, 1995 .

Professional development Findings: Investment in teacher

training is minimal at best. This lack of training is a critical part of the District's problems.

Solutions: The District shall ensure that all schools employ a self-study process and a program of profess ional development that reduces the disparity between ex isting and desired student learning outcomes in all school s.

Beginning in the summer of 1995, the District shall provide a month-long pro­fessional development institute respond­ing to each schoo l's needs as identified in its self-study. In add ition, the 1995 Summer Institute will assist schools in analyzing their strengths and weaknesses.

Learning environments Findings: There is a severe lack of

equipment and supplies in almost all District schools. These deficiencies are exacerbated by overcrowded classrooms

and large, impersonal high schools. Sol111ions: To provide sufficient indi­

vidual ized attention to students, the District shall reduce class sizes to the fo llowing levels: Kindergarten-one teacher and one aide for 20 children.

First grade-one teacher for 15 chil­dren . Second and third grades-one tea­cher for 20 chi ld ren. Fourth through 12th grades-one teacher for 25 children.

The District shall create smaller learn­ing comm unities such as those estab­lished in the charter and PATHS/PRISM initiatives. These communiti es should be made up of no more than 300 to 500 stu­dents, and should incorporate a theme or focus to unify the work of teachers and students.

Desegregation and educational improvement

Magnet schools Findings: All students are affected

by the climate and instructional deficien­cies in Philadelphia schools, but poor and minority students in racially-isolated school s suffer most. The failure to cor­rect educational inequity is partly rooted in the District' s desegregation program, the centerpiece of whic h is magnet schools.

Currently, each magnet school must have a racial balance of 55 percent black to 45 percent white, with variance of 5 percent. But white students average on ly 22 percent of Philadelphia public school enrollment, so they make up a dispro­portionately high number of students at these well-funded, higher-qua li ty mag-

Community participants at the Education Team's public hearing at ASPIRA.

net schools. Moreover, the District has placed ir.s magnets in predominately white neighborhoods, rather th an minor­ity neighborhoods. This po li cy under­lines the long-standing message that minority and poor communities are an afterthought in public education.

Solutions: The Disa-ict shall develop and submit to the court a comprehensive magnet school plan that accommodates a minimum of75,000 students, with the following goal of racia l and ethnic bal­ance for each school : 60 percent African American; 20 percent whi te; 15 percent Latino; 5 percent Asian American and others, with a 5 percent variance.

The plan should expand programs at current sites by increasing enrollment, staff and resources . It should create add itional programs at new sites in or near cultural, commercia l or governmen­tal centers.

Tracking Findings: The District's misguided

approach to academic equity extends

Time to overhaul a system that does not meet the needs of our students.

into the classroom. The Dist:Iict requires a certain skill level for every chi ld enter­ing each grade. Students who fa ll below this level are generally categorized as "s low learners," and are a-acked into remedial classes or retention groups.

T hese classes further retard students' Jeaming by taki ng more time to teach less. The pattern repeats each year until the lack of success overwhelms and dis­courages students into under achieve­ment or dropping out.

Sulurions: The District shall imple­ment accelerated learning programs in all racially isolated schools through collabo­rations witl1 higher education insti tutions and community-based organizations.

The Disa-ict must provide resources for extended school-day and schoo l-year programs; establi sh communi ty schools and communi ty-based learning centers that offer homework assistance, tutoring , g uidance and extracurricular activities during evenings, weekends and summer vacations; give racia lly-isolated schools additional resources for professional development during the year and the summer; furni sh addi ti onal resources for extracurricular acti vities that bui ld chil­dren 's confidence and their connection to their schools and communities; col­laborate to establish school-linked or community-based services that address the emotional and physical health , and the social and economic well-being of at-risk students and their famil ies.

Bilingual programs Findings: Althoug h a few bilingual

education programs exist, they are too few in number to serve all children in need. Parents are often shut out of their chi ld 's day-to-day progress because the District makes no attempt to send infor­mation in Spanish or in Asian lan­guages/dialects to parents who do not speak English. Worse, the District has fa iled to meet basic performance stan­dards for limited English students in spite of court orders and consent decrees requiring improvement.

Solutio11s: The District shall resa-uc­ture its bilingual education program. Restructured programs shou ld empha­size interpersonal and academic uses of Eng lish and the use of the students' cul­ture, home language, experience and knowledge as a foundation for learning.

Resources District and school level

Findings: The District ' central­command sa-ucture limits schools' involvement in their funding decision .. The district-wide budget obscures where funds are spent. At the same time, funds are not equitab ly distributed within the District, and one-race school s are partic­ularly shortchanged. Most telling is the d istribution of Desegregation funds , the vast majority of which are allocated to magnet school • not to one-race schools

as wo uld be expected. Solutions: The District shall reallo­

cate at least $20 million from regional and central offices to schools. through a formula weighted to target racially-iso­lated schools . The District shall reallo­cate additional funds so that at least 85% of operating and categorical funds are under the au thority of the principals and local councils.

The District shall convene a commit­tee of principals, teachers. local council members, community members, and central office staff to create a student weighting system based on student needs.

The District shall reformat the city­wide budget; shift authority for school budgeting and pending to principals and local councils; and develop an equitable system of weighted school allocations.

City level Findings: The public schools, unlike

those in many other urban Districts, bear the cost of various municipal services.

Solutions: The responsible City agen­cies should be required to pay for trash pick-up and recycling, water and sewer costs, all costs associated with the city's recreation program, student physical exams, and subsidies for student bus fares. Therefore, the School Di trier of Philadelphia shall be directed to cease payment for referenced serv ices.

State level Findings: One cause of the deficient

quality of education in Philadelphia is Pennsylvania's failure to fulfill its con­stitutional duty to provide a ''thorough and effic ient system of public educa­tion" to all its citizens. Pennsylvania' s finance system relies heavily on local property raxes, leading to well-funded schools in affluent areas and inadequate funding for chools in poorer Dbtricts.

Sol111io11s: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania must change its cu1Tently inequitable allocation system and ignif­icanUy increase the amount of fund it provides for public schooling.

There is simply not enough money to maintain current program levels, let alone pay for the additional service; needed to turn this system around. These program · will co t well over $300 million. To begin to deal with such sig­nificant state underfunding, the ~ Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hould immediately repeal the cap on the Equalized Subsidy for Basic Education and increase the amount of funding in the Poverty Supplement.

School climate, safety and discipline

Finding' : The prevalent clunate in

many Philadelphia schools is one of dis­ruption and despair. The number of alcohol and drug incident;, assaults, di\-

See"Report" on p. 10

PAGE JO

What's in the report Continued from p. 9

orderly conduct. graffiti, robberie , thefts, tre passing. vandalism and weapons in chools i increa ing.

The Team found no incentives to encourage non-performing or di ruprive tudems to change their behavior. The

curriculum and coursework is not rele­vant 10 their lives or to their future.

The work is not challenging, and the exposure to extracurricular activities is minimal.

Solwions: The District shall provide all chools with a sufficient range of programs. strategies and resources to reduce violence. vandalism and disrup­tion and to increa e student participation in learning.

Organi:ation School Councils

Findings: The unwieldy, central command and control structure of the Philadelphia School District i perhaps the ingle greatest cause of its teaching and learning failures. The District has created a "fortress-school" atmosphere. Overall , the city ha the lowest level of parent involvement of any urban school system this Educational Team has seen.

