Advanced registration is encouraged. Click here to RSVP.
On the RS Special K-12 Debt Issue. Free copies of the issue will be available during the event.
A gathering for educators, K-12. Join us for refreshments, conversation, and community building.
The average student debt load for K-12 teachers is $57,000. The school district of Philadelphia sends $300 million to Wall Street every year to service debt. Teaching is hard enough without having to carry the burden of debt. As Wall Street banks make record profits off our school district debt, our school walls literally fall apart, drinking water is undrinkable, and the air teachers, staff, and students breathe is asbestos-filled and toxic. Rethinking Schools, the nation’s leading K-12 social justice education magazine recently published a special issue on the K-12 debt realities of Philadelphia and elsewhere.
We are inviting educators from across the city to join us to celebrate and discuss the launch of “Resisting Debt, Funding Justice: Special Issue on Debt and Schools.”
About the Speakers
Keziah Ridgeway is a Philadelphia area educator, activist, wife, and mother. She’s also a published writer with articles appearing in Sister's Magazine, Common Ground News, and Edweek. She has also made media appearances on CNN, CBS, and local Philadelphia news outlets and has appeared in USA Today.
Jason Thomas Wozniak (jason@debtcollective. org) is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He is a political education organizer with Debt Collective and Pennsylvania Debt Collective.
Freda Anderson (fandersonteaches@gmail. com) is a loving partner and parent. He/She has been teaching history and activism at public high schools for the last seven years.
On the Events to Come
The launch of “Resisting Debt, Funding Justice” is the first of four events for Philadelphia’s K-12 educators to talk about the ways that debt impacts their daily lives and their teaching. As part of the Philadelphia Debt Coalition, Making Worlds Bookstore in collaboration with Philadelphia Debt Collective and the participatory action research group PARCEO will be hosting educators for four events aimed at providing opportunities to learn about the K-12 debt crisis and how to combat it. We also intend to provide educators with debt refuge at each event. We’ll provide things like acupuncture, somatic exercises, licensed massage, along with practical legal and debt financing advice. The aim of our collective work is to build the coalitions and power necessary to cancel all K-12 debt. Alone our debts burden us, but when indebted educators come together, we have power. We look forward to hosting educators on December 10, 2023 for our inaugural event and Rethinking Schools launch, and over the course of the next several months.
Email jason@debtcollective.org join the Educators Caucus Philadelphia Debt Coalition mailing list.