Hope for Philly schools? (Philadelphia, Penn: neighborhood, magnet schools, closing)

[bbob]

Hi all,been reading this forum and have seen threads dealing with the
future of Philly and have seen some about how bad the public schools are.
In order for the city to retain it's middle class (and attract new)it must improve it's
schools(Ya think?) and their perceptions/reputations.Really,most large cities are facing these
issues now.
I wanted to ask this forum about a couple of indicators that may be hopeful.One,in
looking at Great Schools ratings,many neighborhood elementary schools have pretty fair ratings.Those ratings look a lot better than those for the neighborhood Middle/High schools.Possibly a new generation
of students coming up for whom there may be more hope for?
The other indicator is this,a large number of Catholic schools have closed their doors recently,
could this have a positive impact on the publics?
I live in Colorado and I ask because my daughter,SIL and soon to be grandchild live there.They
love the city and all it's ammenities and want to stay there but would go to the 'burbs if schools
really became an issue.
This is a great forum,lots of good info and opinions...So,hope for Philly schools?

[rotodome]

Well, large number of Philadelphia public schools are slated to close as well, and the entire system is in a state of upheaval. I have no idea how that is going to work out. The almost certain increase in the number of charter schools will likely have good and bad aspects. There will no doubt be some good new charters, as well as some corrupt/mismanaged/parasitic corporate-run ones. Maybe a net gain of better schools, and maybe not. I'm a parent, and I don't personally put a ton of stock in greatschools ratings actually.

And neighborhood elementary schools have for a long time been generally perceived (I think fairly) as better than neighborhood upper schools. That's not something new, nor do I think it means that there's some new generation of superior students currently moving up through the system. What happens is that in higher grades more kids have departed the neighborhood schools to go to magnet schools, parochial schools, and private schools, so basically the neighborhood schools lose most of the more advantaged kids and better students. The neighborhood public high schools are then left with a high concentration of disadvantaged, problem, and underperforming kids, which naturally affects the performance ratings of those schools.
I don't see this dynamic changing much regardless of how things shake out with the system overall.

[mickeyshea]

I would say that there is no hope for the Philly public schools. There is a predominant culture in the "inner city" that does not value education or conforming to society in any way. The family structure in these parts of the city is very weak...lack of discipline and violence are very common.

Catholic schools are closing because a lot of the good people who graduated from these schools have moved out in recent years. It's a shame, but reality is tough to swallow sometimes. There are a few public schools that are the exception...they require you to take an admissions test to get in.

[frankgn87]

Originally Posted by bbob

I live in Colorado and I ask because my daughter,SIL and soon to be grandchild live there.They
love the city and all it's ammenities and want to stay there but would go to the 'burbs if schools
really became an issue.

fyi- you can't just go to the burbs schools if you chose. You must move to that district you choose to attend. Just letting you know that. The city schools are in very bad shape, education and budget wise. We both work behind the scenes in them. The Charters are generally doing better, but hard to get into.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by frankgn87

fyi- you can't just go to the burbs schools if you chose. You must move to that district you choose to attend. Just letting you know that. The city schools are in very bad shape, education and budget wise. We both work behind the scenes in them. The Charters are generally doing better, but hard to get into.

I thought you could attend out-of-district schools but had to pay tuition (although that does pretty much defeat the purpose).

[rotodome]

Guys, I think the OP was saying that his/her daughter and grandchild would MOVE to the burbs to get away from Philly schools, not try to live in the city and send the kids to suburban schools.

[bbob]

Yes,I did mean that the kids would relocate to the suburbs.

In digging deeper on this subject I came across this: http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFil...mographics.pdf

Pages 30-36 give an overview of education in Philly.It does indicate steady progress being made,enough to give
one some hope.

This study covers many aspects of life in Philly today that some of you might find interesting.Any flaws in the data,
a few of you will enjoy debating!-Thanks for the responses

[RightonWalnut]

I love when people say THERE IS NO HOPE FOR THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS! EVER! AHHH DOOM AND GLOOM.


just stop...

Of course there is hope for the future of public schools... gentrification and more wealthy/educated people moving into the city are creating higher demand for better public schools and those options are starting to sprout up here and there... namely Penn Alexander and Masterman as well as a few others in Center City starting to get better. Schools will get better in Philly. Maybe not within the next ten years but it is happening. And of course not ALL of the schools will get better. But it will happen.

The problem is everyone says "oh the public schools in the city suck, lets move to the suburbs"

If people would stay and fight for better schools like some people are doing. The schools would get better. For now there are options for those willing to stay into the city. Masterman, Alexander, etc until 8th grade then private, charter or Catholic school for high school.

[jtom605]

Originally Posted by Summersm343

I love when people say THERE IS NO HOPE FOR THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS! EVER! AHHH DOOM AND GLOOM.


just stop...

Of course there is hope for the future of public schools... gentrification and more wealthy/educated people moving into the city are creating higher demand for better public schools and those options are starting to sprout up here and there... namely Penn Alexander and Masterman as well as a few others in Center City starting to get better. Schools will get better in Philly. Maybe not within the next ten years but it is happening. And of course not ALL of the schools will get better. But it will happen.

The problem is everyone says "oh the public schools in the city suck, lets move to the suburbs"

If people would stay and fight for better schools like some people are doing. The schools would get better. For now there are options for those willing to stay into the city. Masterman, Alexander, etc until 8th grade then private, charter or Catholic school for high school.

Masterman is a magnet public school. It's not starting to get better; it's been good for a long time. It was recently ranked as the top public school in PA. Of course, it's extremely hard to get into.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by jtom605

Masterman is a magnet public school. It's not starting to get better; it's been good for a long time. It was recently ranked as the top public school in PA. Of course, it's extremely hard to get into.

Central is akin to a good suburban public school; while admissions are certainly competitive, it doesn't take a super genius to get in there. Masterman, which is akin to a gifted program within such a good suburban public school, is very challenging to get into.