District's Job 1: Listen to the people
Socolar: Common sense dictates that the Philadelphia School District should be looking for opportunities to close crumbling schools that are half-empty and underperforming.
COMMON SENSE dictates that the Philadelphia School District should be looking for opportunities to close crumbling schools that are half-empty and underperforming. In a cash-starved system with a shrinking population and aging facilities, we can't afford not to. Officials acknowledge that closing schools is painful. But they say that once we get through it, we'll all be better off with a streamlined system — and the district will be poised to improve its fortunes.
They'd like us to trust them. But unfortunately, the reality does not match their narrative. Many of the 44 schools on the closings-and-relocations list don't neatly fit the "crumbling, half-empty and low-performing" profile. A dozen are more than two-thirds full. Several are high performers academically, and others are on an upswing.
To families faced with losing their schools, officials have been unable to offer concrete examples of what will be gained. The district's process and plan seem so poorly thought out that they risk alienating thousands of families and staff.
Perhaps the district's biggest blunder was in treating the people closest to the schools as potential adversaries who must be kept in the dark, rather than as knowledgeable partners in developing recommendations.
When such profound changes are drawn up without tapping community wisdom, the resulting hostile response can come as no surprise.
Even though it's unclear that there will be significant savings in the short run, realistically there's no backing away from some action on school closings this year. We cannot simply maintain the status quo.
But in its current form, the plan will further deplete scarce public assets in poor and African-American communities, and the chaotic process will only accelerate the flight of students into charters, cybers and other alternatives. This could well put the system into a death spiral.
To avoid an escalating conflict with dire results, the district must quickly and radically revamp this process. Superintendent William Hite could change the dynamic. He should:
Affirm public feedback and take bad ideas off the table right now. For example, scale back the closings in North Philadelphia — no neighborhood should have so many schools wiped out in one blow. Don't shut McCloskey, a high-performing elementary school that is not far under capacity. Don't send Gompers and Overbrook elementary students to Beeber, which has been labeled persistently dangerous (meaning anyone transferring in would have the immediate right to transfer out).
Make a realistic assessment of how many transitions the district can manage at a time. Last year, staff struggled to oversee six closings. Stagger proposed closings, thereby also giving some communities a year or two to come up with alternatives.
Assist communities that, like University City High School, are developing counterproposals for consolidations and co-locations. Embrace the idea of community schools and identify some pilot sites to work on bringing other services into underutilized buildings instead of closing them.
Immediately provide detailed transition plans for the closings still on the table for 2013. Get specific on safety, transportation and academics so families, schools and the SRC can evaluate them before action is taken.
Community members are not simply saying "No." They are crying out for a real voice. The district would be wise to give them one.
Paul Socolar is editor and director of Philadelphia Public School Notebook. A version of this appears as an editorial in the February 2013 edition of the Notebook.