UNITE HERE to resume protests until noontime aides rehired
by Sonia GiebelSchools are still slated to open without the hallway patrol of noontime aides, and that has community members worried.Local members of UNITE HERE, the union that represents the aides,...
View ArticleCountdown, Day 18: What are you doing to bring about a positive opening of...
The District will open schools for the 2013-14 school year in a little over two weeks. Though Superintendent William Hite has been promised an infusion of $50 million to help open the doors on time,...
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PCAPS announces new campaign to fight for school funding
by Isaac RiddleThe Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools organized a press conference Thursday at City Hall to announce a new campaign that would call on City Council and other elected...
View ArticleMeeting of big donors inspires protests
The Philanthropy Roundtable, with the help of the Delaware Valley Grantmakers, sponsored a meeting of big donors in Philadelphia on Monday and Tuesday. The philanthropic association offered advice,...
View ArticlePhilly parents file hundreds of school complaints with Pa. education department
by Holly Otterbein for NewsWorksBefore this year's classes began in the Philadelphia School District, parents groups and lawyers from the Public Interest Law Center worried that budget cutbacks were...
View ArticlePublic ed advocates turn to video to spread their message on schools crisis
by Isaac Riddle“If you can’t get your voice heard, then you need to find the mechanism to be heard,” said Eileen Duffey, an 18-year veteran of the School District of Philadelphia.Duffey, a school...
View ArticleTeacher as entrepreneur
does a great job of examining the skills and traits of thoughtful, innovative, and maverick-like educators. This new book, written by Barnett Berry, Ann Byrd, and Alan Wieder of the Center for...
View ArticlePhilly groups file blanket complaint on counselor shortage
Parents United for Public Education and Philly School Counselors United filed a complaint with the Department of Education Thursday saying that Philadelphia chidlren are being denied an adequate...
View ArticleCommittee of Seventy: Governor should form panel to fill SRC seats
The sudden resignation of School Reform Commission Chairman Pedro Ramos has many asking who his replacement will be. For others, his departure raises the question of how the five-member panel should...
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Protesters rally at Vare-Washington over loss of teachers, services
by Isaac RiddleAbout 50 parents, teachers, students, and community members joined Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan in a protest about budget cuts outside of Vare-Washington...
View ArticlePCAPS: End property tax abatement program
by Naveed AhsanThe Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools will launch a new campaign to end 10-year property tax abatements at a press conference today at 4:30 p.m. held at the luxury...
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Coalition launches new initiatives to push for school funding
Since the District’s draconian budget cuts, there has been no shortage of protests in response to the funding crisis. Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools, a labor-community alliance,...
View ArticleEducation the lead issue at gubernatorial candidate forum
by Isaac RiddleFive of the eight Democrats vying to challenge Gov. Corbett next year gathered in front of education and community groups at a candidate forum held at Temple University last...
View ArticleSRC meeting to address possibility of universal enrollment
When the School Reform Commission meets Monday for its monthly public strategy session, its goal will be to discuss the pros and cons of an unprecedented proposal: unifying the enrollment process for...
View ArticleState groups make a push for early education funding
Ten advocacy groups across the state are making a push for more pre-K funding in Pennsylvania. This new coalition is seeking to use this year’s gubernatorial race as an opportunity to campaign for...
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Muñoz-Marín parents vote decisively to keep school within the District
Updated | 3:50 p.m.: Superintendent William Hite announced that Muñoz-Marín will remain a traditional District school, saying, “Parents and guardians have chosen a path for their school and we are...
View ArticleYUC students walk out of school to protest budget cuts
Students from nine high schools walked out of school at noon Wednesday, converging on the School District, City Hall and Gov. Corbett's Philadelphia office to protest inadequate funding of their...
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Youth United for Change finds new leader
Rapheal Randall was named executive director of Youth United for Change. The application process was intensive, but Youth United for Change has selected Rapheal Randall as its new executive...
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Youth groups participate in movement against violence
The deaths of two unarmed African American men, Michael Brown and Eric Garner, and the non-indictments of the police officers who killed them have sparked protests throughout the country. In...
View ArticleOpt-out movement reflects growing resistance to testing
Last year, a handful of Philadelphia families balked at having their children sit for the high-stakes state standardized tests known as the PSSAs. This year, resistance to the tests is more...
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Council introduces bill to mandate sufficient water fountains
City Councilwoman Helen Gym has introduced legislation mandating that the Philadelphia School District have enough working water fountains per school building to comply with city plumbing codes. That...
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What about electing a woman? One protester's view
One of my interests this week during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia is to ask as many people as I can, women especially, how they feel about the history-making prospect of electing...
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On historic day, young feminists join effort to revive the ERA
The first people I saw when I entered the huge room in the Pennsylvania Convention Center hosting the DNC Women’s Caucus on Tuesday morning were three 20-somethings giving away familiar-looking...
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Journalist reports rough, arbitrary detention during DNC
TeleSur journalist Abby Martin made headlines this week at the Democratic National Convention after what she says was an arbitrary arrest that resulted in her detention by Philadelphia police in the...
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Group gives checks to college-bound students
Unity in the Community is continuing its fifth annual Peace Week celebration with Operation College Help. On Wednesday, the nonprofit organization promoting an end to violence in South Philadelphia...
