LEARN 2012 Conference:
Rebuilding Advocacy & Reform
by Tamara Anderson
On Saturday, March 31, the University of Pennsylvania Law School hosted the LEARN 2012 Education Conference (the Leaders in Education Advocacy and Reform Network) with the theme Bridging Sectors to Rebuild Education. The event was sponsored by Penn Law, Graduate School of Education Student Governance, DonorsChoose.org, Teach For America, and The Dean’s Speaker’s Fund. LEARN’s mission is to create a forum for graduate students interested in improving the quality of education by fostering dialogue, increasing knowledge of and access to career opportunities, and engage students in service opportunities in the field of education law and policy. The founders of LEARN are Erin Staub, Amy Feinman, and Jamie Gullen. The board members are Joe Santo, Danielle Wolfe, and Parker Rider-Longmaid. Saturday was filled with keynote speakers and panel discussions that provided much needed information and possible next steps for some of the current issues surrounding education.
The morning began with an introduction by Dean Fitts, the dean of the Law School at Penn. The University of Pennsylvania is deeply concerned about education in the United States and supports cross-disciplinary opportunities for students across theory and practices leading to a pathway to social activism that can help the students make an impact. His words seamlessly connected the vision and continued work of the morning Keynote Speaker, United States Congressman Chaka Fattah, who spoke eloquently about the work needed to educate the 53 million youth in our American public school system. Philadelphia pays the highest property taxes, but the formula for public schools does not equate to more dollars. He mentioned the McKinsey Report conducted for Mayor Bloomberg in New York City that projected a permanent recession in terms of our production of human talent. The failures in public education directly affect the gross economic outcomes nationally. The outdated property tax funding system should be reconsidered in order to provide equitable funding to education. The numbers of programs that we create to fill the discrepancies are not as vital as the creation of systemic change.
The outdated property tax funding system
should be reconsidered in order
to provide equitable funding to education.
The morning panelists included Valerie Strauss, Editor and Education Reporter for the Washington Post; Dr. Lillian Lowery, Secretary of Education of Delaware; Damon Hewitt, Esq., Director of Education Practice at NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; Diane Castelbuono, Associate Vice President of Education at United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania; Dr. Lawrence Picus, Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs and Professor of Education at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education; and Marc Mannella, CEO of KIPP Philadelphia Schools. The questions opened up with one about examples of partnerships working in public education. Two of the best examples were from Diane Castelbuono and Dr. Picus. The health care sector and the union of school nurses came together with the School District to provide thousands of physicals, despite some disagreement between the three partners. The latter described an elementary school that partnered with an elderly facility that led to lunches twice a week with the students and the senior citizens. It solved a problem of space, but it also provided an amazing inter-generational mentor opportunity. The questions continued to include more about equity and advocacy. It also questioned the credibility of innovation, and how to engage teachers around data and working together. Delaware appears to have a positive working relationship between the governor and the Secretary of Education when it comes to a common goal and commitment to the public education system in their state. It is something Philadelphia hopes to achieve between the school district and Harrisburg.
The working lunch was a unique opportunity to have more in-depth discussions with educational peers, advocates, and leaders in the following topics: Youth Courts, Launching a Social Venture, The Role of Technology in Education, Evaluating Teacher Quality, Public Interest Law Fellowships with Education Organizations, College Readiness and Interventions at the Secondary and Higher Education Levels, Effective Instruction for Students with Special Needs, Suing under State Constitution for Inadequate Provision of Education, and Rethinking School Districts and Local Funding. There were 17 choices in all. I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion around Constructing Effective Education Legislation at the National and State Levels lead by Ms. Joy Silvern, Education Policy Advisor for U.S. Senator Michael Bennett, and Ms. Christina Baumgardner, Legislative Assistant to Pennsylvania Senator Robert Casey, which focused on the funding issue in Upland Chester School District and the process to bring attention to inequity or needed changes in current legislation.
The afternoon keynote address by Governor Edward Rendell highlighted his successes and questions about the current state of public education. The main items that require the government’s attention is the nation’s infrastructure, research and development, and human capital. Quality education cannot be dependent on a zip code. When businesses become partners they can incentivize government programs and funding. The responses to his comments and questions appeared to be answered by Ms. Camika Royal’s closing remarks. She challenged all of us to stand and make those in charge accountable. We should stop blaming teachers, cutting funds, and playing it safe. All of us have to be willing to get a little dirty. An earlier panelist said it best, “Education should be just as important as abortion and guns.” Why is it not? The conference provided many answers and hope, but it also gave rise to many questions. It is vital that all of us collectively discover the answers before the state of public education spirals into more confusion and despair leading to more lost children.
Tamara Anderson has taught teens and adults through positions with the University of Phoenix, Chicago Public Schools, New York Board of Education, and the School District of Philadelphia. Tamara is a professional artist and freelance writer and editor. She is co-editor of the PhilWP Journal. Tamara joined the Philadelphia Writing Project as a teacher consultant in 2009.
You can read more of Tamara's work at http://www.examiner.com/education-in-philadelphia/tamara-anderson and http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/soul-of-a-chanteuse/16606698.