Philadelphia is Closing 23 Schools While Building A $400 Million Prison
by Rania Khalek on June 5, 2013
The Philadelphia School District’s (PSD) state-run School Reform Commission voted in March to close 23 public schools, nearly 10 percent of the city’s total, in a move they say is necessary to plug a $304 million budget deficit.
Last month that same Commission followed up with a “doomsday” education budget (more like austerity on steroids) that if left unchanged will result in 3,000 layoffs and the elimination of clubs, counselors, librarians, assistant principals, secretaries, athletics, art, music and more. The Philadelphia Inquirer added that “Class sizes would be larger, and schools would have no aides to help manage them or support staff to monitor lunchrooms and playgrounds.” Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. called the cuts catastrophic and is requesting money from the state, but local media speculates that the GOP-controlled state legislature is unlikely to pitch in.
Considering that the House just passed a corporate tax break that if approved by the Senate will cost the state an estimated $600 million to $800 million a year, the local media is probably right.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Republican Gov. Tom Corbett and his Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel are spending $400 million to build a brand new prison in Philadelphia, which the Associated Press referred to as “the second-most-expensive facility ever built by the commonwealth, exceeded only by the Pennsylvania Convention Center.” It’s actually two prisons called State Correctional Institutions Phoenix I and II.
Corbett and Wetzel say the new prison will replace the State Correctional Institution at Graterford, which was originally built to house Philadelphia prisoners, who currently make up 25 percent of Pennsylvania prisoners despite accounting for just one-with of the state’s population.
more:
http://raniakhalek.com/2013/06/05/philadelphia-is-closing-23-schools-while-building-a-400-million-prison/
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