Troubled system, radical response

"What if Coca-Cola came in and decided to run our schools?" asks Quan Blanche, a 2000 graduate of the city's Benjamin Franklin High School who came for what he called "the anti-Edison rally."

Many say there's no secret as to what ails Philadelphia's schools. They receive about $2,000 less per student than other schools in the state. Boost funding, they say, and city schools would have a fighting chance.

For many at last week's rally, Edison's involvement with the city schools was a foregone and distasteful conclusion. While some protesters were well informed about the company and its track record, however, others were relying heavily on rumors. Some students insisted, for instance, that Edison eliminates all extracurricular activities and dismantles magnet schools in the systems it manages. Neither claim is true.

Edison offered to bus any interested Philadelphia parents to see schools they manage in Baltimore, but as of last week, only seven parents had done so. "When people won't even come to an Edison school, that's frustrating," Mr. Tucker says.

For some protesters, the most disturbing idea was that of wresting control of the schools away from the city. "The state doesn't know anything about our children," says Irene Sampson, a secretary at West High School. "Outside control just isn't going to work," says David Ezekiel, a retired high school math teacher.

To some civic groups, outside control smacks of racism. Among Philadelphia's schoolchildren, 70 percent are students of color, while most state legislators are white. Jerome Montdesire, president of the Philadelphia branch of the NAACP, has come out strongly against the plan, as have a number of members of the black clergy.

Unions, too, have been quick to denounce the proposal. Although the local teachers union has had a mixed reaction - some are intrigued by promises of bonuses for high-performing teachers and administrators - unions controlling janitorial and other services fear job losses.

Some say both Edison and Schweiker have grossly underestimated the degree of public resistance they will meet. But for Edison, the situation ought to have a touch of déjà vu. In New York earlier this year, the mayor hoped to see Edison manage five of its failing schools. Parental opposition quickly squashed the proposal.

In Philadelphia, backers of the plan seem confident that things will simmer down soon. "The governor's plan is a detailed, complex proposal," says Charles Zogby, the state's secretary of education. "I think once the parents start to sift through it and really understand it, the impression will be very different.

So far, though, there are few signs that emotions are being soothed. One speaker at last week's rally insisted there wouldn't be a day of peace in Philadelphia if the state went ahead with the takeover.

"I just feel like crying every time I think of it," says parent Elayne Blender. "To me, it feels anti-city."

E-mail marjorie@csmonitor.com

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