Earlier this year, when it became clear the School District of Philadelphia would close about two dozen schools, I said it was a tragedy but could lead to enhancements of educational programs and opportunities for all of the city’s students, including those who would have to attend a strange school.
Then the School Reform Commission and Superintendent William Hite announced that those schools would close, and there was a great protest. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten even got herself arrested at the meeting where the closings were approved.
Those are the consequences of civil disobedience: you aren’t doing anything violent, but you are breaking the law. Chances are, you’ll get arrested.
But my hopes remained high. Now, however, after a doomsday budget has been announced in the city and more than 3,800 school employees have been given pink slips, my thoughts that Mr Hite’s vision for the schools would produce a better education for Philadelphia’s students have soured.
Those positive thoughts have soured for other people as well, such as parents and students in Philadelphia. If a student plays a musical instrument, for example, there will be absolutely no opportunity for him to explore his creativity and express his emotions through ensemble music anywhere in a Philadelphia public school.
The NBC News affiliate quoted one music teacher who was laid off as saying he was “disappointed for our students because music is a big part of their school life. For some of the kids it’s the reason they go to school.”
This is in line with what we have observed and reported, and it is echoed by several students at the suburban Chicago high school that was named this year’s National GRAMMY Signature School, Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville (see here, here, and here).
Many people have written that telling kids’ stories to make a political point is nothing more than a power play. This viewpoint is illogical in that kids are the ones affected by these cuts: what else should people tell stories about if not the kids? The viewpoint is understandable, though, in that the people making the comments have no vested interest in Philadelphia’s schools. Kids are part of families, however, which contribute to the overall economy in Philadelphia and in Pennsylvania. If those families leave the city, the tax rolls get even poorer. And they’re considering it.
“We were considering doing the flight to the burbs, very recently, and many of our friends flew when they began to have kids too,” NBC10 quoted one eighth grader’s mother as saying. “I suspect people will leave in droves. People are just really fed up with the school system.”
When those droves of people leave, primarily because their kids’ educational needs are being jeopardized by the School District of Philadelphia, that will be a time when schools are really cut to the bone. See, it’s not just the music teachers leaving in a mass exodus right now: counselors who provide stability for children who may need a little guidance now and then are also being released. About 280 counselors and 1,200 noontime aides are being laid off, according to a report in the South Philly Review. The district is also sending nurses, librarians, and assistant principals out looking for other jobs.
This is one of the reasons I think it’s illogical to say politicians are “using” kids as part of a power grab. Even if that is their motivation, they’re still right to use kids in their arguments because kids are what we’re ultimately talking about here.
