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...
Category - Accountability
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...
I’m concerned about the growing backlash against what are referred to as “no-excuses” schools. Too often, critics depict overly-rigid approaches to discipline that pave the road from school to prison. I agree that too much...