On Blast

On June 17th, the School Reform Commission voted 3-1 to renew the contracts with all of the private managers running schools in the district. This vote came over loud protest from community groups including the Philadelphia Student Union, who pointed out that there is no proof that the management organizations (EMOs) have been working, and that in fact, many studies point to the opposite. There has been a lot of pressure from the state legislature to renew the contracts, many of which were already operating on a one year probation renewal.

Commissioner Heidi Ramirez was the only dissenting voice against renewal: She also noted that the proof of the effectiveness of EMOs just isn't there.

EMOs have failed thousands of students for 7 years now. At what point do we demand accountability from them and from their supporters in Harrisburg?

In late April, the Baltimore based human rights organizing group United Workers Association held a major human rights march and protest to announce the worst of the worst of the employers in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

The Inner Harbor is a major tourist hot spot, with a lot of restaurants and shops. However, despite the apparent affluence of the Harbor, the workers there are treated with a total lack of respect for their humanity. The United Workers Association, fresh off of their recent victory at the Camden Yards baseball field, is leading the charge in organizing these workers to demand their basic human rights.

Student Union was a part of a Philadelphia delegation of over 65 people that helped to support and cover the event.

On May 24th, PSU rallied in front of the School District, then traveled to the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) and rallied there too. We had the same message for them both: Teacher Quality & Equity Need to be the Top Priority in the Teachers' Contracts!

Here are some of the specific things we want to see in the contract:

1. Incentive grants to attract experienced teachers to hard-to-staff schools.

2. Full site selection.

3. Performance standards and evaluations for teachers, developed in collaboration with teachers.

4. Teacher-driven professional development.

This piece was produced by Eric Yates.

In this installment of our Song Breakdown, Zakia Royster & Candace Carter analyze the real messages in the song, "One More Drink" by Ludacris featuring T-Pain. Candace & Zakia break down Ludacris' lyrics and end up talking about men, women, alcohol, drinking and driving, sex, and self-esteem.

On this month's show, we hear testimonies about Imagine 2014 from students at the School Reform Commission, a discussion about militarization of schools, and a song breakdown of 'One More Drink.' Plus, there's music and other news. Hosted by Eric Yates & Greg Jordan-Detamore, and produced by Matt Johnson.

In this piece, students talk about the ways that the military targets poor and working class youth, including some subtle ways that the military tries to infiltrate schools, fashion, and even youth culture. This piece was produced by Dan Jones and Simone Waller.

On this month's show we hear audio highlights from PSU's action about Imagine 2014, a report about community groups in Chicago resisting school closures, an interview with West student about news that her academy (Creative & Performing Arts) will be shutting down, a collection of youth voices about military recruitment, and a rap written and performed by two PSU members. Plus, we'll have music and other news.

This show was hosted by Cherelle Reed & Mason Tyer.

Sadae Canty (right) is a student at West Philadelphia High School and is part of the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) Academy. Last Thursday, March 19, West's principal announced that the CAPA Academy would be closed down after only it's second year, in favor of creating a new 9th Grade Academy.

In this piece, Sadae talks about the importance of having a Creative and Performing Arts curriculum, and what it would mean for students if West loses this Academy.

The last week of February, students from each of PSU's chapters held an action to respond to the District's plan, Imagine 2014. This plan is directly based off Renaissance 2010, the Chicago plan for closing and taking over low-performing schools.

We know that closing schools or having them taken over by Charter Management Organizations or EMOs (private companies) is not the answer for fixing our schools. So at this action we presented a different vision for empowering students and communities to really transform our schools.

This audio for this piece was recorded by Amendu Evans (SEIU 32BJ) and Kistine Carolan (Media Mobilizing Project). The piece was produced by Candace Carter, PSU.

As part of PSU's recent action about equity, Eric Yates & Koby Murphy performed a piece they wrote. They are both part of a group of PSU students who are creating a PSU album. The album is set to drop this summer. It will feature student artists rapping, singing and doing spoken word about the issues that PSU organizes around.