Phila. Compact meets at U. to talk about public schools

Overcrowded classrooms, weak test scores, low graduation rates and underfunding are all issues that plague the Philadelphia public school system. The Philadelphia Compact -- a forum to discuss issues relevant to the city -- met in the Annenberg School for Communication Saturday to provide an open platform with guest panelists to discuss the problems in public education and how they could be affected by the upcoming mayoral election. The first half of the meeting was dedicated to identifying problems and possible solutions to conflicts within Philadelphia public schools, as Annenberg Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson moderated a panel composed of several leaders in local education. One of the main issues discussed was where Philadelphia public schools stand in comparison to those of other major cities of the U.S. Few members of the audience believed that Philadelphia stood ahead of comparable cities. "The money doesn't come into the classroom. It stops at other tiers," said panelist Karen Drexel Biddle, a parent of children in the Philadelphia school system. Panelist Natalie Allen, president of the Philadelphia High School Academies, stated that there is a "fundamental lack of respect for education, particularly in an urban center." According to Allen, while children represent society's "human capital," they are the least respected members of our social hierarchy. To counter that argument, Barbara Grant, executive assistant to Philadelphia Superintendent of Schools David Hornbeck, advocated the use of a new set of standards to analyze the Philadelphia public school system. Several audience members felt the event brought about a productive discussion of the issues. Audience member Carol Jenkins of the Citizen's Group felt that the panel was a fair representation of the school district. The issue is crucial in the upcoming mayoral election because "problems in education cause problems in economics," Jenkins said. Yet she added that the panel avoided discussing conflicts within the education system that are caused by poverty. To conclude the arguments in the second half of the discussion, the panel discussed a key change in the mayor's role in public education. Up until now, the mayor was only able to appoint school board members, who in turn elect the superintendent. However on the ballot of the upcoming mayoral election, citizens will vote on whether or not terms of school board members should run concurrently with the term of the mayor.