Sub: Inside the Notorious School District of Philadelphia

by Clayvon C Harris

Overview

Ex-sitcom writer turned substitute teacher discovers the devastating truth behind why Philly's public schools keep failing. In this sometimes humorous, often heartbreaking memoir, the author exposes the link between education underfinancing and the impact students with unmanaged emotional and behavioral disabilities are having in classrooms across the US.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780988179721
Publisher:	Angelwalk LLC
Publication date:	12/02/2020
Pages:	468
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Writer and advocate for fair and equal education, Clayvon C. Harris earned an MFA in Cinema-Television/Screenwriting from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. She also holds a BA in English literature from Swarthmore College where students are taught they have the ability to change the world. Harris lives and writes in the Philadelphia area where she specializes in messaging strategy, digital content creation and script development. She is also a member of the Writers Guild of America. Her first book is the award-winning collection of essays, Year of Trial, Year of Grace-A Catholic's Search for Faith.

Table of Contents

PART 1: INSIDE THE SDP (2001-2002)

Public Schools 1-15

PART 2: UPDATE ON THE SCHOOLS

A Word on Standardized Testing

Update on Public Schools 1-15

PART 3: BACK INSIDE THE SDP...15 YEARS LATER

Back in the Saddle

Public School #7, Back...and Back Again

Update on the District

The Burden of Inclusion

School Is the Trauma

Show Me the Money (Understanding Education Financing)

A Nationwide Concern

Afterword

Acknowledgements

Editorial Reviews

"A persuasive case for education reform based on data and classroom experience." -Kirkus Reviews

"There is a pressing need for anyone concerned with education to read this book." -Readers' Favorite

"Sub is a great read. It chronicles an American problem. What's happening in Philly is happening all around the country."

-Fernanda Molino, 30-year School District of Philadelphia Veteran

"I wish I had read this book before I decided to major in education."

-Cristal Bruce, Magna Cum Laude Graduate, Drexel University School of Education

"What a powerful masterpiece! Sub-Inside the Notorious School District of Philadelphia is an eye-opener for our city and our nation."

-Constance D. Lindsay, DMA, D.Min

From the Publisher

2020-12-18
In this memoir, Harris recounts her days as a substitute teacher in Philadelphia’s public schools.

The book’s first section gives a detailed day-by-day account of Harris’ first months of teaching in 2001 and 2002, moving from one school to another frequently and rarely spending more than a day with the same students. By the end of the school year, Harris, who had previously worked as a screenwriter, decided that teaching was not the career for her. The book’s second section analyzes the problems facing urban public schools and the teachers who work in them and is followed by an assessment of how individual schools have changed in the past two decades. In the third section, Harris returns to the classroom in 2017 for an insider’s view of how substitute teaching has changed since her previous stint. She ended up spending most of the year with a challenging group of students who responded to her teaching but were poorly served by the system as a whole. She concludes by assessing the structural problems of the education system, focusing on the push to include children with behavioral problems in mainstream classrooms without enough supervision or support to allow all students the opportunity to learn. Harris is a strong storyteller, and although the amount of detail included in the book’s first section makes the text overlong, it also paints a lively, intimate picture of the challenges faced by well-intentioned but naïve educators. The author addresses the racial and socio-economic aspects of school problems from a unique perspective: Harris, a Black Philadelphia native who attended parochial schools, was both familiar with the lives of the students she met and also shocked by the difference between her school experience and theirs. Harris’ thoughtful and impassioned exploration of what makes a classroom work offers parents, educators, and policymakers solid suggestions for improving the school environment.

A persuasive case for education reform based on data and classroom experience.

Kirkus Reviews