As a response to the issues raised through the Project U-Turn launch, City Council’s education committee held hearings today about the dropout crisis. Lead by Chair Councilwoman Janie Blackwell, the committee heard testimony from several members of the Youth Transitions Collaborative and supporters, including (in order of testimony):

Laura Shubilla, Philadelphia Youth Network
Pamela Crawley, Citizens Bank
Tracee Hunt, Coca-Cola
Ruth Nield, Johns Hopkins University
Liza Herzog, Philadelphia Education Fund
Brad Johnson, out-of-school youth
Andrew Broggins, out-of-school youth
Heather Frattone (for Paul Vallas), School District of Philadelphia
Carmen Delgado, parent and member of Eastern PA Organizing Project
Courtney Collins-Shapiro, School District of Philadelphia
Meredith Malloy, YouthBuild
Judi Taylor-Dunn (JoAnn Weinberger), Center for Literacy
Candace Bell, William Penn Foundation
Kristin Shipler (for Nicholas Torres), Congreso
Shelly Yanoff, Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth