Right before Nutter left the Breakfast Club I was able to ask him why he chose this place to visit. He said he had spent a lot around Temple University during his campaign and liked the relationship the school has with the community.
He began talking about education and he said he was proud of Heidi Ramirez and believes she can help improve the public education system. Ramirez was appointed yesterday as the youngest and first Latina School Reform Commission member.
Nutter, parent of a Philadelphia public school student, said the district needs to make sure of these points:
-schools are safe.
“You can’t learn, you can’t teach in an unsafe environment.”
-invest early in childhood education.
“We have to make sure all 3rd and 4th graders are reading at grade levels as they move through the system.”
-additional support services for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.
“It’s critical middle school years where a lot of young people make the decisions they are on the right path or on the wrong path.
-get high school students to enroll into college
“Show our high schoolers there’s really a path for them. We have to lower the high school drop out rates.”
Nutter said that by accomplishing these things and getting better funding, “our kids are going to take off, the city is going to grow and develop, employers will understand that Philadelphia is a city that values education.”
Since we were on the topic on education, I couldn’t help but to ask about an important issue that was created with the elimination of school tokens. I found it to be interesting since his daughter goes to Masterman. Masterman students in grades five and six are exempt from free public transportation under all of its current policy. Student went from paying 90 cents ride to $1.30.
“I’ve been in touch with the school district and I’m hopeful that soon that we may be able to announce a resolution to that particular issue,” he said. “It is unfair. It’s one of the few schools in the city where the 5th and 6th graders are not getting the same deal as everyone else, and we have to fix that.”
Anne Ha is a Kensington resident and is a senior at Temple University majoring in broadcast journalism. Anne will be talking to Michael Nutter and voters around Philadelphia throughout the day.