“We’re thinking too narrowly if we’re thinking that teachers’ unions are just focused on education or just focused on supporting teachers. Education decision-making is moving out of education arenas, and… teachers’ unions are engaged in broader politics outside of education now.”
~ Melissa Arnold Lyon, University of Albany
Re: THE PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL DISTRICT:
- Though “committed to prioritizing reading literacy,” the Philadelphia School District boasts more than 116,000 students, but employed just 4 full-time librarians this past school year, plus 24 additional librarians doing non-library-related work, including teaching content area subjects in classrooms.
- The Free Press’s Frannie Block reports that, last year, Ismael Jimenez, director of Philadelphia’s social studies curriculum, said that the curriculum “emphasized multi-prospectivity and dialectical thinking involving marginalized and historically excluded voices.” Calling educators “agents of change,” Jimenez maintains that “Every child should walk into a classroom and feel the revolution stirring in the air because that’s what real education is: liberation with a syllabus.” He also posted a photo of an American flag online being thrown in the trash and compared America to the Soviet Union and North Korea.
Here are two examples from said social studies curriculum:
** African-American history students are asked to choose a replacement song for our national anthem “after critically examining race and racism.”
** A world history unit examines “the intersections of climate justice, economic justice, anti-fascism, and human rights.”
MEANWHILE:
**** First opened in 1979, the U.S. Department of Education’s budget, adjusted for inflation, rose from $56.9 billion in 1980 to $284.4 billion in 2024—a 240% increase. Maybe because…
- Its 4,400 employees include 80 public relations personnel costing taxpayers $10 million.
- 1,000 of its employees earn more than $160,000 annually, and
- 80 made about $200,000 last year.
**** In 2024, Pennsylvania spent $39 billion on education, more than 44 other states. Now, although it holds $7.4 billion in reserves, it’s seeking more funding, so property taxes may well increase.
And so it goes this summer…
~ With thanks and good August wishes, Carol