Solutions: The District must create a universal school-based management and shared decision-making system that locates the capacity for major decision-making at the school level. Each school shall have its own council of up to LS members. The combined total of parents and community members on the council shall at least equal the number of teachers and other school staff. Each of these groups will select representa1ives in elections held every two years. Each council will exercise primary authority over developing cur­riculum; organizing the instructional

SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

program and professional development; achieving equity; conducting account­ability activities; selecting the principal and chool staff; and developing the budget and allocating funds.

A City-wide Council Assembly will be made up of one representative elected from each local council. The Council Assembly will make recommendations to insure that local councils exercise suf­ficient power and responsibility to effec­tively serve their schools.

The District will provide intensive education and training programs to all local council, council assembly and executive committee members.

Regional and central offices Findings: The Jack of public involve­

ment is exacerbated by the tangle of

tributes to, even helps sustain, the con­tinuous and damaging low achievement in Philadelphia's public schools.

Solurions: The District shall establi sh a permanent Accountability Council of external as essment and evaluation experts to construct a system of account­ability indicators. It shall employ an external agency to evaluate the state of teaching and learning in each school as part of a policy of internal and external rev iews of school operations.

Incentives Findings: The District lacks incen­

tives for improvement and penalties for poor performance. The District allows those few teachers who receive an 'unsatisfactory' rating simply to transfer to another school.

The city has the lowest level of parent involvement of any urban school system this Educational Team has seen. offices and responsibilities at both cen­tral and regional levels .

Solutions: The District shall abolish the regional offices and direct most of the their authority, responsi bility and functions to the individual schools. Associate Superintendents'positions will be established to serve as supervisors of principals throughout the District.

The District must reorganize its cur­rent command and control structures, downsize its administrative operations and restructure them to effectively serve school needs.

Accountability Assessment

Findings: There is a uniform lack of accountabili ty on all levels that con-

Solutions: For all schools the District shall develop and implement an incen­tive system of graduated rewards and sanctions based on student achievement data and evaluations of professional development efforts. These sanctions shall include, as a last resort, the closing and reorganizing of consistently fa iling schools.

Facilities Findings: In Philadelphia's schools,

many students struggle to learn in class­rooms with leaking roofs, unsanitary and broken bathroom facilities, poor Light­ing, broken windows and poor venti la­tion. Team members found these prob­lems across the School District, but such problems were most apparent in racially

FALL 1994

isolated schools. Solutions: The District will prioritize

and address the maintenance needs of all schools by publishing an audit citing the repairs needed in each school , catego­rized by their severity and extent of racial isolation. The District wil l implement a grievance procedure if priority needs are not met by the published deadlines.

The District shal l develop a plan to reorganize the maintenance and facilities departments, including the requirement that building engineers and security staff report to thei r school principa ls, rather than to the central office.

The District shall ensure that school buildings are clean, safe and secure.

Public will Findings: The fa ilure of public edu­

cation in Phi ladelphia and other urban communities is not due to a lack of know-how: the failure stems from what the Team concludes is a lack of will on the part of policy-makers, educators and the wider public to implement change, not in specific schools or programs, but system-wide.

Solutions: To measure pub lic partici­pation, the District should publicize an annual list of all Philadelphia institutions and how they have participated in the rejuvenation of Philadelphia's public education system.

The public must generate the will and commitment for sustained education reform. The Team proposes a massive reconnection of the City-and its citi­zens, agencies, and institutions-to the public educational system. Such a fun­damental reorientation requires a major increase in the public 's investment in education and in its expectations for stu­dents, and needs a level of commitment, energy, anention, and resources unprece­dented for urban public education.

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FALL 1994 SCHOOL NOTEBOOK PAGE ff

'Reality-based' contract averts PFT strike After 11 years of re lative labor peace,

a strike by the Phi ladelphia Federation of Teachers thi s September seemed all but inevitable. As recently as three months ago the two sides were miles apart on changes in employee benefits, new work rules, classroom resources and broader refo1m strateg ies.

FoJ!owing the succession of David Hornbeck as Superintendent, a compro­mise was reached in which each side claimed that some pan of their agenda was rea li zed .

What brought the two sides together? A good start was Hornbeck's choice of a negotiating team that the union respect­ed. Management had previously said there was no new money to fund the contract, but later made $20 million available. Most of the money will fund the second year of the contract, includ­ing pay rai ses.

Negotiators also took advan tage of a one-time windfall. Blue Cross offered substantial rate reductions in return for a

Schools and social justice

monopoly on the teachers' health-plans. The savings freed up money to improve the overall wage and benefit package.

There were also small steps toward unity on a few reform strategies involv­ing distressed schools, professional development , disc iplinary problems. and teacher evaluation.

Important points from the agreement include:

•Up to LO new Keystone Schools may be establi shed , where 75% of the staff in a failing school may be trans­ferred out. Once the new principal and staff are in place, extra resources are allotted to the school.

Resource requirements and criteria for hiring new staff are pan of a Comprehensive Education Renewal Plan determined by the new principal, 8 fed­eration-appointed career teachers, and ''at least one parent representative from each grade," together with the retained teachers and new appointees. Seniority is considered only if two applicants are

Activists gather to strategize by Deborah Wei

More than 300 teachers, parents and community activ ists gathered in Port­land, Oregon, last August for the 7th annual conference of the National Coalition of Education Activists.

The National Coalition of Education Activists (NCEA) was formally orga­ni zed four years ago to help bring together a broad range of people inter­ested in school reform. NCEA currently has fi ve overarch ing principles. These are:

• School reform must be guided by a broad vision of social change.

•Kids should be at the center of the schools.

• Conditions of learning and teaching must improve dramaticall y.

• Racism, along with class and sex discrim ination , must be redressed.

• Grassroots efforts are the key to suc­cessful school change.

In keeping with these principles, NCEA's conference theme this year was !Schools and Socia l Justice.I NCEA brought in speakers who represented much of the most progressive education­al reform movements nationaJ!y and internationally.

Herb Kohl , author of the book, I Won 't Learn from You read from his lat­est book. A panel on multicultural edu­cation featured Enid Lee, anti-racist edu­cation consultant from Toronto; Sonia Nieto, mu lticultural education expert

from Boston; and Louise Derman­Sparks, a leader in the field of anti-bias education for young children.

Emilio Mari scal, a student at San Leandro High School near San Francisco, attended the conference with members of hi s organizat ion , Chicano Moratorium. Together, they vividly described the organization efforts that led him and other students to stage stu­dent walkouts throughout Northern California in a fight for smaUer classes, more resources, and a more inclusive curriculum.

Ohio State Representative C.J. Prentiss brought down the house with a poignant keynote in which she outlined her efforts to ensure equity and justice in education through legislation. She is currently pushing a ballot initiative called the Third Grade Guarantee, which would mandate full-day kindergarten, limit primary class sizes to 15 students and give needy districts a variety of

social services. A number of teachers and community

activi sts from Philadelphia attended the conference and came home with new­found connections and recharged energy for working for social justice in educa­

tion. Next year ' s conference will take place

in Boston . For more information about NCEA, contact Debbie Duke at P.O. Box 670, Rhinebeck, NY !2572, (914) 876-4580, or Debbie Wei , (215) 299-8912.

otherwise equally qualified. Transferred teachers have the right to apply for posi­tions at the schoo l.

