Days after Philadelphia officials pushed the city one step closer to a so-called “doomsday” education plan that would see two dozen schools close, construction began on a $400-million prison said to be the second-most expensive state project ever.
Pennsylvania’s School Reform Commission voted on June 1 to
approve a $2.4 billion budget, ignoring hours of pleas from
students, parents, educators and community members who warned the
budget would cripple city schools.
The plan would close 23 public schools, roughly 10 per cent of
the city’s total. Commissioners rejected a proposal that would
have only closed four of the 27 schools that were on the block
for closure.
Without the means to cover a $304 million debt, the Philadelphia
Inquirer reported, students can expect to go back to school in
September without new books, paper, counselors, clubs,
librarians, assistant principals or secretaries. All athletics,
art and music programs would be eliminated and as many as 3,000
people could lose their jobs.
Only one of five state commissioners voted against the proposal,
warning that Republican Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s
administration had not looked hard enough elsewhere for proper
funds.
That $304 million windfall is unlikely to be filled because the
Republican-controlled Pennsylvania House of Representatives
recently passed a tax break for corporations that will cost
Pennsylvania residents an estimated $600 million to $800 million
annually.
Newly unemployed teachers might consider submitting their resumes
to the Department of Corrections, though, with the news that the
supposedly cash-strapped government is digging deep to spend $400
million for the construction of State Correctional Institutions
Phoenix I and II.
The penitentiary, which is technically two facilities, will
supplement at least two existing jails, the Western Penitentiary
at Pittsburgh and Fayette County Jail. Pittsburgh’s Western
Penitentiary was built in 2003 with the original intention of
replacing Fayette County Jail, but the prison has struggled with
lawsuits claiming widespread physical and sexual abuse of
prisoners.
Scheduled to be completed in 2015, the new prison’s cell blocks
and classroom will be capable of housing almost 5,000 inmates.
Officials said there will be buildings for female inmates, the
mentally ill and a death row population.
Journalist Rhania Khalek noted that the racial disparities in
the education system and prison complex, where 60 per cent of
all people are of color, have created a literal
“school-to-prison-pipeline.”
“In Philadelphia, black students comprise 81 per cent of
those who will be impacted by the closings despite accounting
for just 58 per cent of the overall student population,”
she wrote. “In stark contrast, just 4 per cent of those
affected are white kids who make up 14 per cent of Philly
students. And though they make up 81 per cent of Philadelphia
students, 93 per cent of kids affected by the closings are
low-income.”
This article originally appeared on: RT