There are two Philadelphias, one in Center City and one in the surrounding communities. For many years now, it seems the goal of the city has been to make Center City more appealing. This is a task that will be completed by both expanding Center City, which is now in the works, and by adding additional resources to it. The problem with this plan is that the communities that surround Center City, which are mostly poor and working people, are still living in these communities. So there is a problem.  Developers and others want land they can build on, where they can get a high return on investment.  They want the land, but not the current residents.

 
So what does this have to do with education, you might ask?  As we look around the country, we see a connection between school reform, and “neighborhood reform”.  Chicago’s Mayor Daley along with business leaders in that city created a plan called Renaissance 2010.  This plan has resulted in the closing of over 50 schools since 2002.  According to neighborhood activists from the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization and others, the school closings have been in neighborhoods that were also targeted by the city for “revitalization” - in other words, neighborhoods that the city wishes to remake with higher income residents.

The schools that have been reopened are charter schools with admittance requirements and only two came back as comprehensive neighborhood schools.  The closings and resulting disruption meant that many of the students who attended schools previously were either already enrolled somewhere else, or were not readmitted due to entrace requirements by the time the new schools opened up, causing disruptions to education for thousands of students.
Could this ever happen in Philadelphia?  Well, it’s well known that local real estate companies see certain schools as “real estate anchors”—Penn Alexander School in West Philadelphia is one example.  There are also many similarities in the way local politicians frame the discussion around “urban redevelopment”. For instance, talking about finding a way to bring the “middle class back into Philadelphia” and not about finding a way to improve the financial earnings of our current residents.  How do we bring the middle class back?  Schools are certainly one solution that is on the table.  In a meeting about how to improve failing schools and which schools should be targeted for reform, it was said by folks in leadership that “we could target the  ‘up and coming’  parts of Philadelphia”.

We’ll be paying close attention to school closings over the next several years, as well as which Empowerment Schools are targeted for reform.  Imagine 2014 calls for closing down 30-35 of the lowest performing schools and re-opening them as Renaissance schools - charters or schools run by internal or external providers.  These will undoubtedly be the same schools that have been constant victims of failed reforms,  like the diverse provider model imposed by the state in 2001 during Paul Vallas’ administration.   We will be working to make sure that education is not disrupted for thousands of students, and that when schools re-open they still serve the same population of students.

In other parts of the country we have seen plans devised by adults to put their political and economic interests ahead of the interests of students, families and communities. We have also seen that that in the face of these plans,  organized communities that stood up to reclaim their schools and make the needed transformations have been successful.  Will Philadelphia please stand up?  Our students are not for sale and neither are their school buildings.