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A group of Philadelphia parents and caregivers say they’re sick of schools that they allege disproportionately discipline Black students, restrict access to recess or restrooms as a form of punishment, and fail to meet students’ emotional needs.
What do they say would help reduce those problems? A joy chief.
Advocates with Lift Every Voice, a Black-led parent and community organizing group, packed City Council chambers during Friday’s joint committee meeting waving metallic magenta pom-poms and demanding city and district leaders do more to make schools places that students are excited to attend.
They and their supporters have been urging school district and city leaders to take student joy seriously for more than a year. Among other things, they’re renewing their calls for the City Council and school district to hire a “Chief of Joy” who would audit school culture across the district and recommend policies to support students’ mental and physical health.
Several councilmembers expressed their strong support for the campaign.
“If we want better outcomes, if we want our kids to show up and succeed, we have to make sure our schools are places where they feel safe, supported and valued,” Councilmember Kendra Brooks said. “Joy is a serious intervention. Joy is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.”
Amid a fiery national debate over education that often focuses on parental rights, eliminating social-emotional learning, and eradicating programs that support diversity, equity, and inclusion, Philly parents who support Lift Every Voice’s mission say those are things schools desperately need more of, not less.
Amy Furling, a district parent and Lift Every Voice advocate, said the group has been meeting regularly with the school district to discuss standardizing a 20-minute minimum recess policy, but she told the City Council “that’s clearly not enough.”
“There’s a lot more that we need to do and a lot more that we expect and demand of the district,” she said.
Jayme Banks, the school district’s deputy chief of prevention, trauma and intervention, told City Council members the district is in “active partnership” with Lift Every Voice. She also said the district supports the group’s calls for programs and systems that “promote respectful and inclusive practices, affirm student dignity, and elevate student voices.”
Banks outlined how the district has focused on restorative justice practices when students misbehave, and that students should not have their access to food, water, and restrooms restricted as a form of punishment. Banks said the district has held professional training about appropriate discipline policies and is “leaning into schools” to examine their own discipline data.
Lift Every Voice hasn’t attached a specific funding demand to its requests. But Banks cautioned staffing shortages and budget constraints limit the district’s ability to make sure its own policies are adequately followed everywhere. The Trump administration’s threats to withhold federal funding from schools that use DEI policies further complicates the district’s budget projections.
With additional funding, the district could hire more counselors and climate staff members, and expand access to art and music programs like Lift Every Voice is calling for, district officials have said.
Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas did signal that education funding increases may be coming in the City Council’s proposed budget this year. Mayor Cherelle Parker proposed increasing the school district’s share of the city’s property tax revenue from 56% to 56.5% in fiscal 2030 to pay for teacher salary increases. Thomas said the council will be proposing to move that up to fiscal 2026.
“I pray that before we leave office that we are able to raise our hands and say we fixed the education crisis in the city,” Thomas said.
But parent advocate Keisha Nicholson said underfunding is only part of the problem.
“Disinvestment is violence and too often, poor Black parents are left to pay the price and shoulder the blame for broken systems,” Nicholson said. “We want you to carry our stories — our grief, our rage, our hope, and our clarity — into the budget process.”
Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.
