Tate 1

Nick Tate
Feature Writing MWF Sec. 01
Final Story (Profile)
8 December 2014
Man vs. the Philadelphia School System: A Story from the Battlefront
"I'm a living example that education can turn your life around," Rick Sheffler says boldly.
His tone is calculated, his speech articulate. It's no surprise that his passion is mathematics. What
may be surprising, however, is that behind his cool, resolved slate of a personality, there is
tension. Sheffler is tense about one subject: education, the same driving force that lifted him out
of a job in construction to the front lines of schools. Sheffler, a native of Philadelphia, has
witnessed firsthand the city's crumbling infrastructure of education. He is one of many who have
been firsthand witnesses of the issues facing the Philadelphia public school system. He longs to
see positive changes in the schools where he was unable to make a difference.
Rick Sheffler grew up with Philadelphia. He lived in a row house. He recalls the
excitement of his childhood fondly. "You'd just walk out into your driveway and there would be
20 kids to play with. It wasn't like today where you have parents taking you everywhere and
involved in your life. There was none of that when I was a kid. You would just go out and play,"
he says.
Sheffler's love for the outdoors shows in his lifestyle. He frequently hikes, and
approaches situations with a curious but level-headed attitude. Dorothy White, a close friend of
Sheffler and a student teacher, says, "He's the most loyal friend I've ever had. He has had
incredible amounts of adversity and he still stays positive."

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White's daughter, Julia, knows Sheffler as well, and she's also certified in English
education. She says, "It's funny how down-to-earth he is. You look at him and you wouldn't
think he's a teacher."
For a while, Sheffler didn't think he could be a teacher, either. He didn't take high school
seriously and spent 5 years as a construction laborer when he got out of school. But he doesn't
regret that at all. "It was a great experience," he says. "It helped me appreciate education and
kind of directed me into my career." When he decided it was time to go to college, he enrolled
full time at Spring Garden University, earning an associate's degree in construction engineering
technology.
But that didn't leave him satisfied. He continued to work himself up the ladder, taking
nighttime classes at Drexel while working construction during the day. After seven years, he
earned a degree in civil engineering. His own dedication and hard work led Sheffler to believe
an education can truly take you anywhere. "I went from being the guy out in the field with the
jackhammer to the guy in the office who was running the job as a project manager. From the
trenches to the head guy on a 20 million dollar project. That's the power of an education," he
says.
In 2008, the United States economy collapsed and thousands of people in construction
lost their jobs. After 30 years as a project manager, Sheffler was laid off. As he continued to
search for jobs, something didn't feel quite right. It was a feeling that had stuck with him all
throughout his time in construction. He had risen through the ranks, but his passion for
construction was all but depleted. He backtracked through his mind, all the way back to his time
in college. What was his real passion? Mathematics. He wished to be a math teacher.

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Lucky for him, his wish was granted with perfect timing. Philadelphia schools were
desperate for math teachers in poor areas. Sheffler enrolled in a grant program called Career
Initiatives in Math and Science. He received a full ride to Arcadia University, where he was
given an "emergency certification" - they let him teach, as long as he took night classes that were
paid for by the grant. At this point, Sheffler was nearly unstoppable. He knew the math inside
and out. He was ready to teach... or so he thought.
Sheffler sighs deeply. "As hard as I thought that all was... teaching in Philadelphia was
harder because when I went to night school at Drexel I was 26 years old. When you're 60 years
old and teaching, it's a lot different. Physically I wasn't the same, and mentally I wasn't the
same."
Sheffler was a math teacher at two schools in Philadelphia: Franklin K-8 and Martin
Luther King High School. What he experienced at those two schools changed his vision of
teaching forever.
He witnessed three girls jumping another girl in his class. He found out later that the
jump was planned. He saw one girl wrap a rope around another girl's neck, attempting to strangle
her. One day, he found a homemade knife sitting on his chair when he walked into class. At
Martin Luther King, when the bell rang, he had to lock his door between classes because students
often rush in and assault people in the classroom. They were known as "The Goon Squad".
Although the incidents Sheffler witnessed are devastating, the majority of these problems
lie not in the students, but lack of revenue for Philadelphia schools. According to Superintendent
William R. Hite, Philadelphia has experienced "immoral" annual cycle of deep budget cuts.