Those teachers who are not retai ned keep their building seniority on moving to new positions.

• A new type of alternative school will be establi shed in each region fo r students with severe discipline prob­lems. A joint Distri ct-PFT committee

There were also small steps toward unity on a few reform strategies. wi II report by March l , 1995 , on " trate­gies to reduce discipline problems and to identi fy students who would benefit from professional treatment and/or alter­native schools."

• Teachers rated as unsati sfactory will have their evaluations increased from once to twice a year. Since two consecu­tive unsatisfactory ratings are grounds for di smissal, th is measure could lead to more teacher di scharges.

• Professional development time, 20 hours per year plus all non-student days , is now under the joint control of the union building committee and the princi-

Upcoming workshops

pa l in each school. Under the last con­tract only I 0 hours were jointly deter­mined. Principal-run facu lty meeting' made up the otl1er 10. While some teach­ers make good use of this time, overall the effort is fragmented. Best results occur when development is lin~ed to a chool-wide reform effort. But problems

can and do occur when a principal tries to impose a development plan un ilatera lly.

• On health insurance, employees witl1 indemnity plans, allowing them to choose their own docror. may rema in on their plans-but at a cost. Thei r co-pay wi ll increase from 5 to 15 percent. New employees and current HMO members are required by the agreement to join one of the Blue Cross HMOs if Ll1ey wish to receive benefi t . Whi le most staff will not have to change doctors even if they shift HMOs. some people requiring highly spec ialized treatment may be caught in the midd le. Never­theless . the PFT is the on ly pub lic union in the city that has retained even tJ1is buy-o ur level of indemni ty coverage for its members.

• Finally. the Union won a 5% wage increase with money in each year of the contract. For some members the increased co-pay cost of their health insurance will offset their pay raise. Wage levels remain below those in ub­urban schools.

Sexual health issues Planned Parenthood is offering the

fo llowing free programs:

Video preview and free video Join in a discussion of the new

Planned Parenthood video, " Playing ' The Game' : Teens Talk a bout Sexuality," and receive a free copy (one per agency) . The program will include information about strategies for using the video with teen males. Partic ipants will also receive a 15% discount on Planned Parenthood 's ann ual audio-visual mem­bership. Monday, November 1_1 :30-4:00 pm.

Community leadership forum s are quarterly forums that provide an oppor-

tunity for professionals and community leaders to acquire info1mation and di -cuss concerns about key community health issues.

' 'T he role of religious comm uni ties in promoting the sexual health of fam­ilies," will be held Wedne day, October 26, 4-6 pm.

" It's election time - do you know where your school board sta nds? Sexua li ty educa tion a nd the Far Right," is scheduled fo r Wednesday, December 7, 4-6 pm.

All events are at Planned Parenthood. 11 44 Locust St. For more information, call (215) 351-5580.

The Philadelphia

S.E.E.D. Project on Inclusive Curriculum

(Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity)

Salutes the Public School Notebook

We join them in the endeavor of assuring schools affirm the history and culture

of all students by placing them at the center of our agenda.

Teacher and parent facilitated seminars for parents, teachers, school staff, and community members

committed to the creation and development of a multi-cultural curriculum and school climate .

For more information. contact: Myrtle L. Naylor (215) 248-4834

PAGE 12

Padres mues­tra su poder

continued from p. 1 niiios sabria lo que estaba pasando.

Un dia dos policias estaban persigu­iendo a un vendedor de drogas en el patio de la e cuela. Los policias force­Jearon con el individuo y lo tiraron al suelo en esos monemtos ellos iban a sacar us pistolas cuando se dieron curenta que habian niiios alrededor de ellos. Despues de este succeso fue que decidimos tomar accion para obtener proteccion policiaca.

Notebook: iAhora que tienen un policia alrededor de la escuela todo el tiempo? Ha mejor ado la situacion?

Ms. Rivera: A los nifios, les hace sentir seguros, y esto es bueno. Pero los problemas con las drogas en el vecin­dario no ban mejorado. El policia dice que el no esta aq ui para lidiar con el problema de las drogas, sino para prote­ger a los ninos. El no da mul tas por sus autos estaionados en el pavimento, y no !es detiene por la venta.

Nuestra segunda acci6n fue luchar para "full day" kindergarten.

Notebook: i Porque pensaron que el asunto de kinder era importante?

Nuestro grupo originalmente queria conseguir un nuevo edificio para reem­plazar nuestra escuela que tiene I 00 aiios. Pero sentimos que tenemos tantos

"N osotros creemos que para construir pider real en nues­tras comunidades." problemas, que decidimos buscar solu­ciones de corto plazo primero. Los padres votaron por las acciones.

Nosorros creemos que los kinder son importantes debido a la situaci6n en el vecindario.

Muchos niiio, ;n este vecindario son de farnil ias predomjnadamente hispanas, a los padres !es cuesta hablar o leer el ingles. Esto se le hace mas dificil para los niiios cuando llegan a la escuela. 'Primero tienen que aprender el lenguage, y despues. tienen que aprender lo que nece­sitan para la escuela. Tener profesores de kindergarden que trabajan con 30 niiios por dos horas di arias no es suficiente.

Un resultado fue que muchos de nue­stros niiios entrnron al primer grado y fracasaron. Pensamos que seria muy beneficioso preparar a e tos ninos para estar todo el dia en kindergarten.

:"\otebook: iComo lo hicieron? Sra. Rivera: Ganamos los kinder a

traves de nuestros acci6n. Nos juntamos con el "school district" e hicimo muchas preguntas.

Entonces. organizamos una reuni6n publica en el patio de escuela, a la cual ashtieron 150 padres. Llegaron mas o menos 150 padres.

De pues. planteamos al Lighthou e que nos prestaran espacio. Es un edifi­cio en nuestro vecindario que no se usa durante el dia.

Este verano el D1strito E colar nego­ci6 un trato con el "Lighthou e" para nuemos kinder. Entonces, hoy dia (26 de Sept1embre. 1994 ), tenemo dos "full day kindergardens" abiertos. y mas niiios llegaran a dos full day kinder­ganen mas durante e ta semana.

Aprendimos mucho y fuimos capaces de comparurlo. uestro grupo andamos en cl vecindario y hic1mos nuestra propia mamcula para kinder.

La Asociaci6n de Padres de Sheppard

no solarnente produce informacion. Vamos a las casas de la gente y hablarn­os con ellos de los asuntos. Por ejemplo, varios padres no sabian que a pesar de que su niilo este fuera de los lirnites de edad, los padres pueden conseguir un examen para su niiio y tenerlo aceptado al kinder. Muchos padres no sabian de los programas especiales como "Mentally Gifted Program" para los estudiantes mas avanzados.

Notebook: iCuales lecciones ha a prendido de tratar con el " School District"?

Sra. Rivera: Primero, siempre tener las cosas por escrito. Segundo, se aprende que es lo que pasa cuando se pide las promesas por escrito . De repente la gente entiende que ellos pueden estar "held accountable", y se ponen nerviosos . Tercero, queremos tener una relaci6n buena con el "Distri to Escolar", pero encontramos que tenemos amigos solo mientras que no "step on anyone's toes ."

Notebook: lQue le gustaria que a prenda la gente de lo que han experi­mentado Uds.?

