Actually, quite the opposite, to wit the case of Alexander Wilson middle-class white parents finagling their children into Samuel Powel, and then Penn Alexander leaving Alexander Wilson mostly all black and without many resources.
I had an apartment on 48th between Windsor and Springfield for about 10 years and I saw that bust to Powel pick up kids every morning and not one black face was on it. The SDP routinely caves in to parents with power and connections for various reasons. It's a lot more difficult than one would think to get specialized programming for a school. There's a lot to prove to the District before that happens; it is not just granted. "Deseg" schools apply more to staff than student body. Check out the School Vacancies List at the School District web site. As for petty cash, that is the domain of the School Operations Officer. The SOO at our school, dots every i and crosses every t. Our principal monitors our budget carefully. Most School Operations Officers are honest but a few are not. Considering the number of schools in the district and one district school was caught ripping off the student fund, (The SOO is being prosecuted), that's not so bad. Especially when you compare it to the political "chanchuyo" at the Philadelphia Academy Charter School, and the administrator at three different charter schools collecting a salary at each one. What a political boondoggle THAT is! On 7/8/08 10:23 PM, "Anthony West" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Holy Moly, Wilma, has there been finagling! I gladly cede to your > expertise in the School District's system here. After five years, I'm > barely knowledgeable enough to testify that finagling exists. But sure > it does, you betcha. I saw it. > > There seem to be two kinds of SD finagles: statutory finagles, in which > a particular school or set of schools is conferred with special > exceptions to achieve system-wide missions (e.g., desegregation or > specialized programing); and "petty-cash" finagles, in which a principal > uses vague administrative powers to authorize certain students' papers > without much of an audit. > > Viewed from the consumer's end, there are also two kinds of SD finagles: > ones in which you are aided by SD insiders, and those in which you trick > SD insiders. In other words, sometimes public-education consumers cheat > in order to get their children a good education. > > I don't know any research on educational finagling, but I am sympathetic > to it because I suspect it often is the poor family's last resource. So > I'm not about busting it right now. I bet it benefits working-class West > Philadelphians more than it does the scions of the professoriate. > > -- Tony West > > > Wilma de Soto wrote: >> Apparently SOMEONE voted or finagled politically to have areas that are in >> Alexander Wilson's 'catchment area' be eligible to attend Samuel Powel >> instead before Penn Alexander was built and NOW be eligible to attend Penn >> Alexander. >> >> Only part of the former Powel exception area, which you have acknowledged is >> in another part of the district, got the green light to go to Penn >> Alexander. >> >> As a 20+ year Employee of the School District of Philadelphia, there has >> ALWAYS been finagling of 'catchment areas', usually known as "school >> boundaries". The squeaky wheels, the ins and those who wield power usually >> get what they want. >> >> The rest are stuck with the traditional school boundary and feeder areas. >> >> That is classic Philadelphia politics for those who know the ropes and how >> to manipulate them. > > > ---- > 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>.
