PHILADELPHIA (April 30, 2026) – Following is a statement from Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3) President Arthur G. Steinberg on the Board of Education vote – over fierce community opposition – to close 17 schools as part of the School District of Philadelphia's Facilities Master Plan:
"The Board of Education's decision to rubber-stamp with a 6-3 vote the District's underbaked and unpopular Facilities Master Plan is arrogant, anti-democratic, and reckless. No one knows what our school buildings need to become safe, healthy spaces for learning better than our members. Elected officials whose communities became education deserts after the last mass school closures – giving rise to blight, dumping, and crime – know the lasting, often tragic, consequences to be paid when the city fails to invest in young people.
"Because of this Board's anti-democratic actions today, April 30, 2026, joins two dates that are seared in PFT members' memories: March 7, 2013, when the state-appointed SRC closed dozens of public schools; and October 6, 2014, when the SRC illegally voided our collective bargaining agreement. The events that followed these actions spurred a mass exodus of students and staff out of this District, and a downward spiral of achievement and learning. It is my gravest fear that today's vote by the Board will spur a similar spiral – after years of hard-fought gains – for the School District of Philadelphia.
"It is deeply shameful that the locally appointed Board our members and school families fought years for has so willfully betrayed Philly public school students, families, staff, and communities. Philadelphia, the Cradle of Liberty, should be loudly and proudly celebrating our nation's 250th anniversary. The Board of Education today guaranteed that 2026 will instead haunt this and the next generation of public school students.
"As a union of public educators, we refuse to allow this outrageous vote to stand without one hell of a fight. The PFT invites elected leaders, students, families, and supporters of public education everywhere to stand with us – and for democracy – in this moment."
