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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Mr. Danza goes to teacher orientation

Tony Danza was spotted today attending the Philadelphia School District's cumbersome-named but earnest-sounding New Teacher Induction Institute for Improving Teacher Quality, a professional-development program that the district runs with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

I've written previously that the boxer/actor/talk-show host and the A&E network have been searching for a school to host a classroom-based reality series. 

A&E and the School District of Philadelphia today confirmed that there are ongoing discussions regarding the possibility of filming a series with Danza in "a Philadelphia public high school."

I've heard that the school is Northeast High, that he'll teach English, and that he'll be set up in the former home-ec room. The University of Dubuque in Iowa confirmed that Danza holds a bachelor's in history education.

No cameras were seen today as Danza learned about what to expect in the classroom.

"While both parties are excited about the prospect of the working together on this project," A&E said in a statement, "no official decision will be made until the Philadelphia School Reform Commission [SRC] has the opportunity to vote Aug.19."
Posted by Michael Klein @ 4:29 PM  Permalink | 14 comments
14
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:49 PM, 08/04/2009
    The "Observer Effect" of this project will certainly limit the "Reality" of this classroom, but what a GREAT IDEA FOR A SHOW!!!
    — Pluski
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:31 PM, 08/04/2009
    A teacher and two officers were just attacked by a student at Northeast High. Think that stuff will be edited out of the "reality" show?
    — legend1
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:45 PM, 08/04/2009
    I wonder who's in with A&E at the city. Parking Wars and now this...
    — phillystl
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:59 PM, 08/04/2009
    This is how the SRC shows respect for it's teachers! He's not qualified to be a teacher. Where are his Praxis Scores? Where's his certification. Oh, e's an actor? Sure, he can do a teacher's job! This is how serious they are about education!!
    — Billuminated
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:02 PM, 08/04/2009
    Philly needs the money; A&E has money. That's what it boils down to.
    — SJ Cynic
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:16 PM, 08/04/2009
    I wish I could teach at Northest HS instead of the failing and dangerous MLK HS, but I don't have enough seniority in the system. Im glad to see the district taking away a spot at a good school so that Tony Danza can pretend to teach. What would really get ratings is having Danza at a school like MLK or Gratz and filming his reaction to being told to go f*&^ himself by a 18 yr. old freshman with 3 credits and a third grade reading level.
    — Deano Velvet
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:20 PM, 08/04/2009
    I think it is fabulous. Welcome A&E. Welcome Tony...let's see how well he does with the prescribed curriculum/cook book forced upon professional teachers, because after Hornbeck left, so did the respect for teachers in this city...
    — mommabear
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:17 AM, 08/05/2009
    Is the Philadelphia School District nuts???? Who doesn't GET that reality shows THRIVE on drama and conflict and "train wrecks"??? A & E is hoping for disruptions, tensions between students, etc. so that viewership (and ratings and profits) will go up. That objective has NOTHING to do with the mission of a school, which is to EDUCATE our kids. Think about the disruption to the rest of the school from having a TV crew there. Think about how jealous other students will be of the ones selected and the potential for fights. Think about how distracting "being on TV" will be for the students in the class Tony teaches: it will be focal point of their lives for the entire semester. Think about the School District resources diverted to manage this profit-making - FOR A & E and Tony - project. (The district is a not-for-profit educational organization, so it can't make REAL money from this deal!) I could keep going counting the number of ways in which this project is NOT good the kids - which is what should be the priority - or the school district and the city. A & E and Tony are not doing this for our kids, our schools, or our city. They are doing it to make money and I am APPALLED that the Philadelphia School District and the City can't see that. I heard that A & E and Tony were turned down by at least one other urban school district EXACTLY because of the kinds of issues - which are no-brainers - I mentioned earlier. Someone should put a stop to this project before the Philadelphia system ends up with egg (or worse) on its face (and possible law suits from things that have a high chance of going wrong).
    — RUNuts?
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:25 AM, 08/06/2009
    There's no budget, there's no contract and there's a self-serving tyrant running the district who thinks the teachers are worthless.... but we will have Tony Danza teaching in one of our schools. Real nice!
    — gparkinson
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:16 PM, 08/24/2009
    To Billuminated & others--- Mr. Danza actually DID graduate college with a bachelor's degree in History Education so he does have the qualifications to be a teacher. Just like many other people in life, he had a career change. Also, I am a teacher in the School District of Philadelphia and had the honor of attending New Teacher Induction daily with Mr. Danza and he was quite serious about gaining all of the tools and resources necessary to become an effective teacher. Very nice guy if I may say so. It's sad that everyone assumes because he's from "Hollywood" he's an evil man and will do NOTHING to help the student in this city. Also- I am very sure the school is going to be EXTREMELY particular with the students they chose to be in this classroom along with parental approval.
    — lw1206
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:21 PM, 08/24/2009
    Also-- There are many teachers that end up working in the district FAR LESS qualified than Tony Danza. Think about programs like Teach for America where some people are literally CRASH COURSING (in a 3 week period) into the world of education with absolutely NO prior experience; some fresh out of college with a business degree yet will be teaching your children. No one seems to be throwing a fit about that. Yet he has an actual college degree in education, but because he's stared in a few shows & movies he's unfitting? I'm quite confused by some people's logic. (I can understand, though, the concern about cameras in the classroom. As an educator myself I feel the same way. Hopefully they can find a way to make it work while providing a quality education that the students deserve)
    — lw1206
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:34 PM, 09/28/2010
    Tony Danza had it easy. As a former Philadelphian and a product of G.Washington HS he was at an easy school where students on the most part are interested in learning and are college bound, he had 26 students!!! I teach college and have taught high school with @ least 40 students in a class. I would have liked him to "teach" at an inner city school such as West Philly, or Gratz and see how "well" he did there. However that would not happen, after all we can't have a reality show where the "star" is looking bad!!
    — basenjilover


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About Michael Klein
Michael Klein, the editor/producer of philly.com/Food, writes about the local restaurant scene in his Inquirer column "Table Talk." Have a question? Email it! See his Inquirer work here.
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