School choice in Philadelphia: It's the Titanic solution

MOST OF US can recall the harrowing scene from the Oscar-winning movie "Titanic" when third-class passengers were locked below decks on the doomed ship, unable to reach the scarce lifeboats.

Even some of the wealthiest first-class passengers, mostly men, sacrificed themselves to save as many women and children as possible. That night, 1,506 people perished, 69 percent of all those on board - but only a quarter of the third-class passengers survived. The horror of the Titanic disaster still resonates nearly a century later.

On the high seas, we've learned from Titanic's mistakes.

We've vastly improved ship design and safety. We inspect, maintain and amply supply passenger vessels - and we do not chart reckless courses that take them into dangerous waters.

But when it comes to education, we seem to be insensitive to the consequences of neglect, underfunding and inadequate attention to the needs of our school systems. Too often, we allow our school infrastructure to decline. Too many of our schools lack the basics for a minimum expectation of success. In some Philadelphia schools, for example, teachers must even buy their own paper.

The amount spent on each pupil in the classroom is vastly different from school district to school district in Pennsylvania.

SOME SUBURBAN districts spend twice what Philadelphia does.

They have smaller class sizes, state-of-the-art technology, and sufficient books and materials for all students. Their libraries are staffed with librarians and their science labs have all the equipment they need. Their early-childhood facilities are the envy of the neighborhood.

Mostly, it depends on the tax base of each district. Affluent districts have more money and can supply their schools adequately.

But isn't the state obliged to make up for that shortfall?

Article 3B of the state Constitution requires "a thorough and efficient system of public education." Fair and adequate funding is essential to that end, but it has yet to happen.

After it hit the iceberg, the Titanic's radio operators switched from their British distress signal to the easier SOS in a vain effort to get help. The nearest ships were hours or days away, too far to save the hundreds of passengers and staff stranded on the sinking ship.

We seem to be seeing a similar dire situation with regard to our local schools.

"Do more with less" has been the theme for urban education over a long history of neglect. Another favorite refrain is: "Money won't solve the problems of education."

Meanwhile, an idea that involves tax money appeals to desperate families stuck in crumbling schools. It can take several forms, but the one garnering the most attention - and backed by our new governor - is the promise of vouchers that can supposedly be used to send students to the private school of their choice.

It's a nice fantasy.

I call it the "Titanic solution" because there will never be enough seats on the educational lifeboat called "choice."

Vouchers don't guarantee that a private school will accept the student.

They don't provide any hope that a handicapped child will be placed.

Children with any academic or behavioral difficulties still have to meet the admission requirements for the school of their choice. Good luck with that.

And some schools, like the rescue ships, are simply too far away.

Some are happy to argue that, if any child is rescued from what they call the wasteland of public education, it's a victory.

They assume that the new school is automatically superior just because it has the words "charter" or "private" attached to it. They ask the taxpayers to bet good money on the faith-based assumption that siphoning funds from the cash-strapped public system will force it to improve.

It's all about "competition." Privatization is the answer. By repeating these mantras, they hope to make them true.

But what about the children who don't qualify for vouchers? Who have no "choice" because they're not able enough or have no transportation to the far-off school they want to attend?

They are just like the stranded Titanic passengers who searched in vain for the lights of a rescue ship.

We need to stop kidding ourselves that school choice is a viable solution to our education woes. If we can't support our public schools adequately, how can we afford to support multiple tiers of school providers with little or no accountability? And above all, it just isn't fair.

Unlike the ill-fated Titanic, the way to avoid disaster is to build a better ship and steer it on a safe and well-charted course away from treacherous waters.

If we really don't want to leave any child behind, we must do the same for our public schools.

Gloria C. Endres is a retired Philadelphia teacher. E-mail her at sisglo@aol.com.