A grass-roots organization of parents, community members, and school staff, fighting to defend public education. We work together to provide analysis and demand accountability from the School District of Philadelphia to provide students with a high-quality education.
Click to view testimony.
High School Admissions, Equity and Planning by Cheri Micheau
Action Item #29–Center for Supportive Schools by Lynda Rubin
Board of Education Stonewalling, Blocking Comments by Lisa Haver
Board’s Lack of Transparency and Engagement by Diane Payne
Action Item 65–Outsourcing by Ilene Poses
Fund Libraries for All Our Students! by Eric Hitchner
Lost Books–Certified Teacher Librarians, School Libraries by Barbara Dowdall
by Diane Payne
For Dr. Hite’s last meeting as superintendent, Board President Joyce Wilkerson introduced a slideshow of his accomplishments through the decade. (Those viewing remotely couldn’t hear so it may have had an audio component.) Mayor Kenney appeared in person to honor Hite. Going-away tributes accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. Hite achieve some success on the surface, and in the interest of those holding the seats of political and financial power. The budget, at least for now, is in better shape. But the people on the front lines can attest that those successes came at a price to students, staff, and families.
by Diane Payne and Lynda Rubin
Exactly one week after this meeting, District parents received an email notifying them that the District would be carrying out weapons searches in middle schools.
The email, signed by “The School District of Philadelphia”, told parents that their children would be subject to “periodic weapons screenings”. The anonymous author of the email wrote, “The District understands that this level of screening may feel intrusive and inconvenient.” Although Board Member Reginald Streater defended the District’s decision in the Inquirer, neither he nor any other Board member brought it up for discussion at this Policy meeting or at the April 21 action meeting. Did the Board not know about the District’s impending action? The Board makes policy on student safety, not the administration. Why did the Board not give parents an opportunity to weigh in–either for or against–the heightened security measures?
Click on title to read
Budget Necessities for Local Schools by Lynda Rubin
Inequity Still Reigns by Diane Payne
Action Item 10, $117 million for Contracts with Dell Marketing and Apple, Inc by Lisa Haver
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 