Abraham releases plan to ‘solve problems that have plagued Philadelphia schools for decades’

With a Thursday morning email blast, Lynne Abraham became the last* Democratic mayoral candidate to release a policy paper regarding the state of public education in Philadelphia.

Abraham’s plan (PDF) calls for “full fair funding,” “accountability across the board,” “standards of excellence” and “equitable reorganization.”

It also calls for a lawsuit. Per the Inquirer:

If elected mayor, Lynne Abraham would take Harrisburg to federal court if necessary to force lawmakers to adequately fund Philadelphia schools.

 

She cited her resume as a tool to accomplish the goals within the 11-page paper.

“With 40 years of experience as D.A., judge, and head of Philadelphia’s Redevelopment Authority, I’m the only candidate with the experience to get the job done from day one,” she said. “As D.A., I protected our children, put corrupt officials behind bars and worked with police to protect crime victims.

“As Mayor, I’ll take on the state to ensure that our schools get their fair share of funding and will reform city pensions to protect workers, while stopping the drain on our budget.”

A couple highlights from the policy itself:

— “We all must hold everyone fully accountable: Teachers, administrators, students and parents.”

— “Lynne supports the principles of Superintendent William Hite’s plan, Action Plan 3.0, to restructure our schools … [and] sets forth a new approach to lifting the achievement of every student, wherever they live and whatever their background.”

— “School buildings must be energy green and tech-ready, with internet access throughout. We must have state-of-the-art computer and science labs.”

— “Under my funding plan, we get our fair share of funding from the Commonwealth based on equitable per-student allotment, we secure reliable funding from the City of Philadelphia, we seek new sources of revenue, and charter schools are held to fiscally-responsible funding rules, the same that apply to public schools.”

— “Lynne’s plan calls for citywide implementation of mandatory pre-K Education before 2020. Lynne will accomplish this through coordination and teamwork between applicable governmental departments, representatives from public and charter schools, and various educational organizations.” (A pilot program would start next year.)

For compare-and-contrasting’s sake, here are links to the education-policy details from Nelson Diaz, Jim Kenney, Doug Oliver and Tony Williams. 

(*Abraham is only the last if you think Milton Street saying he “would put a moratorium on charter schools” and is against vouchers qualifies as an education policy.)