What You Should Know About the Philly Student Walkout

[marmar]

from The Nation:



What You Should Know About the Philly Student Walkout
James Cersonsky and StudentNation on May 17, 2013 - 11:48 AM ET




Running a massive deficit of hundreds of millions of dollars, Philadelphia’s school system is planning to eliminate all sports, extracurricular activities, counselors and libraries—beyond which, for schools eviscerated by austerity politics, there’s not much left to lose. At noon today, May 17, thousands of students are expected to walk out of class and flood downtown.

“It’s time that the City Council and Governor Corbett started listening to students,” says Sharron Snyder, a junior at Benjamin Franklin High School and an organizer with the Philadelphia Student Union. “If they spent even one day in my school, they would know that already we don’t have the right resources to succeed.”

Walkout organizers state, “We are willing to break the stereotypes and expectations of urban youth, and are taking this opportunity to tell the world that urban school districts deserve funding, and it is your responsibility under the Commonwealth Charter to provide us with more than a ‘bare bones education.’”

Here are five backstories to #walkout215:

1. The pregame. On May 7 and 9, students staged two walkouts, the first with a few hundred students, the second with upwards of 1,000. The May 7 action was launched by an unaffiliated group, the Silenced Students Movement, over Facebook and Twitter. By Thursday, members of the Philadelphia Student Union (PSU) and Youth United for Change (YUC), the city’s largest student organizing groups, were in on the call. This time, students have the support of PSU, YUC and the broader Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools (PCAPS). The coalition includes the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, both student groups and an array of community groups and other unions. .............(more)

Read more: http://www.thenation.com/blog/174401/what-you-should-know-about-philly-student-walkout#ixzz2TeCSTAjy

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[OneGrassRoot]

2. Huge K&R! n/t

[Cal Carpenter]

3. Why aren't public schools 'too big to fail'?

Rec'd.

[mountain grammy]

5. +1000

[baldguy]

8. Because TPTB intend for them to fail.

[Cal Carpenter]

10. Yep, undermine the public institutions

So that profiteers can swoop in and 'save' them. It's like sabotage. Chip away and chip away.

[Lifelong Protester]

4. I love to see activism in youth

I support their walkout.

[mountain grammy]

6. I'm inspired by these kids.. way to go!

[Starry Messenger]

7. k&r

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. As an urban teacher, I applaud these kids!!!

I'm sure their teachers are very proud of them.

[xtraxritical]

11. This should spur Occupy and go nationwide!

[Egalitarian Thug]

19. It is nationwide, it is simply ignored by the media.

"If it's not on TV, it didn't happen"

[lunasun]

12. Could be in school learning instead of having to beg on streets to keep their classes & libraries!

Terrible cuts but good on the kids for rising up to fight it and speaking out

"It is your responsibility under the Commonwealth Charter to provide us with more than a ‘bare bones education.’”
Philadelphia Student Union. “If they spent even one day in my school, they would know that already we don’t have the right resources to succeed.”

[SheilaT]

13. Libraries? They want to eliminate libraries??

I can see the logic of sports and extracurricular activities being cut, but libraries?

Counselors are, in my estimation, a close second behind the libraries in importance.

[marions ghost]

15. PE and extracurricular are just as important

as libraries ...studies have shown...

just sayin

[uppityperson]

25. Schools need libraries as do communities. Reading and internet access are needed as well as

the ability to research things as many have not learned how to learn.

[socialist_n_TN]

14. A worker's government would provide for education......

and not needless imperialistic wars worldwide.

Kick for the students standing up for themselves. And for all of us.

[dotymed]

16. Maybe they are learning Civics in school. I hope so.

In Tn. "funding" for schools is a bad joke and getting worse.
I paid $90 for my Son's yearbook. Every extracurricular activity at school is only available for the kids whose parents can afford high fee's (even books for classes). When my Son played H.S. baseball, I paid $50 for a family pass (I am the only family) to watch his games. I was a volunteer and worked every game to raise more money, I paid to work and usually couldn't even see the game.

It is getting worse. "they" are now firing faculty (band director) and not filling positions when they lose a teacher.
It is a sad state of affairs, an institution where parents must finance everything even though we have a 10% sales tax on everything.
The requirements they are saddling new teachers with are insane. They have effectively cut their pay and increased their hours and class size.

[okaawhatever]

21. did you know Sen Frist left the Republican party? He is on board of a school charity and pushing the

core concepts or whatever it's called. The tea party has a big problem with it as do the religious right. I think one of the reasons we haven't seen the laws here in TN that they've started in states like NC and LA is because of Sen Frist.

[sulphurdunn]

17. The corporatists

aim to break public education so they can pick up the pieces for profit and they don't care who gets hurt doing it. They are also after public universities. They run the student loan, charter school and private prison rackets. They own the federal and every state legislature in the nation. Massive defiance and non-compliance are the only possible responses to them. We're way beyond anything else.

[DirkGently]

20. We're not allowed anything that doesn't make

... the right people rich.

Good on these kids for recognizing it and taking action.

[sulphurdunn]

22. Why do the peasants need libraries?

Don't they televisions and cell phones?

[GiaGiovanni]

26. While Philly schools got nothing this year, Nutter 200 million for new police building in West Phila

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/03/14/property-tax-battle-joined-as-mayor-nutter-presents-citys-next-budget/