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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Parents United wins open records request on BCG school closings list | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Parents United wins open records request on BCG school closings list | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:


Parents United wins open records request on BCG school closings list

Parents United for Public Education has won its state Right To Know request to gain public access to the list of 60 schools identified by the Boston Consulting Group for closure and to the firm’s criteria for school closings -- a request for information the District has consistently denied to the public.
Last spring, the Boston Consulting Group came under intense criticism for a controversial plan that promoted school closings, massive charter expansion, and privatization of key functions within the District, such as transportation. Under its multimillion-dollar contract with the William Penn Foundation, BCG agreed to provide the foundation with a number of “contract deliverables,” one of which was identifying 60 schools for closure. The “BCG list” was referenced by former Superintendent Tom Knudsen in public statements, but District officials had refused to release the list stating that it was an internal document and therefore protected from public review.
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