What I'm trying to figure out is if you think exposing West Philadelphia > high-school students to world-class influences like Microsoft and Penn > is bad and should be prevented under any circumstances.
Absolutely, not! It's a great thing and even greater if those students will actually get to benefit from it. My experience tells me that even though the talk is talked, the walk does not always follow. For the third time I will say I do not know the actual enrollment at that school consists primarily of those kids. All UC-list readers know there's an "anti-gentrification faction" that > is unalterably opposed to exposing West Philly teenagers to the world > beyond West Philadelphia. I disagree with that faction. Historically, > the way up for isolated, disadvantaged communities is to end their > isolation and click into the world's main action. Gentrification in and of itself is not the problem in my opinion. My issue is that with gentrification the very people of which you speak are not usually around to reap the benefits of same. They are usually displaced. This goes beyond West Philly or UC but other inner cities in the US. My personal position is students of color should not be systematically > shuttled away from intellectual and career interests because they are > told "their neighborhood" doesn't care about such interests. More than > anything, students of color need to be freed from these nasty, deadly > stereotypes. That's part of why their 19-year-olds are dying on the streets. > > If West Philly's working-class teenagers can be enabled to explore the > world of international affairs, do you think this will be bad for them? > Philadelphia is a major international port and world trade is as > essential to the future of working-class Philadelphians as it is to the > livelihoods of Penn professors ... maybe more so. If those are the children who will benefit, great! You must understand that programs such as NCLB (Stringent rules for achievement sans resources), and Standardized Tests such as the PSSA taking place now, are so not geared to where these students are and is setting them up for more frustration and failure. The soaring dropout rate tells the story. Good on paper and sound bites, not good in execution. As for teaching these kids universities are bad and or scary, nothing could be further. On 4/5/08 9:01 PM, "Anthony West" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Wilma, > > What I'm trying to figure out is if you think exposing West Philadelphia > high-school students to world-class influences like Microsoft and Penn > is bad and should be prevented under any circumstances. > > All UC-list readers know there's an "anti-gentrification faction" that > is unalterably opposed to exposing West Philly teenagers to the world > beyond West Philadelphia. I disagree with that faction. Historically, > the way up for isolated, disadvantaged communities is to end their > isolation and click into the world's main action. > > My personal position is students of color should not be systematically > shuttled away from intellectual and career interests because they are > told "their neighborhood" doesn't care about such interests. More than > anything, students of color need to be freed from these nasty, deadly > stereotypes. That's part of why their 19-year-olds are dying on the streets. > > If West Philly's working-class teenagers can be enabled to explore the > world of international affairs, do you think this will be bad for them? > Philadelphia is a major international port and world trade is as > essential to the future of working-class Philadelphians as it is to the > livelihoods of Penn professors ... maybe more so. > > Do you oppose Councilwoman Blackwell on expanding world trade for > Philadelphia? Will West West Philly's young adults truly be better off > if they are taught all universities are bad and scary, all college > degrees are bad and scary, all dealings with middle-class people are bad > and scary? > > -- Tony West > > > Wilma de Soto wrote: >> Tony, >> >> What I meant was the community could try to out spend the educational >> partner, which they can't do. >> >> Again, I cannot speak on actually how much funding Penn does in comparison >> to the SDP for that school. As I said before things quite often appear >> differently on paper than they are put into practice in the District. Now >> more than ever the appearance on paper can change abruptly without a >> moment's notice. Such is the way things are in the District; no one seems >> to know what the other is doing, but that's another story. >> >> As for Bill and Melinda Gates' motives I cannot be certain I would assume >> it was expand the Microsoft® brand and make inroads on Apple® Computer's >> long-time presence in education with a bit of altruistic press thrown in for >> good measure. It's sound business sense. >> >> Like I said, I do not know who actually attends the school or whether its >> enrollment is indeed 75% West Philadelphia neighborhood students. >> >> I do feel with such an infusion of funds from Microsoft, the school would >> probably attract a slightly different population than without. >> >> If people NOW wish to attend a school in that part of the city who would not >> have been bothered before, things would probably change in that area to >> service that population, to make them feel safer more secure etc., that had >> not been done for the original population. >> > > ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
