Once, Wilkinsburg School District was so desirable, families paid tuition to send their children there or used a false address to gain entrance to the schools, recalls Jean Dexheimer, a long-time resident and current school director.  But as a result of several decades of policies that have favored sprawl and disadvantaged older communities, the economically depressed borough now struggles to maintain its schools and retain its residents.  

Dexheimer was one of more than 600 people gathered July 16 for the Building One Pennsylvania Summit, organized by Good Schools Pennsylvania, 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council of  Churches, the Southeastern Pennsylvania First Suburbs Project, and YorkCounts.

Held in Lancaster at Thaddeus Stevens College, the summit sought to identify the common challenges confronting Pennsylvania's towns and older suburban communities, and launch an organizing structure for advancing comprehensive, transformative solutions to the interrelated problems of population loss, aging infrastructure, shrinking tax bases, concentration of poverty and struggling schools.
 
The size and diverse nature of the audience -- including representation from multiple sectors and multiple regions of the state - caught the attention of policy-makers and opinion-makers. (Click here to see the organizational affiliation of attendees).

The event was both a rally and workshop, revival and review, observed the Pottstown Mercury.

While the cause of urban revitalization may not be new, observed the Lancaster Intelligencer, "what's new is that so many groups representing diverse agendas came together to from all corners of Pennslvania, not just to talk, but to pledge to unite and make change happen."

"If this group can't fix it, no one can," declared Franklin and Marshall pollster Terry Madonna, challenging the group to provide leadership in overcoming the partisan rancor that gridlocks government.

Opening the day was David Troutt, Professor of Law and Justice, from Rutgers University, who described the historical policy trends that led to the decline of older communities nation-wide and fueled and enabled white flight.

Troutt was followed by Myron Orfield, Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution and Executive Director of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota, whose maps of selected regions of Pennsylvania helped illustrate how rapid land consumption - even during periods of slow growth - has increased the state's financial obligation for maintaining and repairing multiplying infrastructure; how declining tax bases have resulted in declining neighborhoods and schools; and how these trends are isolating the state's low-income and minority residents and undercutting the state's economic competitiveness.

Throughout the day, dozens of local leaders including mayors, pastors, school board members, business owners and land conservationists provided the local context of how these issues have impacted their communities.

The summit drew the support of powerful political allies, including State Representative Mike Sturla (D- Lancaster) and State Senator Ted Erickson (R-Delaware), who chair their chamber's policy committees, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato, who pledged - if elected governor -- to meet with the group as it develops and refines its policy agenda.

Also attending the summit were John Porcari, Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Transportation, and Bryan Greene, from the US Housing and Urban Development Department, who outlined how their departments plan to collaborate through the new Sustainable Communities program to help solve some of the problems many of our older communities are facing.

From the perspective of Good Schools Pennsylvania, the summit signals an evolution in the way education advocates do their work.

"It's important to take the issue of education finance out of an education silo, since how the state has funded education has not only failed students but contributed to the blighting of communities and sprawl," said Janis Risch, director of Good Schools Pennsylvania.  "Likewise, it's time that public education advocates consider the impact that other policy arenas -- such as housing -- have on access to high performing schools."

Participants at the summit displayed such a commitment to progress and change that the Pottstown Mercury noted the summit could start a rebellion ... for a better future.                                                      
                                                                 
Next steps include strengthening connections made at the summit by organizing in regions throughout the state, and developing a statewide action agenda.

To get involved, contact Good Schools Pennsylvania at info@goodschoolspa.org.

To read more news accounts about the summit, click here.