Re: [UC] Snakes In A School! Delete Alert: Rant Coming!!
Forgive me, but I am SO sick and tired of those who have NEVER taught school be they former students, would be teachers, politicians, attorneys Educational Psychologists, universities, corporations or whomever dictating to teachers and their students how schools have failed, should improve, could have improved, MUST improve who know nought about what it's like to be on the other side of the desk. Don't apologize. You're right and it needs to be said! Teachers, like many other human services workers, are being unfairly targeted and categorized. The people doing very important work in this society, often for low pay and limited tools, are not respected or considered but targeted for blame. Your justifiable anger brought up two issues to me. First, much of the abuse aimed at teachers is because a hell of a lot of people want to continue, what Kimm called, the criminal underfunding of schools in poor districts. More standardized tests for teachers and students, and sanctions against targeted schools are offered as the only reform needed! It's a nasty smokescreen that attempts to justify this funding system. It turns evaluation from an opportunity to improve into an intimidating useless way to assign blame. Reform is reduced to catching stupid and lazy practitioners. Corporate media goes along with this attack on teachers because it plays well to an angry, simple solution, sound bite public. The general public is completely ignorant of your job and resources and bases their opinions on what is fed to them. Secondly, teachers are not alone. These grandiose schemes that come down from a far are part of other devalued human services. I saw the same thing in the field of substance abuse treatment. Individuals who never worked inside the clinics with the patient population and limitations on resources, drive interventions. When the schemes failed, the answer was always the same. The clinical staffs are too stupid, too lazy, and uncaring and there was nothing wrong with the grand plan. Does this sound familiar? Instead of empowering the people working on the front lines to become research practitioners and the driving force for reform, a group of elite individuals demand that stupid grand interventions be obeyed. Since the scheme is always perfect, the poor outcomes must be the fault of the front line staff even though they never were considered or asked in the first place. As long as the media backs up this system and the middle class wants to buy into it, teachers, social workers, counselors, etc. will be stupid and lazy and all evaluation and reform will be limited to catching them. But I know better and I stand with the teachers and my social worker friends. Thanks for sharing your frustration. This needs to be exposed and confronted. Glenn - Original Message - From: Wilma de Soto [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Anthony West [EMAIL PROTECTED]; UnivCity listserv UnivCity@list.purple.com Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 8:56 PM Subject: Re: [UC] Snakes In A School! Delete Alert: Rant Coming!! Forgive me, but I am SO sick and tired of those who have NEVER taught school be they former students, would be teachers, politicians, attorneys Educational Psychologists, universities, corporations or whomever dictating to teachers and their students how schools have failed, should improve, could have improved, MUST improve who know nought about what it's like to be on the other side of the desk. MOST importantly, those who do not realize the most important loving and enmeshed relationships in schools are between students and their teachers. With a few exceptions, we would KILL for one another. The main problem is in loco parentis was ended. The Self-Esteem movement and the Every Child Is Special movement from Educational Psychologists who REALLY did not understand NOR had ever spent time with kids or know what they are like), started it all. The Good Child, Bad Adult theory has reigned for years. Harsh words, discipline or an occasional spank? NO! Child Abuse! Low Self-Esteem! Of course, that should appeal to parents and rightly so. No parent wants to hear their children they are not perfect. However, for almost four generations we have had parents who have been allowed to do whatever they wanted in school. They have had kids they have not even trained in the least to be prepared for school. Even those who 'read' feel they are literate but are not as cognizant as they think. They DO remark their peers do not read at all, so they are better than nought. Kids come to Kindergarten NOT knowing how to write their names, their letters, numbers which color crayon is red, blue or green. They DO know in Kindergarten they can get the teacher fired or in deep red tape if someone tries to socialize them; i.e have them wait their turn, realize they are not home and they have to yield for the greater good. If a teacher tries to socialize them as
[UC] Thanks to officers of the 18th District
Some of you may have seen my frantic ALERT post on Phillyblog this morning regarding a motorcycle I had stolen out of my front yard at 51st and Osage. The thief was apprehended quickly at 49th and Pine, thanks to the professional work of a group of officers. Here's what I wrote to Captain Clark (and Commissioner Ramsey): Captain Clark 18th Police District 5510 Pine St. Philadelphia, PA 19143 Dear Captain Clark, I am writing to commend a group of your officers from the 18th District. On Thursday April 3rd, at about 9:45 am I was returning from walking my dog in Malcolm X Park at 51st and Osage when I saw a man pushing a motorcycle around the corner from 51st St. east onto Osage. As I got closer to my house, I realized it was MY motorcycle, and that the man had expended great effort to drag it down the front steps from my yard. I was furious and wanted to run after him, but I put my dog inside and called 911. The dispatcher was extremely prompt, calmed me down and got the necessary details to orient officers. The response was swift and overwhelming. The area was almost immediately swarming with patrol cars and vans, but the motorcyclean older model that was not running, but which Id restored over several months last yearwas nowhere to be found. The officers stuck with it, knowing that the thief could not have gone far, and after conducting a careful search of the alleyways, they were able to apprehend the thief, red-handed, behind some houses at 49th and Pine trying in vain to start the motorcycle. They immediately sent a patrol car to my house to notify me that the bike had been found, and officers Britton and Bagnell took turns pushing the motorcycle three blocks back to my house at 51st and Osage. In the 5 years that I have lived on 51st Street overlooking Malcolm X Park, I have not had much occasion to deal with officers of the 18th district, but I could not have had a better experience in this case. While officers Britton and Bagnell filled out paperwork on the recovery, they described the circumstances of the arrest and explained what would be expected of me as the case went forward. They indicated that officers ODonnell, Lebold and Kryzwicki also participated in the apprehension. A stolen motorcycle, in the whole scheme of things, is not a terribly important crime, but it was important to me. I know the police department gets more bad press than good. Its the nature of the job, I suspect, but I wanted to make sure that you were aware of some of the small good things happening in the 18th. Thanks so much for helping make Philadelphia a better city, and please extend my gratitude and any appropriate official commendation to officers Britton, Bagnell, Odonnell, Lebold and Kryzwicki for their swift, professional response. I have sent a letter to Commissioner Ramsey requesting the same. Sincerely, Andrew Schwalm You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
[UC] Report on HS dropout rates
From today's Inquirer. City of Philadelphia has slightly less than 50% HS graduation rate. The urban/suburban gap is a national problem. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20080403_Urban_schools__dropout_problem.html
RE: [UC] Thanks to officers of the 18th District
Over 10 years ago, my sister was traveling through Philadelphia, on her way home from college. Her car was filled with books, seemingly non-desirable to a thief. But when she went to look for her car the next morning, it was gone. We called the police and they located the car. They asked if she had a spare key in the car. She did not. The thief broke one of the windows but somehow had a key that would start the car. She was very grateful to get her car back (with all her books)and asked if she could express her gratitude in a monetary way. They suggested a donation to the fund for bullet-proof vests for police officers, to which she made an immediate contribution. Of course, there are lessons to be learned about leaving a car totally empty, and for recognizing that there are universal keys out there (so a crook-hook is not a bad idea), but also for publicly acknowledging the work that our police officers do, such as the letter that was written -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 2:02 PM To: univcity@list.purple.com Subject: [UC] Thanks to officers of the 18th District Some of you may have seen my frantic ALERT post on Phillyblog this morning regarding a motorcycle I had stolen out of my front yard at 51st and Osage. The thief was apprehended quickly at 49th and Pine, thanks to the professional work of a group of officers. Here's what I wrote to Captain Clark (and Commissioner Ramsey): Captain Clark 18th Police District 5510 Pine St. Philadelphia, PA 19143 Dear Captain Clark, I am writing to commend a group of your officers from the 18th District. On Thursday April 3rd, at about 9:45 am I was returning from walking my dog in Malcolm X Park at 51st and Osage when I saw a man pushing a motorcycle around the corner from 51st St. east onto Osage. As I got closer