"Overhauling" Schools

Denvir outlines the issues that neighborhood schools are facing when faced up against certain standards. Schools like Steel Elementary, that have failed to reach the standards of NCLB, are under threat of being taken over by a private consultant, intended to transform the school. Mark Gordon, the CEO of Mastery Charter Schools remarks that "districts are a house on fire and poor children are trapped inside", which implies that poor people are completely helpless, and without Mark Gordon to save them, they will collapse. Kendra Brooks, principal of Steel Elementary School notes that "Gordon....said his job was 'to help poor people'. Well, no one asked for your help....Every couple years, they come up with a new philosophy about what's best -- instead of funding the school". The problem with Gordon's aid to Steel and many other public schools in Philadelphia is that while the Mastery schools may be successful, it is not doing so by including poor people's voices. Mastery's program aims to help students meet the standards and pass the test, disregarding the community feel of the school that Steel embodies. There is also the fact that Mastery is a very well-funded program. As Michael Masch, the former CFO of the Philadelphia school district says, "Mastery is not doing more with less. They're doing more with more". While charter schools may enable certain schools to reach the standards set by the government, many public schools end up closing around them, as not every public school can be a charter school.