Ackerman Had No Idea
After reading this Inky article, it's pretty clear that new superintendent Arlene Ackerman had no idea what she was getting into. Well, who the fuck could. Philly's public school system is fucked.
Philadelphia School District officials have known they had an achievement gap on their hands for years.
Today, they saw the raw data, and were collectively horrified.
One in 10 white students is classified as mentally gifted; just 3 in 100 black students are.
Black and Latino students make up 79 percent of the district's 165,000 students, but make up just 54 percent of students in the district's prestigious magnet schools. Those groups make up 90 percent of all children labeled "emotionally disturbed," and most of the students at the district's lowest-performing schools.
I grew up on one of the poshest school districts in the world. I've barely set foot in Philly's public schools. But I can see the end result of a failing system in the streets of the city I live in; in the stories I read in the paper; from my friends and colleagues who have an intimate knowledge of the system first hand.
A neighbor of ours is a new Philly Fellow (if you're not familiar with what they do, give this Satullo editorial a read) and just started her first teaching gig. I can't remember the school she was assigned to, but I can tell you this. She had a yearly budget for supplies of $100. That $100 was to be paid out of pocket and to be reimbursed at the end of the semester/year (can't remember). Chroist. $100. She put together a 1-sheet with a list of requested donations from her neighbors. We gathered up folders, paper, highlighters, markers, Sharpies, wood pencils, pens, mechanical pencils, rulers, stickers… Also on the list were copies of certain young adult reading level books because, well, her kids weren't gonna get them otherwise.
She couldn't have been older than 22. She was blonde and slight with a maltese in tow. I wouldn't be surprised if the school system didn't chew her up and spit her onto the grimy streets within a fortnight, but I know these Philly Fellows kids are a tough breed so I'll hold out some hope for her and her kids.
The School Reform Commission (what the fuck are they so busy reforming in their million dollar offices?) is broken. The school system is broken. Rich people have to take it upon themselves and sink some serious dough into the areas of town without jack shit for their kids. The alternative is the kids who grow up with jack shit live by the rules of the streets they're forced to live on – survive: kill or be killed.
There just aren't enough teachers either. Reading Kristen Graham's September 5th story on how the city started 2008-2009 with a 166 teacher shortage (double last year and 1% of the total spots), I get angry. Why are Philly's starting teacher salaries starting at 54th out of 60th SE PA districts.
And then there's the issue of race. Did you know that there's a racial teacher quota in Philly's schools? Peep this Daily News article and ask yourself why a school that's nearly 100% black can only have 35% of it's teachers be black. Why are principals turning away qualified black teachers because they've met their quota. What if that teacher wanted to be a part of his/her community, but now must interview across town adding in additional travel expenses to an already tight personal/family budget. Who knows, they may do it – for the kids. But it's an unfair burden for teachers to undertake. No, there cannot be a 1:1 ratio right now. There just aren't enough teachers in general let alone through a proportional breakdown.
And no, I'm not saying that a white, latino, asian or a teacher of another race couldn't teach kids of different races.
Maybe it's up to me.
I just read that Nutter's giving his first education policy address Thursday night at 6p at South Philly High (Broad/Snyder). Arg. I'm gonna be in NY for my grandma's birthday.
Explore posts in the same categories: Activism, Education
September 13th, 2008 @ 8:45 pm
hey – any chance this ackerman broad is from SF? Cause if it is – I think we booted her OUTTA office for her under performance. Little that I know about school district dynamics, that name is memorable…
September 14th, 2008 @ 12:55 am
Those are some scary numbers. Wish we could throw a lot of money at the problem, but with the deficit, that seems unlikely.
October 14th, 2008 @ 1:58 pm
ah, the PFT. heh.
these are the folks I applied to last year. First they screwed up my application, and had me down as a bilingual applicant. then, after fixing that i made it to the second stage (the interview) only to be told there were no placements for english teachers. Then, they asked if I was still interested in bilingual and assured me I ddin't need to know a lot of Spanish. So I said yes and agreed to the oral and written exams.
The oral exam came less than a week later, when they called me on my lunchbreak to engage me in an impromptu conversation, which i failed miserably. the written exam was also fairly difficult. So much for not needing a lot of Spanish.
Needless to say, i dodn't make it in but applied this year too. This time they had several placements for english teacher. Unfortunately, about 2 days after I applied, they emailed me and told me the 2009 cohort was suspended because of staffing needs, and to apply again in September.
Not sure if I'm goign to waste my time and energy for a third ride on the merry-go-round. Suffice it to say the Philly Teaching Fellows themselves may be highly dedicated and organized people, but the PTF management and administration is about as shitty as it gets. Also, they don't offer ESL which, in Philly where 1 out of every 10 citizens is an immigrant, is highly necessary for survival.