Is the Public Service Leadership Academy at Fowler the Answer to a Neighborhood's Troubles?

On June 25^th, the last graduating class from Fowler High School will walk the stage.  As these last 149 students’ names are called, Fowler High School’s story will end – but a new story is already beginning at the Public Service Leadership Academy at Fowler (PSLA), the Career and Technical Education school that is now housed in Fowler’s renovated space.  Whether this new story will be a happy one is yet to be determined.

Fowler High School struggled with inadequate facilities and low graduation rates.  In a recent Syracuse.com article, Julie McMahon detailed the troubled history of Fowler – poor construction leading to raw sewage seeping into the school, persistently poor test scores, and violent flare-ups.  However, McMahon also makes clear that the neighborhood school is situated in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country and serves a particularly stressed community – people from oppressed racial backgrounds, immigrants, refugees.  (In fact, both the valedictorian and the salutatorian of this year’s graduating class came to the United States from refugee camps in Thailand.)  McMahon quotes ***** that Fowler was “set up from the giddy-up,” poorly resourced to meet the needs of a challenging population.  People in the neighborhood found the school to be a sanctuary – with teachers who cared and who understood what it meant to live on the West Side.  With low graduation rates, it’s clear that most of Fowler’s students did not find success – but many did.  There are always stories of hard work and perserverance, even in the most difficult circumstances.  In the end, however, the No Child Left Behind law requires that consistently failing schools be “restructured” – and thus, Fowler became PSLA.

What has changed in the restructuring?  First, the renovation of the school has added windows and, with them, light -- the space is more cheerful than in the past.  A towering library and the transformation of the factory-like old building demonstrate real improvements.  There is a new principal and administrative staff, and a totally new curriculum.  The school is focused on CTE programs -- with 11 choices, focused on public service.  They are:

• Cosmetology/Barbering
• Electrical trades
• Computer forensics
• Cybersecurity
• Geospatial intelligence
• Drone technology
• Law enforcement
• Emergency medical technician
• Forensic science
• Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps

While school officials say that the curriculum will help students become college or career ready, the emphasis is on careers.  If you examine the curriculum, you will see that students are held to the same Common Core State Standards for literacy, math, and science as students in traditional high school programs.  PSLA at Fowler students will take the regents exams.  There are partnerships in place with Onondaga Community College to continue students' education in some of the programs.  There are also partnerships with local employers to give students hands on experience in their chosen fields and prepare them for careers.  According to school officials, the goal is "for students to graduate with a clear sense of their next step in life, whether it's a job right out of school or higher education.  Students often graduate with credentials or certification to work in their chosen field."

There are a number of questions that can be raised about PSLA at Fowler.  First, this kind of practical training, integrated with academic skills in reading, writing, math, and science, is similar to LEAP's emphasis on problem-based instruction.  The education is concrete and leads to succes in a career.  These are worthy goals.  But, at the same time, encouraging these students to focus on careers, rather than college, is to underestimate their potential.  Not everyone wants to go to college or will find fulfillment there.  We need police officers, EMTs, barbers, etc.  But we should not decide in advance which children should go to college and which should go directly into careers.  As long as these students have a real option to choose their path -- and to puruse "a job right out of school or higher education," is the question.  Inadequate schools combined with inadequate nutrition combined with the stress of poverty can set children up for failure.  Is turning to a career focused academy just realism?  Or are we giving up on these kids, and deciding that they cannot go to college?  One commentator on Syracuse.com wrote: "it seems that a whole lot of the 'village' it takes to raise a child, failed them."  Does a new name, a new curriculum, and a renovated building address the issues that led to Fowler becoming a "failure factory"?  

What do you think about the new PSLA at Fowler?  Is this a step in the right direction?  Are there other steps we should be taking?  Or are you concerned that we are giving up these kids?  Please let us know what you're thinking in the comments below.