How to fix Philadelphia Public Schools? (I'm trying to fix some of the local Philadelphia "bad" things with plans) (Bath: 2013, renting)

[rofl33cat]

Let me first say, that Philadelphia has some great public schools. I only wanted to say that first because people just think of the bad of the public schools, instead of the good of the public schools, for example, Central High School (North Philadelphia, 96% Graduation Rate) or Parkway West High School (West Philadelphia, 98% Graduation Rate). Good Job to the great parents of Philadelphia!

On to the real subject, what I showcased in the first paragraph is two schools, one from West Philadelphia and North Philadelphia. Now for two random bad schools of West Philadelphia and North Philadelphia.

Good Schools:

North Philadelphia - Central High School (96% Graduation Rate)
West Philadelphia - Parkway West High School (98% Graduation Rate)

Bad Schools:

North Philadelphia - Strawberry Mansion (63% Graduation Rate [Kinda impressive considering the area they're living in -claps-)
West Philadelphia - Overbrook High School (52% Graduation Rate)

Now a simple question, how do you fix Philadelphia Public Schools?...

I was thinking...

The CRIME is a problem. The PARENTING of the children is a problem. The STANDARDS are the problem.

The first thing, I'm 16 and I went to Beeber Middle School about 2 years ago and it's in West Philadelphia, it recently made the most dangerous list 2013... (Enough said) It was very hard trying to learn in those conditions and focusing on a test when you have people challenging you to fight. I was thinking that having a SECURITY GUARD in every class of schools with high crime, because when the teacher leave the classroom to print some papers, the students will automatically start going wild and when there's a strict adult in the room, they will be less prone to do violent crime and can focus on what they're suppose to be doing.

The second thing will be making the bathrooms, SINGLE BATHROOMS, because school fights happen so much is the bathroom because no one can witness the fights except the children.

The third thing I was thinking of would be school cameras, everywhere except IN FRONT of the single bathrooms, but some to the side of the single bathrooms, where the camera doesn't reaches and the teachers to watch the bathrooms get filled up by one only and not three boys or three girls in one SINGLE bathroom. Also Cameras INSIDE THE CLASSROOM, because the students would not act up in front of the cameras because they can be caught and the teachers would act nicer and more humble also.

The fourth and a very important thing would be the teachers making sure ALL STUDENTS LEARN... yes it takes parents, but the teachers could also make sure the students learn by making every single one of the students come up to the board to answer a problem from the book and if a student doesn't get the question/problem, then the teacher groups that student with another student that can solve the problem.

The fifth thing would be PARENTS... but I don't know how exactly to fix this... Very hard, indeed. Suggestions?

The sixth thing would have somebody speak to the schools, somebody positive, like a poet, a fireman, a police officer, a lawyer. Somebody cool and collective that can give inspiration, that can be a father figure instead of the local drug dealer or the media (Rappers or Actors). It'll be like, Career Day, every once a month, just to keep the children focused on something positive and it doesn't have to be some big time people, just some local comedians or local poets, or local police officers that can come in and help these students with environmental problems (Such as bad influences, no real father figures.)

The seventh thing would have the local cop cars and cops that stands outside Overbook High School or Strawberry Mansion OR EVEN MY OLD MIDDLE SCHOOLS, have them DO SOMETHING instead of standing there, EVERY SINGLE FIGHT AND CRIME THAT HAPPENS IN FRONT OF THEM!!! Fix the standards on the police cops, so they can handle young adults and break up fights. Point Blank

I have confidence, that this very broad and simple plans, Minus my other plans, will fix very high crime and bad performing schools. I also understand there's a lot of things stopping this, like the Philadelphia School Bankruptcy and the Philadelphia Schools closing down, and the helpers of Philadelphia schools getting laid off but I just love Philadelphia and everybody except the super animals that does extreme crime that will have your heart aching, and I'm African American also.

If yall have any serious plans or ideas or just plain out comments about this article I just wrote with hard work and dedication, please comment, I love all help, I will make a plan for Philadelphia public schools and hope these plans can go to Detroit Public Schools and Chicago Public Schools, etc, after they help PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS!

[MikeNigh]

For the dangerous schools I think single bathrooms, proper surveillance, and some cops should cover it. I think those who act violently though should be permanently removed from the school to a school just for their kind (this school could have a cop in each classroom). This does not include drug use or stealing etc though.

