Residents clamor for U. funding

W. Phila. residents want Penn money for other neighborhood schools. For members of the Walnut Hill Community Association, it is a matter of equality -- for their children and for their neighborhood. With a brand new Penn-assisted public school scheduled to be built in University City, residents of the Walnut Hill section of West Philadelphia are demanding that Penn and the state government provide money to their Lea School, at 47th and Locust streets, in addition to the millions of dollars the University is already pouring into the construction and operation of the new pre-K-8 public school. Betty Reavis, president of the Walnut Hill Community Association, said she intends to present Mayor John Street with a petition signed by more than 1,000 signatures of concerned area residents within the next 10 days. "It is very unfair for Penn to offer land to the Board of Education to build a public school," Reavis said. "If Penn and the Board of Education can do this, then they can do something for the other schools in the area." The petition requests five principle points -- the first being that the University and the state of Pennsylvania each raise $5 million to renovate the Lea School and improve the Powell, Drew and Wilson schools. Additionally, the petition advocates that as students transfer to the Penn-assisted school from Lea, the enrollment at Lea should remain low to prevent crowded classrooms. Furthermore, the petition states that the $700,000 yearly subsidy Penn has granted to the new school should instead be transferred to the Lea School, in order to hire teachers with more on-the-job experience. "Penn has not committed a single dollar for teachers or programs at the Lea School," says the petition, written by Reavis. "Many people have complained that this is an injustice and an insult to those residents of University City who would not be able to attend the new school." Glenn Bryan, Penn's top community relations official, said Penn has not been presented with the petition but heard it being discussed in town meetings. Though he refused to comment on whether Penn would consider acceding to Walnut Hill's request, Bryan emphasized that the University remains committed to the other area schools. "We have been working with the community attempting to bring resources to the area schools," Bryan said. In the past, Penn has provided area schools, including Lea, with assistance through grant money, tutoring and various other programs. At a Walnut Hill member meeting held on February 7, Philadelphia School Board member Michael Karp showed up to lend his support as a longtime West Philadelphia resident for the efforts of the Walnut Hill community, which extends from 45th to 52nd streets, and from Market to Spruce streets. Karp said that all of University City's children should have access to improved resources, not just those who will attend the new public school. "It is not right to have a brand new school building and leave the existing Lea School in the condition that it's in," Karp said. "We shouldn't have one school get $21 million and the other kids get zero." According to Annette Campbell, a doctoral degree candidate at Penn and a volunteer at Lea, the school has no library or playground and uses two small rooms as cafeterias. "It's an urban public school. It needs a lot," Campbell said. "When you see children not having anything to play with at lunchtime, it's disconcerting." Horace Patterson, first vice president for Walnut Hill Community Association, viewed support for the Lea school as a necessary outcome of the new school project. "Anybody with a moral conscience would be against this school," Patterson said. "How can the Board of Education spend $20 million when Lea doesn't have a library, doesn't have a cafeteria?" Also, Karp stressed that Walnut Hill was the only neighborhood in West Philadelphia that would not fall into the proposed catchment area -- increasing the need for improvements at the Lea School. Reavis said community members are still in the process of collecting signatures to deliver to Street. "We're just hoping that the mayor will take a good look at this [petition] and understand that he must do something for this community," Reavis said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.