The Philadelphia Board of Education is about to vote on the school closure plan. Get caught up with our guide. The Philadelphia school district wants to close 17 schools and modernize nearly ten times that number through a plan with a $3 billion price tag. But the city’s elected officials and several communities are adamantly opposed to the idea.

The Philadelphia school district wants to close 17 schools and modernize nearly ten times that number through a plan with a $3 billion price tag. But the city’s elected officials and several communities are adamantly opposed to the idea.

‘You don’t have to learn anything to graduate’: Dubious credentials boost Pennsylvania’s graduation rate Philadelphia teachers say they’re incentivized to push students to earn low-value credentials — like a 2-hour online ladder-safety course — by state and district officials who want to see graduation rates continue to climb.

Among the popular "industry credentials" in Philly schools: a 2-hour online ladder safety course that most employers who ask people to climb ladders would be required to offer anyway. Good work by @rebeccaredelmeier.bsky.social on what's going wrong in high school. www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

‘You don’t have to learn anything to graduate’: Dubious credentials boost Pennsylvania’s graduation rate Philadelphia teachers say students rapidly earning low-value credentials to meet Pennsylvania graduation requirements is now the norm.

A new Chalkbeat investigation into Pennsylvania's graduation pathways features ExcelinEd's Adriana Harrington on why low-value credentials are a growing concern for students and schools.

Since Pa. overhauled graduation requirements four years ago, teachers say there's been a troubling trend:

Students are getting low-value credentials like ladder safety just to check off grad requirements, especially in poor districts.

No officials are tracking it.
www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

As one high schooler said: “It’s going to be a mess.”

This is just the beginning of our reporting on what this plan will mean for Philly, if the school board approves it.

Follow along: chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

Is Philadelphia’s plan to close schools ‘going to be a mess’? Students and families react. One influential Philadelphia Councilmember has already strongly opposed the district’s plan to close 20 schools, which school leaders announced Thursday. Students and families are worried too.

School leaders say the aim is to give all students better opportunities.

But many already disagree with parts of the plan.

The head of the City Council Education Committee said he would “never support” closing one of the schools on the district’s list.

www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

Superintendent Tony Watlington said the district’s school closure plan is meant to improve academic opportunities for students.

The plan, which includes co-locating some schools and expanding enrollment at others, would affect more than 70 school total.

Nearly 5,000 students would have their schools closed in the coming years.

Philadelphia school district proposes closing 20 schools, affecting dozens more Some Philadelphia schools would close entirely, while others would co-locate with other schools. In total, more than 70 schools would be affected by the changes. See the full list.

New: The Philadelphia school district wants to close 20 schools starting in 2027 to address enrollment decline and crumbling buildings.

www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

The number of Philadelphia students passing their state exams to graduate has plummeted Philadelphia students are increasingly graduating through pathways that don’t require them to pass standardized tests. We need your help reporting on how students, families, and teachers have experien...

Hey hi! Are you in Philly? Do you have thoughts/opinions/things to say about high school graduation requirements? I know you do! We want those thoughts!! Put them here and tell your friends to weigh in! www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

The number of Philadelphia students passing their state exams to graduate has plummeted Philadelphia students are increasingly graduating through pathways that don’t require them to pass standardized tests. We need your help reporting on how students, families, and teachers have experien...

Fewer Philadelphia students are graduating by passing state exams, and more are meeting grad requirements by submitting industry-recognized credentials.

Help us report on the impact.
www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

Listen up ppl!

How Philly’s early intervention program is failing the city’s youngest kids When Kimberly Halevy’s son was 3, she started hearing from his preschool that he needed extra support. But more than a year later, she describes the effort to get her kid services through Philly’s ear...

Philadelphia’s youngest learners aren’t getting support services they’re legally entitled to.

Some families say they're waiting months for early intervention services, putting kids behind before they start kindergarten.
www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

Philly preschool owners are draining their savings during the state budget impasse More than 100 days into the Pennsylvania budget impasse, some Philly preschool owners are using their own savings and taking out loans to stay afloat. But lawmakers still seem far from a budget agreem...

Hey hi, Pennsylvania still doesn't have a state budget and it's having a REAL impact on our youngest learners www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

SEPTA is restoring some service for Philly students The city said that SEPTA agreed “in concept” to dedicate funding to restore priority bus lines for students next week.

NEW: SEPTA is restoring some bus lines that serve schools after an outcry from Philly students and teachers who said transit cuts made getting to school on time impossible.

The city announced that SEPTA agreed "in concept" to restore some service on Sept. 2.
www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

Follow 2 students as SEPTA cuts complicate their commute on the first day of school Students across Philadelphia are waking up earlier and waiting longer for SEPTA to get them to school. But many say they’re bound to be late anyway, with less reliable service and more crowded routes....

The stellar @rebeccaredelmeier.bsky.social got up at the crack of dawn to ride SEPTA to school with two Philly students. The whole trip took over an hour and they missed a bus and had to walk the last mile to Palumbo. These cuts are already having a real impact on Philly's young people:

‘They’ve given her a lot of hope’: A NYC school fights to educate an undocumented teen under Trump For Bridget and Marta, ELLIS Prep often felt like the only public institution with its arms open in a city and country that seemed not to want them.

For 6 months, I’ve followed ELLIS, a Bronx HS for newcomers, to understand what it means to educate immigrant students in Trump’s second term.

