Looking at US in the Review Mirror

Philly.com
January 1, 2014

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140102_Looking_at_us_in_the_review_mirror.html

INSIGHTS for this column often come in strange places. I was getting my final thoughts together for my year in review for all the issues that affect parents, kids and teachers.

I was getting changed in a men's locker room when two guys were discussing Monsignor William Lynn and the Superior Court decision. The appeals judge said that Lynn, by statute, was not able to be held legally responsible for his actions, although even the Superior Court said that "Lynn prioritized the Archdiocese's reputation over the safety of potential victims of sexually abusive priests."

One guy actually defended Lynn, claiming that he had to do what he did because he had taken a vow of obedience.

On my radio show that day, I had heard rationalizations like this to try to spin Lynn's actions. It clearly struck me that this is the both the biggest and worst local story of the year involving kids and parents.

It's the worst because it opens all the old wounds. It also undermines the good work of Archbishop Charles Chaput, who has judiciously worked his way through a multitude of cases involving allegations against priests. My hope is that District Attorney Seth Williams appeals the Superior Court decision and wins, so that Lynn is returned to jail.

This Lynn story is of real consequence, but the story that most captured the serious (mixed with the comic) involved Philadelphia City Council. Despite the many serious city issues confronting them, they took time to pass a resolution calling upon the Philadelphia public schools to use Marxist historian Howard Zinn's textbook A People's History of the United States in history classes.

Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell provided the dangerous buffoonery when she told me on my radio show, in regard to Zinn's affection for Fidel Castro, that "Castro did not do everything wrong or he would not have lasted so long." Just think - this woman is a major player in Philadelphia politics and school issues.

When I talked about the people who fled Cuba and those who continue to try and flee today, Blackwell told me, "We got a lot of people in the country from Cuba who came here because Castro said, 'You can stay here where everyone will be treated equally, white, black and brown, or leave and go to the United States.' " Blackwell told me that those who fled Cuba didn't want to live in a society where everyone would be equal.

There were also some remarkable stories of good outcomes for parents and kids. The Inquirer recently nominated 11-year-old Sarah Murnaghan for its Citizen of the Year award. They cited Sarah because her quest for the double lung transplant she received at Children's Hospital resulted in "a notable change in medicine, science and law for children in need of organ transplants." I'd like to commend her parents, local legislators like U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan and Lou Barletta, and the doctors at the hospital who fought the bureaucracy and saved her life.

I'd also like to commend Rhonda Fink-Whitman, state Rep. Brendan Boyle and state Sen. Anthony Williams for their efforts in taking on the legislative bureaucracy to mandate Holocaust instruction in Pennsylvania public schools. To underscore the need for this, Fink produced a 15-minute film, "The Mandate Video," that shows college students with little or no knowledge of the Holocaust and its place in history.

For example, in the film, when a Penn student was asked about the time period of the Holocaust, his reply was, "Was that, like, 1800? . . . I want to say 300 years ago."

So, 2014 must be the year that the bureaucrats in Harrisburg give up the phony argument that the Holocaust-mandate bill would be too big a burden on already-burdened teachers and schools.

The feel-good story of the year that I haven't written yet involved my visit to the Community Partnership School, in North Philly. This school is a nonprofit, nonsectarian, independent elementary school giving kids a top-notch education, near Norris Street in one of the five most-distressed ZIP codes in America.

The poverty level in the 19121 ZIP code is 79.9 percent higher than the Philadelphia average and 323 percent greater than the Pennsylvania average. Yet they routinely educate kids so well that they are accepted at places like Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, The Haverford School and many other prominent middle schools. On my visit, I saw very engaged students, volunteers and teachers. For more information about the school and to consider donating or volunteering go to www.cpsphilly.org.

So, on my beat, 2013 was a full year. Watch in 2014 for education issues to be in the forefront of the governor's race. I'll be here to referee that debate and also to bring you stories of hope.