Fathers, it's almost time to walk your children to school

WHEN THE School District of Philadelphia begins its new year on Tuesday, most education advocates would agree students could use more state funding and classroom supplies.

Also important is parental support, including fathers walking their children to school on the first day, a symbolic gesture dubbed the Million Father March.

During a City Hall news conference yesterday, supporters of the annual march called on fathers to take that walk, and to become more involved with their children's academic efforts and overall productivity.

City Councilman Curtis Jones said he's heard it said that city school students have two book bags: one filled with books, the other filled with troubles from home and the neighborhood.

"What the Million Father March is designed to do is lighten that second book bag," he said.

Karen James, director of the school district's Office of Family and Community Engagement, said fathers at all 219 district schools are encouraged to walk with their children Tuesday morning.

"We want all of our families involved and informed about the education of their children, from the first day of school to graduation," she said.

Philadelphia will be one of 800 cities across the country participating in the Million Father March, founded in 2004 by the Black Star Project, a Chicago-based nonprofit community organization.

"Parental involvement is one of the key points to a young person's success in the school situation. When you involve the father, in most cases, you have double parental participation," said David Fattah, a former teacher and co-founder of the House of Umoja Inc., which urges the community to help end gang violence and is organizing the Philadelphia effort on the first day of school.

At 7 a.m. Tuesday, members of the House of Umoja will march from their building, at 56th and Master streets in West Philadelphia, to the Universal Bluford Charter School at 58th and Master, Fattah said, in a show of support for the K-6 school, which the School Reform Commission recently voted to strip of its operating charter.

Kaleaf Wiggins, 26, a father of two who attended the news conference, said he grew up without his father and believes that contributed to mistakes he made along the way.

"I know the difference it makes when a father steps in a child's life. No shots at the mother, but when a father steps in, it makes a big difference. And when they come together, there's nothing that can stop them," said Wiggins, who recently started his own house cleaning and landscaping business.

Wiggins will be walking his 8-year-old daughter to Overbrook Elementary School on the first day, he said, before adding, "I walk my daughter to school every morning, and I pick her up every day after school."