Re: [UC] Penn's sadly myopic "Vision of the Anointed""Actually, I think the remark demonstrates disturbingly low expectations by this teacher."
The statement is very little to interpret, but I'm giving the teacher the benefit of the doubt. I am experienced with general Phila. dropout rates, achievement levels, etc and not the specifics at UC High school. She is a high school teacher and not an elementary teacher. So she must accept the skill levels of the kids when they enter the high school. Imposing expectations either too low or too high on the group could be harmful regardless of high expectations for individual students. Her job and experience is to engage the kids as they enter and help them all progress for a year. The report was about taking a general high school, which serves a neighborhood, and convert it into two magnate schools. We can't ignore that these schools will require a certain achievement level at baseline to gain entrance. I saw the teachers statement as more about preparation and not about potential. But that is my speculation. But we need to consider the Penn vision in its entirety. The teacher is talking about the current kids coming from the local schools and suggesting it's a poor design. But this school is not for those kids so we're talking about two sets of kids as if they are the same. I wasn't at the forum. But why would Penn/Drexel offer a percentage like 70% of students from the neighborhood rather than explain the application process? It seems extremely dishonest to me and apparantly the attendees had some problems with trust as well! Remember the Sadie Alexander debate about the catchment area. It's nice if you're inside. But it's not about improving public education as Penn/Drexel pretend; it's about creating a separate school for a wealthy zone around campus. Then lobbying to demand a larger share of public resources. I hate the fact that our society separates kids by economic class long before they reach high school, but it does. Wealthy districts in PA often spend twice as much money per pupil as is spent on the kids from poorer areas. If the resources of wealthy districts were available K-12 for public school students in our city schools; I would expect that we could raise our expectations, and more of the local graduates would be prepared for Penn and Drexel. It's not just smaller class sizes and less teacher turnover but also the availability of guidance counselors, school psychologists, etc. There is such a limited debate about the differences in schools between wealthy zones and poor ones. Kids who have not had the adequate preparation during K-9 will not go to magnate schools in large numbers. I believe the teacher was suggesting that those kids are about to lose a local high school. She is suggesting that this high school isn't being designed for the kids coming to U. City high school from the local primary schools. I don't think she is considering the Penn/Drexel vision. The vision is about marketing for replacement students to join Sadie Alexander students for the converted high school. It will probably be nice for the new kids, but is Penn/Drexel concerned about raising standards for the local primary schools? Will Penn/Drexel actually demand a larger share of Philadelphia school resources to be diverted for the special schools, which will make the funding gap even worse? That is the way these "public/private partnerships" tend to work. Actually, an iron triangle is a much more honest description of the model in which the city government serves the Penn Trustees rather than Phila residents. This partnership nonsense is a lie. The "vision" is creating a wealthy zone and wealthy schools surrounded by an under-funded public school system which can be ignored. Like the teacher, I care about the other kids too. Glenn ----- Original Message ----- From: Kimm Tynan To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 9:46 PM Subject: Re: [UC] Penn's sadly myopic "Vision of the Anointed" She's a realist not a racist. Certainly, you get that, and were simply making a funny. Actually, I think the remark demonstrates disturbingly low expectations by this teacher. Kimm On 3/27/08 11:33 PM, "Glenn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi Paul, You made a good point about Lussenhop. Anyone who has watched his conduct in this hotel matter will not trust anything he says. Can you believe that this Penn team boldly lied to the PHC during recorded testimony? Can you believe that Barry Grossbach, the voice of the community, defended their bold unretracted lies? "Best part is, I think if Penn suggested the curriculum this one person wants, people would probably accuse them of being racist, not to mention anointed. Instead of "yes we can" its "no you can't." With the school, you're way off the beam. In the Inq., one opponent revealed how Drexel pulled out a few years ago. Some commitment to public education of the poor! These special advanced high schools are not some charitable support of public education and the current residents. These schools support fortress Penn/Drexel and the gentrification schemes surrounding the inner corporate U. headquarters. It's unfair to suggest the teacher was being racist or, "no you can't". The kids she knows coming from the neighborhood primary schools won't be going to these high schools! These advanced schools are designed for the new arrivals and their 10 year tax abatements. These schools will be marketed around the world to support