Artículo de opinión
Toward a Brighter Future: Court Ruling and Shapiro Budget Proposal Provide Path to Make Real Change in Education Funding
“Education is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Pennsylvania Constitution to all school-age children residing in the Commonwealth.” - Commonwealth Court President Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer With that one sentence, Commonwealth Court President Judge Renee Cohn...
Building a Better Student-to-Teacher Pipeline Can Ease Staffing Crisis
By Senator Vincent Hughes and Sharif El-Mekki
A decade ago, Pennsylvania certified 20,000 new teachers. Last year, that number was down to 6,000. Chronic understaffing, along with underfunding, is driving increased burnout and shorter teaching careers.
That loss of teachers is particularly concerning among communities of color which make up 37 percent of the student body, but only 7 percent of teachers.
Republican Reopening Scam Is the Worst Kind of Politics
In the last few weeks, Pennsylvania Republicans have ramped up the political theatre in a brazen attempt at politicizing the Wolf Administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. From staged political rallies organized by out-of-state, extreme right-wing...
The Children of Philadelphia Have Been Attending Toxic Schools for Years. This Is a National Crisis
The children of Philadelphia are in dire need of our help. They are at the mercy of a man-made, ticking time bomb that is nearly inescapable. I’m talking about toxic schools. Conditions in Philadelphia schools have needed a remedy for many years. Lead, asbestos,...
Senate Democrats Call for Action on Poverty and Income Insecurity
Pennsylvania Senate Democrats Call for Action on Poverty and Economic Insecurity in Pennsylvania Abril 4 marked the 51st anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee. To honor Dr. King’s memory, Pennsylvania Senate Democrats...
No más silencio: Por qué nuestra comunidad debe abordar la salud mental
Depresión. Ansiedad. Trastornos del estado de ánimo. Demencia.
Oímos hablar de estos y otros problemas de salud mental en nuestras conversaciones habituales, en programas de televisión e incluso en nuestra música, pero sigue siendo una crisis de salud pública constante en la comunidad negra debido al estigma que rodea al tema.
We must act to stop crumbling schools in Philadelphia, across Pa.
Our schools are crumbling. Before the Inquirer reported on the deplorable conditions in Philadelphia schools, I heard that message from parents and students and even viewed it with my own eyes while visiting city schools. Seeing the conditions in which some of our...
Redlining is keeping people of color out of homes
The practice of redlining, which segregated communities and prevented minorities from achieving home ownership as their version of the American Dream, appears to be alive and well in our city and many communities across the nation. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 should...
Action to Address Worker Wages First Step on Long Road to Equity
Frustrated by years of resistance from legislative Republicans to raise worker wages, Gov. Tom Wolf announced plans to lift the state’s salary threshold below which Pennsylvania salaried workers automatically receive overtime pay. The governor’s action is...
Filadelfia toma el control de las escuelas, pero el Estado sigue debiendo alumnos
Artículo de opinión de Vincent Hughes El alcalde Kenney dijo que quería poner fin a la supervisión estatal del Distrito Escolar de Filadelfia como un paso necesario para recuperar el control local de nuestras escuelas públicas. Ahora, con la disolución de la Comisión de Reforma Escolar, el control...