Two Schools: 15 Miles and Worlds Apart
By Avi Wolfman-Arent | November 22, 2016
Upper Dublin High School in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, and Overbrook High School in Philadelphia are a mere 15 miles from each other. But they’re worlds apart.
Take the matter of water — that most basic element of human life.
Upper Dublin's new high school, finished in 2012, features an 18-lane swimming pool with two spring-diving boards and a movable bulkhead that allows the pool to be configured for swim meets and water polo matches. The natatorium even has its own air-filtration system so the smell of chlorine doesn’t seep into the surrounding hallways or waft in the way of enjoying the tasteful mosaic that adorns the entryway to the facility.
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Studies Show Racial Bias in Pennsylvania School Funding
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This chart, taken from Pennsylvania Department of Education data, shows that while both Pottstown and Mahanoy City in Schuylkill County have similar levels of poverty, and would receive similar levels of basic education funding under the fair funding formula, Pottsown, which has a less-white population, receives significantly less under the current funding mechanism, while Mahanoy receives more than its fair share.
Graphic by David Mosenkis |
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By By Evan Brandt, The Mercury | April 30, 2017
POTTSTOWN >> People objecting to Pennsylvania’s status as the state with the widest gap between funding for rich and poor school districts have argued that a zip code all-too-often determines the quality of a student’s education.
Apparently the color of a student’s skin matters even more.
New research has found that the less white a district’s students are, the more unfair the funding gap in state basic education dollars.
Continue at The Mercury »
Editorial: The shameful inequity in Pa. school funding
May 7, 2017
This newspaper has long been at the forefront of the argument for fair schools funding in Pennsylvania, arguing that the state Constitution guarantees every child a quality education regardless of wealth or address.
Now, two recent studies show the issue is about more than just zip code; it’s also a matter of black and white.
A report last Sunday by Digital First Media reporter Evan Brandt highlighted research which shows that the less white a district’s students are, the wider the funding gap in state basic education dollars.
Continue at Delaware County Daily Times »
Pa. Schools are the Nation’s Most Inequitable. The New Governor Wants to Fix That
By Emma Brown | April 22, 2017
Fixing every Philadelphia School District building - more than 300 schools, athletic fields, offices, shops, and garages - could cost $5 billion, district officials said Thursday.
But amid a perpetual budget crisis, the school system manages to allocate just $160 million yearly on maintaining its buildings, leaving thousands of work orders unfilled and putting students' health at risk daily, some suggested.
Continue at The Philadelphia Tribune »
Tab for Fixing Phila. School District Facilities: $5 billion
By Kristen A. Graham | February 12, 2016
Fixing every Philadelphia School District building - more than 300 schools, athletic fields, offices, shops, and garages - could cost $5 billion, district officials said Thursday.
But amid a perpetual budget crisis, the school system manages to allocate just $160 million yearly on maintaining its buildings, leaving thousands of work orders unfilled and putting students' health at risk daily, some suggested.
Continue at Philly.com »
Officials Told Philadelphia Schools Need $5 Billion in Repairs
By Kristen A. Graham | November 22, 2016
One by one, the dignitaries trooped into the computer lab at Overbrook High School - a room full of dusty desktops at least a decade old that await replacement.
Earlier, they had peered inside two nonfunctioning science labs, where trash sat inside lab sinks and water issues were common.
The Monday tour of Overbrook, a once-grand structure known as "the Castle on the Hill," was meant to give lawmakers who will distribute school-facilities money in Pennsylvania a grounding in just how vast the Philadelphia School District's capital needs are.
Continue at Philly.com » |