Philadelphia Parents and Caregivers Unite Around Demands for District Accountability, School Safety, and Parent Voice

(Oct 01, 2021)

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 29 – Last night, hundreds of parents from across the city joined together over Zoom and Facebook Live to demand increased accountability and transparency from the School District of Philadelphia. As unfinished asbestos remediation efforts, piles of trash, and poor communication plagued the start of this year’s historic return to school, the Philadelphia Home and School Council brought together local leaders, caregivers, and advocacy organizations, including Parents United for Public Education and the Our City Our Schools Coalition , to organize for real change for the city’s public schools. The meeting took place on the heels of Dr. William Hite’s announcement that he would be ending his tenure as Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia after nearly a decade in the role, further energizing the conversation around changes that parents hope to see across the district. “We’re here tonight to ring the alarm on school conditions, student safety, workers’ rights, and District accountability,” said Shakeda Gaines, president of the Philadelphia Home and School Council. “No announcement about a change in leadership will make us forget about the asbestos, mold, and lead that remain in our schools. No announcement will make us forget that food is not being delivered on time and our kids are going hungry while parents are being pushed out of their Read more

 

Senior Services Information

(Sep 29, 2021)

My office is available to help with many state services for seniors. Contact us for more information and to see how we can help you! Read more

 

Philly’s first week of school marred by inconsistent expectations and a lack of transparency | Opinion

(Sep 03, 2021)

Our kids deserve a culture change to stop the repeated mishandling of crises. Read more

 

Brooks and Fiedler Demand Accountability in Response to District’s Mishandling of Flood Response

(Sep 02, 2021)

“The events this morning were not a trivial matter. As elected officials, and as parents and grandparents of Philadelphia public school students, we were extremely frustrated and disappointed at the District's mishandling of this morning's two-hour delay of school openings in response to widespread flooding. Like caregivers across the District, we received a notification at 8:40 a.m. that schools would be delayed by two hours. Start times vary across the district, with some starting at 7:30 a.m. or 8:30 a.m., and others at 9 a.m. This notification came not only after many schools had already started, but after many families had dropped their children off at school and gone to work. This flagrant disregard for caregivers — many of whom are already juggling multiple schedules, school start-times, and jobs — unnecessarily threw so many lives into further chaos during an already difficult time. “This last-minute decision made by the District is just one example of a pattern of disrespect for our school communities, poor planning, and poor communication with families across the city. This gross mishandling of a natural disaster comes on the heels of the District’s attempt to send students back into SLA Beeber, where active asbestos remediation efforts posed serious health risks to children and active construction would have required students to use portable, outdoor toilets. While SLA Beeber families organized and won a plan for a Read more

 

South Philly Update & Community Resources

(Jul 23, 2021)

Gun buyback, recreation and community centers, city pools, utility assistance and community resources. Read more

 

Prescription drug pricing reforms essential for public health, and economy

(Jul 12, 2021)

HARRISBURG, July 12 -- State Representatives Emily Kinkead and Eddie Day Pashinski today hosted a public hearing to discuss the need for drastic reforms to drive down the costs of prescription drugs for the well-being of Pennsylvanians who rely on medications for an improved quality of life. The hearing, a meeting of the Policy Committee’s Subcommittee on Progressive Policies for Working People, included testimony on how prescription drug pricing is calculated, some of the cost drivers and legislative action needed to regulate pricing. Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, chair of the subcommittee, and legislators from across the state joined both in person and online for the discussion. Sean Zmenkowski, a constituent services advisor for Rep. Kinkead, shared his experience as a type one diabetic reliant on insulin to survive and the career choices he has had to make in order to maintain access to life-sustaining medication. “Far too many Pennsylvanians have to make painful choices regarding life-saving medications – going without or rationing their medicine – either option is inexcusable,” said state Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Allegheny. “I remain committed to working with my colleagues to come up with solutions, including a prescription drug importation program, to ensure the prescription drugs our residents need are accessible and affordable. It’s clear we need long-term solutions to help our residents, and we can make it happen.” Read more

 

South Philly Update & Community Resources

(Jul 09, 2021)

Highlights from Harrisburg, work at home in the District, utility and other assistance, community calendar, and more. Read more

 