Sra. Rivera: Quiero enseilar a la gente que el poder esta en la unidad. Cuando uno tiene un problema, no puede sola­mente "belly ache" . Tiene que ir tomar accion.

Notebook: l Cuales son los metas de su orga nizacion?

Sra. Ri vera: Queremos ver que cam­bie nuestro vecindario y que sea mas seguro para nuestros niilos. Escribimos un "Contrato ·• en q ue estabamos todos en acuerdo .

Notebook: iC6mo construyeron una organizaci6n tan fuerte'?

Sra. Rivera: La Asociac i6n de Padres

de Sheppard ha estado luchando "contra viento y marea" para todo. Atacamos a las casas abandonadas, a los problemas de basura, y todo tipo de asuntos comu­nitarios.

No lo hicimos solos. Hemos estado trabajando muy cercano con el "Eastern Philadelphia Organizing Project". Invitamos _a Gordon Whitman y Steve Honeyman a trabajar con los padres en nuestra escuela. Ellos son dos organi­zadores de EPOP. Elias nos enseilaron las herramientas que necesitamos para organizarnos.

Notebook: l Y c6mo lo hicieron? Sra. Ri vera: Cuando empezamos el

aiio pasado , nuestro grupo se reunion de Abri l a Septiembre sin trabajar en ningun asunto. Hacemos mucho trnbajo en ir a visitar a la gente en sus casas. Intentamos construir un sentido de comunidad. Intentamos fortalezer las relaciones entre los padres. Es por eso que escribimos el "Covenant".

Nos dividimos en comites de informa­ci6n, investigaci6n, etc . Formamos pre­guntas y decidimos buscar quien era responsable para lo que queriamos cam­biar. Los padres votaron en los asuntos.

La idea es construir un grupo comu­nitario que esta basado en la escuela, en que los padres son Los jugadores cen­trales, pero la gente en la comunidad que no tienen niiios en Sheppard tambien estan involucrados. Asuntos de edu­cac i6n son cruciales para nuestra comu­nidad. La Escuela Sheppard es el centro de la comunidad porque la gente se siente comoda all i.

Nosotros creemos que para consu·uir poder real en nuestras comunidades, ten­emos que desarroll ar lideres fuertes en las instituciones de nuestros vec indarios.

FALL1994

Uno-a-uno con el nuevo Superintend­ente David Hornbeck

Entrevista por Helen Gym Traducci6n par Magna Diaz

Tras una blisqueda de un ailo, el Sr. Dav id Hornbeck fue instalado como superintendente del distrito escolar. El Sr. Hornbeck comenz6 su trabajo en Filadelfi a el 15 de Agosto de! 1994. El Sr. Hornbeck, quien tiene un grado en !eyes y en teologfa, habfa sido un con­sultante de educaci6n al ni vel nacional y ha sido familiarizado con la reestruc­turaci6n del sistema escolar de los esta­dos de Kentucky y Maryiand.

Lo primero en la agenda de! Sr. Hornbeck ha sido familiarizarse con el di strito en general. Sus primeros dias como superintendente los pas6 de escuela en escuela, y de comunidad en comunidad asegurando a todos los padres, maestros y personas envueltas en educaci6n, que su plan de "Children Achieving" (Ninos aprendiendo) fac ili­tara el aprendizaje de los ninos en nue-

"Por primera vez en la historia del sis­tema escolar de Fila­de ljia la vision de la union de maestros y la vision del distrito escolar es paralela." stro sistema escolar.

Es necesario decir que con sus ideas radicales el Sr. Hornbeck intenta reorga­nizar la administraci6n del sistema esco­lar. Ha puesto a todos en a[erta, comen­zando con la administrac i6n de insu·uc­ci6n publica y ha ped ido la resignaci6n de todos las miembros del gabinete. Aun no se sabe quien se quedara y quien se ira.

La publ icaci6n "NOTEBOOK" pudo lograr una entrevista con el Sr. Horn beck para enterarnos de sus ideas y planes para el futurn.

En el d istri to escolar de Fi ladelfia donde todas las pan es estan en estado de crisis - incluyendo las faci lidades dilapidadas, la fal ta de recursos, seguri­dad publica , fa lta de personal y falta de desarrollo educacional para la facu l­tad. lQue clase de cambios podemos ver en el futuro cercano? Adonde estan sus prioridades?

En un distrito escolar como el de Filadelfia, con tantas partes en crisis es dific il escoger una area especffica sobre otra. Por ejemplo: Cuando se esta blecen normas sin ninguna manera de medir los resul tados , esas normas resultaran inutiles, y sin valor alguno. Lo mismo pasa con la enseilanza y el aprendizaje de nuevos metodos, si no hay entre­namiento profesional para los maestros y fac ul tad en general, todo los metodos fracasaran y el resultado sera maestros y estudiantes fr ustrados. El caso de los niilos en los grados de pre-primarios y primarios no es menos importante. Si la enseiianza basica de leer, escribir, y habitos de estudios no se establecen en los aii os primarios cuando es menos cos-

See "Uno-a-uno" on p. 13

FALL 1994

Uno-a-uno con Hornbeck

continued from p. 12 toso, despues el costo aumentara y no solamente se habra desperd iciado dinero sino tambien el tiempo de esos niiios que entonces ya seran adolescentes.

El proyecto que he diseiiado hara un impacto en todos los aspectos de la edu­caci6n. Este proyecto seni un plan de acci6n de cuatros aiios y medi o cuyas partes se implementaran el 3 1 de enero de 1995. Una de las partes claves sera un a iniciativa enfocada en el estud iante aun despues de graduarse de nuestras escuelas secundarias. Asf se piensa deteminar si 18 meses despues de grad­uarse ese/a joven ha demostrado exito en sus estudios 6 en su tra bajo. De esta forma se medira si el sistema escolar Jogr6 poner en practica normas de exce­lencia para todos los estudiantes.

l Como piensa logra.r contabilidad precisa sobre nuestros graduados, cuan­do se ha comprobado que estadisticas sobre estudian tes que abandonan sus estud ios, y examenes, y eva luac i6n de estudiantes son extremadamente diffcil de mantener al dia?

Sera necesario cam biar la forma en

SCHOOL NOTEBOOK

de estos nifio, cree usted que sera nece­sario reclutar maestros que refl ejen la d1vers1dad en cuanto a idioma color etnicidad, y experiencias de l ~s ni iio~?

Maestros que refl ejan el idioma, color, etnicidad y experiencia de los niiios seran ineslimables a esas escuelas que necesitan educadores de esta ca li­dad. Por ejemplo: Las escuelas en Ia regi6n de Central East, donde la mayorfa de los estudiantes son Latinos, benefi­cia.rfan de maestros y principales que sean latinos y hab len Espanol.

Lo mismo con las escuelas donde la mayoria de los estudi antes son Africano -Americanos, esas escuelas deberfa refl ejar su populaci6n entre los maestros 6 por lo menos deberia haber un balance entre las razas.

lCual sera la importancia de Ia Asociaci6n de Escuela y Hogar en cuan­to a la escuela se refi ere, ya que es este uno de los medios de envolver a los padres en las actividades de las escue­las?

