Mayor Nutter Undertakes First 'Education Week' in Philadelphia

Tackling a week of events allowed the mayor to build on themes he had outlined in his campaign and early months in office, such as college readiness, school safety, reducing the dropout rate and the city’s close partnership with the School District of Philadelphia. With recently appointed school superintendent Arlene Ackerman at his side, Mayor Nutter literally rang the bell at a newly built elementary school.

College Access and Dropout Recovery
At the beginning of Education Week, Mayor Nutter met with 20 local college and university presidents in a private session, and made a formal request for 1,000 new scholarships each year to enable graduating Philadelphia high school students to continue their educations.

On the same day, the mayor gave a rousing address to the incoming class of 220 students entering the YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School; all students in that class had previously dropped out of high school.

The YouthBuild event provided the mayor with a forum to explain his perspective. “There isn’t a person in this room, including me, who hasn’t needed a second chance at some point in life…some people dropped out, you decided to drop back in.” He went on to pledge, “wherever there are young people trying to get themselves together, that’s where I belong and that’s where I’m going to be.”

Shortly thereafter, in a Community College of Philadelphia classroom, the mayor listened to the education and life stories of new students in the Gateway to College program.

Gateway, which along with YouthBuild is part of the Alternative High School Initiative portfolio of school models, provides former dropouts with a chance to earn their high school diploma and take their first college classes simultaneously. Gateway’s students advised the mayor and school district officials about what the city can do to make schools better. Making the students’ list of key actions were attention to teacher hiring and training, updating the curriculum for greater relevance, and instituting more effective procedures for following up with truant students.

Collaboration with School Districts
After visiting several other schools and programs, the mayor capped the week with a major education address, noting that “education is the linchpin for everything we’re trying to accomplish here in the City of Philadelphia. Our administration is going to be an active, aggressive and supportive partner with the School District of Philadelphia.” 

In the address, Mayor Nutter once again proclaimed his strong commitment to two key long-term goals: cutting the dropout rate in half and doubling the college degree attainment rate.

He described a number of steps that the city would undertake to reach those goals, and also sketched roles for the business community and parents. One notable plan involves realigning $200 million in city funding for afterschool, summer and prevention programs to help at-risk students, and another to establish an “early warning system” to identify and provide stronger supports to sixth graders rated as future dropout risks.

The mayor closed his speech by saying, “I can assure you that the City of Philadelphia, the School Reform Commission and Superintendent Ackerman are as closely aligned as a city administration, school board and superintendent have ever been. Together, we must agree on the way to create a city that is successful at educating all of its children.”

Details: To learn more about Education Week in Philadelphia, visit www.phila.gov/mayor/press.html. For more information about the Alternative High School Initiative, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and which NLC’s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families supports as a co-convener, go to www.ahsi.info or visit www.nlc.org/iyef.