In Michael Halko’s fifth-grade class at Francis Scott Key Elementary, the first 30 minutes of every day are sacred – it’s time for morning meeting, and, most important, yogurt, burritos, and muffins. (Read more.)
Half a decade ago, filmmaker Amanda Danzinger gave video cameras to four teens at the after-school program where she volunteered. Their home movies became part of a feature-length documentary she cut about their lives. “The Backyard Philly Project” follows Montae, Tasia, Brianna and David who lived in public housing project Penn Town at 6th and Green streets in North Philadelphia. (Read more.)
Defending Congress’ plan to eliminate the estate tax the other day, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) declared that getting rid of it recognizes those who invest their money “as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze, or women, or movies.” (Read more.)
After mold outbreaks at neighborhood schools, City Councilman Derek Green and advocates from the Philly Healthy Schools Coalition are filing a Right-to-Know request with the District for environmental health data on every school that they were promised last spring — a promise that they say the District did not keep. (Read more.)
Muñoz-Marin Elementary School has suffered a severe outbreak of mold, leaving the School District scrambling to clean it up so that school can open on time on Sept. 5. (Read more.)
City Controller Alan Butkovitz has found that several Philadelphia schools last year failed to reach staffing levels required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and some of its federal aid could be in jeopardy as a result. (Read more.)
The state of Pennsylvania has received a grade of F for its efforts — or lack thereof — to solve the widespread problem of lead in the drinking water in school buildings, according to a PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center report titled Get the Lead Out. (Read more.)
A new national study puts Pennsylvania among the most educationally segregated states in the country, with borders that create wealthy, predominantly white school districts right next door to those that are mostly nonwhite and impoverished. (Read more.)
On the day when Gov. Wolf said he would allow to become law a Republican spending plan that significantly pares back what he wants to invest in education around the state, a recent report confirmed that Philadelphia and several other Pennsylvania districts are among the most fiscally distressed in the country. (Read more.)
The grants, given to 45 local organizations, will affect 22,000 children per year, says Pew. (Read more.)
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