On Thursday, January 17th, members of The Caucus of Working Educators made a series of public requests of Dr. Hite and the School Board to formally endorse this year’s Black Lives Matter Week of Action in schools.
Over 30 districts and unions around the country have already thrown their full support around the BLM Week and the demands that must be met in order for Black and Brown students to have access to the schools and the education they deserve. Our hope is that Philadelphia will join the ranks of organizations who are unafraid to say that Black Lives Matter.
After hearing these powerful statements from educators and parents, School Board President Joyce Wilkerson made the following statement to the The Philadelphia Tribune:
“We support and encourage our teachers to responsibly engage students around important issues to develop critical thinking skills and a respect for the exchange of ideas. While Black Lives Matter in Action Week is not in the official curriculum of the district, we certainly support our teachers in this endeavor.”
We implore the School Board to take the next step and officially endorse Black Lives Matter Week at school! Check out the statements and videos of last week’s testimony below.
Keziah Ridgeway - African American History teacher at Northeast High School, Parent
Ismael Jimenez - African American History teacher at KCAPA, Co-Chair of Working Educators, Parent
Angela Crawford - English teacher at MLK High School, Parent
Dana Carter - 6th Grade English teacher at De Burgos Elementary
Herman Douglas - Middle School ELA teacher at Bethune Elementary, Parent
Tamara Anderson - Co-Chair of Racial Justice Organizing Committee of WE, Parent Member of Working Educators