Por lo general las Asociaciones de Escuela y Hogar apenas si se toman en serio. En muchas escuelas esta aso­ciaci6n es la que se encarga de activi­dades triviales 6 de recaudar fondos. Pero bajo mi plan esta asociaci6n sera mas activa y envuelta en las experienc ias de los estudiantes. La asociaci6n de padres sera como un socio y se consider-

"Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our

progress m education:'

- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

PAGE 13

Los diez puntos educativos del superintendente

We are proud to be a partner with the Public School Notebook in support of school reform.

CoreStates YouKnowUs.\\eKnowYou.

I. Todo estudiante se tratara con la creencia de que puede ap.render con la capacidad de alcanzar niveles altos.

II. El sistema escolar evaluara estu­diantes uti lizando nor.mas establecidas de antemano usando est.rategias educa­cionales

IU. Toda escuela tendra el derecho de hacer decisiones, concemientes a sus asuntos escolares, localmente.

IV. Desarrollo profesional para los maestros sera imperativo para poder aumentar el nivel de conocimiento de estrategias en el programa de edu­caci6n.

V. Mantenimiento de! programa "Early Childhood" 6 pre-primaria sera menos costoso para el nifio y mas efec-

que se acumula datos y estadfsticas sobre los estudiantes. Una vez que esta meta sea lograda, los padres y el publico en general podra mantenerse al dia con el progreso de los es tudiantes y el pro­greso de! sistema escolar. A cada estu­diante se le seguira en su progreso desde que entra en la primaria, con evalua­ciones criticas en cuarto grado , octavo , y el grado doce, en las cuales se mediran sus Mbitos de estudios, su ni vel de lec­tura y escritura y su nivel en las ciencias Y matematicas . Las estadisticas se uti­lizaran para estudia.r el por q ue una escuela tiene mejores resul tados que otra y asf determinar que se puede hacer para ayudar a esas escuelas ya los estudi­antes a que Jogren exito en sus estudios.

Las estadfsticas refl ejaran los estudi­antes que participan en las clases de Ingles como segundo idioma(ESOL). Ya estas estadfsticas no se inclui ran en los resultados de la escuela en general , esta estadfsticas se estudiaran apa.rte con la meta de ayudar a los estudiantes de ESOL lograr ex ito tambien.

Usted nos asegura que uno de los puntos importantes es d iscutir la habili­dad de enseiiar efectivamente utili zando Y reconociendo Jas experienc ias de nue­stros niiio pero hay maestros que no pueden visualizar las ex periencias, ni las real idades de los niiio que enseiian. l Para que ha ya -transfo rmaci6n .en la ensefianza

tiv6 al f inal de cuentas . VI. E l Servicio a la comunidad po.r

los estudiaotes sera una experiencia inestimable para el los y quizas sea la diferencia entre el fracaso y el uiunfo de los estudiantes envueltos en el programa.

VII. Tecnologfa moderna, recursos educacionales y facilidades ffsicas ade­cuadas son necesarias para lograr un nivel alto de aprendizaje.

VIII. El respaldo de la comunidad, padres, maestros y publico sera de mayor irnportancia en la educaci6n.

IX. El sistema escolar necesita recursos monetarios adecuados y la uti­Jizacion adecuada de ellos.

X. Es necesario cumplir con todos los nueve puntos mencionados.

ara una parte integral de la comunidad escolar. No siempre estaremos de acuer­do en todas las si tuaciones pero yo creo que es necesario tener aveces otro punto de vista para poder llegar a un acuerdo que beneficie a todos.

Sobre el asunto de "Goverance

es establecer un solo cuerpo gobernante por escuela. Este cuerpo gobernante tendra responsabilidad de hacer dec i­siones concernientes al pr presupuesto, estrategias educacional , co1ocaci6n de personal, horario de estudiantes y mae­stros y codigo de disciplina.

lCual es su posici6n cuando se refiera a la "P6liza 102" que se trata de estudios multicul tural? lComo piensa implemen­tar esta p6liza?

La P6liza 102 se trata de perspecti vas multicultural. lmplementaci6n de esta p6liza traera cambios en la forma de enseiiar historia, literatura y otras areas en el currfculo. Me parece que los resul­tados seran positivos y serviran para establecer normas de aprec iaci6n de otras cu lturas. El curricu la incluira mas

"Una de las partes claves sera una iniciativa enfocada en el estudiante aun despues de graduarse de nuestras escue­las secundarias. Asi se piensa deteminar si 18 meses despues de graduarse ese/joven ha demostrado exito en sus estudios o en su trabajo."

Council" (Concilio Gobemante Escolar) en algunas escuelas ya se ha establecido pero hay problemas en efectividad y en poder. Tanto asf que los parricipantes estan di sgustados. lCon rodos los cam­bios en el sistema, cual es su conseJO para las escuelas que estan contemplan­do ut ilizar este modo de ad min isa·aci6n?

Aun no tengo todos tos deralles de los poderes de! "Governance Council ". Pero se que hay escuelas que ti ene de 4 a 6 cuerpos gobernante tomando dec isiones. en la cual son las mismas personas que pertenecen a mas de un grupo. Esw se presta para mucha confus16n y se .p1erde tiempo y d inero. El objeri vo en m1 plan

informac i6n sabre la historia de los Latinos. Africano Americanos y los Asfanos Ameri canos. Esto significa que los examenes hay que cambiarlos para que refl ejen los cambios.

La uni6n de maestros esta muy envuelta en la reformaci6n de! sistema escola r. l Como piensa envolverse en este mov imiento e incorporar sus ideas'?

Por primera vez en la historia de! sis­tema escolar de Filadelfia la visi6n de la uni6n de maes tros y la visi6n de! distrito escolar es paralela. Todos tenemos in teres en reformar el sistema y esto se presta para fo rm ar una asociaci6n emrc la federaci6n de mae tros y la adminis-

traci6n del sistema escolar.Tengo confi ­anza en esta uni6n y los resul tados bene­ficiaran a todos los estudiantes.

Graffiti Alert "Each principal is to cause

removal of graffiti from her/hi s school facade no later than Decem­ber 31,, 1994, and to maintain a graffiti-free status through a process to be determined by each school's local council."

Recommendation 34(e) from A Philadelphia Primer: The School District of Philadelphia Educational Team Report

Specialiting in Contemporary, Cultural, Social and Political Issues

• Social Sciences • Cultural Studies • Multicultural • History • Politics • Litera1urc ·Ans • Global • Environmental

New and used books Small press/Univ. Pub.

PAGE 14 SCHOOL NOTEBOOK FALL1994

Schools Get Graded r, Report cards: too many r's

There was no1 a 101 of good news for Philadelphta school\ when student , par­ents and teachers completed report cards on their schoob last spring.

Almo>I 600 report cards were com­pleted and turned in, givi ng a glimpse of ho" the people who deal with schools every day think the schools are doing. Schooh were rated .. pass" or .. fail .. on

Students had a more negative picture than parents of the education they are receiving. 18 different ·•subjects". in the areas of clas;room activities, facili ties, and staff support. A report on the overall results wa compiled and released in August by the Philadelphia Citizens for Chi ldren and Youth.

------ - ----- ------ - - - - - ---- --,

More than 40% of all the grades given 10 schools were failing ones. A substan­tial majority of people fa iled their school on bathroom conditions. the number and use of computers. school safety, and the availability of a school nurse each day.

