What in the hell is wrong with the school district that they are ok with a school that is HUGELY privileged and problematic to embark on a ~$2 million outdoor space improvement project while buildings are *LITERALLY CRUMBLING* in the middle of a FUCKING PANDEMIC. #phled https://twitter.com/pmgentry/status/1285932349516140554

The rest of us are being prepared for cuts via presentations talking about how dire the budget will be in upcoming years but DON'T WORRY PENN ALEXANDER, you get to leverage your privilege to build your $2 million outdoor classroom/play area to complement your fancy new building.

Let's talk about Penn Alexander for a second. It's a partnership where the school recieves an extra $1330 per student per year from UPenn (nonpayer of PILOTS, cc @pennforpilots). Its building and "park-like setting”, built 2003, is fancy as hell already. https://www.facilities.upenn.edu/maps/locations/sadie-tanner-mossell-alexander-school

I've talked before about how the demographics of the school differ wildly from the demographics of the district as a whole. These screenshots from the district's data "dashboard" show the whole district on the right and PAS on the left.

Feeling like it isn't "fair" to compare PAS to the whole district? OK, let's compare to Lea, a school that is just blocks away. PAS on the left, Lea on the right.

And it just gets worse when you consider how PAS as an institution contributed to the gentrification of the neighborhood. https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/penn-alexander-university-city-west-philly-low-income-affordable-housing-20181101.html

Testimonies from Black students and alumni on Instagram lay bare how this is institutionalized racism, and how PAS has failed and harmed Black students (there are more, this is just a sampling of PAS-related stories on the account). https://www.instagram.com/blackphillystudents/

(PS Yes I do know that the property tax funding argument in one of those IG posts isn't accurate but the funding is still clearly disparate due to Penn $ and the fact that they feel confident fundraising ~$2 million for their outdoor upgrades.)

So *this* is the institution that isn't quite satisfied with it's newer "park-like" setting and so it's just going to raise $2 million in funding to upgrade it while the rest of the district continues to literally poison students and educators and faces a pandemic budget crisis.