Activism
School activist network sets up shop in Philly
Feltonville community plans new K-8 school
Training helps parents shape school budgets
Email this article to:
Activism around the city
School activist network sets up shop in Philly
Philadelphia's public school activists can look to a new resource here to connect them with activists from across the country working for equitable and excellent public schools.
The National Coalition of Education Activists (NCEA), a multiracial, national network of public school activists, has relocated its offices to Philadelphia. NCEA's network includes parents, teachers, school staff, children's advocates, and union and community activists. NCEA brings together individuals and organizations that share “a commitment to social justice, the elimination of bias of all kinds, and high quality public schools that serve all children well.”
NCEA works with organizations and individuals nationally to support their education activism. The organization helps activists develop skills and knowledge, links individuals with other activists and groups they can work with or learn from, and provides information about key issues impacting schools so that groups can develop practical, action-based solutions.
In addition to facilitating this network of public school activists, the new Philadelphia office also houses a resource center for anyone looking for information about public school issues.
For more information, contact NCEA Director Harold Jordan at 215-735-2418 or drop by the new office at 1420 Walnut St., Suite 720.
Feltonville community plans new K-8 school
Plans for a new K-8 school in the Feltonville neighborhood designed by a group of about 50 parents, school staff members, and community activists are moving forward, as School District staff have proposed the planned school's inclusion in the District's capital budget.
Local residents and school staff members started their campaign for the school five years ago, when they came together through the Feltonville Education Focus Group in search of a solution to overcrowding in the neighborhoodÕs schools. The need for a new school was clear to Focus Group members, many of whom had been instrumental in the creation of the Central East Middle School 12 years ago.
Community members were upset that over 300 students who are assigned to Feltonville Elementary School are bused to another school several miles away because Feltonville does not have enough space to accommodate all of the neighborhood's children. Many of these students (who begin to be bused in the second grade) speak little or no English, making the trip more unsettling for them.
The new K-8 school would allow all of the neighborhood's students to come together in one common school. Currently, most students are either bused or attend Feltonville, Barton Elementary, and Central East Middle Schools.
The community has proposed that the school be a campus of three free-standing school buildings within a one-block radius. The community's plan uses the existing Barton and Central East facilities, and includes the construction of a new school for upper grades on adjacent land. The group proposes that the Feltonville/Horn facilities be used for early childhood education programs.
Even identifying the land for the new school building was a community-led effort. Community members spotted it five years ago and then pursued approval for its purchase from the School District.
Despite operating in three separate buildings, the campus would be run as a single school - with one principal, one Home and School Council, a consistent curriculum across grades, and an opportunity for teachers to work together across grades.
Cindy Engst, a teacher at Central East Middle School since its creation and member of the Feltonville Education Focus Group, sees strong benefits to this approach.
“Portfolios will follow students from kindergarten to eighth grade. Teachers will have a lot more information about students,” she explains. “Students will understand which way their education will be moving.”
The Feltonville Education Focus Group members say they are aiming for a fall 2004 opening for the new school.
Training helps parents shape school budgets
Fifty parent leaders representing 17 Philadelphia schools attended workshops in early November to learn about their school budgets and how they can have an impact on them. The workshops were organized by the Philadelphia chapter of the Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform, a local coalition of public school advocacy and activist organizations.
Parents at the workshops heard presentations about how schools have been funded historically and what the current process is for school budgets. Larry Sperling, director of school resource support at the School District, explained how the District allots funds to schools and what rules principals must follow when budgeting.
Parents also shared their concerns about the budgeting process at the workshop. They shared stories about not being able see their schools' budgets; not having a way of ensuring that the budgets were spent appropriately; and not gaining much clout through participation in local school councils. Some parents said they were surprised to learn that schools have more money to spend than they thought.
“The workshop gave me a look into things I was always wondering about, but didn't think that I had access [to], or a right to know,” commented Florence Mason, a workshop participant and parent leader with ACORN.
Mason expects to take what she learned back to her school. “We don't have to sit by and accept mediocrity,” she said. “We have an opportunity to change that.”
At a follow-up workshop in January, parents will look at simulated budgets and strategize about how to make changes they believe would be positive for their schools.
In February, Cross City will bring together parent leaders, principals, and teachers for two sessions of more intensive school-based budgeting trainings. Together, parents, teachers, and principals will develop school budgets based on their schools' needs.
For more information about the workshops, contact Fran Sugarman of Cross City Campaign at 215-665-1400, x3351 or fsugarman@philaedfund.org.
New fund brings art, music to classrooms
The Picasso Project, an arts enrichment fund designed to support classroom teachers' efforts to integrate art and music experiences into the curriculum, has been launched with the endorsement of over a dozen local education advocacy and activist organizations.
The Picasso Project fund will award mini-grants of up to $5,000 to school staff members across the city for efforts to enrich the curriculum with art and music. The first grants will be awarded in January.
The Project was spearheaded by two School District employees and is housed at Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY). It will be guided by a steering committee of public education stakeholders and representatives of the arts community. The grants will be funded through a community effort.
At the announcement of the new fund in the art room at Meredith School, Shelly Yanoff, executive director of PCCY, echoed words colorfully displayed on the wall, “Art reminds us how to dream,” and added, “and art also reminds us how to learn.”
Vicki Ellis, a School District employee involved with the project, emphasized that the effort is not intended to reduce the state's and District's responsibility for equitable funding.
“We will work with our public officials to advocate for full and fair funding for our schools, and we will work with our colleagues, neighbors, and friends to raise funds to bring some of the arts back to our schools,” commented Ellis.
The Picasso Project was announced on the heels of a report by PCCY and the Alliance Organizing Project (AOP) that details the declining presence of music and art programs in Philadelphia public schools and the importance of those programs to overall student learning.
For more information, contact Aldustus Jordan at 215-563-5848, ext.12.