Jill Barton ’12
The Chester Upland High School is in a state of insolvency with a $20 million debt, causing the teachers of the school district to work without pay. In recent years, Chester Upland has lost almost half of students to charter schools and has suffered from cuts in state funding. The Corbett administration, up until a court order, refused to give Chester Upland a bailout, citing its mismanagement to be the district’s own fault. A judge mandated the state to advance the school district $3.2 million; however, to finish the school year, Chester Upland High School needs approximately $20 million.
The Corbett administration has drafted a bill concerning the Chester Upland School District proposing a state takeover of Chester Upland, which would put oversight boards similar to the Philadelphia School Reform Commission in place. Those boards would call for the cancellation of teachers’ contracts and turn the district schools into charters. Andy Dinniman, resident of Chester Upland, said, “This proposal is designed to destroy public education in the most distressed districts. It would create a Kmart-style second-class education system in the poorest school districts in Pennsylvania.”
Wythe Keever, spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, believes that the solution is not in the proposed oversight boards. “Abrogating contracts and forcing teachers to work for less pay won’t improve the academic quality in Chester Upland. If there are no more resources put into the district, it won’t solve the problem.”
While the Corbett administration determines the plan for this district, the teachers of Chester Upland have begun to work without pay. Ray Weinmann, a third grade teacher, plans to continue teaching without a paycheck as long as there is a possibility of salvation for the school district. “It’s sad… [the students] already have so many obstacles in their lives. For me, it’s never been about the paycheck. It’s about improving things for the children. It’s bewildering how something like this could happen.”
Parents of students of Chester Upland now decide between sending their children to live with relatives in neighboring districts, home-schooling their children or allowing their children to go uneducated. Parent Danielle Rodriguez said, “What are we going to do? We can’t have them running in the streets; there’s already a lot of violence here. It’s crazy; it shouldn’t come to this.”