These parents want a ‘chief of joy’ for Philly schools. Here’s why.

Velvet Lewis is fighting for joy in the Philadelphia School District. So is Siani Bolling, and so are a host of other district parents and grandparents.

They’re all members of Lift Every Voice Philly, a three-year-old grassroots parents group now pushing for a “joy-based budget” for the school system, complete with a “chief joy officer” to oversee extracurricular activities and other departments that focus on the experiences that keep children motivated to come to school.

It’s a movement rooted in the ways that Lift Every Voice members, their kids and others have lived in district schools, built after members surveyed 600 parents across the city.

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Take Lewis, a grandparent who laments the fact that some Philadelphia elementary schools lack playgrounds or basic equipment to let kids enjoy games at recess — if they have recess at all.

“Some of the schools don’t have jump ropes, don’t have basketballs for the kids to play,” Lewis said. “At recess, this is where the kids get in fights. They don’t know what to do; they’re running around and nobody is saying, ‘Let’s go over there and play football. Let’s do something positive.’”

Or consider Bolling, whose son dislikes school, despite being a bright student with good grades. He’s bored at Bryant Elementary in West Philadelphia, Bolling said, and sometimes loses recess because his class received a collective punishment.

“We’re living through a crisis, and our kids need help,” said Jamila Carter, parent of a child who attends Science Leadership Academy Middle School. Schools are still very much coping with the fallout of the pandemic, with widespread concerns around attendance and student mental health.

“All of this is directly linked to schools that do not have joy — places where our kids don’t want to be, a focus on strict compliance,” said Carter. “Happiness and joy lead to better outcomes in schools.”

Lift Every Voice, a fledgling group that seeks to build “parent power to transform Philly schools by advancing racial, economic, and education justice,” wants not just a chief of joy, but a district “joy audit,” guaranteed minimum recess time in schools across the district, and an expansion of mental health services in schools.

Philadelphia schools have been underfunded for decades, but Shanée Garner, Lift Every Voice’s executive director, said that’s not an excuse to deny critical resources that would support students and ultimately advance academics.

“A chief of joy position is not a lot to ask for in a budget of $4 billion,” Garner said. “It’s worth an investment at a time when people want to have a conversation about mental health and attendance. We can’t afford not to have it.”

Too often, top-down reforms fail in the district, and parents — particularly Black mothers — voices are dismissed, said Carter. Lift Every Voice generally, and the joy campaign specifically, are about changing schools with ground-up decisions.

“We are here, we are invested, and demanding with a collective voice that people listen,” said Carter. “This is about making change for our children.”

Though its campaign is new, people are taking notice. Lift Every Voice members are fanning out and testifying at public meetings, and talking to public officials and fellow parents about their ideas.

Some City Council members have expressed support; Council member Rue Landau, a public school parent herself, has signed on.

“I love this concept of actually having somebody at the district who is dedicated to making sure we are affirmatively supporting positive and joyous activities,” Landau said. “If kids were really drawn to school because it was feeding their whole selves, not just teaching so they could do well on tests, I think it would have a tremendous effect on the students, their families, and communities throughout the city.”

Councilmember Kendra Brooks, another public school parent and longtime education activist, is also a fan of what she calls “this campaign’s vision for our schools as places of joy, healing, and community.

“Our children are spending too much time on screens and standardized tests and not enough time learning through genuine interactions with teachers and with another. The pandemic, along with decades of underfunding, have robbed our children of the joy of learning, and I believe Lift Every Voice’s campaign will help us get it back,” Brooks said in a statement.

Even Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said publicly he liked the idea of a joy chief, though he made no commitment to it.

“I’m absolutely intrigued by the concept of a chief of joy,” Watlington said at the district’s budget hearing before City Council in April. “I’m putting my hand up for joy.”