Philadelphia, Southeast House members call on WHYY board of directors for fair collective bargaining agreement, fair wages

(Jun 29, 2021)

PHILADELPHIA, June 29 – Twenty members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the Philadelphia and Southeast delegations sent a letter in support of the workers at public media station WHYY. The letter, sent to the CEO and the WHYY board of directors, called for a fair collective bargaining agreement, fair wages and predictable, fair work schedules. As public media consumers, lawmakers and Philadelphia region residents, the House members said WHYY clearly is a valuable piece of local community journalism for the region that needs to support its workers. A former WHYY reporter and producer, state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Phila., said, “As a reporter at WHYY for a decade prior to being elected in 2018, I saw firsthand many of the conditions that workers are talking about. It’s unacceptable and troubling. Many of the current workers were my colleagues when I started as a freelance reporter at WHYY years ago. Today, my state House colleagues and I stand in solidarity with them. They are important, valuable parts of the news and information that consumers receive. It is their labor that has helped build WHYY’s brand; they deserve to be treated fairly and respectfully.” The letter, which was emailed to the WHYY leadership on Tuesday, and which Fiedler, the Philadelphia Delegation secretary, will hand deliver on Wednesday, can be found here . In the letter, members of the Philadelphia and Southeast delegations outline low Read more

 

Letter to WHYY in support of workers, fair wages

(Jun 29, 2021)

A letter to the leadership of WHYY in support of workers, fair wages. Read more

 

South Philly Update & Community Resources

(Jun 25, 2021)

Highlights from Harrisburg, working at home in the District, utility assistance, and community calendar. Read more

 

Rep. Fiedler, colleagues host No More Excuses, End Toxic Schools rally

(Jun 16, 2021)

HARRISBURG, June 16 -- Labor leaders and lawmakers from across Pennsylvania took to the steps of the Capitol in Harrisburg on Wednesday morning to hold a Labor for Schools Rally. The group called for the legislature to take bold, job-creating, life-saving action and remediate the lead, asbestos and other toxins currently in schools across the commonwealth. Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Phila, who organized the rally, joined with nearly four dozen colleagues from the House and Senate to demand action and to push back on the excuse that Pennsylvania does not have the funds to fix schools. “We can use just a portion of the $7 billion in federal funding that has already been sent to PA to this substantive investment in public buildings from Philly to Scranton to Allegheny County,” Fiedler said. “We could create thousands of jobs — good paying, union jobs!” The lawmakers were joined by Rosemary Boland, Scranton Federation of Teachers; Arthur Steinberg, American Federation of Teachers; Nicole Hunt, Unite HERE 634; Aaron Chapin, PSEA; Darrin Kelly, Allegheny-Fayette County Central Labor Council; Frank Snyder and Sarah Hammond, PA AFL-CIO. Fiedler was joined at the rally by 33 House members from across PA, including Rep. Austin Davis, D- Allegheny, and Rep. Kyle Mullins, D- Lackawanna. Nine senators joined the rally, led by Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Phila., and Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-Allegheny. Hughes spoke powerfully on the issue, Read more

 

South Philly Update & Community Resources

(Jun 15, 2021)

Shredding event and community resource fair, mobile office hours, highlights from Harrisburg and updates from at home in the District, community calendar and other resources. Read more

 

South Philly Update & COVID-19 Resources

(Jun 04, 2021)

News and resources, including updates from Harrisburg and around the 184th District, utility assistance, UC system update, and community calendar. Read more

 

Policy Committee vets Fiedler, Krajewski’s administrative fix that would have major impacts on Pa. renters

(Jun 02, 2021)

HARRISBURG, June 2 – Today’s roundtable discussion hosted by state Rep. Rick Krajewski further cemented the need for action on how eviction records are handled in Pennsylvania. Krajewski was joined by state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, chair of the Subcommittee on Progressive Policies for Working People and members of the House Democratic Policy Committee to discuss how eviction proceedings impact tenants long-term and shared how their legislation would establish eviction expungement procedures. Fiedler explained: “I’m proud to hold his hearing to draw attention to a bill I have, with Rep. Krajewski, that would give people who have faced eviction through no fault of their own, the chance to have their record sealed and move on with their life. An eviction filing can lead to a domino effect of traumatic life-changing events that start with losing your home, and can include losing your community, your support system, your children’s school, your employment and more. We need to do everything we can as a society to prevent that from happening to adults, senior citizens, children and all families.” The committee heard testimony from Catherine Anderson, supervising attorney, eviction diversion program, Philadelphia Legal Assistance; Gale Schwartz, associate director, policy and strategic initiatives, Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania; Anne Wright, chief technology officer, RentHelpPgh; Nicolás Pastore, former legislative intern, Read more

