PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: …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 Philadelphia School Reform Commission members’ entrance into the meeting.
Retired teacher Lisa Haver, a lifelong city resident, told the SRC that it was “the saddest day ever.”
SRC Chairman Pedro Ramos said the large number of closings was the result of years of delayed decisions and a financial crisis for the district, which recently borrowed $300 million just to pay its bills for the rest of the year… (more)