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Michael Casserly, the executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools,
describes Philadelphia as "the most under- resourced urban school district in the nation."
This funding problem has historical roots, but it's sustained by the district's inability to
levy taxes, the increasing cost to the district of charter schools, and the $1 billion statewide
education cuts of 2011.
The district's size is also a major factor: nearly 132,000 students are in district-run
schools, The student body is largely disadvantaged, with needs that often require additional
resources. And those resources are simply unattainable - classrooms face stark shortages of desks
and books, and approximately 3,000 teachers, guidance counselors, nurses and librarians are still
unemployed.
Sheffler was a firsthand witness to this lack of resources. Martin Luther King High
School was negligent to supply a learning support teacher in his class. One day, a student in
Sheffler's class threw a fit and ripped all the posters down in the room. He grabbed Sheffler and
wrestled him for the phone as Sheffler tried to call security. The next day, the student was back
in class. The student's parents sued the school for having a lack of learning support staff. Sheffler
had to deal with the student for the rest of the year.
Sheffler was troubled. He had done everything right while he was in college. He was
supposedly living his dream. What went wrong?
The majority of his students at Martin Luther King were emotionally unstable and
learning disabilities. He was not certified in special education. After the incident with the student
who ripped the posters, Sheffler realized he had no help from anyone else. He was forced to
carry both the hardships of teaching and keeping his classes under control.

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But along with the issues of the Philadelphia school system, he also blames himself. "My
idea of being a math teacher was not realistic when it came to teaching in Philadelphia. I knew
the math inside out, but it was how to manage a classroom and kids that I had trouble with," he
says.
"In Philadelphia, it's 75 percent classroom management, 25 percent content. I just tried to
used my knowledge of mathematics to teach over the kids, and I lost control of the classroom. I
never got that control back and it just spiraled out of control."
Sheffler hates to admit it, but he says the most rewarding part of his time teaching was
that he hung in there for two years. He firmly believes that sometimes a reward can simply be
trying your best. And even though his experience was terrible, it didn't happen without some
lighthearted moments.
"I had a kid in my 8th grade math class who was great," Sheffler says. "He was a hard
worker. He's the one that kept me motivated because I was getting through to him.
Unfortunately, the other kids were so disruptive that he just got swallowed up."
He shakes his head. "Maybe there were kids in those classes where I changed their lives,
but that's not immediate."
Sheffler has used his experiences to formulate new ideas about how to improve the
Philadelphia school system. He strongly recommends that schools implement more vocational
training, first and foremost. "These kids don't see anything relevant about education," he says.
"So you have to make it relevant. Rather than wasting time learning about British literature,
some kid could be in a trade school learning to be a carpenter, or a plumber, or a mechanic." If

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the schools could somehow link their students to vocational technical schools, Sheffler feels
many more students would benefit.
He also suggests that districts hire more counselors and social workers, and for more
students to be placed in charter schools. Students have to be accepted into charter schools. That
way, the kids who are actually interested in learning can stay out of troubled academic
environments.
What's next for Sheffler? He was laid off by school district of Philadelphia. They sent
him an email asking him to come back, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He's now retired
and has been substituting for school districts around his area. He's also thinking about applying
to tutoring companies.
"I can relate to Rick's career change," says Dorothy. "Like finding out too late in life
what you really want to do."
"We're all kind of in the same boat right now, because there's no jobs," says Julia. "We
have potential, and all these things we want to share, but nobody will give us a chance."
But Sheffler looks at his situation differently. "If I wanted to go back to full-time
teaching, I don't think I would be able to get a job," he says. "There's young teachers who are just
getting out of college who can't find jobs, so they're not gonna hire a 63-year-old guy."
He instead turns his head, ignoring his own life for a moment. He's more concerned for
the children. For the future. "Poverty is a violent thing," he says softly. "It's not just about not
having money in your bank account. If you don't save these kids, you're gonna hear about them
in the newspapers."

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Works Cited
Christopher Moraff, "The Real Problem with Philly's Schools", Philadelphia Magazine, September 19,
2013, accessed at http://www.phillymag.com/news/2013/09/19/real-problem-phillys-schools/, November
30, 2014.
Claudio Sanchez, "Kids Pay The Price In Fight Over Fixing Philadelphia Schools", NPR, November 21,
2013, accessed at http://www.npr.org/2013/11/21/246193561/kids-pay-the-price-in-fight-over-fixingphiladelphia-schools, November 30, 2014.
Denise R. Superville, "School Budget Problems Have Deep Roots in Philadelphia", Education Week,
May 6, 2014, accessed at http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/05/07/30philly.h33.html, November
30, 2014.
Dorothy White, student teacher, face to face interview, December 2, 2014, Bloomsburg University, 215341-1137.
Julia White, English teacher, face to face interview, December 2, 2014, Bloomsburg University, 484-8663579.
Patrick Kerkstra, "Philadelphia's School Crisis: A City on the Brink", Philadelphia Magazine, January 30,
2014, accessed at http://www.phillymag.com/articles/philadelphia-school-crisis-city-brink/, November
30, 2014.
Rick Sheffler, substitute teacher, face-to-face interview, December 2, 2014, Bloomsburg University, 215536-6779.
Valerie Strauss, "Perfect Storm Threatens Philadelphia Schools", Washington Post, August 23, 2013,
accessed at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/08/23/perfect-storm-threatensphiladelphia-schools/, November 30, 2014.