to my house, I realized it was MY motorcycle, and that the man had expended great effort to drag it down the front steps from my yard. I was furious and wanted to run after him, but I put my dog inside and called 911. The dispatcher was extremely prompt, calmed me down and got the necessary details to orient officers. The response was swift and overwhelming. The area was almost immediately swarming with patrol cars and vans, but the motorcycle-an older model that was not running, but which I'd restored over several months last year-was nowhere to be found. The officers stuck with it, knowing that the thief could not have gone far, and after conducting a careful search of the alleyways, they were able to apprehend the thief, red-handed, behind some houses at 49th and Pine trying in vain to start the motorcycle. They immediately sent a patrol car to my house to notify me that the bike had been found, and officers Britton and Bagnell took turns pushing the motorcycle three blocks back to my house at 51st and Osage. In the 5 years that I have lived on 51st Street overlooking Malcolm X Park, I have not had much occasion to deal with officers of the 18th district, but I could not have had a better experience in this case. While officers Britton and Bagnell filled out paperwork on the recovery, they described the circumstances of the arrest and explained what would be expected of me as the case went forward. They indicated that officers O'Donnell, Lebold and Kryzwicki also participated in the apprehension. A stolen motorcycle, in the whole scheme of things, is not a terribly important crime, but it was important to me. I know the police department gets more bad press than good. It's the nature of the job, I suspect, but I wanted to make sure that you were aware of some of the small good things happening in the 18th. Thanks so much for helping make Philadelphia a better city, and please extend my gratitude and any appropriate official commendation to officers Britton, Bagnell, O'donnell, Lebold and Kryzwicki for their swift, professional response. I have sent a letter to Commissioner Ramsey requesting the same. Sincerely, Andrew Schwalm You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
[UC] Opinion on trash in City Paper
Notice what Schimmal says about the Department of Streets and Carlton Williams. Williams is the one with the working relationship with UCD/Campus Apts. He's the idiot that gives us those bogus trash tickets while blocks of corporate housing can break all trash rules. http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2008/04/03/the-curse-of-filthadelphia There is the promo article in today's Inquirer too. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_left_story/20080403_Clean_sweep__Nutter_marshals_forces_to_tidy_up_Phila_.html
Re: [UC] Snakes In A School! Delete Alert: Rant Coming!!
At the risk of sounding more ridiculous than I already have, I just wanted to thank you Glenn for getting my back in part. Perhaps our circumstances are not exactly the same, but it's ALL cut from the same bolt of fabric and is understood by people who have. By this I mean Social Workers, Counselors, Teachers, Nurses, Health Aides, even Prison Workers and in some ways The Police. The common bond is we have all experienced the same phenomenon to closely frighteningly similar situations, yet distinct. Also, thanks for not ignoring my rant. For those who chose to delete, no hard feelings. On 4/3/08 8:18 AM, Glenn [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Forgive me, but I am SO sick and tired of those who have NEVER taught school be they former students, would be teachers, politicians, attorneys Educational Psychologists, universities, corporations or whomever dictating to teachers and their students how schools have failed, should improve, could have improved, MUST improve who know nought about what it's like to be on the other side of the desk. Don't apologize. You're right and it needs to be said! Teachers, like many other human services workers, are being unfairly targeted and categorized. The people doing very important work in this society, often for low pay and limited tools, are not respected or considered but targeted for blame. Your justifiable anger brought up two issues to me. First, much of the abuse aimed at teachers is because a hell of a lot of people want to continue, what Kimm called, the criminal underfunding of schools in poor districts. More standardized tests for teachers and students, and sanctions against targeted schools are offered as the only reform needed! It's a nasty smokescreen that attempts to justify this funding system. It turns evaluation from an opportunity to improve into an intimidating useless way to assign blame. Reform is reduced to catching stupid and lazy practitioners. Corporate media goes along with this attack on teachers because it plays well to an angry, simple solution, sound bite public. The general public is completely ignorant of your job and resources and bases their opinions on