What I think would be great is if schools in the area were blocked into three categories... poor, average, and excellent performing. Depending on your grades and conduct you would be moved to the appropriate school. This would actually give an incentive for average students to out perform themselves so they could get away from the wretched students. It also gives a place for the deadbeats to go and stop destroying everyone's lives.

[rofl33cat]

Originally Posted by MikeNigh

For the dangerous schools I think single bathrooms, proper surveillance, and some cops should cover it. I think those who act violently though should be permanently removed from the school to a school just for their kind (this school could have a cop in each classroom). This does not include drug use or stealing etc though.

What I think would be great is if schools in the area were blocked into three categories... poor, average, and excellent performing. Depending on your grades and conduct you would be moved to the appropriate school. This would actually give an incentive for average students to out perform themselves so they could get away from the wretched students. It also gives a place for the deadbeats to go and stop destroying everyone's lives.

Yoo, I love that idea... Genius.

[rotodome]

I would think that addressing the current enormous funding deficit would be up there in at least the top 7.
That would go a long way towards things like buying thousands of security cameras and hiring a bunch of cops to be bathroom monitors, if nothing else.

[LibraGirl123]

Originally Posted by rofl33cat

Let me first say, that Philadelphia has some great public schools. I only wanted to say that first because people just think of the bad of the public schools, instead of the good of the public schools, for example, Central High School (North Philadelphia, 96% Graduation Rate) or Parkway West High School (West Philadelphia, 98% Graduation Rate). Good Job to the great parents of Philadelphia!

I applaud your interest in problem-solving the Philadelphia School District situation...especially as a 16 year old. However, I must note: Central is a college-prep school, and Parkway is a special-admit school of only 350 students...so they'd BETTER have high graduation rates.

[mancat100]

I think permanent expulsion of the most incorrigible 10% of the student population would go a long way. As an added bonus it's budget-friendly.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by mancat100

I think permanent expulsion of the most incorrigible 10% of the student population would go a long way. As an added bonus it's budget-friendly.

Can't do that anymore.

You're concerned about the whole system? Given time Dr. Hite will make sure even the good schools become crappy. Then he'll go somewhere else and his successor will have to pick up the pieces after the system has been nearly destroyed. Just like here in MD.

[rotodome]

Originally Posted by mancat100

I think permanent expulsion of the most incorrigible 10% of the student population would go a long way. As an added bonus it's budget-friendly.

Because the eventual catchbasin for those kids, ie: the prison industrial complex, somehow seems to have no problem getting all the perks and funding it needs.

[Kukla65th]

Everyone does really realize, right, that what ails the city's schools is largely related to the people sitting around worrying about them choosing to bypass using them, thus leaving them void of kids from households of higher incomes and more active parents (though we underestimate the involvement of many many city student parents). People speak in test data jargon and safety concerns. What they really fear is the lack of white kids in the schools and thus, the lack of "normal" culture in their minds in those schools. I'll be excoriated for posting this; people don't like admitting any of this or acknowledging it. But I don't know why we pretend this isn't a major factor in the "save the schools" equation. Does anyone really think that if basically everyone with kids in say, Chestnut Hill put there kids in Jenks, or in Mount Airy put there kids in Houston, that the schools' test scores would not go up vastly? Sure they would - they would be kids that came from homes with college educated parents for the most part, who got read to as little kids, and had some kind of stability despite how many would come from divorced parents. Fill a school with kids from a culture that parents want their kids in, and suddenly the schools are "good" whether they really perform highly or not. The ongoing debate about "saving the schools" is really largely a debate among well-paid, well-educated white parents and other whites about how to make the schools behave the way they find normal and acceptable. That cannot happen if they won't participate in the actual system itself, and continue to worry about their kid being "the only one" in a school.

Let's stop pretending.

[Kukla65th]

Originally Posted by rotodome

I would think that addressing the current enormous funding deficit would be up there in at least the top 7.
That would go a long way towards things like buying thousands of security cameras and hiring a bunch of cops to be bathroom monitors, if nothing else.

Categorizing schools...upping the funding...on and on...most everyone on this forum would not use the schools anyway and they won't talk about why. It's not nice and it's not the way that modern, liberal, secular America thinks...even though they think that way.

Five high schools could have 100% of their students get perfect SAT scores and no school violence when data are collected...they'd still not use those schools. I refer to my other post about race and culture and the silence about it.