Area residents talk about local schools

Over 45 people turned out Tuesday night at Woodland Presbyterian Church to discuss what Spruce Hill Community Association President David Hochman termed "schools . . . segregated racially and economically." Hochman moderated the two-hour meeting, which featured speakers from the Philadelphia School District, local activist groups and the media, all of whom said community support was critical to improving public education. Associate Law Professor Ralph Smith said an active school board needs to fight for the causes of its district, and the community would appreciate success in those areas. "It takes a whole village to raise a child," Smith said, quoting an African proverb. Smith, who is also director of the Philadelphia Children's Network, emphasized the importance of school system support for students as crucial to improving education. The need for community involvement was even noted by a student in an area elementary school. Though she said her school had enough teachers, an 8-year-old girl named Brooke said more help was needed. "We need to have parents [get] more involved," Brooke said. Debra Kahn, a member of the Philadelphia Board of Education, said "the key" to student performance is "parent and student involvement," adding that community input and feedback is also vital. James Gaskin, the director of Parent Involvement Activities in the school district, agreed with Kahn, saying that it is "absolutely critical we have a maximum amount of parental involvement." Gaskin also said that the "press should be more agressive" in regard to the lack of criticism toward education, prompting agreement from Philadelphia Daily News columnist Elmer Smith. "We are too patient with public education in this city," Smith said. Smith continued, saying that while special programs are effective in their respective missions, the school system had failed because there are still children who cannot even read or count. Smith said the solution to the problem is to put money into the schools and hire more teachers so that classes would be smaller, allowing more care and attention to be given to each individual student. Smith said education should be equal for all social classes. Gail Clouden, a parent organizer and a parent representative at Benjamin Franklin High School, said parents and children sometimes lack the funds to go to school and take advantage of these programs.

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