what is fed to them. Secondly, teachers are not alone. These grandiose schemes that come down from a far are part of other devalued human services. I saw the same thing in the field of substance abuse treatment. Individuals who never worked inside the clinics with the patient population and limitations on resources, drive interventions. When the schemes failed, the answer was always the same. The clinical staffs are too stupid, too lazy, and uncaring and there was nothing wrong with the grand plan. Does this sound familiar? Instead of empowering the people working on the front lines to become research practitioners and the driving force for reform, a group of elite individuals demand that stupid grand interventions be obeyed. Since the scheme is always perfect, the poor outcomes must be the fault of the front line staff even though they never were considered or asked in the first place. As long as the media backs up this system and the middle class wants to buy into it, teachers, social workers, counselors, etc. will be stupid and lazy and all evaluation and reform will be limited to catching them. But I know better and I stand with the teachers and my social worker friends. Thanks for sharing your frustration. This needs to be exposed and confronted. Glenn - Original Message - From: Wilma de Soto [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Anthony West [EMAIL PROTECTED]; UnivCity listserv UnivCity@list.purple.com Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 8:56 PM Subject: Re: [UC] Snakes In A School! Delete Alert: Rant Coming!! Forgive me, but I am SO sick and tired of those who have NEVER taught school be they former students, would be teachers, politicians, attorneys Educational Psychologists, universities, corporations or whomever dictating to teachers and their students how schools have failed, should improve, could have improved, MUST improve who know nought about what it's like to be on the other side of the desk. MOST importantly, those who do not realize the most important loving and enmeshed relationships in schools are between students and their teachers. With a few exceptions, we would KILL for one another. The main problem is in loco parentis was ended. The Self-Esteem movement and the Every Child Is Special movement from Educational Psychologists who REALLY did not understand NOR had ever spent time with kids or know what they are like), started it all. The Good Child, Bad Adult theory has reigned for years. Harsh words, discipline or an occasional spank? NO! Child Abuse! Low Self-Esteem! Of course, that should appeal to parents and rightly so. No parent wants to hear their children they are not perfect. However, for almost four generations we have had
Re: [UC] Snakes In A School! Delete Alert: Rant Coming!!
Perhaps our circumstances are not exactly the same, but it's ALL cut from the same bolt of fabric and is understood by people who have. By this I mean Social Workers, Counselors, Teachers, Nurses, Health Aides, even Prison Workers and in some ways The Police. Yes and more important workers. It's such a waste for the individuals and society. The thing is, I've worked with groups of demoralized workers and we've turned things around. I think the key to fixing the systems is changing this demand for a top down approach. Expect people to do their best, but consider, include, and respect them too. They often have a great deal to offer. Accountability is very important, but empowering staff throughout a system is ignored. It's much healthier for the staff when they are respected and included. And there is a great deal lost with burnt-out among staff that could be changed and would be very cost effective! Best, Glenn - Original Message - From: Wilma de Soto [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Glenn [EMAIL PROTECTED]; UnivCity listserv UnivCity@list.purple.com Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 7:55 PM Subject: Re: [UC] Snakes In A School! Delete Alert: Rant Coming!! At the risk of sounding more ridiculous than I already have, I just wanted to thank you Glenn for getting my back in part. Perhaps our circumstances are not exactly the same, but it's ALL cut from the same bolt of fabric and is understood by people who have. By this I mean Social Workers, Counselors, Teachers, Nurses, Health Aides, even Prison Workers and in some ways The Police. The common bond is we have all experienced the same phenomenon to closely frighteningly similar situations, yet distinct. Also, thanks for not ignoring my rant. For those who chose to delete, no hard feelings. On 4/3/08 8:18 AM, Glenn [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Forgive me, but I am SO sick and tired of those who have NEVER taught school be they former students, would be teachers, politicians, attorneys Educational Psychologists, universities, corporations or whomever dictating to teachers and their students how schools have failed, should improve, could have improved, MUST improve who know nought about what it's like to