Title
Declaring February 3-7, 2020 as "National Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action" in the City of Philadelphia.
Body
WHEREAS, The roots of Black History Month can be traced back to 1926 with the establishment of Negro History Week and it has since grown to a commemoration recognized and celebrated throughout the country; and
WHEREAS, The Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action started in Philadelphia on January 23, 2017, and was inspired by a day of action in 2016 when educators, students, and families in Seattle came to school wearing shirts emblazoned with "Black Lives Matter: We Stand Together"; and
WHEREAS, This 2019-2020 school year, thousands of educators from coast-to-coast who are committed to social justice will participate in the national week of action. Many will wear Black Lives Matter shirts to school and teach lessons about structural racism, intersectional Black identities, Black history, and anti-racist movements; and
WHEREAS, The Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action has four national demands that counter the school-to-prison pipeline system and establish inclusive academic settings and curricula: to end "zero tolerance" policies, and implement restorative justice; to hire more Black teachers; to mandate Black history and ethnic studies in the K-12 curriculum and anti-racist training for all educators in Philadelphia; and to fund more counselors and fewer school police officers; and
WHEREAS, Schools are community pillars that should promote equity, build understanding, and facilitate active engagement in creating pathways to freedom and justice for all people; and
WHEREAS, Research shows that the use of culturally-relevant curricula and the teaching of ethnic studies may significantly improve student attendance, grade point average, and completed credits; and
WHEREAS, As Paulo Freire argues, teachers do not merely deposit information into students passively. Teachers, instead, are in a liberatory dialogue with the...
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