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The View from the Third Seat on the Left, Observations from the Camden Community Bus Tour

The building rises majestically (relatively speaking), at the end of the most golden street in the city. It offers a great view of both water and a neighboring city’s skyline. It brings to mind a shiny new toy, perfectly constructed, after a multi-decades long drought when developers never thought such an enterprise made sense in an impoverished city.

But the magic elixir of tax credits and self-interest – immediate payment to all those people involved in a real estate closing –wrought their miracle: the Hilton Garden Inn.

The two mismatched sides of the house at 755 Walnut Street beg for repair. Many years ago, the fix-up job was supposed to happen, beneficiary of a multimillion program that has long disappeared into the garbage can of political history. Adjacent to the house is a vacant lot; like its several thousand counterparts throughout the city, it can be either overgrown with vegetation or a repository for whatever junk needs to be disposed of by somebody with no vested interest in the property.

It is two miles from the Hilton to 755 Walnut. It might as well be 200 miles. There is no connection between the two, even though they are part of the same governing body: Camden, New Jersey. And the financial contributions to community life from the companies benefitting from tax credits are a  rounding error.

Hilton lives in a strip of politically connected entities, including Rutgers and the Cooper Health complex. The nationally known charter management organization KIPP and the locally highly publicized LEAP Academy charter school both live comfortably within this world.

The 755 Walnut world is that of local development entities which struggle to get their voices heard, who can afford their social and racial justice programs only because much of their cost base is free – donated items, or of minimal cost – community gardens.

The police are quite evident in the Hilton world, presumably on guard for white collar workers in the nearby office buildings who are hatching plans to toss their bosses or themselves out the window after years of frustration and boredom in their jobs. The more difficult areas of the city receive less attention. The disparity continues on one’s demise. When somebody does die in the Hilton world, they get a gravestone which is properly maintained; their peer in the 755 Walnut world is lucky to receive any physical recognition that is not quickly overgrown with disrespect.

In the Camden school district a few years back (data is slow in coming), there were three (not a misprint, 3!) high school graduates who were college ready based on the conventional metric used to make such judgements. In response to this tragedy, whose impact is multi-generational in terms of both financial outcomes and psychological damage, education reformers added a new type of school to the mix.

Camden Prep is what is called a Renaissance school, like its competitors KIPP and Mastery (the latter is oriented to turnarounds, particularly in a Latino sector of Camden dominated by public housing).

There are three features of a Renaissance school worthy of note: ten-year contracts with the district, not with the state; community orientation in terms of catchment area; and a requirement to construct new school buildings. Even as the district has shuttered some schools (had they been charters or Renaissance schools, they would have been closed many years before, as the new type of schools lives on results, not on history), there are still too many seats to fill, and there are more seats on the way, including those at a huge new district school.

The result, and the solution, will be more hand-to-hand combat to enroll new students. Those with less robust course offerings or fewer sports options will be challenged to get new customers as viable options for students increasingly are just around the corner.

Underneath it all is the 755 Walnut dilemma: dilapidated housing stock and a demoralized, undereducated population that has multiple immediate needs while recognizing that only through the long grind of education can the tide be turned.

Does Camden Prep then buttress its academic achievements, which do not yet include a twelfth grade – a big competitive disadvantage – with multiple programs that seek to address certain needs which are at the parent level. Can it reach out from the Uncommon cocoon and create vibrant collaborations with locally-rooted people. Will it take the huge step of being involved, directly or indirectly, at the preschool level, where the district itself would be the biggest competitor.

Having more talent at the Camden Prep level, as distinct from the home office, should be a major improvement when it comes to both reaching out and the messaging of academic results. Will it be enough in an overcrowded enrollment market: doubtful. It is difficult to see the school breaking even on the public dollar (adjusted for multiple one-time sources of funds) in the foreseeable future.

Is the game worth the candle, then? Yes!

Camden Prep cannot bring Hilton to 755 Walnut, nor should all those involved in the betterment of Camden want that to happen considering the ramifications of gentrification.

Camden Prep’s mission, regardless of the challenges inherent in attracting and retaining students, is to continue delivering the highest quality education in the city. It has no other reason for being.