Ismael Jimenez & the Caucus of Working Educators
About Ishmael
Ismael Jimenez is a dedicated educator, who for the last thirteen years has worked with students in Philadelphia from preschool age to high school. After working as a secondary social studies teacher at Germantown High School until it was closed in 2013, Ismael then was appointed to Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School where he teaches primarily African American History. Along with teaching at the high school level, Ismael has facilitated several professional developments with colleagues in the school district and at postsecondary institutions like University of Pennsylvania, Penn State University and Princeton University on issues ranging from structural racism to bridging the knowledge gap of students between high school and postsecondary institutions. Also, he has taught a graduate educational research course at Villanova University and an undergraduate social studies methods course at LaSalle University. Currently, Ismael is co-chair of the Caucus of Working Educators, co-founder of the Philadelphia Black History Collaborative and the Melanated Educators Collective, while being an active participant in several other organizations that seek racial justice in education and across the city of Philadelphia. The philosophical orientation that guides Ismael’s teaching and activism is rooted in the theoretical educational framework developed by Paulo Freire which emphasizes the interconnected nature of education with participating in the transformation of the world.
The Caucus of working Educators
The Caucus of Working Educators (WE) is a “social justice union” of teachers, counselors, nurses, librarians, and other school support staff that functions as a radical caucus within the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. WE is responsible for the founding of Black Lives Matter at School Week, which is now a national movement, and sponsors campaigns and coalitions related to racial justice, teacher unionism, teacher inquiry, and safe public schools.
The Melanated Educators Collective formed out of The Caucus of Working Educators Racial Justice Committee with the purpose of unifying and empowering educators of color in the Philadelphia and Greater Philadelphia communities.