The bes! news was that more than three of four report cards gave passing grades for teachers encouraging parental involvement, for a well-equipped library. and for knowledgeable, enthu i­astic teachers. Slightly less than 3/4 of the respondents agreed that " the princi­pal welcomes parent and helps with their concern . "

The report cards submined by stu­dents gave the gloomiest picture of the schools. Consistently, students had a more negative picture than parents of the education they are receiving and of the faci lities and services ava ilable to them.

Students overwhelmingly rated their schools unsafe, and dirty or poorly maintained. Asked whet.her "all staff treat students and parents with respect," almost two-thirds of students gave their school a failing grade. Most senior high

. Fail

Pass 75%

70% 65%

35%

30% 25%

Cleanliness/Mainlen· anceolGrounds

and Facilities

Safely RespecttulTrealmenl of Studenlsand Parents by Slaff

Walls, Windows & Furniture in Good Repair

Recreation Space

school students fa ul t their schools for a lack of student input in the classroom.

"It is very important for us to listen to what these students are saying," com­mented Rochelle Nichols Solomon, d irector of the North Philadelphia Commun ity Compact for College Access and Success . She said the stu­dents' responses "draw from the way they feel and think about their schools. We need to be engaging these students in discussions about the work of improv-

ing our schools." The report cards were distributed in

the spring by a ci tywide coaliti on of community organizations. Completed cards were submitted to the team of edu­cation experts assembled by Judge Doris Smith to draw up a plan for achieving ed ucational eq ui ty in the Philadelphia schools .

For a copy of the "Report Card on the Schools", contact Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth at 563-5848.

Change is in the air. ..

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Why the low marks? A sampling from the report cards

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Phone:('.115)951-0330 l L- --- ----- - - - - --- - - -- -- -- - - - __ J

Parents, teachers and studems provid­ed thefol!owi11g comments on 1he "School Report Cards" i11response10 ques1ions abou1 what is good a1 your school and whal needs 10 change . These are excerpls a11d give a sense of 1he range of responses thm were expressed.

Parent, Morton School: "The teach­ers are enthusiastic abou t their work and motivate the students. The building is clean and well-maintained . After-school programs are great. We have a Home and School organization and a men' s grou p.

"We could use more books and educa­tional materials. More money is needed to repair broken sinks in rooms, broken clocks, etc. We need full-day kinder­gartens and teaching assistants in special ed rooms."

Teacher, Hartranft School: "Hartranft School is clean and well­maintained, but lacking some supplies. The teachers are dedicated and deliver instruction in a consistent, accessible manner. But the staff is jaded and cyni­cal about staff development and con­stantly changing, political ly motivated­models. There is never much continu ity or follow-through. "

Parent, Houston School : "A small but dedicated group of parents works hard for the school. Many others pitch in here and there when asked. The school erves all chi ldren, regardless of special

needs, unlike private schools. "We need a more active approach to

learning- more hands-on, more child­directed. Use commun ity resources more (parents and Olher institutions). The Distric t needs to train all teachers in positive reinforcement techniques. and eventual ly get rid of teachers who do not respect children."

Parent, Hunter School: "The teach­ers are very kind-hearted. There is a lot of children's an work in the halls. They have kindergarten a ll day. which is good because J work all day.

"Children need 10 be able 10 take their textbooks home. There is no parenta l parucipa1ton because the school doesn '1 let the parent; into the school. There is a 101 of garbage around the school. There i · 100 much drug using and drug dealing going on around 1he school and in my neighborhood. and 1 don't feel it is safe

for the chi ldren to see." [Identity withheld], Lea School:

"There are many hard-working teachers and a good principa l. But the teachers cannot get enough help for their d isrup­tive students. There is one counse lor for the entire schoo l population ( 1100 stu­dents). The counse lor is not avai lable to any students grades K-6 from September to Thanksgiving because he deals only with grades 7 and 8 at that time. In a school that should have at least two counselors, there are often none."

Parent, an elementary school: "A small body of parents works hard and cares about students. But parents need more control , not a dictator in the Home and School Association who uses money for what she wants with the principal's support. We need a real gym, a real gym teacher, and a real track coach. We need more tutors and books, smaller classes and accelerated classes, all day kinder­garten, after-school tutors, tutors."

Parent, Leidy School: "It's good when staff teach the children about their own culture. The staff shou ld want to work at Leidy and know more about the lives of the children who attend the school. There are good after-schoo l pro­grams still here. There are African­American programs, momhly parent meetings, clubs, awards assemblies."

Parent, Bryant School: "Most of the staff is good; it 's just that there are so many students in each class, there is no time for the individual attention which a lot of children need.

'The students should have special classes once or twice a week in whatever they show a spec ia l ski ll. Every child shows a special ability in something. No child should be le/1 0111.

"We need more African-American male teachers. We need more teacher aides so classes can be in smal !er groups for reading and math. We need foreign language classes and more work in prob­lem solving, math , and reading compre-

hension." Two teachers at Sayre Middle

School: "The physical fac il ity is not only hazardous but insu lting and demoral izing to both students and staff.

"A merit system for teachers should be instituted. Those teachers whose classes were working and doing good things should not become the victims of forced transfers due to racial balance and other fac tors less re levant to effective education of children. Teachers who are not effective shou ld not be allowed to continue working with studen ts and should not be assigned to non-teach ing positions just because of seniority. Th is is time in the student' s life that can never be made up."

Parent, Edison-Fareira High School: "The racia l composition of the staff does not reflect the racial composi­tion of the students.

"Schedu ling in high schoo ls should be restructured so classes are longer, allow­ing the students and teachers time go more into the depth of the subject with­out interruption. It wou ld help eliminate some of the problems with cutt ing , because the students would not have the opportunity to be in the hall s as much."

Teacher, Audenreid High School: "The roster is dysfu nctional from September to Novem ber. There are well over 60 students sitting in the library for 4 to 5 weeks just waiting to get a roster. Many students are left in the wrong courses all year. The curriculum is dis­organized, inadequate and does not pre­pare students for college or work. There is no monitoring of outcomes.

"Parents are wi ll ing to be involved but there needs to be more outreach, motiva­tion and support for parent participation."

Student, Bok High School: ' 'There need to be more Black teachers and more Black hi story taught. The staff and prin­cipal are not supportive of all students. Parents need to support the school and students."

~~l1~£~~~PHIA·Futures 215-790-1666

I

FALL 1994 SCHOOL NOTEBOOK PAGE 15

GUEST OPINIONS An Asian American response to Education Team report

Magnet school plan has negative potential

by Debbie Wei On the whole I found the report to

Judge Smith to be informative and on targer. There are certain elements which may specifically impact on Asian Americans and should be addressed.

In the section on desegregation, a rec­ommendation is made to develop a com­prehensive magnet school plan. I have concerns regarding the numbers for

dropping out. A quota of five percent would, I believe, only contribute to the marginal ization which many Asian American students are currently feeling.

lf the magnet schools are meant to create environments of academic excel­lence at various neighborhoods, then they must respect the ethnic makeup within the neighborhoods they are serv­

ing. I believe a better,

------------ more equitable way of racial balance cited_ Five percent is not in the report: 60 pe1-

distributing the num­bers may be some­thing to the effect that the school must be 50 percent African American and 50 per­cent other, with no ethnic group making up less than ten per­cent at a school. This may result in some schools having no Asian Americans or

cent African Amer- a laroe enough pon-1can, 20 pe1cent b J'

white, 15 percent ulation to create a Launo, five percent

Asian American and fieeling oif comm uni• others, w1th111 a five

percent+/- variance. tyfior a racially For Asian Amer-

icans, these numbers identiifizable minority are particularly dis- • turbing. Five percent within any given school population is not a large enough population to create a feeling of comfort or community for a racially identifiable minority. Asian Americans, despite popular stereotypes of "success," have a high drop-out rate within the School District. This is espe­cially true of Southeast Asians. Many students complain of silencing and feel­ings of marginalization within their schools and within their classrooms as serious contributing fac tors to their

Community speakout

Latinos at al l, and yet, it would still ensure that. those schools which do have Asian Americans or Latinos would have the critical numbers necessary to provide a supportive communi ty .

