19 Arrested as SRC Closes 23 Schools

The Inquirer reports:

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…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.

There was some unexpected good news for some parents and students too: “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.” [Inquirer]