Letters: Stop the cuts - invest in schools

THERE ARE several arguments to be made against the school district's plan to close more than three dozen schools and displace thousands of students.

Yes, as the Daily News noted ("Closures called discriminatory," Jan. 29), Action United has filed a civil-rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education citing data that show last year's eight school closures had a disproportionate, negative impact on African-American and disabled students. The Office of Civil Rights is now investigating the complaint. This year's proposed 37 closures follow the same pattern.

Neither Action United nor the Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools (PCAPS) believes local officials are "conspiring" to implement discriminatory policies. Rather, we believe Superintendent William Hite put forth a well-intentioned plan that will have the unfortunate impact of discriminating against minority and disabled students.

More important to PCAPS is the broader debate about how to improve local schools and enrich the lives of Philadelphia students. Thousands of local students, parents, teachers, community members and public officials have made their voices heard - and they disagree that more closures and cuts are the answer.

For too long, the schools serving Philadelphia's most challenged neighborhoods have been deprioritized - a pattern that culminated with Gov. Corbett's wide-ranging and harmful cuts to education funding over the last two years.

PCAPS and others opposing the district's plan believe that forcing the closure of dozens more schools in these already hard-hit communities will only aggravate the burdens they're bearing. That's why the coalition has crafted and released its own local education-recovery plan, which was shaped by recommendations put forward in 1,600 completed education surveys, more than two dozen listening sessions with youth from around the city, and a series of town-hall meetings.

Central to this plan is a proposal to convert local schools into community hubs that partner with elected officials, nonprofits, hospitals, universities, businesses and others to offer a wide range of services to local communities.

The idea is far from pie-in-the-sky. In Cincinnati, schools are considered "Community Learning Centers" that provide year-round programming, such as summer enrichment, comprehensive health services, adult education, early-childhood education, college access and mentoring services. Since this effort began in 2000, the district's high-school graduation rate has risen from 51 to 83 percent and it has become the highest-performing urban district in Ohio.

The rest of PCAPS' 10-point plan for reinvigorating Philadelphia schools reflects a similar approach. Instead of accelerating efforts to cut resources and close community anchors across the city, those with a stake in local schools should come together to support solutions that will enhance schools and the communities they serve.

Philadelphia's public schools have reached a tipping point. Reform is necessary, but further cuts are unacceptable. It's up to district leaders, elected officials, families and faculty in Philadelphia - and in urban and rural districts across Pennsylvania that face perilous futures - to find the political will and commitment to invest in students' achievement, not ask them to continue doing more with less.

If Mayor Nutter follows his predecessor's lead and once out of office becomes a college professor, I can imagine his first lesson: "In politics, do as I say, not what I and my allies do."

In Mayor Nutter's first election campaign, he promised DC 33 a fair contract, and to date there is no contract. Mayor Nutter had promised that if the crime rate did not drop, he would not run again; crime has been rising and he is still here.

In 2008, he hired Ronald Cuie, who had a checkered past, to be director of the Office for the Re-Entry of Ex-Offenders, only to find within two years that the office's budget was grossly overspent and he had to be fired.

Nutter hired John McDaniel to a comfortable job at the airport. McDaniel was previously fired from the city for political activity. After another political/campaign-finance issue came to light under Mr. McDaniel's management, he had to be fired again.

I remember Nutter preaching about ethics and finding exceptional and qualified people to fill his positions.

If this is his version of ethics, I would cut his class.

David Krain

Philadelphia