Nearly three in five college students experienced food or housing insecurity in 2020, according to a yearlong survey conducted by The Hope Center for College Community and Justice at Temple University. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
Pennsylvania does not require nonprofits, including colleges and universities with large endowments, to pay property taxes, but Philadelphia advocates have been pushing for these payments, known as PILOTs, since at least November 2019. Now, they’re explicitly asking the universities to contribute 40% of the property taxes they don’t pay to the district. The group did not have an estimate for how much that would yield for the city’s schools. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
Hundreds of protesters blocked traffic on March 30, to call on the higher ed institutions to provide more funding to Philadelphia schools.
In 2020, 195,000 students from more than 200 colleges and universities across the country responded to the survey — including students attending schools in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia — and provides one view on the impact of the pandemic on students’ lives. The most common obstacle respondents faced this year was not being able to afford rent, mortgage, or utility bills. The number of students who said they experienced housing insecurity in 2020 rose by almost 10% from 2019. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
This is the fourth set of schools announced since the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the district agreed on a phased-in reopening process, which allowed the union to review ventilation documents in all schools before bringing students and staff back for in-person instruction. | From: Chalkbeat Philadelphia (Read more.)
Philadelphia public school students in grades 3-5 and middle school students with complex needs will be eligible to return to physical classrooms in late April, the school district announced Thursday. Families with students in these eligibility groups will have the option of sending their children to school in-person twice a week — an option already available to students in pre-K through second grade. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
Monson said $350 million would be used for “enhanced” summer learning opportunities, before- and after-school programs, tutoring, and other “evidence-based” interventions. Another $325 million would be spent on facilities improvements, which he said would “supplement, not supplant,” previously dedicated capital investments. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
Math and science top the subjects where the district needs to fill the biggest number of vacancies. | From: Chalkbeat Philadelphia (Read more.)
The School District of Philadelphia hasn’t created a public dashboard to track COVID-19 cases in its schools since it began a phased-in reopening two weeks ago for students in prekindergarten to second grade. After Mayfair announced its temporary shutdown, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers called on the district to create a dashboard for greater transparency about positive cases. | From: Chalkbeat Philadelphia (Read more.)
The Philadelphia school district stands to receive almost $1.3 billion from the American Rescue Act that passed Congress Wednesday and is expected to be signed by President Biden on Friday. | From: Chalkbeat Philadelphia (Read more.)
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