Gloves off: It’s time for parents to exercise our legal rights
(Cartoon: Signe Wilkinson, May 2012)
As we enter the school year, the purposeful underfunding and abuse of the state-run School District has never been more clear: 24 school closings. Children headed to schools even worse off than the ones they attended. Every single school across the city crippled by the deliberate refusal to staff them safely and responsibly. As the school year begins, it has never become more important for us to document and register formal complaints to record the neglect and abuse of Philadelphia’s children.
Parents are working with the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia to document and report any and all complaints of the new school year. This process is for all students and families not just students with disabilities or IEPs.
The Pennsylvania state constitution mandates that students be provided with a “thorough and efficient system of public education.” The state code requires that the curriculum in schools includes the instruction of art, music, dance, and theater, as well as “comprehensive and integrated K-12 student services” and, in particular, guidance counseling services. There are also specific provisions requiring schools to have “sufficient numbers of qualified professional employees” to enforce the curriculum requirements. If children are being denied these services, you have the right to file a complaint, and the Secretary of Education has a responsibility to investigate any complaints of deficiency.
Our goal is to document and illustrate the widespread and harmful impact of the District’s violation of the state constitution and state code. The purpose of this effort is not to file complaints against principals orschool staf