Education

Education is a city’s most crucial investment. But Philadelphia’s schooling strategy needs to change. We must empower parents as co-educators and support teachers and principals as innovators.

Education plays a vital role in most American success stories. In nearly every case, the hero is the student, the teacher or the parent — or all three. Sometimes it’s the school. Rarely do we point to the system as the savior. Yet that is where city leaders keep their focus.

Their tendency is to respond to weaknesses in the system by further contorting it. They change the makeup of the school board. They put a computer program in charge of grading application essays. They block the growth of high-achieving charter schools to maintain systemic control.

Philadelphia can never be a world-class city if the majority of children are unable to read by 4th grade. Why aren’t we putting more energy into that?

Parents should be welcomed into schools — and into the decision process. We must multiply educational options for families, not limit them. And we must stop reinforcing stereotypes and pitting schools against each other. Neighborhood, magnet, charter, private or religious: If a school prepares children well, it is a vital asset and deserves our embrace.