Monday, May 11, 2009

Civic Engagement in the 21st Century Forum

African American United Fund and partners host Civic Engagement in the 21st Century Forum
on May 13 at AAUF Conference Center, 2231 N. Broad Street.

Several organizations collaborate to engage candidates and voters in a discussion about issues affecting the future of the City of Philadelphia, the State of Pennsylvania and the Nation.

Several community organizations will host a Civic Engagement Forum, a question and answer session with candidates seeking to become District Attorney, City Controller, Judge and Senator on Wednesday, May 13, at AAUF Conference Center, 2231 N. Broad Street (between Susquehanna and Dauphin Street) at 6:00 PM.

Cherron Perry-Thomas, Chairperson, African American United Fund stated, “This is the seventh forum held since 2000. This forum will focus on issues important to the electorate such as community court, the cost of incarceration and record expungement. We want the public to submit their questions for candidates prior to the Forum and at the Forum. Public engagement has improved our schools, reduced violence and ensures improvements in city, state and national services for Philadelphia’s residents.”

The sponsoring organizations are the African American United Fund, Alliance of Black Social Workers, DNA Connect, Grands As Parents, Greater Philadelphia Caucus of the I.C.W.A.D., Men United for a Better Philadelphia, Uptown Entertainment & Development Corporation and X-Offenders for Community Empowerment.

Fax or email your questions for the candidates to 215.236.9077 or
AAUFMAIL@aol.com For more information, please call 215.236.2100.
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Thursday, May 7, 2009

Philadelphia School District Budget 2009-2010 Information

Calling all Education Advocates:

At today's Education Compact meeting hosted by Philadelphia Education Fund Michael Masch, Chief Business Officer of the School District of Philadelphia, presented a summary of the Philadelphia School District's 2009-2010 budget. I've listed a few links that provide information about public involvement opportunities, his slide show from the Compact meeting and the 349 page Consolidated Budget for the School District. If you can not download and print the budget book it will be made available for review in the Parent and Community Resource Center, located on the first floor of 440 N. Broad Street.

Critical Dates for Involvement
http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/uploads/j3/3s/j33sX8MWG7NXWRkc3ny48A/Adoption-of-the-SDP-FY09-10-Budget-Critical-Dates-Opportunities-for-Public-Involvement.pdf
Michael Masch, Chief Business Officer of the School District of Philadelphia, Slide show presentation from the Education Compact Meeting
http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/uploads/1D/Re/1DReRbCJecg2ryBmQSlUFw/09-05-06-SDP-FY10-Budget-Intro-for-the-Web.pdfPhiladelphia School District Consolidated Budget 2009-2010
http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/uploads/De/42/De42PH0uRZ1M3gHxjKa8UA/SDP-FY09-10-Budget-Book-.pdf

While I'm not a fan of rewarding legislators for doing their jobs, I do believe that the State Senators that voted against yesterday's Senate budget bill should be praised for recognizing that the bill was an attempt by the majority party to bleed to death the institutions that provide critical human services across Pennsylvania.