education

When I first started high school, I didn’t have any school pride.  After I joined Philadelphia Student Union (PSU), I started standing up for my school.  I want to make Sayre the best it can be and a place where every student wants to come to high school.

A new model of teacher development is emerging that could help 'hard to staff' neighborhood schools build and retain a base of effective teachers by recruiting young adults in the neighborhood to choose a career in teaching.  This model is called 'Grow Your Own' and it is happening in Chicago, thanks to the organizing work of students and communities. Dan Jones interviewed Rod Wilson of Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) in Chicago, about how 'Grow Your Own' is changing the way teachers and communities interact.

We, the students at Overbrook High School (OHS), have been working to improve our school for the last two years.  This is because we love our school, and we feel like students have to take responsibility for making it better.  We have been organizing students to come to school on time and attend their classes, meeting with district officials, elected officials, and community members who are all as committed as we are in transforming our school to educate each and every one of us for our future.  But the road has not been easy.

Student leaders speak about how Philadelphia Student Union has affected their lives and their futures, in this youth-produced radio piece. Zakia Royster, Lawrence Jones Mahoney & Khalif Dobson talk about how they became part of this youth-led organization and how their identity as organizers and their sense of purpose has been shaped through their work with PSU.
 

Immigrant students are getting now a hand from the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) to help them navigate the system and learn their options if they’re wishing to obtain postsecondary degree.Just last week NCLR launched their guide “Keeping the Dream Alive”, making reference to the “Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.”

Note from the Author: I encourage everyone to listen to this album that the PSU produced and then to donate $5 to get this album out to 2 students in Philly (or donate more to help the PSU continue its amazing work)! To listen and donate click here.

Last week Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, the Reverend Al Sharpton and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich came to our city as part of their  “Listening and Learning Tour” regarding a national agenda for public education reform.  Students, parents, teachers, and community organizations were left wondering who the group was really listening to, since none of us were included in the tour’s agenda.  We were only able to speak with them through a locked and guarded wrought-iron fence.

In the coming weeks, the School District of Philadelphia and the
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers will negotiate a new, four-year
teacher contract. This is an important opportunity to influence the
negotiations and to make sure our students and teachers have the supports
they need to succeed in our schools. 


All the parties involved in the negotiations must do everything in
their power to ensure that all children in Philadelphia’s public
schools have effective teachers.

The stories in this show include a report about the community victory to keep William Penn High School from being closed. There is also a piece about how we are taught in school versus how we learn best. And we also hear PSU students who went to the B'more Fair in Baltimore, a march for the rights of workers in the Inner Harbor, organized by the United Workers Association. Finally, there is a segment about the struggle to stop our schools from being privatized, including Khalif Dobson's testimony from a School Reform Commission meeting. Plus, you'll hear music and other local news stories from the perspectives of youth organizers.

Heidi Ramirez, the first Latina ever appointed to the School Reform Commission and the youngest member at the age of 35, resigned yesterday with tears in her eyes.  The Commission will not look the same, not because Heidi is slated to be replaced by a republican, which will change  the face of the Commission, but because she not only asked hard questions and held people accountable for the Latino community but for every community.