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Despite incredibly hard work and the best of intentions, we are headed into a school year full of uncertainty, and I worry that our process for reopening does not equitably involved parents and staff.
My remarks for the school board tonight about reopening schools - thread
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My remarks for the school board tonight about reopening schools - thread
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First, I urge you to treat the testimony you hear tonight from the community as expert testimony.
There are over 150 parents, principals, teachers, youth, and community leaders testifying about the urgent needs of our young people this Fall.
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There are over 150 parents, principals, teachers, youth, and community leaders testifying about the urgent needs of our young people this Fall.
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I am here to listen to them, and urge you to be accountable to, and responsive to, the people who are key to making any reopening plan successful: the youth and adults who walk into our school buildings every single day.
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I am disappointed at the level of conversation between District and PFT leadership. The District must continue its conversations with PFT and its President. Anything less is insufficient.
The staff who make our schools run, know our schools best, and must have a say.
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The staff who make our schools run, know our schools best, and must have a say.
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Parents have been unable to get their questions answered, instead invited to "town halls" that functioned more like focus groups - no meaningful interaction with parents and no attempt to address their concerns.
They should be treated as partners, not afterthoughts.
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They should be treated as partners, not afterthoughts.
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I am concerned about the District’s reliance on individual schools, or families, to “self screen” for health problems when we have far too few health professionals in our city schools and so many parents have lost employer based health insurance.
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Parents in affluent suburban districts can easily file complaints and speak with administrators.
But, like so many other low-income school districts of color, I worry that Philadelphia's parents and staff will not have the same voice in planning and oversight.
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But, like so many other low-income school districts of color, I worry that Philadelphia's parents and staff will not have the same voice in planning and oversight.
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The District cannot do this by itself. I want to apologize. The City should be doing more. We should be partnering with you to assist with trainings and coordinating with health professionals to assist with daily school screenings and monitoring of health protocols.
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When a child is found to be COVID-positive, we need to immediately coordinate with our city’s health, DHS, and housing departments, to ensure a child and family can quarantine safely.
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I urge you to prepare for an inevitable Plan B.
We have to be incredibly honest that despite the most detailed plans laid out here before us here in July, we need to know clearly what standards and thresholds will be used to determine if schools open in September.
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We have to be incredibly honest that despite the most detailed plans laid out here before us here in July, we need to know clearly what standards and thresholds will be used to determine if schools open in September.
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More and more school districts are announcing that they are headed to a virtual Fall.
We must prepare for a reality in which schools don’t open or cannot stay open.
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We must prepare for a reality in which schools don’t open or cannot stay open.
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I demand our city’s internet service providers guarantee that connectivity will not depend on a child or family’s ability to pay for broadband access.
We must hold major providers like Comcast accountable to ensure that all students have a shot at their education.
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We must hold major providers like Comcast accountable to ensure that all students have a shot at their education.
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We have to resist an atrocious response from the White House that turned education policy into a slush fund for private and charter schools, and used it as a cudgel against our local school districts.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos uses our children as political pawns.
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Education Secretary Betsy DeVos uses our children as political pawns.
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DeVos has threatened to cut federal aid to school districts that don’t reopen in person during a pandemic, and would rather funnel $180 million to the private and religious schools that are not obligated to teach every student. We must do better for all of our children.
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Together, we must demand Congress pass the HEROES Act with a massive infusion of resources for historically underfunded school districts like ours.
The care and keeping of our children is all of our responsibility, and may history remember us for that.
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The care and keeping of our children is all of our responsibility, and may history remember us for that.
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