Ackerman

Originally posted at Young Philly Politics:

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I updated this post to include the finding that a charge that Asian students had beaten up an African American student the day before was based on hearsay. See below.

We, the students at Overbrook High School (OHS), have been working to improve our school for the last two years.  This is because we love our school, and we feel like students have to take responsibility for making it better.  We have been organizing students to come to school on time and attend their classes, meeting with district officials, elected officials, and community members who are all as committed as we are in transforming our school to educate each and every one of us for our future.  But the road has not been easy.

Along with other members of the Philadelphia Student Union, I recently interviewed Heidi Ramirez, a member of the School Reform Commission (SRC) who  announced her resignation last month. We asked her about subjects such as teacher quality and the school district's strategic plan.

On February 25, outside of the Philadelphia School District's building, came together a diverse crowd of people, eight rows deep, provoking the very image of community that they hoped to see implemented in the city's public school system.
The Philadelphia Student Union (PSU) hosted this event, where students, parents, and those in the community joined to voice their concerns over the proposed 5 year strategic plan called Imagine 2014. It has been proposed by CEO of Philadelphia Schools Arlene Ackerman to help solve the crisis of education.