Proud to share the 1st of 2 stories about ELLIS, Bridget, an undocumented teen, & the fight to keep her education alive.

www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

Federal judge rules that Philadelphia’s Memphis Street Academy must shut down A federal judge has ordered a Philadelphia charter school to close after years operating on an expired charter agreement. But officials representing Memphis Street Academy Charter School say they plan...

A federal judge ruled a Philadelphia charter school that sued the school district to allow it to stay open despite poor academic performance must close.

But officials representing Memphis Street Academy Charter School say the school plans to stay open in the fall.
www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

Philadelphia community leaders ring alarm bells about school closure process School district officials have pledged not to repeat mistakes that fractured communities and hurt students. But parents and community leaders involved in the district’s facilities planning process, wh...

NEW: Philly school district officials have promised any future school closures will be benefit students.

But community leaders involved in the planning process say it's become opaque.

"We are not looked at as resources. We are looked at as obstacles.”
www.chalkbeat.org/philadelphia...

Philadelphia community leaders ring alarm bells about school closure process School district officials have pledged not to repeat mistakes that fractured communities and hurt students. But parents and community leaders involved in the district’s facilities planning process, wh...

Philly's school district wants the community to participate in its closure/modernization process. But members of their advisory groups say their time has felt wasted by bureaucratic presentations. They worry the district is using them to add credibility to a flawed process.

It's my first day at @chalkbeat.org, where I'm covering the School District of Philadelphia!

I am so happy to get to dig into the education beat in this great city. If you wanna chat Philly schools, please reach out!

The Middle Ages Follow hundreds of kids as they navigate their treacherous middle school years.

Very cool data visualization from @puddingviz.bsky.social on how middle schoolers are doing, based on survey answers from millions of students.

pudding.cool/2025/02/midd...

‘Disheartening and lonely’: Trump’s federal job cuts leave Cornell scientists in turmoil After thousands of Department of Agriculture employees were fired last month, some early-career scientists have lost advisers. Ph.D. students at Cornell university say they worry about the future of t...

Trump’s federal job cuts have left many early-career scientists in turmoil.

WSKG's Aurora Berry and I spoke to Ph.D. students whose advisors, employed by the USDA, lost their jobs last month. They told us the upheaval has already taken a toll.

www.wskg.org/regional-new...

Lessons from Ithaca's Green New Deal As part of its Green New Deal, Ithaca pledged to decarbonize all of its buildings by 2030. It hasn't gone as planned, but the city has lessons for others trying to tackle this key climate challenge.

Ithaca got a lot of attention when it committed to electrifying all of its buildings by 2030. It partnered with a company called BlocPower to manage the effort.

But the whole thing didn't quite go as planned. For @npr.org, I reported on the lessons learned:
www.npr.org/2025/02/20/n...

BlocPower promised to help electrify Ithaca. Now it has ended its support. In 2021, the small city of Ithaca announced it would electrify all of its 6,000 buildings with the help of one key partner: a technology company called BlocPower, whose then-CEO Donnel Baird said the ...

BlocPower promised to help electrify Ithaca. Now it has ended its support.

The company ended its collaboration with the city in New York after completing the electrification of only 10 buildings.

grist.org/buildings/bl...

#GreenSky #Climate #NewYork #Ithaca

F.C.C. Chair Orders Investigation Into NPR and PBS Stations Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, recently expressed concern about NPR and PBS’s sponsorships.

Support your local public radio stations. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/b...

BlocPower promised to help electrify Ithaca. Now it has ended its support The technology company said it would help make Ithaca the first fully-electrified city in the U.S. It left town after initiating only 14 electrification projects.

BlocPower says it has shifted its focus to decarbonization construction management and financing services.

In Ithaca, it left town after initiating 14 electrification projects.

The company’s only remaining public-private partnership is with the city of Denver.

www.wskg.org/regional-new...

BlocPower promised to help electrify Ithaca. Now it has ended its support The technology company said it would help make Ithaca the first fully-electrified city in the U.S. It left town after initiating only 14 electrification projects.

NEW: The green tech company BlocPower promised to help electrify cities like Ithaca. It raised millions and won awards for its work.

Now, it has apparently given up.

www.wskg.org/regional-new...

The American Climate Corps is over. What even was it? Biden's green jobs program was never what it seemed. Now it's shutting down before Trump takes office.

The American Climate Corps is over. What even was it?

Biden's green jobs program was never what it seemed. Now it's shutting down before Trump takes office.

grist.org/politics/ame...

#Biden #ClimateCorps

New York passed a ban on gas stoves in new buildings. Could Trump interfere? The president-elect is reportedly considering an executive action meant to protect gas stoves from local and statewide bans.

New York passed a ban on gas stoves in new buildings. Could Trump interfere?

www.wskg.org/regional-new...

Fleeing the LA fires alone on a wheelchair: ‘I had to take my chances’ An evacuation order when the Eaton fire threatened Galen Buckwalter’s Sierra Madre home triggered a nightmare odyssey through chaotic streets

Galen Buckwalter, 68, shared with me his harrowing tale of being forced to flee the Eaton fire alone on his wheelchair through dark streets and fierce winds, dodging debris as fire neared his home.

“In emergencies, disabled people are the last to get services…We have no system. You’re on your own”