The movie, "Waiting for Superman." It is a simplistic view of education reform in Philly? (Philadelphia: renting)

[brownsugar1]

I believe this movie provides great insight into the troubled school system in the US, particularly in Philadelphia and New York. The movie gives good and authentic examples of children who are victims of a flawed educational system. “Waiting for Superman” leaves one to wonder how parents and teachers can effectively put efforts into making the US educational system beneficial to all children.

Any thoughts?

[Marius Pontmercy]

Poor parenting. I study developmental neuroscience, and if you can't raise your child properly during the first few years of life then they will suffer for it, and it becomes very difficult to help them if they experienced a negative environment and little parental love growing up.

[brownsugar1]

This message was sent by city data member kidrock yesterday. I am wondering, who else feels this way regarding the educational system or blacks in general..... Read below....

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[PennKid]

Brownsugar,
Pardon me for saying this, but I think that it is your view that is simplistic. Yes, the school's problems are partially the students, but chances are that the people who raise these students also went to those high schools, so if you ask me, it's a chicken and egg argument. Are things going on differently in these urban schools, however? More often than not, the answer is yes. You don't see many veteran teachers in these schools who can inspire confidence, you see lots of TFAs and then some who are going to be mediocre for life. You see failing lesson plans, lazy guidance staff, and overcrowded classrooms.

And yet inner-city schools were never in this golden age that you talk about. Go ask someone who went to, say, South Philly High, in the 50s, and you'll hear about the same thing that goes on today- fights, ethnic rivalries, intimidated teachers, uninspiring teachers. The schools might have had been marginally better, but the best students often went to the suburbs, where their descendants now go to school at Lower Merion and Whitemarsh. The result? Only poor kids are left behind, with no exposure to other socioeconomic classes. Did they leave because of the black kids? That was only part of the equation. More often than not, they left for more space and a bigger lawn and landed in a good school district. The kids left behind got poorer, blacker, and worse.

And yes, Philadelphia has some of the worst schools in the state of Pennsylvaania. And you know what else? It also has some of the best, which perform far beyond the suburbs. It's funny you mention Strawberry Mansion and Central. Go look at Strawberry Mansion's test scores. You'll be shocked (gasp!) to notice that the school often tests above state average (and is far from the persistently dangerous list). And Central? The second best high school in the state, with a 35% black student body. Take that, Council Rocks. Central was far from #2 in the state in this previous era you mention. Some of the other great high schools- Masterman #1, Palumbo #10, Science Leadership Academy, Mast Community, Carver, Bodine, Philadelphia Academy, CHAD, CAPPA, GAMP, Franklin Towne Charter, Franklin Learning Center, etc, are far above the suburban mean; even all black schools like Freire!

I've come to notice that the problem isn't always more funding, I'll agree with you there. Yes, teachers unions can also be a plague. But you propose no solutions either. So you want to run the PSD for the sole purpose of exposing the kids, huh? Well, that's a noble goal, I must say, to run a district just to make a point (and to blame the kids). Good luck getting hired with that one.

Originally Posted by brownsugar1

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