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Thousands protest school privatization plan in union-led march, 14 arrested
The plan would outsource all School District blue collar work, and today members of SEIU 32BJ led thousands of protesters down Broad Street.
Thousands protest school privatization plan in union-led march, 14 arrested
The state-controlled School Reform Commission's plan to close 64 schools and privatize management of potentially all that remain open has sparked widespread opposition across Philadelphia. The plan would also outsource all blue collar work, and today members of SEIU 32BJ led thousands of protesters down Broad Street.
More than 2,000 workers―from bus drivers to maintenance workers―have received layoff notices.
Marchers chanted, “They say cut back, we say fight back,” and “Hey Corbett you can't hide, we can see your greedy side.”
Fourteen union members were arrested after blocking the streets in front of School District headquarters at 440 N. Broad, according to the Inquirer's Kristen Graham (she has photos too).
Mayor Michael Nutter has embraced the state proposal, but City Council members Bobby Henon, Wilson Goode, Dennis O'Brien, Mark Squilla and Jannie Blackwell joined union marchers.
“This is happening across the country,” says Pearl Jones, a bus attendant at Widener Memorial School, which serves students with disabilities. “Republicans got in and decided they didn't want to fund education, but they want to build more prisons. ... What idiot would want their citizens to be stupid? It's as if you're saying we want these kids to fail, so we have a place to put them.”
I discussed the “reorganization plan” today on WHYY's Radio Times.
Follow Daniel Denvir on Twitter @DanielDenvir
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