Closing Arguments

Parents and the school district fight over the future of Philly public education.

Daniel Denvir. City Paper

As a sixth-grade student and the student-body president at Jay Cooke Elementary in Logan, Jenna Lee has a hard time not taking the proposed closing of her school personally. “I was, like, where is this coming from? Because we just got … a new computer lab,” she says, adding that Cooke also has extracurricular programs, including instrumental music and a soccer team. “And now they’re trying to shut us down,” she says. “I was very upset with the decision.”

It may feel personal, but Jenna is just one of 17,000 students set to be relocated under a plan outlined by Philadelphia School District Superintendent William Hite, who contends that closing 37 schools will ultimately save $28 million a year for a school district that projects a $1.1 billion deficit over five years.

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Moratorium Demanded at SRC Meeting

http://thenotebook.org/blog/135524/ramos-id-be-lying-if-i-said-moratorium-was-any-way-feasible

PCAPS leaders respond to Dr. Hite’s Action Plan

http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20130108_Hite_s_Philadelphia_schools_blueprint_praised_and_poked.html

http://thenotebook.org/blog/135483/pcaps-reacts-hites-plan

PCAPS candlelight vigil from City Hall to 440 to stop school closings

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20121221_Marchers_take_their_case_to_SRC.html

http://thenotebook.org/blog/125463/four-hour-meeting-src-gets-earful-school-closings

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=8927414

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video/#!/news/politics/Protesters-March-to-Save-Philly-Schools/184331281