 

Protections for renters, eviction sealing focus of Wednesday virtual roundtable hosted by Krajewski, Fiedler

(May 28, 2021)

HARRISBURG, May 28 – State Rep. Rick Krajewski, D-Phila., is working on legislation to help people with evictions on their record and the Subcommittee on Progressive Policies for Working People will explore how eviction sealing would impact landlords and tenants. The roundtable discussion will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 2. The media and public are invited to watch online at www.pahouse.com/policy or on the committee’s Facebook page--@PADemPolicy. Media inquiries may be submitted via email to policy@pahouse.net . Subcommittee Chair Elizabeth Fiedler and members of the House Democratic Policy Committee will join Krajewski for the roundtable discussion that will include how current law negatively impacts tenants and protects bad-acting landlords and how the proposed legislation would tackle that using a commonsense approach to ensure Pennsylvanians have access to safe housing. Information about this and other House Democratic Policy Committee hearings can be found at www.pahouse.com/policycommittee . Read more

 

South Philly Update & COVID-19 Resources

(May 28, 2021)

News from Harrisburg, updates and events in the District, utility and broadband assistance, and community calendar. Read more

 

Miss my latest Telephone Town Hall? Listen to the discussion here.

(May 28, 2021)

Find out what your friends & neighbors had to say about the issues that matter to our communities. Read more

 

South Philly Update & COVID-19 Resources

(May 14, 2021)

Upcoming town hall, Pennsylvania Rescue Plan, COVID-19 resources, rental assistance, community calendar. Read more

 

South Philly Update & COVID-19 Resources

(May 08, 2021)

Grant seminar update, COVID-19 vaccine status, highlights from Harrisburg, news around the District, and our community calendar. Read more

 

Fiedler: Better Health and Safety with #PaRescuePlan

(May 06, 2021)

Pa. state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler talks about how the Pennsylvania Rescue Plan would lead to safer schools, better health and wellness of seniors, and additional hazard pay for frontline workers and their families. Health and safety are priorities in the Pa. Rescue Plan. Read more

 

Philadelphia Parents and Caregivers Unite Around Demands for District Accountability, School Safety, and Parent Voice
Oct 01, 2021

Senior Services Information
Sep 29, 2021

Philly’s first week of school marred by inconsistent expectations and a lack of transparency | Opinion
Sep 03, 2021

Brooks and Fiedler Demand Accountability in Response to District’s Mishandling of Flood Response
Sep 02, 2021

South Philly Update & Community Resources
Jul 23, 2021

Prescription drug pricing reforms essential for public health, and economy
Jul 12, 2021

South Philly Update & Community Resources
Jul 09, 2021

Philadelphia, Southeast House members call on WHYY board of directors for fair collective bargaining agreement, fair wages
Jun 29, 2021

Letter to WHYY in support of workers, fair wages
Jun 29, 2021

South Philly Update & Community Resources
Jun 25, 2021

Rep. Fiedler, colleagues host No More Excuses, End Toxic Schools rally
Jun 16, 2021

South Philly Update & Community Resources
Jun 15, 2021

South Philly Update & COVID-19 Resources
Jun 04, 2021

Policy Committee vets Fiedler, Krajewski’s administrative fix that would have major impacts on Pa. renters
Jun 02, 2021

Protections for renters, eviction sealing focus of Wednesday virtual roundtable hosted by Krajewski, Fiedler
May 28, 2021

South Philly Update & COVID-19 Resources
May 28, 2021

Miss my latest Telephone Town Hall? Listen to the discussion here.
May 28, 2021

South Philly Update & COVID-19 Resources
May 14, 2021

South Philly Update & COVID-19 Resources
May 08, 2021

Fiedler: Better Health and Safety with #PaRescuePlan
May 06, 2021