Notes from the news, March 6
by thenotebook on Mar 06 2013 Posted in Notes from the news
In North Philly, keeping a high school open requires wooing neighbors back. Notebook
A Philly teacher explains District's flawed approach to contract negotiations. Philly Mag
School closings protesters go to City Hall. Daily News
Protesters occupied Mayor Nutter's office to protest his support of closings plan. Notebook
The lottery's over, but the Kindergarten battle wages on at Penn Alexander. Inquirer
RFA released a brief summarizing research on mass school closings in major districts. Research for Action
News Corp. has a tablet made just for K-12 students. NY Times
Is a civil war brewing among Teach for America alums? Cloaking Inequity
News summary from Keystone State Education Coalition
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Please email davidl@thenotebook.org if we missed anything today or if you have any suggestions of publications, email lists, or other places for us to check for news.
Comments (2)
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/06/2013 - 14:24.
First time I've read an article and thought, "Nicely handled, Fernando."
"And many are questioning why neighborhood children are being turned away when 36 Penn Alexander students currently live outside the school's boundaries, according to district records.
Some were admitted by superintendent's privilege, a long-standing practice of allowing central office staff to direct admissions for personal or academic reasons, a school spokesman confirmed.
'Past superintendents have exercised a prerogative to locate students in schools throughout the district,' spokesman Fernando Gallard said. 'This superintendent has not.'
Gallard said that the current non-neighborhood Penn Alexander students will not be kicked out, but that no out-of-catchment students will be admitted going forward.
'To remove these kids right now would be disruptive, and it would not solve the situation of the over-enrollment of kindergarten students,' said Gallard."
Submitted by Anonymouse (not verified) on Wed, 03/06/2013 - 23:17.
I couldn't disagree more.
2 reasons:
* There are children who live in the PAS catchment who are still on the waitlist for this neighborhood school for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade. To learn that 36 spots are taken by children who live out of the catchment while children in the catchment are being turned away is apalling.
* Families who live in the PAS catchment are being forced to send their children to different elementary schools (due to wait lists in the past, and a lottery with no sibling preference this year). But apparently if your family is politically connected then you do get sibling preference. This is alluded to in the philly.com article and said directly in the philly mag article on this topic.
For these reasons, Gallard's answer is completely insufficient and clearly the situation has not been 'nicely handled'. If Gallard and Hite really want to establish some moral authority and move past the corruption of the past, this situation must be remedied.
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