be on the other side of the desk. Don't apologize. You're right and it needs to be said! Teachers, like many other human services workers, are being unfairly targeted and categorized. The people doing very important work in this society, often for low pay and limited tools, are not respected or considered but targeted for blame. Your justifiable anger brought up two issues to me. First, much of the abuse aimed at teachers is because a hell of a lot of people want to continue, what Kimm called, the criminal underfunding of schools in poor districts. More standardized tests for teachers and students, and sanctions against targeted schools are offered as the only reform needed! It's a nasty smokescreen that attempts to justify this funding system. It turns evaluation from an opportunity to improve into an intimidating useless way to assign blame. Reform is reduced to catching stupid and lazy practitioners. Corporate media goes along with this attack on teachers because it plays well to an angry, simple solution, sound bite public. The general public is completely ignorant of your job and resources and bases their opinions on what is fed to them. Secondly, teachers are not alone. These grandiose schemes that come down from a far are part of other devalued human services. I saw the same thing in the field of substance abuse treatment. Individuals who never worked inside the clinics with the patient population and limitations on resources, drive interventions. When the schemes failed, the answer was always the same. The clinical staffs are too stupid, too lazy, and uncaring and there was nothing wrong with the grand plan. Does this sound familiar? Instead of empowering the people working on the front lines to become research practitioners and the driving force for reform, a group of elite individuals demand that stupid grand interventions be obeyed. Since the scheme is always perfect, the poor outcomes must be the fault of the front line staff even though they never were considered or asked in the first place. As long as the media backs up this system and the middle class wants to buy into it, teachers, social workers, counselors, etc. will be stupid and lazy and all evaluation and reform will be limited to catching them. But I know better and I stand with the teachers and my social worker friends. Thanks for sharing your frustration. This needs to be exposed and confronted. Glenn - Original Message - From: Wilma de Soto [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Anthony West [EMAIL PROTECTED]; UnivCity listserv UnivCity@list.purple.com Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 8:56 PM Subject: Re: [UC] Snakes In A School! Delete Alert: Rant Coming!! Forgive me, but I am SO sick and tired of those who have NEVER
[UC] The fourth grade slump
Newberg comments on the fourth grade slump: Others have shown that early school achievement is a strong predictor of high school completion (Stroup and Robims 1972). We were also interested in reaching students before the fourth grade slump, the sudden drop-off between third and fourth grade in the reading scores of low-income students (Chall et al. 1990). Recognizing the need to intervene earlier in the lives of the children chosen to participate in the SYTE program, subsequent classes of SYTE have been identified as early as kindergarten. The new model recognizes that establishing a connection with children early allows the program the best opportunity to capitalize on their strengths and requires less remediation of neglected problems (Bogaines 1993). Newberg, Norman A 2006. The Gift of Education. How a Tuition Gaurantee Program Changed the Lives of Inner City Youth. The State University of New York Press, Albany: 192 In this week's UC Review, University High School to Close in 2010 for Two Year Renovation, consider this vague mention (the only printed mention to date): Penn and Drexel have said they would work with the feeder middle schools to better prepare those children for the more advanced academic opportunities in their neighborhood school. Neighbors, if the Penn/Drexel school were being designed by real Penn experts from the school of education, they absolutely would know that they must, first and foremost, provide details about preparing the local kids! The effects of poverty are measurable much earlier than middle school regardless of funded or under-funded schools!!! How do years of underfunded schools and barriers to quality extra curricular activities compound the problems that start early? Wilma pointed out that lots of us don't understand the range of issues or problems teachers do their best (and often a heroic job) to deal with daily. Properly funded schools (and fewer students with other problems associated with poverty) have more supporting factors. The big problems like large class size are sometimes recognized. Teacher turnover, low pay, low support of staff, and the resulting poor morale can all be addressed with proper funding. If Penn/Drexel start real quality interventions