0 Youth, Teachers and Parents Rally for Education in Philly

By: Marvin DeBose
August 22, 2013

Nearly 1,000 parents, teachers and students marched in the Center City section of Philadelphia this afternoon to protest the state budget cuts in education approved by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett.

The large group, mostly clad in red shirts, marched through the busy streets of downtown Philadelphia, all the way up Broad Street for a rally outside of the School District of Philadelphia Education Center, where, at 5:30 p.m., the School Reform Commission (SRC) would have its final meeting before the beginning of the school year.

Youth groups lead the way in this march of nearly 1,000 people

SRC, which manages the School District, is a committee which was established in 2001, when much of the control of the School District of Philadelphia went from mayor appointed school boards to state-appointed committees.

The group is largely responsible for the policy management and finance of the School District of Philadelphia. Some see the SRC as being responsible for a $304 million deficit in school funding due to state budget cuts, which led to cuts of about 3,800 School District employee positions in June.

The participants of the protest, consisting of various organizations, including Action United, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, as well as youth groups, Youth United For Change and the Philly Student Union, rallied at the School District of Philadelphia Education Center where numerous speakers touched on some of the issues which they saw as being pertinent as it pertained to public education.

Red-clad protesters march on Philadelphia's Broad Street in the midst of rain

"Brothers and sisters... I'd like to report a robbery," one speaker said. "The SRC has stolen our students' education."

Noticing the moderate police presence at the entrance of the School District building, the speaker turned and asked, "Officers will you please go in and arrest these representatives of the governor?"

The youth had a large presence at the rally as well, with students from all over the city some speaking about their views on public education, and many others handing out flyers and petitions.

During the rally, protesters got to hear from one Philadelphia youth currently adapting to the changes in the school system, Othella Standback.

Standback, a Philadelphia high school student and member of the Philadelphia Student Union, is being forced to attend Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin High School this year after her former high school, University City High School Promise Academy, was closed largely due to the budget cuts.

"In a few weeks I'll... [have to] adjust to being a school with 400 more students and I'll have to figure out how to build relationship with new teachers and other staff," Standback said. "Since this is my senior year I should be focusing more on graduating and what I'm going to do after high school."

Standback also reflected on the staff layoffs which the budget cuts intensified in many schools.

"How can a school have no counselors, no extra-curricular activities or nurses?" Standback asked. "A building with only teachers and security is not a school at all, it's just a prison."

The rally even attracted youth from outside of Philadelphia, like Trey Murphy, a teen from Baltimore who is a member of the Alliance for Educational Justice and the Baltimore Algebra Project, a youth-ran organization which advocates math literacy and student rights for Baltimore students.

"I find it to be a disgrace what Governor Corbett and the City of Philadelphia are doing to these students," Murphy said. "It's evident that the state of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia have failed these schools, these students and these teachers."

Parents, teachers and students alike are still fighting for government funding to increase the quality of education. One speaker said, "We've got to keep this up," in reference to the energy directed towards this cause.

Action United, an education advocacy group, has scheduled another rally for Tuesday, August 27 at 9:45 a.m. starting at their office on 846 N. Broad St. In this rally, they plan on discussing corporate control and privatization of public schools.