90's R&B Super Group SWV returns with same soul, new album
Pop/R&B group SWV is releasing their first album in 14 years. "I Missed Us" hit stores 4/17, and the first single "Co-Sign" has just entered the top 10 at Urban AC radio and is still growing.The group talks exclusively with Urban Suburban Senior Correspondent Manny McDonnell Smith about the reasons behind the groups' split, getting back together, and why this was the right time to return.
An Interview with Dr. Arlene Ackerman
“The Governor and I
believe that Dr. Arlene Ackerman is the best candidate to
lead Philadelphia Public Schools”, proclaimed Mayor Michael
Nutter in a press release in June 2008. “She came up through
the ranks as a teacher, principal, and superintendant and
really knows how to make schools work”. Four years later, as
he departed a press conference about engaging the city’s
youth, he was approached about the impact of Ackerman on the
city’s children “Uh, can you call my office a little later”
was his tense reply as he rushed for the door.
The future always has a promise of being brighter, and the
dawn of the 21st Century could not have been brighter for
the students of Philadelphia. A new school reform
commission, with a new charismatic new leader that promised
new books, new paint for crumbling school walls, new
buildings, and even new charters that would that would
transform the way the way we educated our children in the
new millennium. Change here though can be arduous and slow,
a process too long for one man named Paul Vallas who was on
his way out by 2007. The former Councilman now known as
incoming Mayor Nutter, and the former Mayor now rising
Governor Rendell knew that Education was a big part of the
fuel tank that kept a reviving city chugging, so a local,
easy option was out. A national candidate, one with reform
experience was needed. Yes, a candidate was needed that
could keep a formerly sick district healthy...so they
recruited a doctor. Arlene Ackerman was her name. She came
with the promise of “creating systems that target resources
to the schools that need them most”, “creating new funding
formulas that are fairer & serve students better”, and most
importantly, Dr. Ackerman vowed during the interview process
that she would prove that she could handle resources well
before asking citizens for additional funding.
So with these promises kept, and more, according to Senior
District Officials, is the change train for Dr. Ackerman
predicted to depart sooner rather than from Philadelphia? In
a wide ranging interview with Urban Suburban Magazine, the
Doctor talks about her prescription for change, why it’s
been a bitter pill to swallow for some, who’s she’s not
apologizing to, and if she’s willing to depart on the
timetable of her critics.
Q: As a child of Jim Crow Era Schools, you’ve
described this job as a mission, or a destiny.
A: “The reason I’m here is that I’m standing on the
shoulders of people who allowed me to have my dreams come
true, who fought for me, some I knew, some I didn’t, who
worked hard and made sacrifices….my family, my church, it
takes the entire community to raise a child [and that’s what
happened for me]
Q: What would you say is the main challenge in
educating children in today’s Urban Schools?
A: Back in the day it was about the community celebrating
and supporting it’s young people, now it’s about each
individual nuclear family, and if you’re lucky to have some
extended family, then that’s how it gets done.
Q: Some schools have been designated as “Promise
Academies”. What does this mean for the students and
families assigned to them?
A: The term is more about the adults, it keeps them honest
about our promise to give students the resources they need
to succeed, whether it’s a great teacher or the time they
need to succeed. We’re going to do whatever it takes because
we’ve made a commitment.
Q: First “Renaissance Schools”, but now “Promise
Academies”? What’s the difference?
A: When we came into this school system, one of the things
we wanted to do is say “What schools have been
underperforming for a long time”? There were 95 of them. The
first thing we did was to give resources to those schools,
we put in social workers, parent ombudsman’s, students
advisors, more nurses, all of the things that we felt would
address the needs of those students. And [some of] those
schools did much better. The Promise Academies are the
schools that did not respond to the initial set of resources
we gave. It’s the difference between someone who is in the
emergency room because they are in critical condition, or
someone who is in the ER because they are going to be okay.
The Promise Academies are in critical condition.
Q: It seems as if your predecessor, Paul Vallas, had
more of popular reception among political leaders and the
community. Do you think race has contributed to that?
A: Race is ever present in this country, and anyone who ever
says that it’s not must not be living in the same country
that I’m living in. It doesn’t mean that it’s a negative; it
means that it’s a reality for all of us. We learn to live
with it, we learn to deal with the issues that come up as a
result of it, I understand as a woman, as a black person,
that the rules are different for me; the expectations are
different for me than they would be from a white male. I’m
not sure why the pushback has been so vigorous for me, other
than the fact than I must be making it really uncomfortable
for the adults in this system,
Q: It does seem that you are unpopular among many
adults in the school system.
A: I say when children fail, it’s a failure of the adults to
do no harm. When you make changes that are positive for
children, the adults are going to be the ones who scream the
loudest, push the hardest, because they benefit……[the system
has] more benefits for the adults than for the children.
Q: Then why did it appear that Paul Vallas have an
easier time at effecting reforms?
A : My predecessor made changes, but did he really make
changes that really changed the behaviors of adults , that’s
my question? [Start to] Change the behaviors of adults to
behaviors that put children first, when you do that you’re
going to get serious pushback.
Q: What about the Teacher’s Union, do you feel they
have been strong partners in school reform?
