The Intersection of School Reform and Gentrification

I think there is some very interesting research to be done on the intersection of school reform efforts and the politics of 'taking back' the city for the upper social classes.

This fall the School District of Philadelphia opened 4 new magnet high schools - The 'School of the Future' (popularly known as the Microsoft School) in the Parkside neighborhood, the Science Leadership Academy at 22nd and Arch, the Academy at Palumbo at 11th and Catharine, and the Constitution High School at 7th and Market.

All of these schools are brand new, with state of the art facilities. At least two of the schools have provided all students with their own personal laptop computers. Understandably, many people have reacted in a positive way to the opening of these schools, seeing it as the district moving in the direction of improving the quality of education for its students. There is also a bigger picture to consider.

Although these schools will undoubtedly provide a great learning environment (although from an educational standpoint I am sure there are various criticisms - such as Microsoft corporation openly stating that the School of the Future is about producing future employees for its company and making its products not simply tools for education but educational essentials) the fact remains that there are over 260,000 public school students in this district, the vast majority of whom remain in schools with dilapidated buildings, outdated materials, unqualified teachers, and generally atrocious conditions.

Why then would the district spend tens of millions creating brand new schools instead of overhauling existing schools or making real district-wide changes. Several years ago the School Reform Commission engaged a consulting firm in a comprehensive study of all Philadelphia neighborhoods where public high schools are located, to reveal the demographic trends. Although they have never come out and said it, this would seem to suggest that they are thinking carefully about neighborhood changes in the context of the 'revitalization' of many Philadelphia neighborhoods that are now attracting higher income families.

It's a well known fact for any government and business leadership coalitions that are attempting to 'turn around' an area (not by eliminating poverty but by creating conditions for a return to the city by capital) that the state of the public schools are one predictor of whether higher income families will stay in an area. When Penn made it's massive investment in the Sadie Alexander School in West Philadelphia, property values within the catchment area soared. I heard from a prominent real estate company in the area that upper middle and upper class families were making calculations like: "which is more costly, sending multiple children to private school for eight years, or buying a house that costs half a million dollars" The answer: investing in a house, and sending their children to Penn Alexander School. Now that school is like an 'anchor' that keeps upper income people in that neighborhood.

And this is probably also part of the reasoning behind the other new schools that the district has built. Especially in the case of rapidly gentrifying South Philadelphia where the Academy at Palumbo is located, and where the same dynamics are playing out in the Parkside neighborhood where the School of the Future is located.

So multiple forces are converging at the same time - the interests of the city, developers, business leadership coalitions such as the Chamber of Commerce, University City District, Center City District, and Philadelphia Forward, coalesce with the School District of Philadelphia which also manages to improve its image as it gets boasting rights for improving education in the city. And once again the 'neoliberal' city exhibits one of its classic characteristics - a growing polarization between the haves and the have nots.