Support for all good schools

By Kenneth C. Frazier

The great 19th-century reformer Horace Mann warned Americans that we all must be responsible for educating each other's children. He was right. Each child deserves the chance at a successful and rewarding life. That starts with a good education.

In Philadelphia, where many of our public schools are in disarray, too many of our children are missing out on that crucial start in life. Many inner-city schools produce abysmal test scores along with disaffected students - more than one-third of whom fail to graduate from high school. These schools lack basic resources, like libraries, and are too often plagued by violence. Even more tragic is that many students who beat the odds and earn their high school diplomas still lack the fundamental skills necessary to choose a productive path to gainful employment or full citizenship.

The Philadelphia School District is locked in a structural financial crisis, with the funding fight having turned into a political brawl between the city and state.

Debates rage over which approach - public, charter, or private schools - will "fix" the educational problems facing inner-city parents and children. I believe that this debate sets up false choices. I am a strong supporter of adequate funding for public schools, which are the principal means through which our values as a free, democratic, and rational society are transmitted and maintained. But I also support alternatives in education. Rather than argue about what is the best option, we should work together to ensure that every child receives the best education possible.

I grew up in a low-income section of North Philadelphia during the tumultuous 1960s. My father only completed the third grade, but he and my mother made sure I received a good education in the Philadelphia school system. And that has made all the difference in my life.

Nearly everything I have is because that strong educational foundation enabled me to go on to Penn State and Harvard Law School. I realize now I am among a fortunate few. I was bused to Masterman, one of the best public schools in Philadelphia.

But Masterman is an outlier. Another outlier is Cornerstone Christian Academy, a private K-8 school in Southwest Philadelphia, where I have been a board member since it opened 25 years ago.

Many of the 200 Cornerstone students face a world of hardships, including fragile home situations, violence, and poverty. The school provides subsidized tuition, a challenging yet nurturing environment, and a path to a better future. Indeed, 95 percent of our students graduate high school and 66 percent pursue postsecondary education.

At Cornerstone, we witness again and again that children from some of the most marginalized communities possess the leadership ability, academic promise, and character to contribute meaningfully to others. They can and will rise above the difficult circumstances they are born into if we simply believe in and support them.

Our ability to compete in an increasingly global economy will continue to decline if we do not develop the next generation. That includes kids who lack adequate health care, proper nutrition, and parental involvement, and who live in communities plagued by violence and dysfunction. Before they arrive at school each day, these kids face huge obstacles, but with proper encouragement and instruction, they can develop the skills, discipline, and self-esteem necessary for success.

High levels of crime, unemployment, and unstable families all have their roots in substandard education - all the more reason to invest in education on the front end rather than pay the social costs later.

To do that, we need to support good schools of all types. Top-performing public, private, and charter schools all have benefits. It is rarely deemed controversial or over the top for suburban students to have educational choices, and yet some view it as excessive to acknowledge and fund several options that would meet the differing needs of inner-city children.

My personal journey to a leadership position I could not have imagined as a child growing up in North Philadelphia bears witness to the progress our country has made in addressing economic, social, and racial barriers. Yet the educational achievement and attainment of most poor and disadvantaged students remains a stubborn - though hardly insurmountable - obstacle to our country's cherished ideal of e pluribus unum. Whether we reside in Philadelphia or its suburbs, the painful realities of inner-city education and their consequences for the economic vitality of the region cannot be ignored. This educational inequity is not just morally unacceptable. It tears holes in the social fabric of our communities and slams shut the doors to life's best possibilities for our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.

The time for complacency is long past. Each of us must summon the energy and outrage that would come naturally if our own children's destinies were at stake. We must demand more of and for all students, particularly those who, through no fault of their own, are at greatest risk.