Mayor talks on Phila. public school system

When Mayor John Street entered the Sayre Middle School auditorium last night to discuss public education in West Philadelphia, the crowd rose to its feet with thunderous applause. About 300 parents, students, teachers and other concerned community members packed the auditorium for the chance to hear Street's agenda for improving the public school system. Street, who in January dubbed 2000 the "Year of the Child," has won strong support in many communities -- including West Philadelphia -- for his pledges to reform the city's severely underfunded and poorly staffed school system. "We can't have a world class city with a second class educational system," Street said, adding that he intended to visit every cluster -- groups of area schools -- in the Philadelphia area to share ideas. Decreasing classroom size, increasing teacher salaries and opening up the schools for extracurricular activities topped the mayor's list of priorities for helping West Philadelphia schools succeed. The audience anxiously awaited Street's belated arrival, listening to Cluster Leader Janice Butler discuss improvements that would most benefit the group of 13 schools that makes up the West Philadelphia Cluster. "Our children deserve quality teachers providing them with quality education," Butler said. "I am delighted to introduce a mayor who is saying what we need to hear." Street began his speech by saying that he will use his new power to choose school board members to replace certain board members, although he maintained that he will not remove the current president and vice president. Furthermore, Street stressed that he would not cut educational programs from the city budget. However, he acknowledged that certain proposed initiatives for the public schools might be difficult to implement due to a lack of funding in the city budget. "We have a deficit and the deficit is getting bigger, and one day we're going to run out of money," Street admitted to the crowd. "When we run out of money, then you're going to have to decide what is really important to you. Are you ready to fight for public education?" Many of the audience members showed support for Street's plans and said they shared his concern about the state of public education but worry if certain plans are actually practical. "[Street] hit on all the things we've been talking about, but we're already spending at a deficit. And it all comes down to dollars and cents," said John Lay, a 30-year teacher at West Philadelphia High School. Others voiced their concern about discipline problems that plague the schools, coupled with the lack of teacher and non-teacher support, that create an environment in which learning is difficult. Lily Connor, whose 7-year-old daughter attends Harrington School, says that the playground at recess "looks like a Roman War. I see that they are totally out of control -- they don't listen to the teachers." Street said he hopes to add cultural programs and make school athletic facilities and computers available to students year-round -- suggestions many audience members agreed with. "There should be something for the children to do during the summer," said Willicent Wise, mother of two girls who attend school in the West Philadelphia Cluster.

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