Src

In a tense, dramatic conclusion to a months-long battle, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted Thursday night to close 23 schools across the city - and spare four it had considered shutting. Taylor and T.M. Peirce Elementaries in North Philadelphia, Roosevelt Middle School in Germantown, and Robeson High School in Southwest Philadelphia were all on the chopping block but will stay open. The vote capped a long series of protests, rallies, and public outcries against what appears to be one of the largest mass school closings in the nation's history . And it happened after 19 people, including American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, were arrested when they tried to block SRC members' entrance into the meeting.

The Philadelphia school system is broke, with 53,000 empty seats and a huge stable of buildings it cannot afford to maintain. A well-organized, ardent group of citizens - supported by the powerful teachers union - is pushing back hard against the 29 proposed school closings. Thursday is decision day, as the five members of the School Reform Commission will meet to vote on 27 of the proposed closures and dozens more program shifts and grade changes. (Votes for two closures, proposed more recently, will be taken later.)

Don't take your money woes out on teachers, State Sen. Vincent Hughes has told the Philadelphia School Reform Commission in no uncertain terms. In a sharply worded letter to SRC Chairman Pedro Ramos, Hughes (D., Phila.) expressed "deep concerns" over the Philadelphia School District's recent opening contract proposal to the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. The district has said it needs up to $180 million annually in givebacks from its unions, and recently called for teachers to agree to deep wage cuts, steep benefits contributions, and an end to seniority.

SCHOOLS community advocate Sylvia Simms laughed with a giddy gusto into the phone Monday afternoon. "I'm still excited! I'm still excited!" she said. A few hours earlier, Mayor Nutter announced that he had appointed Simms, 52, to the School Reform Commission. "Simms will bring her experience and knowledge as community leader, parent, former school-district employee and graduate to the children and school community," Nutter said in a statement. "Sylvia will bring an incredibly important and unique perspective to educational advocacy to the School Reform Commission.

Shouting, waving signs, and drowning out officials, hundreds of students, parents, and community members angry at plans to shut 37 Philadelphia schools lashed out Thursday night at the School Reform Commission. "I have never been more disappointed in this city as a whole," said Naeemah Felder, parent of a daughter at Pepper Middle School, one of the schools slated for closure in June. "I want to stay in my neighborhood, because McCloskey is closest to where I live," fourth grader Lamar Robinson said.

The Philadelphia School Reform Commission said Thursday night that the district's oldest charter school did not deserve to be renewed because of low test scores and financial problems. By a vote of 4-0, the commission began the process of pulling the charter of Community Academy of Philadelphia in Kensington, established in 1997. A nonrenewal hearing was set for Feb. 25. The commission acted after the school lost a last-minute bid in Commonwealth Court a few hours earlier to stay the vote.

MORE THAN 70 people signed up to air their grievances at the School Reform Commission meeting Thursday night, an unusually high number reflective of the controversy surrounding the district's decision to close 37 schools. Before they were given the opportunity to speak, protesters forced the SRC to rush through its agenda as several students, school faculty and parents repeatedly interrupted the proceedings. "You're here to talk about buildings; we're here to talk about education," Pedro Ramos, SRC chairman, said as he urged the audience to simmer down.

A shouting and chanting crowd of hundreds told officials Thursday night exactly what they thought of a Philadelphia School District plan to close 37 schools and change grades and shut programs at dozens more. "SOS! Save our schools!" hundreds yelled as they marched up North Broad Street toward district headquarters. "Whose city? Our city! Whose schools? Our schools!" It was a dramatic stand against the planned closings of one in six city schools, announced last week. Closings were not on the agenda of the School Reform Commission's voting meeting, but they quickly became the hot potato of the evening, with students, teachers, parents, and community members demanding answers.