Another potential problem with the use of such numbers lies in the racial makeup of the existing magnet schools. Central High School, Girls High School and Engineering and Science, for exam­ple, all have rela ti vely high numbers of Asian Americans

Hopes for our schools With the School District on the verge

of major restructuring, we asked people, "What are your hopes for the public schools over the next five years?"

Steffen Boyd, parent, Pickett Middle School: "I hope the schools get rid of the practice of social promotions. There needs to be a qualitative and quan­ti tati ve measure for reading and writing skill s where each and every child leaving a grade should be able to read and write at or above that grade level. "

What's your opinion? School Notebook welcomes your

letters, reviews, or opposing view­points. Please send to Public School Notebook, 3721 Midva le Ave. , Phila. PA 19129-1532.

Come and visit

Parents Union's Parent Resource Center

311 S. Juniper Street, #602 Philadelphia, PA 19107

(215) 546-1166

John Dunn, parent, A. S. Jenks: "My hope is that there is put into place some type of ann ual evaluation of teacher effectiveness. Jenks is a good school , but it only goes to the fourth grade. After the fourth grade, the choic­es become very limited as to where to send my kids."

Shaun Jones, student, Martin Luther King High School: "I hope the teachers and students look at the real rea­sons for the violence in the school. King has been looked at a Jot because of the fight ing. Everyone thinks it' s all the kids, but there are just a few that are troublemakers. Most of the teachers think we are all like that and try to treat us like that. Kids are acting badly because we are allowed to and can get away with it. I hope everyone wil l just wake up and see what is rea ll y go ing on."

A teacher, an elementary school, Northwest Region: "I hope the schools wi ll truly go to site based management and die new supe1i ntendent's school reform will be more effective than the ones in the past. My greatest hope is money. money, and more money for education.

Keisha Johnson, student, West Philadelphia High School: "I hope things will really change so I can get out of here with a good educauon. I hope the teachers wi ll be made to teach and treat students with more respect."

(between I 0 and 17 percent). Yet, other magnet schools do not. The Asian American students who do well in school tend to cluster at those magnet schools where they feel there is a large enough population to support them.

These students work hard to excel in their studie despite the difficulties often faced of being limited English proficient (LEP), or coming from families which do not speak English. Yet, I have heard disturbing storie from students in the community who have had the grades, attendance and test scores to merit entrance to one of these schools, but who were denied admission because, they were told, there were "too many Asians" already present there. The question of equitable treatment of Asian American students under these circum­stances is a difficult one which deserves careful and thoughtful consideration.

A second concern I have is in the rec­ommended "themes" for magnet schools outlined in the report. The failure to

provide innovative alternative themes, such as two-way language immersion clusters, and the reliance on JROTC mil­itary programs in almost all schools are both deep ly disturbing. The suggestion of a "Classics Academy", designed 10

prepare stud en ts for "advanced post-sec­ondary study" and which, sign ificantly, does not have a JROTC program attached to it, sends a chil ling message of tracking and of curricular bias regard­ing whose cultures are valued.

A final concern which I have regards the report's treatment of bilingual educa-

tion . I thmk the repon i accurate in te1ms of it s analysis of the state of bilin­gual and ESOL programs in the Di st rict. However, it does not late clearly enough the specifics.

The District has had a fractured vision of bilingual education and needs to for­mulate a concrete policy with regard to

language acquisition issues. A clear example of this fractured view i the fact that bilingual education is not available to Asian American students in the District at all. For Asian American s1u­dents, the only option is ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages). l applaud the Report's recommendations 10 review tJ1e programs. but am also con­cerned at the lack of attention paid in other sections of the report. such as the one on magnet schools. to the needs of ESOL and bilingual students in the District.

In fact, in the magnet school recom­mendations. the only school which is described as including LEP students is the "International Studies" school. This, in and of itself. perpetuates the tracking which has forced many of our ESOL students into "multicultural charters" and which has placed language offerings only in those schools with .. international themes." It is painful to see that even as LEP students struggle for acceptance and inclusion, they are again relegated to the margins and perceived as .. foreign­ers" and "foreign experts."

Debbie Wei works for the Office of Curriculum Support of the School District of Philadelphia.

Fallowing up on the news ...

Still waiting The School District continues to drag

its heels in the hiring and placement of Asian bilingual teachers.

At press time, on ly seven As ian bi li n­gual teachers have been placed and are teaching in classrooms. An additional five teachers have been processed through the system but

teacher who can serve as role model · and community contact a well a instructional leaders at their schools.

One vote short ln June 1994 we reported that the PFT

members at William Penn High School were preparing to vote on a proposed

School Governance Plan have not been placed.

These numbers are far short of the 25 bilingual placements promised by Board of Education President Rotan Lee and far short of the 29 appli­cant s recommended by a

Brief updates on stories

from last issue

to implement school based management.

The vote was 73.6% in favor; nevertheless the plan failed becaw,e the Joint Agreement between

joint community/district interv iewing panel last June.

ln add ition, the placement office has not differentiated between the Asian speaking languages, and has misplaced a number of teachers who do not speak the language of the Asian students at the school.

The community is seeking a stronger commitment from Superintendent David Hornbeck to hire and appropriately place

the PFT Leadership and the District

Administration requires a 75% vote 10

adopt a School Governance Plan. The plan, developed over a two-year period by teachers and parem had failed by a single vote.

"Tt eems like planned futil11y," one teacher commented. "Who ever heard of needing 75% 10 pass anything." Fru. trations were further increased when teachers whose no vote had topped the plan moved to other school<,.

PAGE 16

Fighting bias

A new look at teaching holidays 111 lier book, Anti-Bias Curriculum,

Louise Dcrma11-Sporks shows adults hon to sta11d up ji>r 11 ha( s right a11d /um to empower children so they call IOO. A/thOufih her book is targeted to !'Orly childhood educators, the guide­lines offered call be applied 10 all grade lei-els

The followillg excerpt from the book offers suggestiolls to teachers a11d par­e/Ifs Oil how to al'oid passi11g on our ow11 biases i11 reaching about holidays.

by Louise Derman-Sparks [There is an l overuse of holidays to

teach about cultural diversity. Because holidays are special times. when the

Guidelines

1 Use holiday activities as part of many other kinds of activities about a cul­

tura l group. Ask yourself: what is the purpose of teaching abo ut this holiday? Is it developmentally suitable to my group of children? Is it related to their lives. If not, why am I introducing it?

