On Blast

youth-produced radio with the Philadelphia Student Union

Victories & Next Steps: School Funding Campaign Update

October 08, 2008 06:29 PM PDT

This past year, Philadelphia Student Union's campaign to get equitable school funding had a major victory. PSU helped secure a $274 million increase in PA's education budget, including $51 million in new money for Philadelphia schools. PSU's organizing and lobbying efforts also helped put a new funding formula in place; a formula that is based on what students in each district actually need.

Dan Jones spoke to Vince Gordon, School Board Director for Upper Darby, about what the new funding has meant for his district and what we need to do to make sure we get the future increases our schools need.

Podcast Summary

On Blast is an organizing tool for the Philadelphia Student Union. On Blast represents the needs and interests of young people. We know that mainstream media doesn’t have our interests in mind when they broadcast their news, or play commercial music. The owners of mainstream media use their content to maintain the status quo; their framework comes from a place of sexism, racism, militarization and class oppression. At On Blast, we choose subject matter that amplifies the voices of those not being heard; those who are routinely hurt and misrepresented by the dominant media.

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The Philadelphia Student Union exists to build the power of young people to demand a high quality education in the Philadelphia public school system. We are a youth-led organization and we make positive changes in the short term by learning how to organize to build power. We also work toward becoming life-long learners and leaders who can bring diverse groups of people together to address the problems that our communities face.

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