the real estate marketing and the kids attending local public primary schools will be searching for trade schools elsewhere or following the normal dropout patterns until their parents are forced out of the neighborhood.. Unless the primary schools for these kids (in addition to Sadie Alexander) receive proper funding and support, the neighborhood kids will not be attending these special high schools. She's a realist not a racist. Certainly, you get that, and were simply making a funny. Isn't it terrible that some kids are completely disadvantaged and neglected by our society from the earliest ages. Then idiotic arrogant middle class types pretend that evil, laziness, race, etc. were the only disadvantages poor kids ever had. (Every poor kid from underfunded schools and poor communities, can go to the best high schools, get a full scholarship to Harvard, and be a Horatio Alger) Hahaha, that is funny! If anyone else tries to fool you about this issue Paul, you send them to your buddy, Glenn ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 10:04 PM Subject: Re: [UC] Penn's sadly myopic "Vision of the Anointed" Well this is interesting too. Given the subject line, I guess you agree with the people who don't want Penn to help support the school. Best part is, I think if Penn suggested the curriculum this one person wants, people would probably accuse them of being racist, not to mention anointed. Instead of "yes we can" its "no you can't." Paul -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Sent: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 9:00 am Subject: [UC] Penn's sadly myopic "Vision of the Anointed" From today's DP (Similar story was in the Inquirer) -- emphasis added so you read the good part first: For enquiring minds that want to know, compliments of Al Krigman -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Planned partnership under fire Initial proposal for Penn, Drexel to partner with a renovated U. City High criticized at public forum By: Katie Karas, 3/27/08 Penn officials have wanted to collaborate with University City High School for some time now, but many community members who attended a public forum last night say Penn's help is not welcome. At the forum, held to share plans with the community about renovations, Philadelphia School District leaders officially said they have been in discussion with Penn and Drexel for the past two years about the possibility of a partnership with University City High once it is renovated. The talks with Penn and Drexel so far have involved the creation of a hybrid school, part neighborhood and part magnet. In the hypothetical school, 70 percent of students would be taken from the neighborhood and 30 percent from the rest of the city, as in a magnet school. School district Chief Academic Officer Cassandra Jones said discussions with Penn involved the creation of a focused curriculum dealing with international studies, an idea that was not popular among the crowd. "The students who go here are not interested in international business," social-studies teacher Lashundra Dixon said, suggesting a more vocational curriculum, such as nursing or mechanics. "We have students who don't need a Ph.D., they need the skills to take care of the kids they already have," she said. Jones stressed that no plans for a collaboration have been set in stone. But those present at the meeting still expressed dissatisfaction with certain aspects of plans to refurbish the school. The renovations to improve the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems at University City High are scheduled to begin in 2010 and will require that the school be shut down for two school years. Students will have be relocated during that period, which has sparked anger among parents, teachers and students. Patricia Wood, a junior at University City High, said ever since students were informed on Monday that the school would be shutting down, emotions have run high. "This is our community, this is our home," she said. "We look at our teachers like they're our family." Jones said University City High would stop enrolling ninth graders in 2009, so by the time the school shuts down, fewer students would have to find alternative schooling options. Jones said the school district is looking at which other high schools could temporarily house the misplaced students. The University City High that reopens in 2012 will be different in more than just its heating and air-conditioning capabilities. Jones said that as a part of the school district's five-year plan to reduce the size of high schools, University City High will only house about 400 students when it is reopened. That leaves open the possibility that two separate schools will coexist within the current building. Most of the about 100 people who attended the meeting left unsatisfied with the plans. "Why can't we entertain the idea of letting this thing ride out for two more years so no students have to be transferred?" parent Nancy Gilliam asked. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL Home <http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030000000001> . ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel Guides <http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states?ncid=aoltrv00030000000015> . ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.1/1346 - Release Date: 3/27/2008 10:03 AM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. 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