The
Student Union has grown from the dream of a few young people to a powerful
organization with a solid organizing model. We now have chapters in five
Philadelphia public schools. The Student Union is generally recognized as
an important player for school reform and a major voice for young people
in the city. Over the last five years we have had many important accomplishments.
The following are a few of our victories.
Prior successes:
- In 1996 we organized over 2,000 students to walkout of school and protest at City Hall. This action helped convince City Council to give $15 million to the schools.
- In 1999 PSU youth organizers at Simon Gratz got their principal to ensure that all students had textbooks in every major subject.
- In 1998 PSU youth organizers at West Philadelphia got the school to perform much needed building repairs.
- In 2000 PSU youth organizers at Bartram began a campaign to improve relationships between students and staff. They organized an annual basketball tournament that brings staff and students together.
- In 2000 PSU youth organizers at Gratz began a campaign to encourage meaningful and engaging instruction. Students ran professional development sessions for all of their teachers and started working with teachers to redesign the schools professional development strategies.
- In 2001 the Student Union played a leading role in limiting efforts to privatize the School District of Philadelphia. Our efforts resulted in stopping the privatization of the central administration and any high schools, gaining a second mayoral appointee on the School Reform Commission, and limiting the overall number of schools turned over to for-profit companies.
- In the 2002-03 school year PSU influenced the School District to double the number of counselors in Philadelphia public high schools. That number increased from 114 to 228, a $9.5 million expenditure. The Student Union also designed the new Student Success Center program that now exists in 10 high schools.
- From 2004-2006, PSU youth organizers at Bartram succeeded in pressuring the School District to contract Fellowship Farm, and helped them to design a process of bringing students and staff together to air their grievances and build meaningful relationships in a supportive environment.
- From 2003-present, PSU youth organizers at West Philadelphia High School have been engaged in a campaign to transform their high school into a community-centered school around the small schools model. In the fall of 2007 West will open with four academies recommended through PSU's students surveys, a major first step in the transformation of the school.
