WHEREAS,
For over 20 years, Black founded and led schools have succeeded in providing quality, culturally specific educational programs that celebrates student’s heritage and ethnicity; and
WHEREAS, Over the last five years, nine of 14 Philadelphia schools that have closed or agreed to close for not meeting school district conditions were minority-run; and
WHEREAS, Four of five schools currently slated by the School District of Philadelphia for nonrenewal are minority-run: and
WHEREAS, Black led and founded institutions have been held to standards that are inconsistent, causing a lack of transparency in the School District’s process of reviewing, managing, and closing non-district led schools; and
WHEREAS,
Within Black founded and led schools, 96% of the student population are Black and minority, over 50% of the teaching population is black and minority and black founded and led schools serve as economic anchors for the neighborhoods they reside in, also supporting small black-owned
businesses
; and
WHEREAS, For several decades Black led schools have added to the vibrancy and uplift of a community which in Philadelphia has often been left literally standing outside the wall. These same schools have also suffered through the process of just existing and being recognized as an important part of the educational landscape here in Philadelphia; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, This hearing will
identify and examine potential systemic biases in oversight that create inequalities between Black and white led schools, resulting in fewer resources or support for Black founded and led institutions.
End