The march was sponsored by the Philadelphia Student Union, a coalition of high school students from a number of area schools. "Make Martin Luther King Day a Day of Action!!" was the headline on the leaflet for the demonstration.

Before the march, a dozen students held an overnight outdoor hunger strike in bitter cold at the state office building. Jessicah Smith, a Student Union leader and graduate of West Philadelphia High, said in an interview, "We had a hunger strike to show that we're hungry for education."

After a spirited march from the state building to city hall, students spoke and performed rap to demand an end to inequality in school funding. "We need more money for updated books, new gym uniforms, new outlets, lots of things," Bryheem Crowder, a 10th grade student at Bartram High said. "I'm in the arts and humanities program and we don't even have a music teacher. It's totally unfair."

Speakers said that schools in Philadelphia receive $2,000 less per student than suburban schools.

"It's racist, because this means minorities will get less money for education than white kids," Joshua Block, a student at Friends Select High, told the crowd. "It seems to me that schools today are preparing us more for prison than college."

Students vowed further actions to continue to press for more funds for inner city schools.

Rebecca Arenson is a member of the International Association of Machinists.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home