Letters
Stop disparity before it starts
More appreciation of a great teacher
Parent questions hostile treatment
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Letters to the Editors
Stop disparity before it starts
To the editors:
I read your Summer 2005 issue (Focus on Segregation & Equity) cover-to-cover in one sitting! It was comprehensive, illuminating, and very well done.
I am extremely concerned about racial equity and the achievement gap. And I was pleased to see your publication give them the weight they deserve. I am more committed than ever to advocating fairly funded public schools and closing the racial achievement gap.
But while Ron Whitehorne’s opinion article, “Where have all the White kids gone?” made an excellent case for why White families might pull their kids out of a public school as soon the school population becomes predominantly minority, to cite that as the only reason and highlight it shortchanges some of the other reasons Whites and other families might choose private over public education.
The article discusses the greater likelihood of such issues as lack of resources, lack of funding, high teacher turnover, less-qualified teachers, and fewer gifted programs in predominantly minority schools. Given those facts, it almost becomes a “chicken or egg” argument: what happens first?
Do White families immediately pull their kids from schools as soon as the student population reaches a certain percentage of minority students – with the issues discussed above arriving afterwards? Or do White families pull their kids out, not because of the color of the children, but because those very issues are beginning to arise?
As a teacher who cares about educational equity, I’d certainly hope the latter. But more than anything, I would like to work on a way to stop the disparity that occurs when a school becomes majority minority.
Donna Mooney
Teacher
Longstreth Elementary School
More appreciation of a great teacher
To the editors:
The article about the life of ESOL teacher Miriam Hershberger (Summer 2005) was wonderful.
I was an employee at Southwark School for 10 years. As a classroom assistant, I worked closely with Roz Breslouer, a first-grade teacher with whom Miriam often worked on reading programs.
I always liked Miriam, and will always remember the times I got to work with her. She was a great ESOL teacher. I learned a lot from her and Roz. I learned from these two teachers how to teach young children to read. Even though I am a Justice major now, I will carry the knowledge I gained from them with me for life.
Josephine McKean
Philadelphia
Parent questions hostile treatment
To the editors:
I am the parent of a fifth-grader who has attended schools in West Philadelphia since kindergarten. Whenever I have needed to contact the school regarding my child, I have been greeted with contempt by school staff. It was assumed that I was calling to cause a problem.
The interest I displayed in my child’s education was received as an intrusion and a nuisance. This attitude persists – from the principal to the receptionist – even now that she is in middle school. I understand that there are parents who come to schools to cause problems, but I have never been one of them. I do, however, care a great deal about my child’s education.
It seems to me that parents have less of a voice now than ever before in what happens to our children in school. Moreover, it would appear that the current communication structure is designed to keep us silent. Parents are made to feel that nothing we have to say matters to the people running the schools that our tax dollars support.
I wish I knew to whom I could register my grievance regarding this lack of accountability. My fear is that no one would hear me.
Marifa Winfree
Parent
West Philadelphia