We rang the bell and started another school year Tuesday, Sept. 3. Public school students all over the city of Philadelphia were welcomed to their schools with high fives, handshakes and words of encouragement from city officials, public servants, celebrities and other people like Senator Hughes who are rooting for their success.
It was a great start to the year – but that feeling of positivity begins to fade when you consider what some students will endure until summer 2020.
Many of our children attend crumbling schools with toxic conditions. They are powerless to remove the lead paint, asbestos and other dangerous contaminants in their classrooms. These vulnerable, young minds are susceptible to harmful conditions for the 180 days they must attend school each year.
The children of Philadelphia and across the Commonwealth are desperate for safe and healthy schools. They deserve better.
Senator Hughes and the Rev. Gregory Holston recently exposed the funding discrepancies on their #MoralMarch from Overbrook High School in Philadelphia to Lower Merion High School in Ardmore. That march also showed the differences in the conditions between city school buildings that lack the necessary funding and the high-quality buildings such as Lower Merion, which should be an example for all Pennsylvania schools.
Senator Hughes is continuing to work with the #FundOurFacilities Coalition and those efforts need your help. We have to remain vigilant to make the Republican-controlled General Assembly get the message that we need action and we need it now. Our children need a new deal and it starts with cleaning up our schools! #NewDeal4NewPA