With the endorsement of teacher’s in tow, former Philadelphia City Councilman wants to optimize available space in public schools.
—
On Monday, March 16th, 2015, The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers will formally endorse former Philadelphia City Councilman, Mr. Jim Kenney, in his campaign to become Mayor.
Mr. Kenney, though he’s admitted to not having the proverbial Big Bang Theory to solve the conundrums facing the School District of Philadelphia, has embraced the concept of full-service community schools, which no doubt contributed to him winning the approval of the 12,000 member strong union, who will directly benefit from having community organizations, nonprofits, and universities, among others, collaborate to transform schools into the center of community life.
And though fair funding will remain a reoccurring and crucial conversation around public education, the concept of full-service community schools, as Mr. Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, has said before, is about “thinking differently” and being “creative.”
After Mr. Kenney officially announced his intention to run for mayor, and, again, reminding the public that there’s no Superman flying in from Harrisburg to fix the City’s problems, he repeated similar words to that of Mr. Duncan’s to a group of journalists.
“Our own resources, marshalled the correct way, will provide the things we think are important,” he said.
Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free
While maybe a new concept for Philadelphians, full-service community schools have been in effect since the 20th Century, with the Great Depression bringing about significant investments in making schools multi-purpose venues.
In a more than five year-old video interview with journalist, Mr. Charlie Rose, Mr.Duncan remarked about how many American schools have pools, gyms, computer labs, auditoriums and classrooms that belong to the community, not the bureaucracy.
Mr. Duncan, who oversaw significant investments into the community schools model in his hometown of Chicago, made the case for the schools to be open longer, with community groups controlling the latter part of the day.
“When schools become the center of community, great things happen,” said Mr. Duncan.
In 2010, nearly a year after the video interview was posted to YouTube, I, on behalf of Techbook Online, pitched an full-service community schools model to high ranking members of the School District of Philadelphia. One of them called it “the missing link in public education.” It truly was, and still is, despite it never being implemented.
The idea of allowing community-based organizations, especially social service providers and physical and mental health clinicians, to co-locate critical service into the school building will improve the school’s ability to accomplish its academic function, while anchored partners mitigate the impact socialization has on the student body.
Furthermore, in response to the 21st century skill and knowledge deficit among black and brown youth, full-service community schools could enable small-to mid size tech companies to utilize space to grow their businesses, and in return they pay a small rental fee – allowing schools to develop independent, autonomous economic structures that support innovation – provide high-quality, measured internship to students with an intent to hire, and offer monthly tech-skill building workshop for community members.
Like Mr. Leonard Cavello, an Italian immigrant living in East Harlem in 1934 who used the school community to address social problems, Philadelphians need to become more responsive to both the market and the needs of its young people in order to build a climate where everyone in the community feels a special connection to the schools in the neighborhood.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™