Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Superintendent: Pa. not providing Philly kids a 'thorough and efficient' education | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Superintendent: Pa. not providing Philly kids a 'thorough and efficient' education | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:



Superintendent: Pa. not providing Philly kids a 'thorough and efficient' education

By Kevin McCorry for NewsWorks on Jun 24, 2014 09:39 AM
Photo: WHYY
Has Pennsylvania been coming through on its constitutional requirement to provide all children with a "thorough and efficient" education? In a recent interview at WHYY studios, Philadelphia School District Superintendent William Hite said, flatly, "No."
"Unfortunately we're left with a situation where we're trying to only spend what we have," said Hite, "and that provides resources that are inadequate and insufficient in order to educate children."

The right to high-quality education

In the extended interview above, Hite, having now finished his second school year at the District's helm, expounds on a variety of issues facing Philadelphia schools. 
"Regardless of where children live in this city, they have a right to a high-quality education," he said, "and poverty shouldn't influence that. Whether they are learning English shouldn't influence that. If they have an IEP should not influence that."
The District needs $66 million just to provide students next year with this year's admittedly "insufficient" resource levels. On top of this, Hite says he needs $224 million to begin implementing his vision for districtwide growth.
Hite argues that taxpayers should trust his leadership team's ability to use those funds to bolster student achievement.
"We know what works. We know it from evidence," he said. "We've done the research on these things that have worked on populations that we serve. And we're just saying, 'Let's do what works.'"

Read the rest of this story at NewsWorks


Notes from the news, June 24
​Superintendent Hite: Pa. not providing Philly kids a 'thorough and efficient' education. NewsWorks Teachers write about their love of the profession. Notebook Washington High students hit with more charges after brawl. Daily News As Phila. goes, so goes the state. Inquirer Mastery Charter's offer of 90 percent college tuition scholarship was 100 percent wrong. Inquirer Huey Elementary School gets
Teachers write about their love of the profession
Several teachers from a handful of District and charter schools were asked what they love about teaching and what they would change if given the chance to improve conditions for students. About a dozen educators from Teachers Lead Philly, a professional network devoted to teacher leadership, recently came together to write down responses describing their love of teaching in Philadelphia and their