ANOTHER EXPERIMENT, BUT WITH A LOT AT STAKE

TIME TO BREAK OUT the beakers and Bunsen burners. The School District of Philadelphia has again become a laboratory for another experiment in education reform.

The hypothesis: An infusion of $42 million in federal money announced this week can turn around seven "persistently violent" schools, even though none of the money is used for increased security or police.

The Philadelphia schools scored a big one. Only 18 schools from across the country applied for the $49.5 million U.S. Department of Labor grants. Nine grants were awarded; seven went to Philadelphia schools - with a push from Sen. Arlen Specter.

One reason the competition was light: The school had to be "persistently violent." But that negative label, as defined by "No Child Left Behind" guidelines, isn't one that school principals or their districts find flattering. So that may have led to such schools being under-reported. (Call us cynical, but with millions of federal dollars available, we bet more cash-strapped school districts will miraculously find persistently violent schools.)

The School Reform Commission and new CEO Arlene Ackerman have wasted no time shaking things up at the district. The district's mixed-provider education model, considered experimental six years ago and closely watched by education experts, was recently modified; the district took back some schools from privately managed organizations and has put charter schools under more scrutiny.

Just this week, three top district officials left - interim chief academic officer, chief accountability officer and deputy chief academic officer. On top of that, the district eliminated more than 200 academic-coach jobs.

And the federal money comes as student test scores continue to rise, having crept up for 6 consecutive years, and as efforts to reverse the 50 percent dropout rate continue. The Department of Labor grants will create programs to address some of the complex issues that make kids drop out, and that could reduce chaos in the schools.

Rather than more cops, there will be more teachers, smaller class sizes, more college and career guidance and mentoring. There will be internship programs that could lead to jobs.

There's a lot at stake. With Philadelphia the recipient of seven of the nine grants, the federal government will take more than a passing interest in what happens here and will closely track its success or failure. Plus, the influx of federal money will essentially bring the cost per pupil at each school to $12,000, the average cost recommended by the state's costing-out study. So, we'll get a chance to see if the money really matters.

THE BIG CHALLENGE will be what to do after grant money runs out in three years.

The true success will be if the district can duplicate and incorporate the successful programs and initiatives into its budget and not leave them hostage to the fickle federal-grant process. And there will be the test scores, both a tool and a necessary evil.

It's fine to have a safe school, with kids preparing for jobs or college. But if its students can't read, it doesn't do anyone much good.

We hope this $42 million is spent thoughtfully and pragmatically. The future of thousands of our children is riding on the outcome. *