Dungee Glenn: The real issue is equity
Thursday's School Reform Commission vote on the recommended closure of nearly 30 schools will undoubtedly have a major impact on the future of the city's public school system. In advance of the vote, the Notebook asked prominent Philadelphians to offer their thoughts, using new data and maps on school attendance patterns in the city as a starting point.
Read the response from Mark Gleason and Mike Wang of the Philadelphia School Partnership.
by Sandra Dungee Glenn
At the heart of school closings and school choice in Philadelphia is the question of equity -- or lack of it. For the past three decades, parents have been migrating to what they perceive as better options for their children, largely as a result of neglect of schools in neighborhoods of color.
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Read the response from Mark Gleason and Mike Wang of the Philadelphia School Partnership.
by Sandra Dungee Glenn
At the heart of school closings and school choice in Philadelphia is the question of equity -- or lack of it. For the past three decades, parents have been migrating to what they perceive as better options for their children, largely as a result of neglect of schools in neighborhoods of color.read more
Debate over school closings asks the wrong questions
Thursday's School Reform Commission vote on the recommended closure of nearly 30 schools will undoubtedly have a major impact on the future of the city's public school system. In advance of the vote, the Notebook asked prominent Philadelphians to offer their thoughts, using new data and maps on school attendance patterns in the city as a starting point.
by Mark Gleason and Mike Wang
Far more important than the question of whether schools should close is why some neighborhood schools work -- even when serving the same students with the same funding -- and others don’t. We don’t need to look far to answer this question and don’t need to engage in some hypothetical debate over models, governance, theories, or systems. We need only to look at the dozens of successful neighborhood schools in Philadelphia and find the common threads: focused leaders, resourceful and committed teachers, and the conditions that enable these educators to thrive.
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For Philadelphia’s neighborhood elementary schools, a tale of two cities
by Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner
In Philadelphia’s Far Northeast, within city lines but long its own sprawling world, the traditional neighborhood public elementary school remains a popular option for families with young children.
Take William H. Loesche Elementary, located at Tomlinson Road and Bustleton Avenue, almost in Bucks County.
The school serves nine of every ten public school students living within in its attendance zone. Just 6 percent of families choose to send their children to charter schools. The school, like most others in that section of the city, has remained untouched by the district’s multi-year push to close dozens of schools and convert others to charters.
Across a large swath of North, West and South Philadelphia, however, it’s another story.
read more
by Mark Gleason and Mike Wang
Far more important than the question of whether schools should close is why some neighborhood schools work -- even when serving the same students with the same funding -- and others don’t. We don’t need to look far to answer this question and don’t need to engage in some hypothetical debate over models, governance, theories, or systems. We need only to look at the dozens of successful neighborhood schools in Philadelphia and find the common threads: focused leaders, resourceful and committed teachers, and the conditions that enable these educators to thrive.read more
For Philadelphia’s neighborhood elementary schools, a tale of two cities
Click here for interactive map
by Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner
In Philadelphia’s Far Northeast, within city lines but long its own sprawling world, the traditional neighborhood public elementary school remains a popular option for families with young children.
Take William H. Loesche Elementary, located at Tomlinson Road and Bustleton Avenue, almost in Bucks County.
The school serves nine of every ten public school students living within in its attendance zone. Just 6 percent of families choose to send their children to charter schools. The school, like most others in that section of the city, has remained untouched by the district’s multi-year push to close dozens of schools and convert others to charters.
Across a large swath of North, West and South Philadelphia, however, it’s another story.
read more