Persistently dangerous. Until last year, that was all that most people knew about Strawberry Mansion High School. The public high school, located in northwest Philadelphia, reported more than 10 violent incidents per 100 students in each of the past five years. A whopping 96% of the student body lives in poverty. Traditionally, more students opt to leave than to remain, much like the staff: the high school has been through four principals in the previous four years.
But that was then.
It was before Principal Linda Cliatt-Wayman walked through the metal detectors to assume the position at the school – a position she took, she noted at this year’s Pennsylvania Conference for Women, because nobody else would do it. She is now in her second year.
It was before Diane Sawyer brought her cameras and put the spotlight on the struggling school, which had been slated to close, as part of her “Hidden America” series:
And it was before Drake, the 27-year-old rapper, made a commitment to the school. The singer, who has sold more than 5 million albums and boasts twelve number-one singles, saw Sawyer’s piece on ABC and offered to build the school a recording studio. Drake told ABC News:
I caught this piece that Diane did and I was like by the end of it I was so heavily affected that at the end I started questioning like major aspects of my life. It just really changed a lot about me.
It changed a lot of people. Now, Strawberry Mansion High School represents hope – not only to its students but to the community. This year, 55 of this year’s senior students were accepted to college, twice the number of acceptances from last year. And when ABC News reported in the spring that some of those students wouldn’t be heading to school this fall because they could not pay their deposits, kind-hearted viewers stepped in and helped out. According to ABC, donations received after the first broadcast helped to provide 13 college scholarships, as well as paying for school uniforms, textbooks, notebooks, and calculators (click here for more information on making a tax-deductible donation).
The school had a football team last year for the first time in its history: the team was undefeated. Its quarterback said, about the program:
Football keeps me out of trouble. … I ain’t thinking about the streets or nobody else. I’m just thinking about football. But now since football season’s over, I’m just going to the gym every day, lift weights, get bigger for my 12th grade year next year, because like I’m trying to go to a good college.
And there’s music. Last year, after budget cuts left the school without a music teacher, high school senior and valedictorian Tyreik Donaldson ran the school’s informal music program.
Those budget cuts weren’t exclusive to Strawberry Mansion High. In June, just after the original ABC News broadcast, the School District of Philadelphia was staring down a $304 million budget shortfall. To make ends meet, the district issued 3,859 pink slips, shedding 127 assistant principals and 600 teachers, including many art and music teachers. The District eventually announced that they would rehire laid-off music teachers and school secretaries after scrounging up $33 million from district savings initiatives, an increase in the state’s basic education funding, and increased city tax collections. Funding challenges, however, remain for the nation’s eighth largest school district.
Last year’s budget woes were never actually resolved: most of the holes were plugged with one and out tactics, including re-arranging funding and payments from the city and state.
The city has also relied on a “temporary” sales tax boost of 1% passed in 2009. The additional sales tax is set to expire on June 30, 2014; it looks like that sales tax will be extended if the City Council gets their way. Other revenue-raising proposals include a $2.00 per pack cigarette tax, property tax reassessments, and a previously shelved soda tax. So far, none of the tax-related mish-mosh has resolved the budget crisis and it’s likely to get worse as the district contends with rising pension costs and health care benefits, among other expenses.
Outside of these district-specific revenue raisers, Pennsylvania relies heavily on property taxes for school funding. It’s the formula most states rely on: nearly half of all property tax revenue in the United States is used to pay for public elementary and secondary education. That, of course, raises some interesting tax policy issues since property tax dollars are necessarily tied to the economy. Despite funding allocations meant to spread the wealth, affluent areas – which bring in most of the property tax revenue – often receive more dollars per pupil than poor areas. The result is that wealthy areas tend to have better school facilities, resources, and staffing.
And areas like Strawberry Mansion? They may not have textbooks or sufficient staff or updated classrooms. But now, they do have a football team, a principal committed to sticking around – and thanks to Drake, a recording studio on the way.
Most importantly, they now have hope.