2 Set holiday activ ities in the context of people's daily life and beliefs by

connecting them to specific children and fam ilies. With kindergarten chi ldren, include holidays that honor struggles for justice and relate those holidays to chil­dren 's own experiences with unfairness.

u;ual business of life is temporarily sus- 3 Establish the di stinction between pended. they do not teach children abo ut learning about another person' s holi-the daily life of people. When early day rituals and celebrating one's own childhood curriculum uses holidays as holiday. Invite children to participate as the primary source of activities about "guests" in a holiday activity not part of cultural diversity, their cu lture. Encourage

children do not ------------ the children whose holi-learn about the Honor every group day it is to share feelings common tasks as well as information.

that all people do that i's represented in culturally dif- 4 Honor every gro up

that is represen ted in your c lassroom (ch ildren and staff) . Do not treat some holidays as "exot­ic" and others as regu lar. Everyone is ·'ethnic":

ferent ways. • l Focu,ing on holi- lll your c assroom. ~~~~~~ 1tl~~~is~hil- Do not treat some dren visit a cul- h [ 'd a ti' " ture by participat- 0 l ays as exo c ~:~i~~t~e:e;d and others as regular. Everyone's tradition

comes from specific eth­nic or national groups then go home to

their regular cla room life. This leads to stereotyping and trivializing a culture - ··All people do is dance. wear specia l clothes, and eat.·•

Early childhood teachers must rethink why they use holiday activities. What do children learn? What purposes do such activitie serve? As one preschool teacher aid with relief, "When I stopped doing holidays every month. 1 found I had so much more time to do other thing!'"

If u ed sparingly. holiday activities can contribute ro an anti-bias curricu­lum. One, they are fun to do and chil­dren get involved.

Two. participating in celebrations and rituals helps build a sense of group co l­lectinty. Especially in child care cen­ters, recreating the home experiences of preparing for holidays can enhance chil­dren ' feeling of being pan of a close­knit group.

Three. holidays are a part of our soci­ety's cultural life. Leaming about holi­days in school can broaden children's awarenes. of their own and other's cu l­tural experiences if they are thoughtfully used as part of a more inclusive curricu­lum about culturaJ diversity.

Spread the News Help Distnbute the Philadelphia

Public School otebook. You can be a part of putting the School ote­book in the hands of people across the Cit). Copie'> of the 1 otcbook are available for distribution at your: 'chool. place of worship. special public event, Home and School meetmg, and community centers.

Contact u' at School '>otebook. '721.\ficllaleAve .. Ph1la. 19129. Phone # 951-0330.

(including national holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas).

5 Do not assume everyone from the same ethnic groups celebrates holi­

days in the same way. Make sure that any differences in how each family cele­brates are evident and respected.

6 Demonstrate respect for everyone's traditions throughout the curriculum.

7 Plan strategies for working with the chi ldren whose families ' beliefs do

not permit participation in holiday cele­brations. Include the child' s parents in creating satisfactory alternatives for the child within the classroom.

8 Be sens itive to the possibility that families with very low incomes may

find certain holidays stressful because of the enormous amount of commercializa-tion and media pressure to buy, buy, buy. Stores' advertising of Halloween costumes, media and store emphasis on eating special foods at Thanksg iving, and the commercial equation of love with expensive and numerous gifts at Christmas time are prominent examples.

In the classroom, challenge these pressures by focusing on meaningful ways to celebrate holidays without spending money. Emphasize that home­made costumes and gifts are very special becau e they are unique and made with each person's wonderful ideas and with love. Make Halloween costumes and Chri tmas gifts at school -using these times to encourage and support chil­dren' creativeness. Talk about the under­lying meaning of holidays as times when your family and other people you care about come together to enjoy each other.

For information on the book Anti-Bias Curricu lum, contact the National Association for the Education of Young Children at (202) 232-8777.

FALL 1994

Strawberry Mansion quilt project

Reading, writing and sewing by Bruce Bowers such as Audre Lord, Alice Walker and

During the 1993-94 school year a Maya Angelou. Students were then group of teachers at Strawberry Middle given time to research a woman of their School shared the experience of reading own choosing. Choices were as varied a book, Teaching Stories, by Judy as Lorraine Hansberry , Renee Chenault, Logan . Logan , a middle school teacher and fam ily members - mothers, aunts, in San Francisco and part of a network grandmothers. of teachers. parents, and community Each student proceeded to research activists called S. E. E. D. (Seeking that person, putting their rationale for Educational Equity and Diversity) wrote their choice into print. They were able about her teaching experiences. Her to eventua lly work with a high school first chapter is titled "The Story of Two computer teacher and transfer their writ-Quilts." From this wonderful story the ten work onto computer d iscs. teachers at Mansion decided to under- Students then began sewing, along-take their own making of a quilt. side of teachers, their own quilt patch

We were seeking ways to develop a dedicated to their personal selection. project in which teachers and students The finished exhibition - the quilt could integrate multiple disciplines, find - has become a wonde1ful example of

ways to work in a ------------ the continuation of a

truly collaborative Quilt-making allows fashion , involve stu-

cultural heritage. The quilt-making

group allowed all of the participants to learn new lessons not

dents in active and cooperative learn­ing, and construct a final exhibition that

participantS to learn new lessons not covered in written

wou ld further the covered in written curricula . Forexam-idea of using alter- pie, the iss ue of gen-

native assessment. curricula. der stereotypes (boys The quilt-making can sew too!) was

idea, which is bor- explored. Students rowed from a rich family and communi- can and did serve as teachers (at least ty tradition, was planned by four teach- one teacher needed help threading a nee-ers in discipl ines such as reading, d ie and tying knots). Students had the English, social studies and foreign Ian- opportunity to explore their own family guage. It began with the premise that hi stories and learn more of the impor-women were often ignored in more tra- ranee of oral traditions. ditional literature and social studies cur- Teachers and students working riculum. A decision was made to focus together closely learned new ways to the theme for the quilt on "African- communicate and develop a tone of American Women." mutual respect that carried over into

After a class of students was chosen, other classroom settings. they were given the opportunity to Bruce Bowers is a teacher ot Straw-examine oral traditions, practice inter- berry Mansion Middle School. The quilt

I Q ~,~ ~~·, ;~~:m ;~~ ~:,;~~"~~"~"''"'fo" ,, ... 1 Ming Chau, Computer Science

teacher from Furness High School remembers that in Hong Kong,

teachers use graph paper to teach math from l st grade up to high schoo l. He says that much of math work depend on acc uracy and neatness. The graph paper helps kids keep columns straight, visual­ly establishes place val ues, is great when teaching about decimals, and basically instill s the concept of accuracy into kids until it becomes a habit.

2 Teachers interested in helping kids understand the situation of refugees worldwide should note that the

United Nation High Comm issioner for Refugees (UNHCR) provides free mate­ri als for teachers to use in the classroom. Schools could order a packet of the materia ls and make them available for teachers to use. Teachers Should be sure to preview the material s before using

them as some of the videos and slides may contain graphic images of harsh conditions which refugees face. There are posters, video tapes . s lides, and Scholastic worksheets availab le. UNHCR may also be ab le to provide speakers for school assemblies, etc. To get the materials, contact: Ms. Barbera Francis. Public Information and Aware­ness Office , United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Branch Office for the USA, 17 I 8 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 200. Wash. , DC 20009

3 Waiting for assembly? A few min­utes of downtime? Try thi s with your class: Five people enter a

room and introduce themselves to each other. If eve1yone shakes hands with everyone else just one time , what is the total number of handshakes that occur?

We ' re just gelling started. Send your classroom tips 10 the School Notebook.