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Once Francis departs, the work begins

For the last few weeks, the attention of Philadelphians has been focused on the preparations for the visit of Pope Francis. Finally, attention turns to the World Meeting of Families and the arrival of the pontiff this weekend.

Joe Narducci Jr, of Center City District, hangs a papal banner Monday, September 14, 2015, one of more than 550 going up for the pope's visit.
Joe Narducci Jr, of Center City District, hangs a papal banner Monday, September 14, 2015, one of more than 550 going up for the pope's visit.Read moreMICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer

For the last few weeks, the attention of Philadelphians has been focused on the preparations for the visit of Pope Francis. Finally, attention turns to the World Meeting of Families and the arrival of the pontiff this weekend.

There is much to celebrate this week, and Philadelphia will do just that. But I also believe we should already be looking ahead. I would like to share my vision of how Philadelphia could deliver on the pope's message after he leaves.

Pope Francis has famously tweeted that "economic inequality is the root of all social evil." He has condemned the "economy of exclusion" and approved of "the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the state," as well as the "indispensable cooperation between the private sector and civil society" to combat poverty.

These are statements I agree with to an extent, but I am particularly supportive of his urging the United Nations to attack the root causes of poverty. Philadelphia should adopt a similar approach. The city must attack the root causes of poverty to reduce inequality and decrease our 26 percent poverty rate. Too often, we concentrate on making a poor person's life as comfortable as possible. Instead, we should actually be helping the person out of poverty or preventing others from falling into it.

The root causes of poverty in Philadelphia are a dismal education system and a lack of job opportunities. With that in mind, the next mayor should work to decrease the poverty rate to less than 20 percent by 2020. Philadelphia can accomplish this through broad-based educational reform and a comprehensive economic vision that attacks this two-headed monster with vigor.

In addition to the ongoing funding crisis our schools face, Philadelphia's major failures when it comes to students include providing early-childhood education and ensuring a destination for high school graduates.

The shortcomings in early-childhood education can be addressed by investing resources in kindergarten and first grade, and ensuring that students are given a grounding in the basics.

Children enter the school system at different levels, and we must be prepared to accommodate them. But regardless of where they start, we must not let children move on from first grade if they cannot read. Failing to help them achieve at this level will almost guarantee that they have problems later, both educationally and socially. At this young age, children must believe they can be successful, and our job is to empower and enable them to do so.

I also propose that the Philadelphia School District start to put more emphasis on where students can go after high school graduation. The School District must not only prepare children for their future, but also connect them to it. Therefore, the city must embrace a "School to Jobs Pathway" philosophy for students.

Right now, fewer than 30 percent of students attending neighborhood schools will go on to college. What is happening with the other seven out of 10? Where do they go? What do they do? We need to be talking to these students early on and helping them create a road map for their future. The School District can do this by more actively partnering with the private sector to understand the needs in the job market and create programs that will prepare students to fill those needs. Part of that will mean increasing the availability of technical and IT training, as well as vocational high schools and apprenticeships. We should then hold schools accountable for the number of students who go to college or have a job after graduation.

Of course, increasing job opportunities isn't the School District's responsibility. That job belongs to all of us. Meeting that goal will require the implementation of a comprehensive economic vision, one that sets a goal of bringing Philadelphia's unemployment rate below the national average by 2020.

Achieving this vision would require making long-overdue changes to our outdated tax structure and industrial-era regulatory policies. It also would require Philadelphia to embrace the opportunities that would make it an energy hub that can lift people out of poverty through the creation of family-sustaining manufacturing jobs.

Philadelphia should also reach out to the private sector to help the city understand (and prepare for) future skill needs. We need to provide tax incentives to encourage companies to establish job-training programs for the chronically unemployed, help businesses translate the unique skills acquired by veterans to private-sector needs, and seek out companies that will relocate to Philadelphia and hire returning citizens so that we can reduce recidivism rates.

This weekend, Pope Francis will give even the least among us hope for the future of Philadelphia. Unfortunately, he alone cannot change Philadelphia. That will require the courage of our leaders and the hard work of the people after he leaves. These changes would go a long way toward ending persistent poverty in Philadelphia.

Melissa Murray Bailey is the Republican candidate for mayor of Philadelphia. policy@mmb2015.com