City Council members threaten to shut down vote on facilities plan that would close 17 Philly schools
In an extraordinary muscle flex, 10 City Council members threatened a broad range of actions, from lawsuits and injunctions to civil disobedience and blocking reappointments of school board members.
A majority of Philadelphia City Council threatened to shut down Thursday’s scheduled school board vote to close 17 schools, encouraging civil disobedience if changes are not made to Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.’s facilities plan.
In an extraordinary muscle flex, 10 Council members threatened a broad range of actions at a morning news conference outside Paul Robeson High School — from lawsuits and injunctions to vowing to block the reappointment of any school board member who votes for the plan.
“If you take the vote today, you’re not voting for a facilities plan, because we’re telling you it ain’t gonna happen,” said Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, chair of Council’s Education Committee. “All you’re doing is voting against children. We dare you to vote against children in the city of Philadelphia, and watch what we do. This is a legacy moment.”
Thomas encouraged students, teachers, and parents to bombard school board members with emails and social media messages stating their displeasure with the plan.
“We’re prepared to shut that meeting down. Shut it down. We’re not signing up for no public comment. This is civil disobedience today,” Thomas said.
The school board met Thursday afternoon and approved Watlington’s $3 billion facilities plan, which includes the 17 closings and 169 modernizations.
Sarah-Ashley Andrews, the board vice president and a licensed therapist, said she knows how difficult the impact of the plan is.
But, she said, “as board members, we have the responsibility to address the challenges before us in a way that centers students, supports their well-being, and strengthens the system they depend on.”
The school system has 70,000 empty seats, and officials have said while the plan is academically motivated, they can no longer afford to run very small schools.
“For years, this board has sounded the alarm about long-standing underfunding and structural budget challenges. We remain firmly grounded in our core principles and our shared mission to educate all students. We will continue to make decisions centered on protecting, strengthening, and expanding educational opportunities and meaningful outcomes,” school board president Reginald Streater said in a statement.
And Council members confirmed at the end of their session in City Hall that they were prepared to protest and disrupt the school board.
“I got my bail money,” Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. said in a speech at the end of Council’s Thursday afternoon meeting.
Council President Kenyatta Johnson then nodded approvingly. “Get locked up for the kids — that’s what’s up,” Johnson said.
Council did disrupt, shouting over Watlington so much that the board paused the meeting twice before moving to a virtual session to hold its vote.
At Thursday morning’s news conference, every one of the city’s seven at-large Council members, plus district Councilmembers Jones, Jamie Gauthier, and Quetcy Lozada, appeared before hustling back to Center City for a Council session.
The Council members who appeared Thursday were making a stand for three schools to come off the closing list: Robeson in University City; Lankenau High in Upper Roxborough; and Overbrook Elementary in West Philadelphia.
Wholesale changes are coming to the Philadelphia School District, with the school board passing a $3 billion facilties plan that aims to close 17 schools permanently, and renovate 169.
Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. presented the plan to the school board Feb. 26 and it immediately faced strong opposition. Here's what we do and don't know.
And to see the proposed list school closures and check how your school could be impacted, use our interactive charts.
Each of the schools proposed for closure has its own story. Find them all here.
Council is responsible for about half of the school system’s funding, and has used that as leverage to oppose the school closing plan. Jones, who represents both Lankenau and Overbrook, said he was furious with the district and school board for asking Council to vote for Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s $1-per-trip rideshare tax. The mayor has pitched the tax as a way to fill a $300 million district budget gap, while denying Council a say in the closing list.
“That’s taxation without representation,” Jones said. “All of us here support public education. But taxation without representation is not going to happen. We don’t all agree on a lot of things up here. We agree on this, and they better read the room. We are 10 toes down.”
Jones introduced a resolution in Council on Thursday that would allow lawmakers to hold hearings about the creation of an “independent fiscal oversight agency” that would annually audit the Philadelphia School District budget.
If approved, Jones’ resolution would not directly lead to the creation of a new oversight agency. Instead, it would merely allow Council to hold hearings exploring that possibility. Council members often hold informational hearings to kick the tires on new ideas or to build support for proposals that do not yet have majority support. Council currently holds twice-annual oversight hearings on the school district, and the district is already audited by the independent city controller’s office.
Councilmember Nina Ahmad, who has been particularly vocal about Lankenau’s closing, said the district was withholding information from Council and the public around why it made its decisions.
“They’re treating us like we don’t know how to read and write,” Ahmad said. “They’re treating us like we have no power. Well, look at this power.”