now, it would take years before the gaps caused by decades of neglect would prepare neighborhood kids, in any significant way, for any of the magnet high schools. But, the new UC high school is obviously following the history of mapping and planning our neighborhood for Penn's real estate goals. The people of Phila. simply pay. The most important details, the oblique plan for assisting the feeder schools, doesn't even make sense on the surface. The need for much earlier intervention is so obvious and established that the only possible conclusion is that the neighborhood is being deceived. Penn and Drexel have no intention of making a real effort to reach the kids and families they are attempting to deceive. If I am wrong and the experts are sincere, they are so out of touch with the literature that they are incompetent. They would have made a bold and prominent presentation of the assistance long before selling the magnet school as a replacement. They are deceiving us and attempting to transfer resources (the building and funds) from our already under-funded public system for the purpose of attracting replacement residents and condo buyers! Sincerely, Glenn
Re: [UC] The fourth grade slump
The School District has been exploring a model that focuses specifically on middle-school students who are struggling and at risk of being held back a year. These students prove to be at great risk of becoming high-school dropouts. This is a research-driven finding. Preventing dropouts is a citywide policy, not a Penn/Drexel program. No doubt Penn and Drexel will cooperate in their partnership schools in some special ways. But they are not in charge of overall planning to deal with the devastating citywide dropout rate. All those decisions are made on N. Broad St. Penn and Drexel provide details to the schools they are working with. The School District, in general, does not bother to engage random community members in theoretical debates about methodology. Like it or not, this is a very large and very top-down bureaucracy. It is not run like the Mariposa Coop. This is, if anything, even truer today than it was 10 years ago. A little learning is a dangerous thing... Educational research literature is pretty deep and, as is often the case, the more you read the less you know for sure. Microwave experts brandishing snippets of something they just ran across on google, are certain to play no role in formulating School District policy. * * Improved funding is essential to academic improvement. That's why Penn provides extra funding for its three partner elementary/middle schools. But it cannot become the role of any private partner to subsidize the entire School District. There are two main potential sources of added public-school funding: the State and the City. The formula for State funding of local schools was reduced sharply more than a decade ago, increasing the burden on local schools' tax bases. Getting the General Assembly to increase funding is a large-scale campaign that many legislators are now fighting for. People like State Rep. Jim Roebuck are in the forefront. It will require overcoming resistance in tax-averse Central Pennsylvania, however. That leaves local funding. Local taxation is closely correlated with local per-capita income and business prosperity. Almost without exception, cities with high dropout rates are cities with high poverty rates. That specifically includes Philadelphia. In these jurisdictions, there are simply too many poor people and not enough middle-class or prosperous people to generate extra revenue for schooling or any other service. In short -- what poor Philadelphians need, if they want better-funded schools, is more non-poor Philadelphians. Or, as Glenn puts it, replacement residents. The poor cannot boost their tax revenue solely by taxing each other. And they cannot tax the suburbs without going through Harrisburg, which suburbanites also vote to elect. -- Tony West Newberg comments on the fourth grade slump: Others have shown that early school achievement is a strong predictor of high school completion (Stroup and Robims 1972). We were also interested in reaching students before the fourth grade slump, the sudden drop-off between third and fourth grade in the reading scores of low-income students (Chall et al. 1990). Recognizing the need to intervene earlier in the lives of the children chosen to participate in the SYTE program, subsequent classes of SYTE have been identified as early as kindergarten. The new model recognizes that establishing a connection with children early allows the program the best opportunity to capitalize on their strengths and requires less remediation of neglected problems (Bogaines 1993). Newberg, Norman A 2006. The Gift of Education. How a Tuition Gaurantee Program Changed the Lives of Inner City Youth. The State University of New York Press, Albany: 192 In this week’s UC Review, University High School to Close in 2010 for Two Year Renovation, consider this vague mention (the only printed mention