MSNBC Highlights OTL Infographic and Philly Organizers
Posted on: Thursday October 31st, 2013
We've made it to the big time! In a recent segment on mass school closures, MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin referred to an OTL Campaign infographic, The Color of School Closures, that we produced last spring showing the disparate impact of school closures on students of color and students from low-income families. 
We've made it to the big time! In a recent segment on mass school closures, MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin referred to an OTL Campaign infographic, The Color of School Closures, that we produced last spring showing the disparate impact of school closures on students of color and students from low-income families. The segment is a great look at the unfortunate, growing trend in education policy of closing public schools en masse in cities across the nation. These closures are often promoted as a solution for students at struggling public schools. Yet, as we showed in another OTL infographic, Debunking the Myths of School Closures, most students transfer to schools that are no better than the ones that closed. Students and schools are caught in a cycle of disinvestment and closure that leaves students without access to the resources and opportunities that their more well-off peers in higher-income communities have.
Melvin brought on reporter Trymaine Lee and Action United parent leader Dawn Hawkins and her son Khyrie to discuss how the closure of 23 Philadelphia schools has impacted their lives. Lee featured Dawn and Khyrie in a recent, must-read story about the dangers Khyrie faces walking to his new school after his old one was closed.
Watch the whole MSNBC segment below, and be sure to check out the OTL Campaign's infographics on school closures, including: The Color of School Closures and Debunking the Myths of School Closures.
