Nutter's back-to-college efforts praised

A corrections officer who aspires to become a nurse.

A customer-service representative who dreams of doing missionary work in another country.

A real estate clerk who wants to help people "out of their current economic situation."

They're among a cadre of Philadelphia city employees heeding Mayor Nutter's call to double the percentage of residents with bachelor's degrees in the next decade.

All are enrolled in a free program to help them bone up on their math and reading skills so they can enter or return to college studies.

It's among the initiatives that Nutter's Office of Education has pushed over the last few months to increase the city's degree rate. According to the 2007 American Community Survey, about 20 percent of residents had at least a bachelor's degree.

And as tens of thousands of students turn their collegiate tassels this month, city employees who spend their evenings brushing up on geometry and gerunds are looking forward to the day when they will do the same.

The employees said they were grateful to Nutter for starting work in his own backyard: among the city's rank and file.

"He's taken those of us who have been working in these jobs for years - and we can't see our way out - and he said, 'I've got something for you if you want to try it,' " said Karen Williams, 53, a customer-service representative in the Water Revenue Bureau's billing department.

She fancies herself as a missionary nurse in Africa or Haiti someday.

Cookie Yocum, 51, a payroll clerk in the Streets Department, had thought for years about going back to school to become a dental hygienist. But having been out of the classroom for three decades-plus, she was worried about her skill level and couldn't figure out the best approach.

The city classes "opened the door for me," she said.

Nutter's pledge to improve the city's degree attainment rate so dramatically is unusual, according to national higher-education officials.

"I don't know of any other mayor of any other city who has made a similar commitment," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, who has been monitoring higher-education issues for 30 years. "This is unique. This is a bold vision."

Coupled with his commitment to boost the high school graduation rate, "he's put his finger on perhaps the central issue for the future of urban areas," Hartle said.

As soon as he took office last year, Nutter targeted the degree-attainment rate, in which the city ranks 92d out of the 100 top cities in the country.

But the news isn't all bad.

In the 11-county region, 32 percent of residents 25 and older in 2007 had a degree, higher than the national average of about 28 percent, according to the American Community Survey, and up from 23 percent in the 1990 census.

The region surveyed includes Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Mercer, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; and New Castle County in Delaware.

To help do its part in boosting the region's rate, the city obtained a $200,000 grant in December from the state Department of Education to start evening math and English refresher courses for city employees.

About 70 employees took the classes, totaling 60 hours over 12 weeks. And 70-plus are signed up to begin a new round this month.

In addition, the Nutter administration is working with the school district to get more graduates enrolled in college. About 50 city employees helped students fill out complicated financial-aid forms.

The city also has begun awarding the mayor's box tickets for professional sporting events and concerts to high school students who perform well or show great improvement. About 2,000 tickets will be given out next year when the program is expected to be in full swing.

"This is a very focused effort to show that the city cares how kids do in school," said Lori Shorr, Nutter's chief education adviser.

The office also has hired a higher-education adviser to coordinate workers' post-secondary goals and work with the district to raise its graduation rate.

"Some of these things we're starting are going to take a little while to show results, but I think they're the right things," Shorr said. "We're not going after any quick fixes. We're trying to fix systems."

The Nutter administration also is coordinating efforts with other groups, including Graduate! Philadelphia and Campus Philly, that have been working toward the same goal for several years.

Graduate! Philadelphia, which started in 2005, is aimed at getting the region's 320,000 residents with partial college credits, including about 70,000 in the city, to return for their degrees. Its center connects potential students with 15 colleges and universities and assists them in getting back to school, including offering time-management workshops, financial-aid seminars, and online-learning demonstrations.

"A lot of people want to go back to college, but they have a lot of trepidation," said Hadass Sheffer, executive director. "We want individuals to have the resources to make the best choices for themselves."

Formed in 2002, Campus Philly focuses on recruiting students to colleges in the area and keeping them here after graduation. According to the group's surveys, three out of five graduates remain in the region.

Campus Philly helps college students better connect to the region through shopping and entertainment, volunteer opportunities, and career paths, said Jon Grabelle Herrmann, executive director.

Herrmann and Sheffer praised Nutter's decision to rachet up the attention.

"We've been particularly encouraged that Mayor Nutter has so prominently placed doubling the college degree-attainment rate as one of his priorities for the city," Herrmann said.

One recent evening, most of the 12 employees taking a math class at a Center City union training site said they had enrolled so they could return to or start college. The others hoped to improve skills for civil-service exams.

"It's kind of hard. I've never taken geometry," said Kathleen Rush, 52, of West Philadelphia, a clerk in the juvenile justice department.

Rush, who has some college credits, hopes to enroll at Drexel University for a business administration degree.

The refresher math class covers a range of topics, from whole numbers and fractions to patterns and graphs.

"I've been interested in doing this for a while, but with me having kids early . . . now everyone's older, and I can go back to school," said Christine Reid, 40, a correctional officer who wants to be a nurse.

Carolyn Terry, 48, a real estate clerk, plans to go to Peirce College in the fall, her major undecided.

"I want to be able to help somebody or at least give them resources to find help," she said, "whether their dream is to find a home or something else."

She likes spending free time on homework: "I just appreciate the opportunity."

The mayor's Education Office also is exploring offering reduced-price college-credit courses for city employees beginning in the fall or January.