Activism
Adequate public schools: how much do they cost?
Youth United for Change presents plan for Olney
Fighting deportations of immigrant parents
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Activism around the city
Adequate public schools: how much do they cost?
Pennsylvania’s lowest spending school districts spend as little as $8,000 per student, while per pupil expenditures in several of the more affluent districts in the state exceed $16,000.
In a state with such wide gaps in spending per pupil, do students in the low-spending districts get what they need educationally? Just how much should Pennsylvania school systems spend to ensure that their students can achieve the standards for proficiency that have been set by the state?
A number of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania advocacy organizations are raising these questions and suggesting that it is time for the state to answer them by conducting what they call a "costing-out” or “adequacy” study. Such a study would first aim to determine what supports need to be in place in order for schools to enable their students to meet the state’s learning standards, and then would calculate the school funding level needed to provide those necessary supports and resources to schools.
The idea of costing out is not a new one, according to its proponents, which include Good Schools Pennsylvania, the Education Law Center, and the Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC). They report that costing out studies have been conducted or are underway in 38 states to help align funding levels with the education standards and goals in the state.
While Pennsylvania is not yet one of those states, the State Board of Education here has appointed a panel to explore the idea. In addition, a resolution has been proposed in the legislature that would direct a statewide study looking at what resources are demanded by the state’s academic standards, including needs resulting from factors such as poverty, limited English proficiency, and disabilities.
According to EPLC president Ron Cowell, a costing-out study is a “logical next step” for state policymakers who have established academic standards and proficiency expectations for students.
For more information about work towards
a costing-out study, contact Good Schools
Pennsylvania at info@goodschoolspa.org
or 866-720-4086.
Youth United for Change presents plan for Olney
Photo: Youth United for Change
Youth United for Change (YUC), a student organization with a history of education reform activism, presented their plan for dividing troubled Olney High School into six small schools at a community meeting in April. Last fall, the school was divided into two separate schools by constructing a wall; each opened the school year with about 1000 students.
YUC’s plan, presented by students from the group’s Olney chapter, is based on published research that suggests that to realize major academic and behavioral gains, small schools should be no larger than 400 students.
The proposal calls for the partition of the existing building into four autonomous schools with a second building holding two additional schools. The schools would share some facilities and have joint extracurricular activities.
Along with a three-year history of pressing for small schools at Olney, YUC has led a community-based effort to implement a small school model at Kensington High School.
Students have visited successful small schools in New York and Oakland and have interviewed educators with expertise in this area.
A “design team” of community members and parents is being formed to further develop and promote the plan for Olney. School District officials have indicated that they are open to proposals for improving the school, which continues to suffer from high absenteeism, a high dropout rate, and low test scores.
But District CEO Paul Vallas said in a May interview that there are no plans to create more than two schools at Olney. He said student enrollment at the two existing schools will be reduced significantly due to a new charter high school opening in the neighborhood next year. Vallas also said the District lacks the funds to construct a new Olney High School – a project that had been included in the District’s two most recent annual capital budget plans.
YUC member Anthony Warrick, an 11th grader at Olney, said YUC’s plan can be achieved with “a commitment from the community to create small schools at Olney and money from the School District.”
For more information on YUC’s work at Olney High School, call 215-423-9588.
Fighting deportations of immigrant parents
“Danny” (name changed for privacy), a first-grader at a Philadelphia charter school, was home the night immigration agents came to pick up his father for deportation to Indonesia.
According to Danny’s mother, the immigration agents told his father to say goodbye to his son because he would never see him again. His mother said the incident has traumatized Danny, who is coping not only with the loss of his father but also with the fear of an uncertain future.
As Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ramps up deportations locally, a number of schools, community organizations, and coalitions are strategizing to fight against what activists call “cruel” and “inhumane” practices.
Independence Charter School and the Folk Arts Cultural Treasures Charter School have sponsored letter-writing campaigns on behalf of school families threatened with deportation.
Immigrant rights advocacy groups formed the Day Without An Immigrant Coalition, which lists family unity as a central platform of immigration reform. The group has sponsored local rallies and educational forums, which have drawn tens of thousands of supporters.
According to the Urban Institute, as many as one in 10 American families have at least one parent as an undocumented immigrant. Mary Yee, director of the School District’s Office of Family Engagement and Language Equity Services, said the District doesn’t have firm figures on the number of local children potentially affected by deportation, but estimates that 1,000 to 4,000 students could be impacted.
Ellen Somekawa, executive director of Asian Americans United, said that organization is supporting the “Justice for Jiang Zhen Xing Campaign.” Jiang Zhen Xing, the mother of two elementary-aged children, miscarried her second-trimester twins following a deportation attempt where she said she was denied adequate food, water and requested medical attention for hours.
Somekawa noted, “Many of us are not prepared to handle the brutality of this system, but clearly it’s something we need to figure out, especially as immigration rules become harsher,”
At the Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School, principal Deborah Wei said the letter-writing campaign helped children engage in a discussion about human rights at a basic level – the right of a family to remain together.
“The children’s questions are quite simple,” Wei said. “But no one can answer them."