Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard
Link copied to clipboard

Community group fights against school closures

THERE SHOULD BE a moratorium on closing public schools in the city because the Philadelphia School District's plans disproportionately affect black students, a community group will allege in a federal complaint.

THERE SHOULD BE a moratorium on closing public schools in the city because the Philadelphia School District's plans disproportionately affect black students, a community group will allege in a federal complaint.

ACTION United plans to file a complaint Wednesday with the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education.

Action United cited data that six of eight district schools that have closed or have begun phasing out this year have at least 13 percent more black students than the district average. The group also said that seven of the eight closed schools enroll a white population 11 percent below the district average.

The temporary ban on school closings would "allow time for the racial impact of past and future closures to be evaluated and alternatives to closing schools to be considered," ACTION United said in a statement.

The district said that it had not yet received a copy of the complaint and doesn't comment on pending litigation.