Philly’s Struggle for Community-Driven Schools in the Midst of a “Changing Same” (2013–2023)

• In Event: Let the Fire Burn: A 10-Year Retrospective on Public School Reform in Philadelphia

Abstract

As Dr. Camika Royal (2022) notes “since the modern reform era began in Philly in 1967, racial school reform has consistently been sabotaged by racism, capitalism and constant political combat” (p. 121). This paper documents, examines and reflects upon the shifting Philadelphia education (PhlEd) landscape over the last decade (2013-2023), focusing on the use of community school partnerships as a strategic approach for educational justice. Shaped by racist capitalist austerity policy measures, including the dramatic closure of 23 public schools in 2013, as well as multiracial resistance movements, as highlighted by coalitions like Our City, Our Schools, this decade has been marked by both transformative possibility and destructive sabotage. Using archival research, oral histories, data from a participatory, qualitative study of different community + school collaboration models, and reflections on their own involvement in advocacy work, the author maps ways that local policy makers, school professionals, activist groups and, most importantly, students and families have navigated the landscape over this time period. The author points to the daunting challenges and problems created by reform approaches, that on paper have held great promise and were supportive of community and school collaboration, but in practice often exacerbated racial and socio-economic inequalities. In this way, this decade of Philly education has operated as a “changing same” (baraka, 1966), to what Dr. Royal has described. The author will also put this changing same in conversation with the visions and approaches that have emerged from advocacy and organizing over this decade. While there is no singular solution, transformative visions, such as community schools and sanctuary schools, alongside calls for police free schools, provide pathways for working toward justice and liberation. As such, the author argues the challenge of the “changing same” should not deter seekers of justice from continuing to do the multi scalar work needed to actualize visions of community driven schools whose implementations can contribute to neighborhood and city-wide change.

Author

• Edwin Mayorga, Swarthmore College