Editor and director of the Notebook since 1999, Paul was one of the Notebook’s founders in 1994. He came to the Notebook as a public school parent with a long history of involvement in public education and other social justice issues. His children both graduated from Philadelphia public schools. He has been an active Home & School Association member and served as a parent representative on a School Council. Prior to becoming editor, he worked on education issues for the National Coalition of Education Activists and the American Friends Service Committee.
Through more than two hours of emotional statements by Asian students from South Philadelphia High School and their allies, the School Reform Commission heard again and again Wednesday that Asian students who were victims of large-scale attacks at the school in December are still not happy with the District's response.
In a reversal, the School District has announced that it is accepting all 262 individuals who applied by the March 9 deadline to serve on the School Advisory Councils at the 14 Renaissance Eligible schools.
The District is continuing to seek parent members for the councils at the eight schools where parents do not yet make up the requisite majority of the membership - Bluford, Daroff, Douglass, Smedley, Stetson, University City, Vaux, and West Philadelphia.
Tuesday, March 9 is the new deadline for applications for individuals who want to be part of the new School Advisory Councils at 14 Renaissance-eligible schools. The application is available here.
A retired federal judge's report, released on Tuesday, provides a lurid and troubling, almost blow-by-blow account of the violent attacks on Asian students at South Philadelphia High school on December 3.
The outside investigation by James T. Giles, now of the law firm Pepper Hamilton, was commissioned by the District. His report focuses on a series of violent incidents in and outside the school last December 2 and December 3, but did not attempt to examine the troubled history of Asian and immigrant students at the school prior to these incidents. Nor does it draw a conclusion about which of several versions of the events of December 2 is accurate.
The 37-page report (Click here to download the report in smaller sections.), which concludes with 15 recommendations for the school, was formally presented on Tuesday by Giles, joined by Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, who called on all parties to "move forward."
Some highlights from the report:
Members of Philadelphia Student Union came to the School Reform Commission on Wednesday to announce a new student-led campaign against youth violence and encountered a receptive group of commissioners and a superintendent who had already been talking about the "urgency" of the issue.
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