News in brief
High-poverty districts falling further behind
Grants of up to $3,000 offered for college-going
News in brief
High-poverty districts falling further behind
Pennsylvania, often criticized for inequities in how it distributes school funding, now has the dubious distinction of being among only 13 states where the gap in education spending between high-poverty and wealthy districts is increasing, according to a recently released study from the Education Trust.
In Pennsylvania, the districts serving the most low-income and minority students received much less state and local funding per student than the districts serving the fewest low-income and minority students.
Nationally, and in many states, this gap has been shrinking, but this is not the case in Pennsylvania.
"In too many states, we see yet again that the very students who need the most, get the least," said Kevin Carey, author of the report.
In Pennsylvania, the "poverty gap" in per-pupil spending widened by $243 between 1997 and 2001.
The per-pupil gap in spending between Pennsylvania's low-poverty and high-poverty districts is between $1,000 to $1,500 per student, depending on how it is calculated.
The Education Trust found that Pennsylvania also has a $542 "per-pupil minority funding gap,"meaning that districts with larger numbers of students of color have lower school spending rates than districts that are predominantly White.
The study noted that the gaps can be decreased if states assume a greater share of overall school funding and provide additional targeted funding for high-poverty districts.
Grants of up to $3,000 offered for college-going
A new program designed to increase the numbers of college-bound students in Philadelphia will provide up to $3,000 in scholarship assistance for Philadelphia students during their freshman year of college.
City leaders including Mayor John F. Street, School District CEO Paul Vallas, and Congressman Chaka Fattah announced the College Opportunity Resources for Education (CORE) program September 30. CORE is intended to begin during the current school year and will make scholarships available to eligible seniors graduating from Philadelphia public and charter schools.
To apply for the scholarship, these students must be pursuing either an associate's or a bachelor's degree at Community College of Philadelphia or at a Pennsylvania public (or state-related) college or university.
While students will have to seek other sources of funding for the remaining years of college, the freshman year scholarship will get them started, its proponents say.
The District has agreed to fund the program for four years, with up to $6 million in the first year, while the City will provide up to $4 million. Fattah is leading an endowment campaign.
"We have discussed the possibility of eventually extending the program to non-public school students," said Philadelphia Secretary of Education Debra Kahn. "But the initial incentive for the program is for public school children to stay in school and go to college."
For more information on the program, see www.corephilly.org.
Report cards provide extensive school data
One key requirement of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is that states and districts issue report cards on the performance of each school. Both the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the School District of Philadelphia are posting school report card information on their websites.
The school report cards include information on student achievement, on teacher qualifications, and on whether or not schools and districts have met the criteria for "Adequate Yearly Progress," as specified by NCLB and the state accountability plan.
Data about student achievement includes the following:
- Proportion of students achieving at each level on the PSSA, the state"s standardized test,
- Proportion of students taking the test,
- Graduation rates for high schools, and
- Attendance rates.
Each school's data must be reported for all students and for sub-groups broken down by race/ethnicity, disability, and language status. Districtwide data are also available.
The state report cards are available at www.pde.state.pa.us/pas. The School District's site is www.phila.k12.pa.us.
School District holds first anti-violence conference
Over 600 parents, students, and educators gathered in Center City November 8 for the School District's First Annual Student Anti-Violence Conference, called "Knock Out The Violence With Peace."
CEO Paul Vallas kicked off the conference with a message that dealing with violence has to be a collaborative effort among educators, parents, and students.
Vallas cited several get-tough measures that the District has started under his administration, including what he called the nation's most comprehensive "zero-tolerance" policy, but said the District also recognizes the need to create opportunities for students to achieve academically in order to curb students' behavior problems.
"There is a direct correlation between our penal system population and academic underachievement," Vallas said. "That is just a fact, and so we have got to fulfill our responsibilities to provide those educational opportunities."
Conference workshops covered a wide range of topics related to school violence, including bullying, truancy, sexual harassment, and student-initiated solutions to violence.
Curry Bailey, a member of the conference's planning committee and middle school coordinator for the District's Office of School Climate and Safety, said the conference went "clearly above and beyond" zero-tolerance policies to focus on non-punitive, restorative solutions.
Conference organizer Claudia Averette of the School District said working groups will be formed soon to continue the discussion sparked at the conference.
For information, call Claudia Averette at 215-299-1520.