The Philadelphia Daily News March 26, 2009

HEADLINE: Mentors needed in schools

By Valerie Russ

Stephen Sroka, who travels the world advising schools, knows firsthand what labels can do to children. When he was a third-grader, his teacher wrote on his report card: "Parent notified boy is retarded."

Today, Sroka holds a doctorate in health education and is an adjunct assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine.

In an interview yesterday, Sroka criticized the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 as being too focused on academics, rather than on "teaching the total child" and looking at his emotional, social, physical and spiritual needs.

"With No Child Left Behind,

we're actually leaving many children behind," said Sroka, who was scheduled to address a national conference of school social workers this morning at the Sheraton Society Hill Hotel.

"Because in order to go for the academics, we're taking away the very classes children need to grow - the arts, music and physical education."

He said he often is called to school communities after violence has occurred, and officials will ask him: " 'Do we need more metal detectors? Do we need more cops?' "

But Sroka said schools need more "student detectors" like social workers, who can help children and their families resolve a problem before it escalates into violence.

"We don't have school violence, we have community violence that takes place in schools," Sroka said.

Helen Gym, a spokeswoman for Parents United for Public Education, said yesterday:

"We have for a long time said that the things that make a school safe and nurturing aren't machines and technology and surveillance equipment. It's the presence of a lot of nurturing, mentoring adults who are explicit about making it clear they are there to see children succeed.

"Largely what we've seen is machines and surveillance equipment taking the place of adults, and that hasn't worked for our schools in terms of safety."

Rochelle Leiber-Miller, president of the School Social Work Association of America, said the 12,000-member organization expects about 300 members at the three-day conference that begins today.

Yesterday, as pre-conference workshops were about to begin, Leiber-Miller and board member Frederick Streeck said the group agrees that for many of its members, the No Child Left Behind Act was never properly funded.

Leiber-Miller (whose son is the Hasidic reggae-rap singer Matis-yahu) said her organization would like to see social workers become mandatory in schools.

Lori Shorr, Mayor Nutter's chief education officer, said yesterday that the city and the School District of Philadelphia have been meeting for months to find ways to better coordinate social services in the schools. *