by Susan Cohen Smith
Sometimes the rewards of teaching come years after retirement. My former student, Edward Chung, is for me, the gift that keeps on giving.
A ninth grader struggling in my French 1 class submitted his written work accompanied by the most fascinating drawings. The following year this young man fortuitously appeared in my Art [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Susan Cohen Smith’
April 13, 2009
Public must scrutinize district spending
by Susan Cohen Smith
It has been said that, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” As news of the School District of Philadelphia’s new leadership team and windfall budget sinks in, it would be prudent to recall lessons learned from the past.
When the School Reform Commission was formed in 2001, the [...]
March 10, 2009
Bad evaluations don’t always equal bad teachers
by Susan Cohen Smith
Whenever President Obama opines, “Bad teachers need to be fired after being given the opportunity to train effectively,” I am troubled by the vagueness of his statement. Specifically, who should decide when a teacher is bad? What standards are to be used in making that decision? How is the “effective training” opportunity [...]
March 1, 2009
Paul Vallas reincarnated?
by Susan Cohen Smith
On a sweltering September day in 2002, mad dogs and school teachers sat out in the midday sun, awaiting the arrival of Starship Vallas to descend on our wretched souls and breathe new life into the beleaguered Philadelphia public school system.
Paul Vallas sailed into the School District of Philadelphia promising sweeping reforms [...]
February 24, 2009
District officials must solve problems, not rename them
by Susan Cohen Smith
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The School District of Philadelphia’s new Superintendent, Arlene Ackerman, has embraced the time-honored method of enacting wholesale institutional change within the Philadelphia school system: if something’s not working, change its name and call it [...]
