For too long, we’ve pointed fingers at each other…again and again, we’ve told the people of Philadelphia that the state of their schools are someone else’s responsibility. -Mayor Kenney Last week, Mayor Kenney, in a...
Category - Accountability
Last week we had one of three family orientations to launch the 2017-18 school year. One of the messages I shared with families was that their community school has almost one million dollars less today than it had 10 years ago to...
I am reposting Peter Cunningham’s recent blog. Peter is the Executive Director of Education Post, a Chicago-based non-profit communications organization supporting efforts to improve public education. On August 1, Celine...
“As a teacher, as a parent and as a citizen, it’s distressing to see the department [of education] walking away from its core responsibility of advancing equity.” Former U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. John B. King...
Most of my educational experiences as a child were in an all-Black spaces and all of my experiences as an educator have been in schools that serve Black communities. And, although I can’t say I am an expert on everything about...
Earlier this week, our Councilwoman, Jannie Blackwell, called for a public hearing on the low enrollment and graduation rates at colleges and universities for Black males in Philadelphia. David Hardy, founder of the Boys’...
I read an article recently that reminded me of stories I read when I was a child; harrowing tales from Dickens’ Oliver Twist. It also reminded me of the shocking contempt and abuse suffered by students forcibly placed in...
Recently, John Eichelberger, a Pennsylvania lawmaker made remarks that were insensitive, devoid of intellectual curiosity and logic, and projected a biased and racist posture towards “urban kids.” Eichelberger is the chairman...
In a community not too far from mine, yet light years away in the tony suburb of Upper Dublin, a group of families lodged a complaint against their local district for consistently discriminatory practices against Black...
“After 30 years of doing such work, I have concluded that classroom teaching…is perhaps the most complex, most challenging, and most demanding, subtle, nuanced, and frightening activity that our species has ever invented. The...