A: I believe that when there are tight economic times, it’s
harder to negotiate with anybody. Everyone is trying to
protect their own. I have tried to approach the union
negotiations different from some of my other colleagues in
DC and other cities, and in the end we all have the same
challenge. How do you get the people closest to the children
to understand that it’s not about them, it’s about the
children.
Q: Dealing with difficult parents is a familiar
hallmark of Public School life. How do you approach this
issue?
A: I’ve never met a parent who didn’t want the same as I
wanted for my child. They may not have been to college, they
may not be able to articulate what they want for their child
the way I would, so all can do the best for everyone else’s
children because I know what I wanted for mine. This is why
I fight so hard for them, and I think this is why I get so
much pushback. They’ve never seen anybody so invested in
other people’s children as I am. But if I don’t fight for
them, then who will?
Q: Reflecting on the clashes between Asian & Black
Students at South Philadelphia High School, do you
think that you could have responded differently?
A: I’m regretful that I did not understand the seriousness
of the fights sooner than I did, and I’m regretful that the
fights ever happened. You don’t want to see anyone’s child
hurt or sent to the hospital. I’m regretful that people
thought I did not take it seriously when it happened, but we
all make mistakes, we’re all human. You say you’re sorry,
and never try to do that again. Hopefully, I never make that
mistake again. What people here do is hold that against me
forever. What about the hundreds of days that we’ve had
school and that there have been no problems or fights?
Q: There was serious concern over the bid for security
cameras installed at the school after the incident. People
felt that the contract was given at no bid to a minority
contractor of your choice.
A: I’m not sorry for that. I didn’t do anything but
question, as I should in this position, why we don’t have a
diverse pool of contractors on a bid? I knew one. I asked,
but people said they knew none, so I placed down that card.
They chose to use that one, I didn’t tell them to do that.
But am I sorry that I tried to level the playing field for
minorities to bid on contracts, absolutely not. How could I
be in this position, and not open that door? I will never
apologize for opening up the contract field for minority
vendors, never. 68% of students in the school system are
black. Another 15 % are Latino. And a few more are Asian.
That means Almost 90% of the kids in the school district are
of color. So tell me how it squares that only 20 % of the
contracts go to minority vendors? 10% of that go to white
women, the other 10% is split among all other minorities.
You tell me if you think that’s fair and if I should be
sorry for it.
Q: How do you explain your unpopularity among other
large populations of teachers?
A They don’t understand what I’m trying to do, because these
kids don’t look like them. Do they value Black lives, Asian
lives, and all the other lives as much as they do white
lives? I would say to you that they don’t. If they did,
would I be getting pushback on Promise Academies, Summer
Schools, and everything else if they valued black lives as
much as white lives? I do think there needs to be more of a
balance of diversity in our teacher, principal staffs.
Q: There was consternation in the Mayor’s Office about
your plea for additional school funding for Kindergarten,
then your reallocation of dollars for it soon after.
A: Was it a misstep? Absolutely. The Mayor put a lot of
political capital in that fight for more money around
Kindergarten, and I actually I went back to what I would
have liked to be done if I were a young single parent. If I
had it to do all over again, I wish I would have talked with
the Mayor and gotten on the same page with him. I don’t
think that the decision in and of itself to save
Kindergarten was a bad decision. It was not a political
decision, it was an educational decision.
Q: Do you feel a particular kinship with the other
politicians of the city, especially the African American
leaders?
A: I’m not a politicians, and that’s been a criticism of me,
that I don’t play the politics, or I don’t play them well,
and I really don’t apologize for that. The lives of our
children are at stake here. The moment you start playing
politics then you have to start making compromises that are
unacceptable. Does that mean that I can stay 10 years in
this city? Probably not. But does it mean that I can get a
lot done in a short amount of time? I’m willing to do
whatever it takes to get these young people whatever they
need.
Q: Rumors of a buyout or deal that would see you leave
the School District are rampant. Under what terms would you
consider leaving early?
A: How do you work out a buyout unless you pay the person
what you say you’re going to pay them? I don’t know what
that would look like unless they were going to pay me out
the balance of my contract.
Q: If you had to leave under those circumstances,
would you feel that you’re leaving the position with your
goal unfulfilled?
A: I came here to do a job, I didn’t come here on my own,
people came to get me. I had a great job, and I was making
more money than I did here. I came to do it, and I’m here
for such a time as this. When the powers to be say “Arlene
we don’t need you anymore”, I’m not going to fight to be
someplace where people don’t want me. But I have a contract
and I expect that it will be honored.
Q: In your own words, describe the legacy your tenure
has left on the Philadelphia School District.
A: My accomplishments speak for themselves. Children are
better off because I was here. Student achievement is
increasing, graduation rates are up, since I’m come, and
violence is down. Accountability systems are in place,
parents engaged in ways they’ve never been engaged before,
all in 3 years. In any other place you think that they would
have been begging me to stay.
Q: Any final thoughts…
A lot of this is all about the politics of adults. Not all
people want our children to achieve, and that’s okay. If
people want something else, and want me to step aside, and
then let me know, because for as long as I am here, I’m
going to put young people first.
