About 50 folks braved the damp cool day and rallied on the steps of the Delaware County Court House to voice their displeasure of the direction the Chester-Upland School District is headed.
School district advocates, State Senators, teachers, Delco Resist, and a few other supporters from across the county took turns expressing their views of Chester schools heading toward privatization or a complete charter school take over.
The setting outside the courtroom building seemed to be directed to the Court of Common Pleas judge who is ruling over the process no one seems satisfied with.
The absence of Chester Upland School Board members, Chester government officials, Chester-Upland School District parents and students implies they all have thrown their hands in the air and will accept the fate of the district, wherever it may land. It’s sad to see people give up like this, but I guess the feeling of hopelessness is overwhelming and most people have just lost their appetite to fight for the school district.
You say Chester has given in….. No I say the decision has already been made when the judge imposed his somewhat decision the last court hearing. Just do what’s going to be done and get it over with. Let US care about the CHILDREN! No one cares about the educational system in the city of Chester (governmental wise). Who from the State/ District/ City really cares? Not one of them showed up either to make known their dissatisfaction of the plight of the beloved Chester Upland School District. I’m proud to wear the colors Orange and Black, BUT I say let’s take this all the way back to the 80’s, 90’s and early 00 era of the School Board, where those who were in charge of finances and decision making would have deterred the decisions of today had they properly handled the positions in which they were trusted. It is because of THEM we are in dire straights now. How dare you say people don’t care? I know a lot of people who CARE about the fate of the district! What you should be asking is how did this happen and investigate that! I say and will always say, Follow the money trail and lay blame where it should be, not on the parents!!!
I imagine you’re telling the readers to do an investigation because I’ve written about this issue for years. For those who’d like the latest summary of why we’re here…
https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/01/15/in-pennsylvania-the-dismantling-of-a-public-school-system/?sh=1e9cdb0871b1
I wonder how this affects athletics–seems to be one thing in the city that gets support (from the community)
In order to have an athletic program, you first have to have schools that support athletics. Chester barely qualifies to belong in the PIAA because of the lack of variety of sports offered. It will be something to watch. There’s a good chance all sports will join independent leagues and not qualify for district or state titles in the future.