Activism
New military high school spurs 'Peace Academy'
Activism around the city
New military high school spurs 'Peace Academy'
As the District continues to expand Junior ROTC high school military offerings by opening its new Philadelphia Military Academy this fall, some community groups are promoting non-military alternatives for students, including creating a high school focused on peace and conflict resolution.
The District's first stand-alone military school, the academy, in Northwest Philadelphia, has enrolled 170 ninth graders this fall. The school day includes a daily JROTC class, physical training, drilling ceremonies, and a "college preparatory" curriculum, says Lt. Col. Russell Gallagher, the District's JROTC head.
"Our goal is not to teach them to be soldiers, but to teach them to be leaders," said Gallagher.
Spurred by the creation of the military academy, a coalition led by Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth has proposed the creation of a new "Peace Academy" to nurture high school students as leaders through peace and conflict resolution. District officials have endorsed the idea, and the group plans to submit an official proposal this October to open the school in September 2005 for about 200 ninth graders.
Oskar Castro, with the Youth and Militarism Program of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), said he is concerned the District's new military academy will "make students more prepared to join the military than go to college or work a civilian job." Nationally, student enrollment in JROTC programs is linked to high military enlistment rates.
Castro's organization is helping craft the Peace Academy proposal and is one of 20 member groups that recently launched the National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth, a campaign opposed to "the growing intrusion of the military in young people's lives."
Gallagher says, except for military colleges and universities, "We won't allow military recruiters into the school."
In addition to the military academy, JROTC programs are projected to serve almost 2,500 students at 11 District high schools this fall, including military schools-within-schools at Germantown, John Bartram, and Franklin High Schools.
To learn more about the Peace Academy, contact 215-563-5848 or dennisb@pccy.org. For more information on the National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth, call 215-241-7176 or email NNOMY@afsc.org.
Activist gathering links education social justice
Education activists from across the nation gathered in Philadelphia for a July conference titled "With All Deliberate Speed: Social Justice and the Future of Public Education" - organized by the National Coalition of Education Activists (NCEA).
Focusing on the legacy of the landmark school desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education in public education today, almost 300 teacher, parent, and student activists attended workshops on issues such as youth organizing, bilingual education, school privatization, multicultural curriculum, and parent involvement.
"People got their batteries recharged," said NCEA Executive Director Harold Jordan.
Historian Vincent Harding - who began his more than 40 years as an activist working in Georgia as part of the Southern freedom movement during the 1960s - delivered the conference's keynote speech.
Harding emphasized that the families who initiated the 1954 Brown v. Board case that ultimately went to the Supreme Court were "people asking everyday questions" about justice and became "part of a grassroots struggle for expanding democracy."
The conference's closing session featured educator and activist Michelle Fine, who screened excerpts of a video and educational DVD she co-produced called "Echoes of Brown: Youth Documenting and Performing the Legacy of Brown v. Board."
Jordan commented that the presentations by Harding and Fine served to put the struggles of public education activists in a wider context.
"It's really about democracy, social justice, and addressing inequality," he said.
NCEA's next conference will take place in Philadelphia during the summer of 2005.
For more information, contact NCEA at 215-735-2418.
Education highlighted as fall election issue
A coalition of six national advocacy groups - including the community organizing group ACORN and the largest national teachers' union, the National Education Association - have joined forces to bring attention to the challenges facing the nation's public schools as the November 2 presidential election draws near.
Teachers, parents, and community members are gathering at hundreds of "house parties" across the nation for the National Mobilization for Great Public Schools on September 22. Participants in the event will watch a video created by the coalition that highlights critical issues currently facing public education, including the need to fully fund the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
"This is not just about narrow reforms and the lack of resources for education," said Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America's Future, a member of the coalition organizing the Mobilization. "We believe we must make education a higher priority from the community to the federal government."
House party-goers have the opportunity to sign an "Education First voter" pledge, which the event's organizers hope will get voters to consider the importance of the presidential candidates' positions on public education when they vote in November.
"The house parties are the first step," says the Mobilization's website, urging participants to "attend rallies, register new voters, [and] make sure parents, teachers and community members get to the polls in November," after the event is over.
For more information, visit www.greatpublicschools.org or call the NEA at 202-822-7261.