Activism
ACORN members call teacher vacancies 'scary'
Activism around the city
ACORN members call teacher vacancies 'scary'
With signs declaring "Edison schools are scary," about twenty ACORN members marched their way to Edison's Philadelphia headquarters in Stoddart-Fleisher Middle School on Halloween, demanding an accurate list of teacher vacancies in schools located in neighborhoods with active ACORN chapters.
Education Chair Victoria Yarn said that her daughter, a seventh grade student at Edison-managed Barratt Middle School, had had four reading teachers in the first seven weeks of school. Yarn said she had called Edison officials repeatedly with no response.
Protestors also expressed concern that students' safety had been endangered because of what they called a "frightening rate" of teacher turnover at Edison-managed schools.
"All we want...is to be guaranteed that our children are being properly taught and that the're safe," Yarn told Richard Barth, Edison's senior vice president for Philadelphia, in a phone call that took place during the protest.
Barth agreed to a meeting with ACORN members the following week to discuss their concerns and to provide them with an updated list of teacher vacancies at Edison-managed schools.
She added, "Should it be happening? No."
Protesters demand improved African American studies
Calling on the District to employ more African American teachers and to make African American studies a mandatory part of the curriculum, about 75 people protested at School District headquarters on November 17.
Led by members of the African and African Descent Curriculum and Instruction Reform Committee and other community groups, the rally commemorated the 1967 protest held on the same day in which thousands of African American students demonstrated on similar issues.
Protest organizer Mukasa Afrika said that the District has failed to follow through on decades of promises to infuse African American studies into the curriculum. He also criticized the lack of African American teachers.
"Seventy percent of the teachers in the School District are white and 65.3 percent of the students are students of African descent. That's institutionalized racism, " Afrika said.
CEO Paul Vallas did not directly respond to protestors but told reporters that the District follows "fair hiring practices."
Vallas also said that the District is developing African and African American history courses, and that the new social studies curriculum will be "inclusive."
Protest organizers encouraged Philadelphia high school students to walk out of school to join the demonstration, but few students showed up. Organizers later charged that the students faced intimidation when they tried to leave school, with some principals threatening that students would be arrested, and others locking doors.
"These students, like everyone else, have the constitutional rights to protest, especially on issues they believe truly affect their education," said Maisha Sullivan-Ongoza, who attended the demonstration.
District spokesperson Vincent Thompson said high school principals were notified of the protest. But, he added, "In no way did central office give principals any instruction or direction to keep kids from leaving the building."
Thompson said he was unable to confirm or deny incidents at specific schools, but said that the District would investigate individual students’ claims.
EPOP succeeds in push for schoolwide voicemail
The technology for better communication between parents and teachers through schoolwide voicemail systems is now in the works in 45 schools, a response to a demand made by the Eastern Pennsylvania Organizing Project (EPOP) last fall.
Drawing on surveys with parents and teachers, EPOP's "right-to-know" campaign made several recommendations aimed at improving communication among administrators, teachers, and parents. At a public meeting with more than 400 EPOP members last fall, CEO Paul Vallas committed to implementing many of the group's demands, including giving every teacher a voicemail box.
EPOP leader Dolores Shaw expressed hope about the voicemail system's potential to increase communication between parents and teachers, but said that the voicemail program's success will depend on how effectively the system is used by both teachers and parents.
"We don't want this to be just another tool that goes unused." she said.
Angie Pabón, director of the District's Office of School and Community Relations, commended EPO's right-to-know campaign and said their call for voicemail systems has "helped to keep this issue in the forefront."
Shaw said that getting voicemail was just one part of EPOP's right-to-know campaign, and that they continue to work on other concerns including teacher quality and ensuring that the new report cards are understandable for parents.