For fuck's sake. How much less educated are we going to allow our kids to be? How can we *not care* to the point of closing schools and cramming students into fewer and fewer, less-funded buildings like sardines?
It's ridiculous, infuriating - grotesque. I feel so damn bad for these kids. WTF are they supposed to do? How is this serving them, or the greater good of the country as a whole?
Philly schools are a mess and they have been...and I don't forsee it changing any time soon. My little sister teaches elementary school in Philly and was layed off last June and rehired in the fall because they didn't want to pay their young teachers over the summer...
To be honest though, they are closing schools that are too expensive to keep running. Most of the buildings are old and falling appart. These kids will still be able to go to school, it will just be a different school. It's not like once their school closes they will just sit at home because there's nowhere to go. This will; however, increase the over-all number of students in the other schools, which means more chance for a student to get lost in the masses.
It would have been nice if the article writer would have included some actual information about what enrollment looked like, whether or not there is extra room in the other schools, etc. Sometimes school closings are necessary and sometimes they aren't. There is really not much indication either way from this article. School closings seem to almost always draw protests of some sort since no one likes to see their neighborhood school go away (especially if there are no immediate plans for what will be done with the vacant building) and kids hate switching schools. My own district has closed a number of schools over the years and sold off some properties, but it's been for the best since enrollment is down and we are no longer at the point where we need an elementary school in every neighborhood.
I think the article writer assumed that anyone reading would be familiar with what's going on in Philadelphia schools because the Inquirer covers it very frequently.
A lot of this is for budgetary reasons rather than enrollment. A lot of the school buildings in Philadelphia are in horrific shape, and it's too expensive to repair them. However, the other schools are mostly full or overcrowded, so this isn't a good choice, either.
Philadelphia is the next district over from Upper Darby, where they actually stopped paying their teachers at some point last year because they ran out of funding.
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It's ridiculous, infuriating - grotesque. I feel so damn bad for these kids. WTF are they supposed to do? How is this serving them, or the greater good of the country as a whole?
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To be honest though, they are closing schools that are too expensive to keep running. Most of the buildings are old and falling appart. These kids will still be able to go to school, it will just be a different school. It's not like once their school closes they will just sit at home because there's nowhere to go. This will; however, increase the over-all number of students in the other schools, which means more chance for a student to get lost in the masses.
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I think the Philadelphia school system needs a complete overhaul.
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A lot of this is for budgetary reasons rather than enrollment. A lot of the school buildings in Philadelphia are in horrific shape, and it's too expensive to repair them. However, the other schools are mostly full or overcrowded, so this isn't a good choice, either.
Philadelphia is the next district over from Upper Darby, where they actually stopped paying their teachers at some point last year because they ran out of funding.
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