Philly Mom’s Plea For Schools Goes Viral

I’m seeing this post increasingly in my Twitter feed this afternoon: It’s an open letter from Erica Makowski (right) to city leaders, begging them to fix the city’s schools—and, well, the city itself—so her family can remain in Philadelphia.

The school district alone frightens me. It feels like it is a political chess match instead of focusing on our sweet kids, who deserve everything, especially a safe place to walk to school, or a bus to take them to school, a place to sit and learn, and have teachers/administrators who want to help that child and their family succeed.

My husband and I are not in a situation where we can afford the amazing private schools surrounding our neighborhood, and there is not an alternative charter school in our catchment area. Thomas Mifflin would be the school our child would attend. Mifflin seems to be working hard for its students, and the community is slowing investing in it. It does make us hopeful, but when we hear more talks about cutting the things that keep our children excited to go to school (like art, music, etc…) that anxiety is amped up quite a bit as are the thoughts of moving out of the district. I talk to parents everyday, who live in areas where the schools are awful, and I mean, awful. They are begging for alternative options.

THIS SHOULD NOT BE THAT WAY. FIX THEM FOR OUR CHILDREN. FIX THEM FOR OUR FAMILIES.

There’s more. But you get the idea: The city’s feeling broken, and it’s going to chase away everybody who can, in some fashion, afford to escape.