Colleges' bids to aid school district stymied

Penn Alexander Elementary - the school that the University of Pennsylvania has operated with the Philadelphia School District since 2001 - is one of the most successful programs in a city where academic failure happens all too often.

At the school, which draws on Penn for expertise and $1,000 extra for each of its 528 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, well over 80 percent of the students score proficient or advanced on state tests. That's compared with fewer than half of the students districtwide.

Since 2005, the Ivy League university has wanted to replicate that partnership and jointly run an international language and cultures high school in its West Philadelphia neighborhood.

But that proposal, along with a request from Drexel University to partner with the district on a high school with an engineering and technology theme, has languished.

District money woes, maintenance problems, and lack of space have stymied efforts.

The universities in recent weeks have knocked again on the district's door. The latest overture was a letter this month from Drexel president Constantine Papadakis to School Reform Commission chairwoman Sandra Dungee Glenn.

District officials say that while they like the concept, the hurdles are many.

They aren't sure they need more high schools in West Philadelphia, where the student population has dropped. At University City High, for example, enrollment is 1,048, down from 1,867 in 2004-05.

They have no space to set up the new schools.

And a proposal for Drexel and Penn to share University City High appears unlikely or very far off because the building has serious maintenance problems, including a heating and ventilating system on its last breath.

The district plans to close the school for $40 million in renovations in 2010-11, and the work will take three years. It's scrambling to find space for the students during the renovations, said Michael Masch, chief business officer.

The district, he said, has asked Penn for help. It also plans to ask Drexel for assistance in finding space.

"It's hard for us to see how we can accommodate this plan, which we think is great in theory, when we have the practical problem of fixing University City High School so that anybody can be in it," Masch said. "If they want to jump-start [the schools], given all the other problems that we have . . . we said we really need your help."

Penn said last week that it had been working with the district for several years to identify space and would continue to do so. University officials said they would be hesitant to open in a temporary site unless a permanent site, such as University City, would be identified so that a "smooth transition" would occur.

"We hope that the school district and the School Reform Commission will agree that opening a first-rate high school in West Philadelphia is a high priority and would be of tremendous benefit to students and their families, and that they will authorize moving forward with the planning effort in the near future," university spokeswoman Phyllis Holtzman said.

Arlene Ackerman, superintendent of city schools, said she would set up a meeting with both universities soon to hash out the proposals and problems.

"We're not saying no," she said, "but I would expect that the public would want us to be thoughtful about moving forward."

Drexel officials said they would continue to assist University City High and hoped to partner with the district on a new school.

"We're interested in finding a permanent strategy in working with the school district in providing engineering and technology education to high school students," said William F. Lynch, the director of Drexel's School of Education.

The universities would be taking on one of the district's thorniest problems - how to drive improvement at its high schools. At University City, more than 80 percent of 11th graders scored below the basic level in math last spring, and more than two-thirds did so in reading.

If the district approved the new high schools, each would begin with a class of 125 ninth graders and grow a grade each year. In four years, each school would reach about 500 students, 70 percent from the neighborhood and 30 percent from elsewhere in the city.

Penn and Drexel have said they would work with students at middle schools to help prepare them for the curriculum.

The university-district partnerships would be the first such venture for the district at the high school level.

Around the country, universities operate a number of public high schools. Some are run independently as laboratory schools, some are charter schools, and some are run in partnership with a school district.

Last year, some Philadelphia district staff and community members said they were concerned about the University City High proposal. They questioned whether the school themes were right for all students, and were apprehensive about what would happen to students not accepted.

District officials expressed similar concerns.

"What do we do with the students who are displaced?" Ackerman said. "We want to do this in a way that's fair, equitable, and cost-effective."

James Lytle, a former district administrator who is a professor at Penn's Graduate School of Education, said the schools likely would accommodate most if not all neighborhood students.

Masch and Ackerman weren't so sure.

The district and universities also need to discuss the terms, Ackerman said. Penn Alexander, at 42d and Spruce Streets, also includes the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers in the partnership.

The union's president, Jerry Jordan, said that he understood the district's concerns, but that given Penn Alexander's success, the university and district should try to work on a high school.

"As long as those same kinds of resources are put in the school," Jordan said, "it's certainly something we need to look at."