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Philly to test for lead in water at 40 District schools
The School District of Philadelphia is reviving a program that will test for elevated lead levels in the drinking water at 40 city schools. The project will take four months to complete and focus on...
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Teachers, others meet in book clubs this summer to discuss weighty issues
While most teachers are taking a break from students and lesson plans this summer, the Caucus of Working Educators and TAG Philly have been hosting their third annual book club series to discuss...
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Why are national civil rights groups calling for a moratorium on charter...
As students prepare to head back to school in Philadelphia, the often-contentious public conversation about charter schools has reignited, with calls for a moratorium on their expansion by both the...
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Point Breeze residents protest the sale of a vacant school
The Save Smith School Committee held a news conference in the Point Breeze section of South Philadelphia in October calling for the School Reform Commission to stop the sale of now-closed Walter G....
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Mifflin students protest split-grade classroom plan
Parents and a small group of 2nd- and 3rd-grade students at Mifflin Elementary School staged a walkout in October to protest proposed changes that would have created a split-grade classroom. The...
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Toomey, under pressure from DeVos opponents, says he will vote for her
UPDATED 5:40 p.m. with report of Toomey statement on Capitol Hill With Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska declaring that they will oppose Betsy DeVos as the U.S....
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Female teachers at SLA plan absence for 'A Day Without a Woman'
UPDATED 6:15 p.m with statement from Taylor Elementary teachers Female educators at Science Leadership Academy plan to take a personal day Wednesday as part of the national "A Day Without a Woman"...
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Advocates seek ban on suspensions of young students
Child advocates are asking the Philadelphia School District to immediately ban suspensions of first through fifth graders and provide more support to schools as they work to shift disciplinary...
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May Day will be busy: Teachers organize day of advocacy, SRC to vote on...
Monday, May 1, is proving to be a major day of activity in the world of Philadelphia education. In the morning, educators from several schools, most with contingents from the activist Caucus of...
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Advocates discuss education issues at 2nd annual parent summit
Over 50 parents, teachers, education advocates, and community members converged on the campus of St. Joseph’s University Saturday for the 2nd annual parent summit. The summit - organized by Parents...
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Activist group asks: Why did Bill Green leave SRC meetings?
The Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools is asking why Bill Green left for large portions of the last two School Reform Commission meetings, suggesting that the behavior "calls into question" his...
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Hite decides not to punish teachers who protested on May 1
Superintendent Hite has decided not to dock the pay of some teachers for taking off on May 1 to protest the continued lack of a contract. The decision was highlighted in an email newsletter sent out...
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Advocacy groups protest suspensions in grades 1-5
Youth United for Change, Education Law Center, Caucus of Working Educators, and ACLU of Pennsylvania were among a coalition of advocacy groups that rallied outside District headquarters in April...
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SRC’s origins and history explain why many want it gone
Fifteen speakers at Thursday's School Reform Commission meeting called for that body to dissolve itself by December, and dozens more in the audience roared their approval. The passionate opposition to...
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Former Commissioner Sylvia Simms and friends thank members of Parent Power
Today the advocacy group Parent Power honored its parent members and kicked off the Fourth of July weekend with a barbecue. At the Panati Recreational Center in North Philadelphia, parents and...
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SRC to vote Thursday on downsized proposal for new special education program
The School District of Philadelphia has significantly downsized its plans for a new special education program after advocates and lawmakers raised objections. But those advocates aren’t ready to...
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Local advocates brace for changes in federal education civil rights policy
Local advocates and civil rights leaders are preparing to be more watchful in response to the decision under the Trump administration to scale back the U.S. Department of Education's investigations of...
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Activists press for SRC to disband itself, push mayor to start the process
Update: A spokesperson for the Mayor contacted the Notebook after the publication of the article to point out the Mayor never technically promised to abolish the SRC and return the District to local...
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Senate education chair meets with Parent Power at Peirce Elementary
This story has been updated After a June meeting with the parent advocacy group Parent Power in Harrisburg, State Sen. John Eichelberger returned the visit today at T.M. Peirce Elementary School in...
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Sylvia Simms named to head lobbying group Educational Opportunities for Families
Sylvia Simms, a former school bus aide turned community activist from North Philadelphia who served four years on the School Reform Commission, has been named the new director of Educational...
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Was Thursday the beginning of the end for the SRC?
Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission has heard hundreds of presentations over its 16 years, but none as existentially important as the one delivered Thursday by District lawyer Miles Shore. The...
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Rally outside District headquarters declares victory with end of SRC
The crowd spilled over the steps of District headquarters and out into the parking lots as Randi Weingarten, President of American Federation of Teachers, joined Jerry Jordan on stage at a rally...
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‘We knew in our hearts we had to do it:’ Behind the scenes of one Philly...
Dymonique Hammond had something to say, but she wasn’t quite sure how to say it. On Wednesday morning, as thousands of high school students across the country walked out of school to protest gun...
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Young Philly activists endure the ups and downs of their first march on...
As their chartered coach bus rolled toward Washington, D.C., on Saturday morning, about 30 students from Science Leadership Academy at Beeber in West Philadelphia got a pep talk from a veteran...
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Gun violence summit grapples with where to go from here
Sixth-grader Samantha Sandhaus' question was so innocent – simple and logical – that, for one brief moment, it silenced two seasoned, and loquacious, politicians. Why, the 12-year-old wondered, if the...
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