Annenberg gives $50 million to Phila. schools

Is Philadelphia up to the $50 million challenge? That was the question on everyone's mind as Wallis Annenberg, daughter of millionaire University alumnus Walter Annenberg, presented the Philadelphia public schools with a $50-million pledge at the Stoddart-Fleisher Middle School in North Philadelphia yesterday. The money is actually a challenge grant, however. The city will only receive the money if it can raise another $100 million over the next five years, with $50 million coming from the private sector and $50 million from the public sector. While Mayor Ed Rendell said he feels the city will be able to secure the private sector money, he said the real challenge will be public sector funding. Rendell said he expected non-profit organizations, such as universities, to foot some of this bill through his Payment in Lieu of Taxes program, which he announced last year. This week, Rendell's chief of staff, David Cohen, said the city is still in negotiations with the University to determine what the University's tax burden will be. [See story, page 2.] Philadelphia School District Superintendent David Hornbeck, however, said he already has about half of the $100 million secured. While there is a large task ahead for the city, the atmosphere was very upbeat. Wallis Annenberg, vice president of the Annenberg Foundation, made the presentation as part of the Annenberg Foundation's $500 million gift to reform public education across the nation. "Welcome home Ms. Annenberg," Philadelphia Public School/Business Partnership for Reform Chairperson Terrence Larsen said. "You could not have arrived at a more auspicious time for the future of our children." Students representing a variety of city neighborhoods sat quietly in the audience as the symbolic check was passed from Annenberg's hand to the nervously shaking hands of five children. The $50 million allocated from the Annenberg grant will not buy books or repair schools, however. It is slated for administrative and teaching reform. Hornbeck, who formulated a plan called "Children Achieving," said this is consistent with his goal of citywide and "systemic" reform of public schools. He also said he is grateful for the pledge because it gives Philadelphia a "challenge" to meet on the path to improved education. "It gives us a huge shot in the arm," Hornbeck said. "It tells us that we are on our way. It tells us this is a can-do moment and that in fact, we are going to create teaching and learning conditions in which children do achieve." Hornbeck added the city must not take small steps to meet the challenge. He said, rather, the system needs "bold" and "radical" leaps for fundamental change. Rendell, who also attended the announcement, said the challenge of improving education is one of the most important issues facing the city. And he promised to do whatever he could do to help meet that challenge. "I pledge?and we pledge unequivocally, that we will meet our share of the this grant," Rendell said. "The education of our children is so important that we will find this money, somewhere, somehow, someplace."