Gov. Ed Rendell faces some obvious challenges in his attempt to reduce the number of public school districts in Pennsylvania from the current 500 down to 100.
There are those who truly do not believe that such consolidation of services presents the sort of cost savings the governor says it will. There are those who believe that fewer schools with more students will hurt the learning process. And there are those – administrators and, to some degree, teachers – who will oppose the plan out of concern for their jobs.
These are issues that must be addressed.
Expenses for taxpayers, the quality of education for young people, and everyone’s means of making a living deserve close examination and debate.
There are other obstacles to the governor’s plan that are far less noble but just as likely to wreck any such consolidation. These motives will not be spoken aloud by those who hold them closest to their hearts. But experience and understanding tell us they are real, they are powerful and, in one case, very ugly.
Football and race – ridiculous and outrageous though they may be – could be the reasons this plan falls short.
In terms of football and, to some degree, athletics in general, it is difficult to imagine any parent standing up in a public forum and rationalizing that school consolidation should not happen in the hopes of saving millions of dollars because it would mean his son won’t start or perhaps even make the team. But that thought will be in the back of many minds if this plan ever starts to become real.
There is some simple math here. And this mom or dad, while perhaps with misplaced priorities, has got that math right. If there are 500 school districts, then 5,500 players can compete on football fields at any given moment on a football Friday night (and that is just the starting players).
Dropping the number of districts to 100 takes the number of players down to 1,100.
I do not know if high school football, for all it’s many fine qualities and traditions, is reason enough to not save millions if that is truly the case. But you are kidding yourself if you do not think there will be those who publicly oppose the plan for this very private reason.
While football has tradition, racism has history – and it, too, will silently motivate some to oppose the governor’s plan.
I realize the very thought of this offends the senses, and more than a few of you would rather be mad at me for saying it out loud than admitting that such an element exists.
In our region, as throughout the state, there are school districts that have little in the way of ethnic or cultural diversity. If the consolidation plan affects the color of that balance, there will be those none too happy.
This is no reason to block a move to change our education system, if indeed the move is what is best for everyone. But it is all too real, and perhaps more powerful for those who embrace such views of the world than even those who face losing a job if there are fewer school districts.
We do not like to talk about racism. We prefer to quickly point out how far we have come, rather than deal with the miles left to go.
As with all issues, not talking about it is never the answer. While I willingly acknowledge the progress we as people have made in the past 50 years toward equality, I am certain that we are not yet in a place where everyone fully embraces the thought that all men are created equal.
I believe the vast majority of people have moved past such racism. But I do not believe the vote is unanimous.
Of course, not everyone who opposes the plan is a racist.
But there are those who will oppose such consolidation for this very sordid reason, and no broad tax savings would change their narrow minds.
Ironically, in Pennsylvania, the one time those who would judge a person by the color of his skin might forget such thoughts is when that person wears the proper color jersey on a football field.
It seems sometimes that pigskin trumps pigmentation – which only reinforces the power of these two issues as the state evaluates whether or not we need fewer schools.
I do not know if the governor’s plan is what is best. I like smaller schools. I like communities having greater local control and the identity of their own districts.
With the factors of football and race, this plan may be facing third down and long with the clock winding down.
Jim Penna is a former news director at Fox 8 and WATM-ABC.
