The Philadelphia School District, a $3 billion enterprise whose job is to educate mostly poor and black children, is a system steeped in racism.
To put it bluntly, Philadelphia’s education system is an auction block where children of color are sold to the highest bidder. It is a system that Judge Doris Smith Ribner once said was “failing or refusing to provide . . . a quality education to children attending racially isolated minority schools.”
I wish I could say Smith-Ribner’s statement – made in a 1992 ruling on Philadelphia’s segregated schools – was no longer accurate. But I’m convinced that the system is rigged.
Want proof? Look no further than the SRC, the unelected body that allocates the billions flowing through the district each year.
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Photo: The Philadelphia School District, where the SRC is located. By Solomon Jones
Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author and award-winning columnist. He is the creator and editor of Solomonjones.com and morning host on 900 am WURD radio. Click here to learn more about Solomon.
