Parents Serve City Hall Cookies in Philly Schools Rally

"Crumbs for Children," "There Aren't Enough Cookies," and "Corbett to Schools" Bake Your Way Out" were signs written by parents that were more than puns based on baked goods.

Parents from schools throughout Philadelphia rallied at City Hall Thursday for a "Mock Bake Sale on Education." Distributing cookies of all shapes and sizes to City Council members, the parents urged their local representatives to take greater ownership over the .

The event, part of a larger statewide intiative, symbolized what organizers called a broken system.

"This mock bake represents what is real. At my son's grade school, there's a real bake sale tomorrow in support of—not special things like music, arts, sports uniforms... but in First in Math programs, and reading software," Sabra Townsend said. "This is what a school in Philadelphia is doing to fund the basics."

Local Connection Downtown

Northwest Philadelphia was well represented Thursday. In addition to Townsend, a  parent,  parent Rebecca Poyourow helped organize the rally.

"(W)hen you are contending with the systematic defunding of an entire state's education system... you cannot bake your way out of that hole," she said.

Eden Kainer has her hand in several schools. Her daughter currently attends Masterman Middle School after first going to Jenks Elementary School in Chestnut Hill. Currently, she volunteers at C.W. Henry School in Mt. Airy and Jenks.

She described the dilapidated structure within Jenks' facility. Even though she said the first floor is fine, the art room in the basement, for example, boggles her mind.

"The effect on children is one thing, but think about the morale of the teachers. These buildings are ancient. These poor teachers are just undervalued," she said.

For the past several months, parents have vocally opposed numerous school district cuts. Lunchroom aides (Cook-Wissahickon), , and a nurse (Henry). With , and those students moving into the remaining schools, those quarters will get tighter, too.

A Larger Movement

Education advocates outside of parents also spoke Thursday.

Representing nurses in both the public parochial schools, Eileen Duffey has led protests every Wednesday since January. She emphasized that city needs to stand united in support of public education. 

"We have to have rallies that represent the whole City of Philadelphia—not just teachers and nurses. Not just PFT members. When we have rallies, we want it to look like the demographics are our city," she said.

Poyourow said the parents were able to meet up with several City Council officials, including Councilmembers Jannie Blackwell, Kenyatta Johnson, and Maria Quinones Sanchez. She said was in a meeting when they came.

"We dropped off cookies and the message that both state and city legislators need to step up, and that we support Mayor Nutter's plan to find $90 million for the schools," she said. 

State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-7) represents Cook-Wissahickon and has . The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hughes discussed Gov. Tom Corbett's budget.

"If someone says there's no money to fund public education, they're lying... There is probably about $400 million that we can reinvest in basic education. The question is: Do we have the will to send the message to our representatives, senators, and the governor to say that this is a priority?" Hughes said.

For more on the bake sales, visit the state mock bake sale website. View a photo gallery here.