Now, the state school code prohibits schools from requiring certain clothing except for reasons of health and safety.
School Superintendent David Hornbeck, who appeared with Rendell at a City Hall news conference, supports changing the state law so that districts and schools can impose dress codes.
But he is less certain about whether he wants the district to order all schools to require uniforms, or let the schools decide for themselves.
And Board of Education President Andrew Farnese said that, at this point, he wanted schools to make up their own minds. Hornbeck and the board are trying to give schools more authority and cut back on district-wide mandates.
``We must wrestle with that issue,'' Hornbeck said. ``I don't know what the best way is to make it happen.''
But politicians across the state, including Gov. Ridge, are jumping on a growing bandwagon that believes uniforms will improve discipline and ultimately improve learning at schools - especially those in urban areas - increasingly plagued by disorder and violence.
``No one pretends this is a cure-all to the problems that exist in the schools,'' said McGeehan, ``but it does establish some type of uniformity and some kind of environment. If we can take away one thing that creates conflict, we're doing something. Competition shouldn't be about the latest fashion. It should be about who is excelling academically.''
Schools can't help but improve if students aren't showing off ``$180 Fila sneakers and Starter jackets'' and ``not dressing like hoodlums, but dressing like students,'' he said.
Rendell said he believed uniforms would improve discipline and learning by removing competitiveness over clothes.
``Competition makes kids from poor homes feel like second-class citizens,'' said Rendell. ``It's destructive to the educational environment.''
