Fattah highlights think-tank report showing fewer dollars spent on students of color

Submitted by Dale Mezzacappa on Wed, 08/22/2012 - 17:21 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

A national report released Wednesday showed that far fewer dollars are spent per student in schools with predominantly Black and Latino enrollments, and that staffing those schools with less experienced teachers accounts for much of the spending disparity.

The Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, along with U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah and the National Council of La Raza, issued the study.

Council approves $40 million, puts off AVI

Submitted by Dale Mezzacappa on Thu, 06/21/2012 - 21:37 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Dale Mezzacappa
and Benjamin Herold for the Notebook and WHYY/NewsWorks
 

City Council put off a property tax reassessment sought by Mayor Nutter on Thursday and instead approved a plan that would raise about $40 million in additional funds for the School District.

That is less than half the $94 million that officials said was needed to stave off further cuts to schools and classrooms.

Pushing college in tight times

by Benjamin Herold for the Notebook and WHYY/Newsworks Posted in Summer 2012 Edition | Permalink

With students mostly gone for the day, Benjamin Franklin High's lone secretary has headed home, replaced at her desk by Principal Christopher Johnson.

Right away, the phone starts ringing.

First, it's a parent requesting a transcript. Then, it's a District complaint about paperwork. A 9th grader straggles in, asking for bus fare. A juvenile probation officer follows, trying to get records on a case.

Johnson deals with it alone.

Public education as a human right

Submitted by Nijmie Dzurinko on Thu, 04/26/2012 - 15:34 Posted in Commentary | Permalink

Please help us welcome our newest blogger, Nijmie Dzurinko, former executive director of Philadelphia Student Union.

In the blurry world of education reform, parents, students, educators, and communities need a guiding light to keep us on track. What could public education look like in our city and state if education was fundamentally a human right guaranteed in our society? How can we proceed in our efforts to improve public education using a human rights lens as a way of discerning the competing efforts, frames and messages that inundate us?

“This all sounds too broad. I’m concerned about my school, my family, my community, and I can’t get into the politics.”

If that was your internal voice just now, you may have lost sight of the fact that the most powerful architects of public school reform are taking it upon themselves to tackle big questions like the future of education in our society, how it will be delivered and to whom, who will benefit, and how the role of education will be understood by all of us.