Gale Warning

by Daryl Gale

I Want My PSTVM

If you, like many of the citizens of our fair city, consider the Philadelphia public school system an irredeemable lost cause, take heart. I was once like you, and I completely understand the defeatist attitude. The schools are in a deplorable state of disrepair, the students are apathetic at best, the parents are blissfully uninvolved and the teachers who aren’t suffering nervous breakdowns are either drinking heavily or packing for the suburbs.

I'm a product of that school system, and I write about education fairly regularly, so I figure that gives me some special insight into the plight of urban education, and Philadelphia school students.

Not too long ago I wrote about my hair-raising adventures returning to my old high school, John Bartram in Southwest Philly, and just two weeks ago, I had a long conversation about school violence with former City Councilman Ed Schwartz, who's spearheading an anti-violence effort aimed at the state's most violent schools. In writing about Schwartz's project, I noted that 27 of the 28 schools on the state's "persistently dangerous" list are in Philadelphia, and that last year, authorities confiscated 976 deadly weapons from Philadelphia school students.

Yep, all that sure is enough to make you throw up your hands and ask for your tax money back, but last week I encountered a bright spot. Not just a bright spot, but a beacon of hope that shone so brilliantly that even a jaded, cynical, crusty old salt like me got all misty-eyed.

I was asked to participate in the School District's gala premiere of its revamped television station, PSTV Channel 52, last Wednesday evening at the High School of Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) on South Broad Street. And, I have to admit, I felt completely different about the potential of Philly school students after it was over. Since the TV station is manned completely by the kids -- with faculty assistance and supervision, of course -- I expected amateurish production values, choppy edits and cringingly bad writing.

What I got was a taste of how brilliant and talented these kids are, and how hard they're willing to work when properly motivated.

The flagship of PSTV will be School Span, a sort of pint-sized CNN, with the kids reporting the news. Scheduled to air 15 times a week, School Span premiered last week to the sheer amazement of the adults who packed CAPA's auditorium. It was well-scripted, crisply edited and the 10 kids who serve as the School Span squad were articulate, professional and a joy to watch. If we're so convinced that public schools are just chock full of dullards, delinquents and future felons, I had to ask, where the hell did these kids come from?

"We held an open audition, and lots of kids came out for it," answered School District spokesperson Vincent Thompson. "Some of them were brought to our attention by teachers or administrators. They're great, aren't they? We've been getting calls all week from people who were at the premiere."

Thompson told me the goal was to find bright, talented kids from diverse neighborhoods, races and ethnicities. And as opposed to hurting for candidates in some areas, administrators were swamped with qualified applicants.

"See, that's the thing that we're trying to get across to you media folks," Thompson gently chided. "School Span shows that we really have fantastic kids with talent and energy. That's the true representation of Philadelphia public schools, not negative stuff that shows up on the evening news."

Although PSTV is for, and about, our public schools, Thompson wouldn't let me off the phone without making sure I put down that there would be some programming aimed at adults, particularly parents. The District has invited education advocates Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth to convene a televised monthly roundtable discussion with media types, politicians, child advocates and newsmakers called Education Roundtable.

And there's a monthly call-in show, School Span Speaks with Paul Vallas, hosted by my friend and radio partner Bill Miller. Both programs, Thompson told me, would be completely unedited and the District would have no input on the show's content nor would they screen the phone calls from viewers. When I laughingly informed him that District administrators would live to regret that action, Thompson corrected me.

"No, we want input from viewers, both positive and negative," he said. "Everyone in Philadelphia who gets cable has access to PSTV, and that's the way we want it. We want ideas from parents and kids for programming and stories. This is our opportunity for everyone in the city to see what we're doing."

The folks at last week's premiere got to see what they're doing, and it's pretty impressive stuff. But as pleased as I was to be a presenter, and share the stage with heavyweights from local media and politics, it was a rare honor to be able to actually see the talent, genius and hard work of the kids who'll be pushing me out of a job in a couple of years.

"These kids see you media guys on TV, listen to you on the radio and read your newspapers," said Thompson. "They really look up to you guys."

Well, Vince, tell them that the feeling is mutual.

Daryl Gale’s weekly radio show, Dialogues, with co-hosts Rotan Lee and Bill Miller, is burning up the airwaves Fridays 7-10 a.m. on WURD (900 AM) in Philadelphia.