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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Devastating Effect of Mass School Closures on Philadelphia
http://www.alternet.org/education/devastating-effect-mass-school-closures-philadelphiaOthella Stanback could very well be a Philadelphia public school success story in the making. At 19 years old and in her senior year at Ben Franklin High in North Philly, shes dropped out of school twice and considered leaving more times than that. But shes always come back. And she has dreams for herself.
I want to be an FBI agent, Stanback says, sitting in the late afternoon on the steps of a local welfare office, where shes come to file paperwork. She has two young children4-year-old Amor and 2-year-old Amiraand while its been tough juggling school and parenting, her ambitions have remained intact. Or teach philosophy, she says, ticking off her potential careers. Except I took one of those quiz things for college recently and it told me the thing Id be good at is organizing. Of course, before starting any of those careers, she needs to get into to collegeand thats where the odds are stacked against her.
Stanbacks got her sights set on Millersville University, a state college in Pennsylvania an hour and a half west of the city. College applications are typically due at the end of November, but she doesnt have the strong file she ought to. From ninth through eleventh grades, Stanback attended University City High, where she took biology, chemistry and physical science from a favorite science teacher. Thats who Stanback would have asked for a letter of recommendation for college. But earlier this year, Universtiy was shut down in a massive sweep of school closures in Philadelphia. In the ensuing chaos, Stanback lost touch with her science teacher.
I had connections with teachers, it was relationships I built, Stanback says, looking back at the educational home she lost. So now when I come to school I dont really know anyone. I have nobody I can connect to and no teacher I can really trust to talk about certain things, because that takes time.
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The Devastating Effect of Mass School Closures on Philadelphia (Original Post)
xchrom
Dec 2013
OP
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)1. K&R
seveneyes
(4,631 posts)2. Looking back at age 14-15
It would have been an impossible dream to consider having two children, with hopes of becoming an FBI agent, while depending on having a favorite teacher write a letter of recommendation. There isn't enough detail in the story to visualize all the complications this one person is facing. The closing of some public schools does not sound like the crux of the problems. The results of having two children at such a young age without sufficient financial support are often disastrous.