Correction appended

There is a fundamental problem with this year's Volunteer Vacation, which encouraged students to go to help with literacy efforts in Philadelphia. According to program coordinators Libby Jones '13 and Sadye Sagov '13, Volunteer Vacations, a program under the Waltham Group umbrella, "provide[s] a unique opportunity for students to spend a full week volunteering together and exploring a new part of America through its social justice issues and organization." This is an admirable goal, given that the programs chosen are appropriate. However, I don't think this plan is appropriate. This program is near and dear to me because I am a Philadelphian, who did attend Philadelphia public schools for a brief period of time, and I still have young family members in school there.

This year's volunteer vacation in Philadelphia is comprised of a few parts. Students, over the course of five to six days, will both tutor school children, record audio of children's books to help with the learning process and volunteer at a book fair.

The latter two parts of this program are ideas that I wholeheartedly agree with and support. I do, however, think that the tutoring aspect does more harm than good. The fact that these students will enter into literacy programs, interact with students and then leave after a week is alarming to me, because I fear the volunteers will only be contributing to a widespread problem of instability in the Philadelphia education system.

A sobering article in the September 2012 issue of Philadelphia Magazine pointed out that between January  of 2001 and May of 2012, 18,043 people were shot in Philadelphia, resulting in an average of one shooting every six hours. Philadelphia schoolchildren are constantly surrounded by concerns of poverty, safety and even their own mortality. Many of the students will have already dealt with human loss by the time they learn to read. In theory, schools in some ways are viewed as beacons of stability, where learning provides safety and a reprieve from these concerns. Every day students return to the same teachers, classrooms and classmates. Any stability in a world that is constantly in flux is a welcome change.

However, the education system in Philadelphia is not constant despite the dire need for that very stability. Teachers in inner city schools generally have a high turn-over rate-meaning that teachers do not typically stay in the same school for many years. A teacher who made a connection with a group of students may not be there the next year for students to return to and talk with, and although this happens everywhere, it is very frequent in Philadelphia. According to a contribution by Nicole Gillespie, director for teaching fellowships at Knowles Science Teaching Foundation to the Philadelphia Inquirer website philly.com, "A recent survey of American teachers reveals that morale is at its lowest in 20 years. Research has shown that teachers tend to leave schools for reasons that have long plagued Philadelphia schools: because the working conditions make teaching unsustainable, because their autonomy and professionalism have been eroded." Because of a multitude of problems within the Philadelphia school system, students are consistently unable to cultivate a long-term relationship with their teachers. Additional education programs have cropped up all over the city in response to help to alleviate this problem.

Literacy programs such as Spells Writing Lab and Philadelphia Reads, where Volunteer Vacations will take place, as well as other outlets in the city such as Tree House Books and Mighty Writers are undeniably powerful supplements for the Philadelphia education system.
These programs serve as some of the few constants for students, where dedicated volunteers return regularly to work with children. If a group of students from an out-of-state college came to these programs to help with the tutoring efforts, imagine how that might affect the balance of the learning process. Imagine for a moment that one of these Brandeis volunteers forms a relationship with a student in the program, and they feel like they've made a real connection. At the end of the vacation, the volunteer leaves-another instance of "teacher turn-over." The last thing these kids need is a person who comes in and out of their lives.

It threatens the relationship that the literacy programs have worked so hard to build with students and the community. A Volunteer Vacation program should help to benefit a community without doing harm. I fear that the tutoring aspect of this Volunteer Vacation will not be accomplishing that goal. I hope that more time is dedicated to parts of their stay in Philadelphia that provide long-term help to the projects, such as recording books for more efficient teaching and learning.

If students are truly interested in helping raise literacy rates through tutoring, they should take what they learn from their experience in Philadelphia and volunteer somewhere closer to home where they can be a consistent influence. The program coordinators have indicated that, "The organizations will train us on site as well as give presentations about their missions and strategies for support and change." I hope that this experience inspires students, gives them ideas for how to help literacy efforts in the future and exposes them to how wonderful a city Philadelphia can be with the long-term help of people like them.

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Correction: The article originally misstated the range of dates that 18,043 people were shot in Philadelphia. The article claimed the range was January - May 2012. In reality the range was January 2001- May 2012.
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