May 4, 2022
School District of Philadelphia Budget Hearing Children First Testimony April 21, 2022 Good afternoon. My name is Tomea Sippio-Smith. I am the K-12 Education Policy Director at Children First. Clearly, this has been a rough two years for our students. They have...
May 2, 2022
It’s No Joke A priest, a hedge fund millionaire, and a right- wing think tank director walk into a bar. The priest says to the hedge fund guy, “I know you’ve faltered in your now ten-year effort to destroy public education. I have a way for you to...
Apr 22, 2022
Words Won’t Fail You Pennsylvania has $10 BILLION in the bank so far this fiscal year but public school foes are claiming it would be irresponsible to use it to fully fund our schools next year. It’s a striking claim to make after four...
Apr 6, 2022
Testimony for the House Democratic Policy Committee Impact of Cyber Charter Schools on Rising Property Taxes and What We Can Do About It Irvis Office Building, Capitol Complex, Harrisburg Monday, April 4th, 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM G-50 My name is Tomea...
Apr 1, 2022
Tomorrow’s Leaders Make their Case to Today’s Lawmakers “Our text books are older than the students using them.” The sad state of textbooks was raised by Upper Darby student Tanveer K. in a meeting with House Democratic Leader Joanna...
Mar 28, 2022
TO: The Honorable Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives FROM: Concerned Education Stakeholders and Advocates SUBJECT: House Bill 2169 – Lifeline Scholarship Program DATE: March 28, 2022 On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we respectfully urge...
