I used to work at a school in Fishtown- we had a library full of books but no one could use it because we didn't have a librarian. That's almost more horrible than not having the library at all, you know? "Just behind that door, all the books you could want!" but the door stays locked.

Yeah my kid’s school has one of those. I was so confused when they started bringing books home from “the library” then I volunteered at a Book Fair and delivered some books to the “library.”

The teacher gave my kid a banned book too - Strega Nona. I had never heard of it but apparently it’s banned in some states bc the little Italian grandma does witchcraft. I think it’s radical some people are doing this, the kids don’t understand but I appreciate it!

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The ceo of my charter school made 500k a year.

We didn't have a library

In addition to being typically female professions, they also benefit from it being a passion career. The kind of person who wants to go into the field would only do so if they really believed it was important, so the employer (or in this case, government) can bake that into it. "Sure, it's not financially rewarding, but it's your calling."

Essentially we need mandatory maternity/paternity leave and universal pre-k. Having well funded and organized starts for children can make all the difference.

Yea it blows my mind. I pay under 100/month for full coverage with State Farm.

We get it...They (city leaders) don't.

I'm thinkinkung body armor might be an appropriate back to school gift.

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My rescue dog came from nicetown. He's nice!

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School librarians, specifically, are teachers of a kind (in PA and many other states the job requires a teaching license as well and a Library Science Degree.) During school library time students don't just get books and read. They have their reading skills evaluated by a dedicated professional, they get specific instruction in reading skills that greatly supplements what and overworked teacher can provide and is more focused on reading for pleasure than textual required reading, and most importantly for me, they teach research and information resource evaluation; the skills we need to, say, "do our own research on the vaccine," and not come away with some Q Anon garbage.

It's no accident that insufficient school funding policies over the last 40-50 years leading to a lack of school librarians, happening at the same time as a boom in technology changing how we get information faster than we can keep up, has lead to the exact situation we are in, where kids on Tik Tok think birds are a psyop and a not insignificant part of our nation's population believes the big election lie.

When I was a kid in public school our librarian taught us boolean operators. Now, I work with kids and even having grown up with google their whole lives they can often barely figure out the best way to get the information they are looking for because no one is teaching them.

Idk but last summer a rental agent was saying last year was the worst he'd ever seen the market in Philly. Lots of issues leftover from covid (many different factors but one he mentioned is people are looking for different things than they were pre-covid and there just isn't enough stock for that).

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Did you contact them and say you have nonrefundable plane tickets?

School librarians, specifically, are teachers of a kind (in PA and many other states the job requires a teaching license as well and a Library Science Degree.) During school library time students don't just get books and read. They have their reading skills evaluated by a dedicated professional, they get specific instruction in reading skills that greatly supplements what and overworked teacher can provide and is more focused on reading for pleasure than textual required reading, and most importantly for me, they teach research and information resource evaluation; the skills we need to, say, "do our own research on the vaccine," and not come away with some Q Anon garbage.

It's no accident that insufficient school funding policies over the last 40-50 years leading to a lack of school librarians, happening at the same time as a boom in technology changing how we get information faster than we can keep up, has lead to the exact situation we are in, where kids on Tik Tok think birds are a psyop and a not insignificant part of our nation's population believes the big election lie.

I can't vouch for your catholic education, but when I was a kid in public school our librarian taught us boolean operators. Now, I work with kids and even having grown up with google their whole lives they can often barely figure out the best way to get the information they are looking for because no one is teaching them.

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I’m saying the opposite of that, city schools provide a lot of services that suburban don’t. More city school students need help with food and technology, issues that suburban schools don’t typically tackle

Can't read, paywall, but wasn't this building just closed permanently last month?

...are you excusing districts for quite literally not doing what they're supposed to do? Manpower is down everywhere. There's still plenty to walk beats. They're hiding inside at a desk with sore knees.

Those boots can't taste good, man.

> vacant land clear and clean, vacant housing kept up to standards(with a cost associated)

The city seriously needs to hike the shit out of the costs to leave property vacant. It's a measly $185 right now, and there aren't nearly enough L&I folks to process the inevitable violations stemming from owners letting those properties rot.

I'd love to see a sliding scale that's something like $1,000 minimum for the first year and escalates from there (potentially higher if you have multiple vacants) — these assholes will stop squatting on houses if you make it hurt.

On the other hand I switched from Geico to Allstate and I’m paying less on car insurance for more coverage and I still get a discount on house insurance.

I would love to know what suburban school are providing that the city's are not. Not being snarky, just literally have no idea.

It is required. I agree. But does it happen? I've never seen this.

(and I'm not saying it doesn't, but I've been in education for 25 years in the city, and I've yet to see it.)

Instead, I see (sadly) a "you get what you pay for" model in action. These schools are the worst funded, and you can tell.