Dozens of Philadelphia students walked out of class Wednesday afternoon to demand “better educational standards” for the city’s public schools.
Around 50 students gathered at the Philadelphia School District building at 1 p.m. and then marched to City Hall down Broad Street. The marchers included students from Motivation High School, Science Leadership Academy and Boy’s Latin of Philadelphia Charter School.
“With the recent passing of yet another inadequate budget, and the continued neglect of Philadelphia public schools at the hands of lawmakers and school district officials, students are left to take their futures into their own hands,” organizers of the rally wrote in a released statement.
The protesters demanded an expansion of the city’s budget for public education, the inclusion of financial literacy courses as a high school graduation requirement, adequate staffing of schools with counselors and nurses and a repeal of the Keystone Exam graduation requirement in 2019.
“It falls on us to pick up the pieces where other people have failed and make this a better educational system for us and the future generations to come,” said one of the protesters.
The protesters also called for younger students, including those in elementary school, being exposed to the idea of attending college.
