Fully funded and equitable schools in Philadelphia look like schoolhouses staffed with professionally trained educators and support staff who involve parents and community stakeholders.
The state of Pennsylvania under Gov. Ed Rendell had a fair funding formula funded with the Obama economic stimulus package. When Gov. Corbett took office he cut the accountability grant and reverted Pennsylvania education funding back to a hold-harmless system. These actions took $1 billion from the education fund.The hold-harmless system guarantees locked in year to year budgets for school districts but does not factor in the school district's enrollment and demographics.
State Representative Curtis W. Thomas hosted a series of press conference on Pennsylvania’s operating and fiscal budgets. During the conference State Rep. Thomas suggest that smokeless tobacco, and cigars be taxed to raise revenues for our schools. Cancer sticks are taxed but the cigar and smokeless industry have been able to avoid being taxed. We can contact our legislators and ask them to support fiscal revenues that can fund our schools, such as taxing the Marcellus Shale at 7% with 2% being directed to the local communities and the other 5% to education. The following is State Rep. Curtis Thomas suggested additional revenue streams for the 2015-2016 fiscal year to offset education funding increases:
- Raising the personal income tax rate from 3.07 to 3.7%--$1billion;
- Instituting a 3 percent severance tax on natural gas extraction--$158.5 million;
- Taxing smokeless tobacco and cigars--$59 million;
- Closing the Delaware loophole by enacting combined reporting--$163 million;
- Modernizing state liquor stores--$125 million; and
- Increasing efforts to collect sales tax from online sales--$600 million.
“It is disingenuous to say there aren’t funds available to properly invest in our children, but officials have to decide to prioritize our children over special interests groups.” State Rep. Thomas
Philadelphia receives funding from federal, state and local government. Currently spending a little more than $12,000 per pupil. With 70% of those funds used for instruction. Local funding is 65% of the school district's budget, derived mainly from property taxes.
Equitable for our schools look like an educator being appointed as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Education which we have in Pedro Rodriguez who looks to bring back to our schools:
Dual Enrollment
Foreign Language Classes
Registered Nurses
Professional Counselors
Functioning School Libraries with Professional Media Specialists
Vocational Education
STEAM Related Studies
and Adult Education
Mr. Rodriguez realized that the standardized test scores of school year 2014-2015 did not reflect our students achievement. He was able to have Governor Tom Wolf dismiss the results and not penalize our schools with closure based on the cut scores.
One size does not fit all, teaching to a test hinders our students growth by putting them in a box full of test prep, test remedial, test anxiety. Students should be allowed to learn through exploration and project based learning. Educators are trained to teach appropriate development, we rely on our educators to see our students where they are and allow the student to scaffold. Exposure is key, thus teaching to the test limits exposure and is not the model that should be forced on our students.
To Whom It May Concern:
Please be advised that our child will not be participating in state standardized testing during the current school year. Furthermore, we ask that no record of this testing be part of our child's permanent file, as we do not wish our child to participate in standardized achievement testing for promotion, graduation, or school.../state report cards.
We believe the following of forced, high stakes testing:
•Is not scientifically-based and fails to follow the U.S. Government’s own data on learning
•Fosters test driven education that is not meeting the individual/intellectual needs of students
•Presents a racial and economic bias that is beneficial to white middle/upper class students and detrimental to second language students, impoverished students, and students of color
•Violates the United States Constitution’s ESEA Fiscal Fairness Act
•Supports complicity of corporate interests rather than democracy based on public concerns
•Fosters coercion over cooperation with regards to federal funding for public education
•Promotes a culture of lying, cheating, and exploitation within the school community
•Has used the achievement gap to foster a “de facto” segregation that has resulted in separate and unequal education for minorities
We understand that federal law provides the parent or guardian the right of choice regarding standardized testing when such testing violates spiritual beliefs. In contrast to our spiritual beliefs, which are firmly rooted in a moral code that embraces equity and fairness, we believe such testing is not in the best interests of our child since it fosters competition instead of cooperation, contributes to separate and unequal education for minorities, and belies our child’s intellectual, creative, and problem-solving abilities, while presenting a fictitious picture as to the impact of the pedagogy provided by our child’s individual educators.
