Posted on 11/09/2001 10:24:39 AM PST by callisto
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The roof leaks, the plaster is cracked, the plumbing fixtures are original, circa 1923. There is not enough money in the budget for a security guard. Many of the students come from broken homes.
Test scores at William B. Mann Elementary School are just as dismal: 71 percent of fourth-graders lack basic math skills, and 45 percent read poorly or cannot read at all.
Help is on the way, as the state sees it. But many educators and others worry that the cure might be worse than the disease.
Next month, Pennsylvania is expected to launch what some are calling the most audacious education reform plan ever in the United States - one that would hand administration of the nation's seventh-largest school system, and dozens of its worst-performing schools, to a for-profit company, Edison Schools Inc.
The plan has drawn fierce criticism, with Mayor John Street calling it "fantasyland." But Republican Gov. Mark Schweiker, armed with authority from the state Legislature, appears determined to go forward with the takeover of the 205,000-student district.
Educators across the nation are watching.
"The use of a profit-making private company is unprecedented for this scale and scope of effort," said Michael Kirst, a Stanford University education professor who specializes in school reform.
In announcing the plan last week, Schweiker said that bold strokes are needed in a school system with a $216 million budget deficit, chronic teacher shortages and crumbling buildings.
Edison would get about $40 million per year to manage the district. The company would also run 45 of the 60 worst-performing schools, with the 15 others managed by private companies in consultation with community groups.
School takeovers and school privatization are not new. Eighteen states have seized control of 40 districts, and some places tried private management, among them Baltimore, Minneapolis and Hartford, Conn.
The results have been mixed. While states have generally had success taming budget deficits and renovating buildings, educational improvements have been harder to come by.
New Jersey took over Jersey City schools a dozen years ago, the first state to intervene directly in an ailing district. The state balanced the budget and reduced truancy and dropout rates. But while test scores improved, they still fall below the state average.
Last year, Baltimore turned to Edison to run three elementary schools. One school scored impressive gains in math and reading scores.
Altogether, Edison, the nation's largest for-profit education company, runs 136 schools with 75,000 students. Its schools feature a longer day and school year, heavy investment in technology and a uniform curriculum.
"We think we're ready. We've been training for this for 13 years and we've invested $500 million to figure out how you turn around tough schools," said Edison chief executive Christopher Whittle.
Philadelphia teachers, blue-collar school workers, minority leaders, student activists, the school board, City Council, and parent and community groups have all spoken against the plan.
At a City Hall rally this week, Helen Gym of Asian Americans United branded Edison executives "vultures" and "profiteers."
Public-school advocates say they want more money for smaller classes, early childhood education, new textbooks and upgraded buildings. They believe these goals can be accomplished without a private takeover.
Philip R. Goldsmith, interim chief executive of Philadelphia schools, warned that Edison has no experience running a large urban district. "The graveyard of American industry is filled with companies who bit off more than they can chew," he said.
Some community groups are pursuing a third path: They want a crack at running some of the schools. One group is led by record producer Kenny Gamble, an architect of the smooth "Philly sound" of the 1970s. Another group wants to help run schools in desperately poor North Philadelphia.
After years of prodding, Mann Elementary principal Carolyn James Weeks finally obtained money for a new roof, new plumbing and new electrical system. As bad as things are there, Weeks, an educator with 38 years' experience, said she is not about to see it turned over to Edison.
"I would not dare go in an operating room when I've never operated on a patient and tell a doctor what he's doing wrong," she said.
AP-ES-11-09-01 1324EST
-cactmh, Publick Skeewl Grad.
-cactmh, Publick Skeewl Grad.
As long as it is impossible to fire tenured teachers, as long as NEA affiliates give tenured teachers facing firing all-out free legal teams so teachers can appeal their cases forever like Death Row appeals, the government schools will fail - and not because of cracked plaster.
The plug was pulled by a judge (I think at the state-level) who was undoubtedly purchased by the teachers' unions.
I don't expect much.
What do you all think of the idea of community groups running the schools? My major question would be where would they get the necessary funds to do so?
I would if he was slicing open the patient's throat to treat and ingrown toenail. Especially if it was someone I loved on the table.
It's similar to the joke about the doctor who finally lost his hospital privleges: It wasn't so much all the patients he lost. It was the deep gashes he made in the operating table.
Also, privatization does have its down-sides as well. Please don't think of it as a magic bullet. It MAY be an improvement for MOST school systems, but remember to keep some perspective on it.
With competition, you are virtually guaranteeing that the worst schools will close (YAY!)... But then those students have to go somewhere else, and building a new facility or cramming them into others has logistical hurdles to overcome.
Additionally, you will have those who get to attend the schools they want, and others who don't. Jesse and Rev. Al will go crazy if any particular ethnicities are under-represented in any way.
Since the schools are in business to turn a profit, there could easily be incentives for them to be used as advertising mills, marketing experiments, and/or free labor for the corporations that own the systems.
Again, I'm happy there are more alternatives being explored... but keep a sharp eye out, and make sure that your kids are getting what they need... otherwise, find another education provider!
I think John Timoney has done a decent job with the Philly PD, but you're right to say that corruption reigns in that city.
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