loladelphia:

While the financial issues in the School District of Philadelphia are dire and upsetting, the financial issues in Chester-Upland School District (which serves the city of Chester) are in a critical stage. Due to Chester’s stagnant growth as a city, and a lack of funding from the state and federal levels, Chester-Upland is in a bad way. In fact, things are so bad that there is talk as to whether or not the district can even afford to remain open until June, meaning that all of the students of this district might have to be shipped elsewhere for the remainder of the year. 

Chester-Upland School District’s financial situation became a national news story when teacher Sara Ferguson announced that she and other teachers would work for free. This was after Chester-Upland officials announced that they couldn’t even  afford to pay their employees. Meanwhile, Governor Corbett remains content with watching urban school districts go broke, like the conservative piece of shit he is.

However, Ferguson’s cause of highlighting the issue of public school funding is starting to gain steam. After being First Lady Michelle Obama’s guest at the State of the Union address, Ferguson was invited onto “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” where she and her school, Columbus Elementary, were presented with a $100,000 check courtesy of sponsor JCPenney. This is also a nice supplement to the $5000 that Ferguson received from DeGeneres herself for being on the show and discussing the dire situation in Chester-Upland.

This really is a great story. It drove me crazy when everyone made a big deal of the fact that Oprah gave money to Mastery Charter Schools here in Philly. These charter schools are run by FOR PROFIT companies that already make lots of money, and people often pay tuition to go there. Public schools rely on funding and taxes, which is why they’re failing in the first place. Charter schools like Mastery do a good job educating kids, but they don’t need any money. It’s the public schools that most children attend that really need help. So Oprah, I don’t know/care what you’re doing right now, but you can eat a bag of dicks. Ellen DeGeneres, I never watched your show but I hear good things. I was already a fan of her’s for her work surrounding the mainstream acceptance of LGBT issues, and the fact that she is dedicating time to this serious issue regarding public schools in our area is really wonderful.

*Note: I have nothing against private/charter schools, so if you went to one please don’t send me any hate mail. Oftentimes, conservative politicians will point to school vouchers as a solution to public school woes, which really just pads the pockets of the companies that run these charter schools. Public education is important, especially for those in low-income areas. I’m not here to say one is better than the other, but I am here to say public education and the thousands of kids in Philadelphia School District and Chester-Upland School District deserve better.