Ultimately, our state is required to provide our child with an education in a least restrictive environment that does not force us to go against our spiritual beliefs. My child should proceed to learn and develop at an individual pace following education standards that are imparted under the guidance of education professionals, not market-based reformers, who are able to provide quality pedagogy without fear of reprisal if students - who mature at vastly different levels and come from diverse backgrounds that may or may not be supportive of intellectual pursuit - do not hit the bulls’ eye of a constantly moving achievement target.
Therefore, we request that the school provide appropriate learning activities during the testing window and utilize an alternative assessment portfolio or concordant college testing score to fulfill promotion and or graduation requirements, as our child opts out of standardized testing.
Equitable looks like educators who live in the community in which they teach. There is a shortage of teachers who are able to relate to the students and their demographics. This inability to relate has serious consequences for our students educational development. Teachers who are unable to relate often pacify students or make judgements towards them based off of media stereotypes. There is very little if any, appropriate development going on in this type of setting.
Is there a future for teachers of color in the Education field? One needs to envision the long term perception and impact of any student African American, Latino, White, Asian, and other cultures, growing up not ever having a teacher of color, or any professional of African, Latino, Asian and other descent, during their formation years, i.e a nurse of color, a physician of color or any non-European professional. So if students are not exposed to a diverse group of professionals, society will continue to produce more brutal and violent police officers and more Dylann Roofs. As children they were subconsciously raised to perceive non white people as “not equal”, “less than”, “irrelevant” “ nothing”, therefore like black people, they can be killed.(2)
As a white teacher in a district with a majority of black students but very few black teachers, there’s not really many people to turn to for guidance. (3)
To address the issue of having more educators of color entering the schoolhouse, programs such as create the educator/health care professional, could be implemented. Students in these classes would learn about the educator/health care profession and in turn become the educators/health care worker of the future.
Understanding the needs of the community served helps build equitable schools. Parents and community stakeholders are also important for our schools equity and fundings needs. Parents and community stakeholders bring resources such as volunteering in the school and school fundraisers. The ever important partnership between the schoolhouse, parents, elected officials and community members makes or breaks a school success.
Our schools are also in need of partnerships with support services. The community school model brings support services to our schools without added cost. In the community school model the school districts partners with social services such as local dental, physical and mental health clinics who are able to assist our students and families in need of these services so they can pay attention during classroom activities. Community schools are equitable when caring relationships are created and all members of the school are vested in the development of the community school.
2015 COLLEGE-BOUND SENIORS SAT SCORES BY FAMILY INCOME
Reading
|
Math
|
Writing
|
Total
| |
$ 0 - $20,000
|
433
|
455
|
426
|
1314
|
$20,000 - $40,000
|
466
|
479
|
454
|
1399
|
$40,000 - $60,000
|
488
|
497
|
473
|
1458
|
$60,000 - $80,000
|
503
|
510
|
487
|
1500
|
$80,000 - $100,000
|
517
|
526
|
501
|
1544
|
$100,000 - $120,000
|
528
|
539
|
514
|
1581
|
$120,000 - $140,000
|
531
|
542
|
518
|
1591
|
$140,000 - $160,000
|
539
|
551
|
526
|
1616
|
$160,000 - $200,000
|
545
|
557
|
534
|
1636
|
More than $200,000
|
570
|
587
|
563
|
1720
|
Calculated by FairTest from: College Board, College-Bound Seniors 2015: Total Group Profile Reportand College-Bound Seniors 2006: Total Group Profile Report
Education equality on countries that are members of the OECD. The numbers correspond to the average difference of points in the results of the PISA test of a student from a high socio-economic level and a student from a low socio-economic level in their respective country. A higher number represents a more unequal education system whilst a smaller number indicates a more equal education system
"Education Equality" by Sperve22 - Data about education equality for every country available here [1]. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Education_Equality.png#/media/File:Education_Equality.png
Sources:
State Rep. W. Curtis Thomas News Release
Thomas highlights needs for education investment, compromise during budget impasse www.pahouse.com/Thomas
Byard, Dr. Shani. (A 2014 Message Media Education Report) “Is Your Teaching Style Racism Free?” An Afro-Media Literacy Solution for Resolving Unconscious Racial Profiling in our Media-Saturated Schools and Society
Community Schools https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JostOaCTws, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO-9XWk5Ecs
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