Jeff Bryant, a prolific writer about the Resistance to Faux Reform, will moderate a panel at Netroots Nation about how Philadelphia activists fought back and regained democracy.fought back and regained democracy.
The session is called “What Philly Taught Us: How Philadelphia Activists Brat SchoolPrivatization to Restore Local Control.”
Starts: Thursday, Jul. 11 2:30 PM
Ends: Thursday, Jul. 11 3:30 PM
Room: 119A
State control of Philadelphia’s schools came to an end in November 2017. This was an historic event, long in the making by a resistance campaign led by Philadelphians. State control had essentially stripped the city’s majority-black and brown residents of their democratic rights. The state agency emphasized cutting expenses and staff, closed neighborhood schools, and imposed various forms of “school choice.” Philly saw its core institutions ripped out and replaced with schools operated by private interests with no knowledge of community values and culture. But years of intense public opposition successfully pressured the mayor and governor to transfer state control to a People’s School Board representative of Philadelphians.
For more than a decade, Netroots Nation has hosted the largest annual conference for progressives, drawing nearly 3,000 attendees from around the country and beyond. Netroots Nation 2019 is set for July 11-13 in Philadelphia.
Our attendees are online organizers, grassroots activists and independent media makers. Some are professionals who work at advocacy organizations, progressive companies or labor unions, while others do activism in their spare time. Attendees can choose from 80+ panels, 60+ training sessions, inspiring keynotes, caucuses, film screenings and lots of networking and social events.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It is very deceptive to call this a “People’s School Board” . Instead of state control, Philly schools are now under mayoral control with the mayor appointing all nine members. https://6abc.com/education/new-philly-board-of-education-members-announced/3299936/
In fact Philly students and teachers protested a recent decision of the board after the Board voted to keep metal detectors; these protestors shut down the meeting and when testifying called themselves the “People’s Philadelphia School Board”.
https://whyy.org/articles/student-protesters-shut-down-philly-school-board-meeting-over-metal-detector-vote/
Moreover the chair of the new mayoral-appointed board, Joyce Wilkerson, was also the chair of the board when the schools were under state control. https://www.inquirer.com/philly/education/new-philadelphia-school-board-first-meeting-local-control-20180709.html
“Moreover the chair of the new mayoral-appointed board, Joyce Wilkerson, was also the chair of the board when the schools were under state control.”
Disseminating and lying liars will lie and disseminate, eh!
posted at Oped with these comments, which HAVE LINKS TO POSTS AT DIANE’S BLOG,
Same thing is happening in Rochester and across the nation.
NO ONE IS WATCHING! This is how it is done– piece by piece. Ripe for takeover, 15,880 separate school districts in 50 states are on beyond absorbed by legislatures, without an educator on board. The the ‘job’ is farmed out to. for-profit markets.
Look at this example in Missouri the deliberate and heedless destruction of what was once a vibrant school district .
And This article about an impoverished Ohio district waswritten by Robert Brownlee, who grew up in East Cleveland, attended its public schools, and spent his career in its public schools. He hits the nail on the head: The state takeover will do nothing to address the root causes of low academic achievement.
Be informed… read what’s up at theNPE newsletters.
Or go to the Diane Ravitch blog and learn how state legislatures,bought by lobbyists for privateers, are ending public schools by taking over with not an educator on board.Or go to my seriesat OpEd news.https://www.opednews.com/author/series/author40790.html
DO YOU KNOW that ending PUBLIC EDUCATION is the goal around the nation?
Did you know that public education is the only road to income equality.. as this is happening. (Don’t miss that fascinating video.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM
The Network for Public Education is a non-profit to counteract the PACs. The NPE which works to offer THE TRUTH about this assault on our INSTITUTION of Public Education.
Diane Ravitch, who created the NPE, was the Ass’t Secretary of Education for 2 administrations which propelled her to write Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools, where she offers a critical analysis of the condition of public education in twenty-first century America.
“Ravitch offers a captivating depiction of the corporate and political interests that market what she considers to be the unfounded claim that the nation is at risk. Extending the argument against the high-stakes testing and accountability movement begun in her earlier work, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, Ravitch provides a thorough analysis of empirical and qualitative social science research to investigate the notion that education is in decline and that the reforms currently promoted are well-evidenced as effective enough to improve American schooling.”
Thanks Diane. It should be a great panel with three leaders of the movement to take back the city’s schools plus author of the book “Takeover: Race, Education and Democracy.” The conference will also feature. many of the Democratic presidential candidates
I hope lots of parents that are tired of losing their public schools along with all the rights attached to them show up to complain about imposed privatization on communities of color. Separate schools are never equal. I hope lots of disgruntled people show up to demand making public schools part of the public trust, not an expression of market based policies.