Ackerman, Nutter fault media reports on school progress
Superintendent Arlene Ackerman and Mayor Nutter told business and community leaders Thursday about "significant gains" the Philadelphia School District had made in the last year because the news, they said, was not being fully reported in the media.
Superintendent Arlene Ackerman and Mayor Nutter told business and community leaders Thursday about "significant gains" the Philadelphia School District had made in the last year because the news, they said, was not being fully reported in the media.
In a program that drew more than 45 business, nonprofit, civic, and education leaders, Ackerman and Nutter cited eight years of rising test scores and an improved high school graduation rate, and said 12,000 parents had participated in classes at the district's Parent University.
"I think it's important to get our story out and not just depend on the media to do it," Ackerman told reporters in a briefing after the program at City Hall.
Too often, she said, news accounts focus on her personality and leadership style.
"It's not about me. It's not about my leadership," Ackerman said. "It's really about whether or not we get results."
Nutter said he and Ackerman had begun talking about going directly to the city's opinion-makers to describe the schools' progress after the district released test scores in June showing that for the first time, more than half the district's students had met or exceeded state standards in math and reading. The news, he said, was buried by the media, including The Inquirer.
"I can specifically recall that in a morning newspaper, it was on B7," Nutter said. "This is important information. I don't remember what else was going on that day, but whatever was happening, this information should have been at a minimum on B1 if not A1."
Ackerman and Nutter said that in the last school year the district had reduced class sizes in kindergarten through third grade at low-performing schools that receive extra help; expanded summer school programs, including offering a mixture of work and classes for high school students; and chosen 13 chronically underperforming schools for radical restructuring. Seven of those schools are becoming charters.
They said the number of students scoring at grade level on state tests had grown in the last two years from 49.0 percent to 56.6 percent in math and 44.8 percent to 50.7 percent in reading.
"We're not necessarily where we want to be," Nutter said, "but we're not where we were."
During the 2010-11 academic year, Ackerman said, the district plans to expand Parent University offerings to involve more parents, add counselors to elementary schools, open another reengagement center to help high school dropouts earn diplomas, and complete a master facilities plan to address the problem of 45,000 empty seats in district schools.
Anthony Bartolomeo, president and chief executive officer of Pennoni Associates, an engineering and design consulting firm in Philadelphia, said sharing the information with business and civic leaders was a good idea.
"I've been involved with the School District for a number years," he said. "I've seen some very good things happening, and I believe [Thursday's session] tried to excite people who want to be part of this, continue to build the momentum and make sure the successes are sustained."