to date): Penn and Drexel have said they would work with the feeder middle schools to better prepare those children for the more advanced academic opportunities in their neighborhood school. Neighbors, if the Penn/Drexel school were being designed by real Penn experts from the school of education, they absolutely would know that they must, first and foremost, provide details about preparing the local kids! The effects of poverty are measurable much earlier than middle school regardless of funded or under-funded schools!!! How do years of underfunded schools and barriers to quality extra curricular activities compound the problems that start early? Wilma pointed out that lots of us don't understand the range of issues or problems teachers do their best (and often a heroic job) to deal with daily. Properly funded schools (and fewer students with other problems associated with poverty) have more supporting factors. The big problems like large class size are sometimes recognized. Teacher turnover, low pay, low support of staff, and the resulting poor morale
Re: [UC] Report on HS dropout rates
It gets even scarier. Around 75% of murderers -- and of murder victims -- in Philadelphia last year were high-school dropouts. Fifty years ago, dropping out of school might have meant you got a sweeping job at the factory your dad was working at. Today, it may mean a death sentence. -- Tony West Glenn wrote: From today's Inquirer. City of Philadelphia has slightly less than 50% HS graduation rate. The urban/suburban gap is a national problem. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20080403_Urban_schools__dropout_problem.html You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
[UC] Fwd: online petition: Vet urgently needed at (PACCA/PAWS)
Just got this from a neighbor... -linda Hi, I am forwarding this as requested by Katy Kaplan. It takes no time to fill out a personal comment and send this in. I don't think you have to be an animal lover to be concerned about the conditions described below. Please send it on to anyone you think might be responsive. Thanks. Some of you know Petra or have heard me talk about her, anyway I'm forwarding this on her behalf to you because you have animals and would care about this issue. She volunteers at a shelter that's does not have a full time vet. She took one dog into foster care recently who was basically dying. She and another volunteer took him to a vet and spilt the cost of his medical expenses. He had pneumonia and once he was treated properly he did so well they realized he was probably much younger than they initially thought. Anyway, please go to the link below and forward this to your friends in Phila. Also for cat lovers, they do have cats there as well, it's not just dogs that need the vet care. This is a city contract, I think it's a disgrace. Thanks, Katy as some of you may know I now volunteer at PAWS/PACCA the city of Phila Animal Care and Control Association (PACCA is contracted by the city). They operate their shelter on 111 West Hunting Park Avenue, Phila PA 19140. Paws (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) is a subsidiary trying to make the city a no kill shelter. Read up on PAWS and how you can help here: http://www.phillypaws.org/ However, the shelter has not full time vet. It's spaying and neutering services are provided by University of Penn veterinarian students under expert supervision. Please go to the following petition to lobby the city for a full time veterinarian to staff the shelter that takes in around 30,000 animals annually. I believe that you must have a Philadelphia address in order to sign the petition, so if you live out of city please forward to your friends that may be interested in this issues who live in the city. PLEASE GO HERE TO SIGN ONLINE PETITION: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/philadelphia-animal-care-and-control-needs -a-vet thanks guys and do not worry I will not inundate you with all sorts of emails about this it is just that it is really crazy that there is no vet (and I'm sure they could use more than one.), petra Katy Kaplan, M.S.Ed. Coordinator, UPENN Collaborative on Community Integration of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities (www.upennrrtc.org) University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine 3535 Market Street, 3rd Floor -- CMHPSR Philadelphia, PA 19104 Phone: 215-746-6713 Fax: 215-349-8715 You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named UnivCity. To unsubscribe or for archive information, see http://www.purple.com/list.html.
[UC] smashed car window
My rear vent car window was broken between 10 and 10:30 PM Thursday. The alarm went off and nothing was taken .the door had been opened. Note: there is nothing visible in the car. This happened in the 900 block of south 48th street. I did report it to the police. Muriel **Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel Guides. (http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states?ncid=aoltrv000316)
