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On an unseasonably hot March day outside of Bluford Elementary School, Philadelphia mom Cat LaTorre hustled from car to car handing out flyers.
The bold purple lettering spelled out the school district’s new wellness policy guaranteeing kids daily recess, regular bathroom breaks, and more. But to LaTorre, they represented something on top of that: victory.
“These are the things we won for you, mama,” she said to a parent and her daughter driving off at dismissal time. “We’re trying to do bigger and better things for you.”
LaTorre is one of dozens of parent volunteers with the grassroots advocacy group Lift Every Voice Philly. They’d spent the better part of two years confronting district officials and city leaders with stories of students wearing diapers to school because of insufficient bathroom breaks. They sent letters and testified in meetings about entire classrooms of students being punished for a single kid’s bad behavior. They showed up to Philadelphia City Council meetings demanding joy for their children, and said they didn’t think that was too much to ask.
Cat LaTorre, a member of Lift Every Voice Philly, shares a flyer about the district’s new wellness policy with a parent at Bluford Elementary School. (Solmaira Valerio for Chalkbeat)
Lift Every Voice’s work shows how hard it can be for parents in the city to affect change, but also how it can be done. It took a lot of advocacy, false dawns, and more than one tearful school board meeting to do what at one point felt impossible to the group. These parents, most of whom had little formal history or background in activism, ultimately had a major influence on policy in the big bureaucratic system that is the Philly school district.
And other parents are starting to take notice. The district’s proposal to close 18 schools has spurred hundreds of Philly families who’ve never considered themselves education activists to look for an advocacy playbook that gets results.
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Following a Board of Education vote last month, it’s now official district policy that all students will get daily recess, regular movement breaks to stretch, as well as access to water and bathrooms that can’t be restricted as punishment. In addition, teachers can no longer collectively punish groups of students for the actions of a few, and students can’t be forced to have “silent lunches” where speaking is prohibited.
“We navigated something that is so significant, that is life-changing for our kids and for our families,” LaTi Spence, a member of Lift Every Voice, told Chalkbeat.
Councilmember praises Lift Every Voice’s ‘community power’
Just days after the school board’s vote, in a blur of metallic purple pom-poms, members of Lift Every Voice celebrated the landmark policy change at the district’s headquarters. Superintendent Tony Watlington and other local dignitaries stood arm-in-arm with the LEV parents.
“‘Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will,’” Watlington said, quoting the abolitionist Frederick Douglass. “I wish we had done this much sooner. But I’m pleased that we’re doing it today.”
Of course, “power” over Philly public schools resides with district leaders like Watlington and the school board.
Superintendent Tony Watlington celebrated the Philadelphia school board’s vote to approve the wellness policy at the school district headquarters in March. (Carly Sitrin / Chalkbeat)
The board’s Feb. 27 vote to adopt the policy was perfunctory and took place without debate. But for months before that, it appeared and then disappeared from school board meeting agendas.
The Lift Every Voice parents discovered there was always another survey to fill out, another person they should meet with, or another time for public comment.
The process was exhausting and at times, demoralizing, they said. But it wasn’t unfamiliar.
The wellness policy was not Lift Every Voice’s first demand from those in power in Philly schools.
The group began in 2022 as a grassroots gathering of Black parents who said they felt ignored and shut out of important conversations about public education in the city. Lift Every Voice’s 2023 campaign to expose the school nurse staffing shortage forced a public reckoning and gave the advocates their first taste of success.
Since then, moms and grandmas in their signature purple shirts have canvassed neighborhoods, visited with members of the City Council, and roamed City Hall.
Carrera Wilson, center, said Lift Every Voice Philly helped her build confidence and get more involved in her children’s education. (Solmaira Valerio for Chalkbeat)
“They testify, they build power,” Councilmember Kendra Brooks said at the celebration of the board’s wellness policy vote. “That’s what community power looks like.”
And their success comes as community organizing around public education is seeing a resurgence in the wake of the district’s closure proposals.
At several community engagement meetings and rallies across the city protesting the closures, many parents and public school advocates have accused the bureaucracy of Philadelphia schools of creating a wall between families and the district.
But it’s not insurmountable, parents said.
“We don’t win all the battles. But this one’s really significant,” Spence said. “I think it’s giving people and parents hope to know that, especially with the news around the school closures, that there’s a piece of joy that we did get and we can hold on to.”
Cat LaTorre spread the word about the new wellness policy by talking to parents at dismissal at Bluford Elementary School. (Solmaira Valerio for Chalkbeat) Changing policy in Philly public schools isn’t easy
Lift Every Voice Executive Director Shanée Garner said changing how the district works can be messy because “our systems are not built to respond to people.” She said the school district has been historically underfunded and has cycled through different leaders, board members, and various amounts of state oversight.
The core of LEV’s work has been about fostering relationships, Garner said. “If we want to build a future where everyone is looking out for each other,” she said, it requires elected officials, school leaders, and parents to take the time to get to know each other.
Julie Krug, another parent in LEV, said she thinks the group was able to move hearts and minds by choosing policy priorities drawn from stories rooted in their personal experiences with their kids and their schools. “What I’ve learned is how powerful that really is,” she said. “It’s irrefutable.”
Members of Lift Every Voice say their advocacy work’s goal is to create better school environments and more joy for Philly students. (Solmaira Valerio for Chalkbeat)
Building sustained parent power also requires educating families about the levers of control and the city’s political hierarchies, and how to navigate them.
At meetings, volunteers run through scenarios about issues like bullying, vaping, and advocating for resources for students with disabilities. They discuss how to find the right person to reach out to whether that’s a teacher, counselor, assistant superintendent, or administrator. They practice writing an email or note that will best convey their concerns.
The goal is to demystify the system and arm parents with the knowledge and skills to advocate for what their children are owed.
Carrera Wilson, another founding Lift Every Voice member and mother of five, said prior to joining the group, she was an activist in her heart and in her mind, “but actually making moves, making changes, connecting with people that actually can do things? That have some pull? No.” she said.
Wilson said LEV helped her build her confidence, learn how to organize, speak in public, and grow her skills as a community leader.
“We had to fight. It took a lot to get here,” Wilson said. “I just was a parent that cared and didn’t like what was going on in my kids’ school. And now I can actually go home and tell my kids, look on the news, Mommy did this. We won this.”
Lift Every Voice’s members say they want their numbers to grow. They’re also working with the district to ensure Philadelphia schools have the resources to implement the new wellness policy. (Solmaira Valerio for Chalkbeat)
In many ways, LEV’s work is just beginning. The group is now working with the district to help develop a plan to ensure the wellness policy is followed, and that schools have the resources they need to follow it.
The parents’ goal is “bigger numbers, more power, more success,” said Wilson. They want parents to start expecting better of their schools and holding their district accountable.
Wilson said there was a time where she and the other parents felt like “we can’t do anything, we can’t bust through that wall.” But Wilson said that to be standing outside Bluford with a list of guarantees they fought for made what she and others in Lift Every Voice did all worth it.
Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.