After 40 years of founding and running schools and summer programs in Philadelphia, I’ve learned a difficult lesson: Students need all the help they can get. It’s no secret that kids are struggling in Philly schools. Only 15% of eighth graders are proficient in math. Less than 20% are proficient in reading. While teachers and administrators are trying their hardest, their job is anything but easy.
Closures raise urgent questions
The district recently approved a plan to shut down 17 schools and co-locate six others. How — and where — are students going to get the help they desperately need?
I’ve done my best to give families hope. In 1988, I co-founded Imhotep Institute Charter High School. We wanted to help as many students as possible, especially Black and brown students, get on a better track before heading to college or a full-time job. But I came to see that high school was too late.
If we really wanted to help students, we had to start earlier.
Starting earlier isn’t enough
So, in 1999, I founded Imani Education Circle Charter School for kindergarten through eighth grade. I thought that surely we could turn things around if we got to students in elementary or middle school. But once again, I realized that we had to start earlier. I went on to found Mary Moragne Shule preschool in 2003. You can’t start any earlier than preschool, right?
All these schools made a difference, and to this day, Imhotep is serving hundreds of students. But what I came to learn is that children don’t just need help during the school day. They often need help after the bell rings. That’s when a lot of kids go home to empty houses while their parents work.
I saw many young people fall into bad habits. I also saw many promising students fall in with a bad crowd, undoing the good lessons taught by their teachers.
After-school gap remains critical
I’ve spent countless hours trying to figure out how to help these children. While there’s no silver bullet, the state now has a golden opportunity. It’s the new federal tax credit scholarship program that Congress and the president created last year.
This scholarship program could be a game-changer for Philadelphia students. Basically, families will be able to apply for scholarships from a wide variety of organizations, all funded by generous donors across the state and the country. Many people assume the scholarships will help students go to private schools, but that’s not the whole story. It’s not even the most important part of the story.
Public school students could use these scholarships to supplement their education with after-school programs or tutoring. For parents — especially single parents — that’s a godsend. If they’re working long hours and don’t want their kids left alone before or after school, they’d be able to afford a safe haven. If they’re worried that their son or daughter is falling behind in the classroom, they could help them catch up or even get ahead. This is the help families have been waiting for.
State action needed now
Nobody knows how many scholarships will be available, but Pennsylvania’s experience with two state tax credit scholarships offers a clue. They’re capped at $575 million a year — a number they’re all but guaranteed to hit. The state’s scholarship programs also show that parent demand is there. Nearly 50,000 students applied but didn’t get funding, including tens of thousands in Philadelphia. Clearly, families would flock to a federal scholarship program if it were available.