Students pose the issue of teacher quality

With a new study showing no progress in the District on the problem of under-qualified teachers at the city's schools that serve predominantly low-income students and students of color, a local group has been developing a creative strategy to address the issue.

This spring at Sayre High School in West Philadelphia, student members of the Philadelphia Student Union have been approaching substitute teachers with a simple request: “Can we run the class?”

“Oftentimes when there's a substitute, they just tell the students what work the teacher left,” said Nijmie Dzurinko, director of the Philadelphia Student Union.

She said that in addition to fostering student leadership skills and “demonstrating what an interactive, engaging classroom can look like,” the student presenters ask their classmates what they think of the quality of their education and how it can be improved.

“We want to find out their concerns, find out what they feel about their school, find out what they think works and what doesn't work,” Dzurinko said.

Sayre senior and Student Union member Kenyon McGriff, who has participated in eight classroom presentations, said the aim is to empower his fellow classmates and get them to scrutinize the caliber of their education.

“We're not trying to make Sayre look bad,” McGriff said. “We're just trying to let students across Philadelphia know that poor education means poor minds.”

Sayre principal Joseph Starinieri told the Notebook he had been unaware of the classroom presentations and stated, “There are not a lot of subs at Sayre.”

In its third study of teacher quality in Philadelphia, the nonprofit group Research for Action credited the District with making strides in hiring and keeping qualified teachers since 2002. But it also found the District has failed in “changing the unconscionable pattern of having the least qualified teachers in schools serving the highest percentage of poor and minority students.”