Rebuilding after the education storm

When it comes to K-12 education in Philadelphia, I've long felt like an ignored weatherman. I have warned about the storm about to slam into us and the need for action to blunt its force. Now that storm is here.

The twin twisters of the astounding deficit facing the School District of Philadelphia and the upheaval under way at archdiocesan schools are proof that we are indeed in the midst of climatic change when it comes to how we educate children in this city. Yet this disruptive change need not scar us, or scare us.

Instead, it could prove to be the catalyst we need to start building the educational systems necessary if our children are to survive and thrive. That is, if we are brave enough, and honest enough, to embrace innovative solutions.

It's easy to assume these crises are only about funding. Then we would devolve into standard Republicans and conservatives battling Democrats and liberals - the typical "slash-and-divert" vs. "pour, pour, more, more, more." But those approaches of the past just won't do.

It's time to address this as actual shareholders with equity in the returns on our children's education, because that's who we are. As citizens, we provide for the education of our city's children and are vested in how well we achieve that goal.

And as heretical as it may seem to some today, that goal doesn't end at the fence of the neighborhood or parish or private school. Sure, we can choose to continue hiding behind artificial barriers, yelping about "separation of church and state" or "tradition." Or we can consider already existing shared resources in the public-parochial realm - school buses and nurses, for example - and examine other ways where coordinated efforts could and should exist.

The fact is, as residents, we spend a dedicated amount of tax dollars to educate the city's children, no matter what school they attend. Even if parochial and private schools vanished, that funding pool would grow no larger, but the demand on resources would, exponentially. We need to streamline and maximize our investment so that our children and communities can reap the rewards.

That means coming to a joint table and focusing on what can work, rather than just gnashing our teeth in silos, complaining about what won't work. No matter how intractable this all seems, we can do this. Our children deserve our commitment.

About 15 years ago, Pennsylvania, led largely by Philadelphia, helped reshape the national dialogue on public education when we launched a large-scale charter school initiative. Spurred by dissatisfaction with our school structure and outcomes, charters took off, and they continue to evolve. Today, we are a model for both best practices as well as lessons learned, among them that nimble, intentional, innovative approaches to academic standards, parental engagement, labor agreements, and budgeting create public ownership. And ownership can and does benefit our children, families, and communities.

We can tame the tandem complexities threatening district and diocesan schools. We have the chance to again summon our strength and our history, to pledge that every child in Philadelphia will have access to a quality education, no matter the zip code. We must take action and prove that we can rebuild after the storm.