Amount: $25,000
2015
Philadelphia, PA
PSU is a youth-led organization that works to build the power of young people to demand a high quality education in the Philadelphia public school system. Of necessity, PSU has been engaged for several years in beating back the siege on public education in Philadelphia, led by advocates of charter schools and market driven reforms and aided by a governor and legislature unwilling to fund Philadelphia schools equitably. PSU has participated in coalitions that kept statewide fair funding issues in the public eye, opposed school closings and charterization, made public education priority issues in local and state elections, and helped elect a new governor and new mayor. PSU also has worked on both ends of the school to prison pipeline, pressing for restorative justice programs in schools and participating in Black Lives Matter activities and campaigns to close jails and eliminate cash bail. Hazen’s three-year renewal grant will enable PSU to continue its work to eliminate cash bail and ensure that the House of Corrections, which hundreds of students currently pass on their way to school, is closed and not replaced. It also will support PSU’s advocacy for increases in restorative justice programs throughout the district, training in restorative justice practices, and changes in the student Code of Conduct that reduce the number of suspendable offenses and promote alternative disciplinary practices.