In a message dated 4/25/2012 8:54:56 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, friendsofjimroeb...@gmail.com writes:
A sincere THANK YOU to all of you that supported Jim and his campaign. I hope you were able to cast your vote for him and the issues he has fought for over the years, on behalf of the 188th district. November elections will be here soon. Stay tuned for updates and opportunities to support Jim. This is from this morning's Inquirer: The realities are ugly, leaders said Tuesday - the Philadelphia School District is nearly insolvent, lags behind most other urban districts in academics, and loses students to charters because parents believe it does not keep their children safe. "What we do know through lots of history and evidence and practice is that the current structure doesn't work," School Reform Commission Chairman Pedro Ramos said. "It's not fiscally sustainable and it doesn't produce high-quality schools for all kids." So, at the SRC's direction, Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen on Tuesday announced a plan that would essentially blow up the district and start with a new structure. The plan - subject to public comment and SRC approval - would close 40 schools next year and 64 by 2017, move thousands more students to charters, and dismantle the central office in favor of "achievement networks" that would compete to run groups of 25 schools and would sign performance-based contracts. Jim Roebuck had a brush with defeat yesterday but pulled through because of many people in the neighborhood who think of him as an honest, hard-working, and sincere Representative. One of the reasons he had a tough haul was, of course, the money and the tactics used by his opponent and her backers. Another reason, I believe, is that Jim is perceived as holding the position that better funding of the "same-old/same-old" approaches that obviously haven't been working -- and which won't be turned around by more money in the hands of the people who've not invested wisely to date. Whether you agree or disagree with the above (and there's room for reasonable people to disagree!), he owes it to his constituents -- those who supported as well as those who voted against him -- to take a public stand on what Knudsen and Ramos are apparently planning. If Jim agrees with it, he should explain why then throw his support behind it. If he disagrees (wholly or in part), he should explain why, then become involved in the process of accommodation to arrive at a compromise. Jim... stand up and be counted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alan Krigman KRF Management, ICON/Information Concepts Inc 211 S 45th St, Philadelphia PA 19104-2918 215-349-6500, fax 215-349-6502 krf...@aol.com or al.krig...@krf.icodat.com
