October 30, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Plea made to support enrichment program
by JOEL HOFFMANN

Darren Spielman made an urgent plea for help last week on behalf of inner-city students.

“In a district of nearly 170,000, the dropout rate stands at 50 percent,” he said during a breakfast reception at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. “School violence is a daily reality. Principals turn over yearly. Classrooms go without books. Classrooms even go without teachers. That is why Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia exists.”

As executive director of Breakthrough, Spielman oversees a rigorous academic enrichment program held after school and during the summer for motivated, low-income students with college aspirations. He also leads the fundraising charge, and he fears that economic anxiety will lead to the further disenfranchisement of indigent students.

“This is not our children’s fault,” he said. “It is their bad luck.”

Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia currently serves 180 middle school students and 120 high school students at a cost of $3,200 each. At the same time, 100 high school and college students are trained as educators by teaching Breakthrough students at one of three area sites, including Germantown Friends School.

Spielman believes that Breakthrough puts inner-city youth on the same playing field as prep school students and narrows the achievement and resource gap. But he said the program needs adequate funding to continue that trend.