Photo courtesy of Jack miller, Miller photo

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer testified at the Panel for Educational Policy’s vote on the closing of 19 city schools by the city Department of Education. Earlier today, he participated in a rally organized by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT)  against these school closures.

 “The members of the Panel do not have enough information to make an informed decision about closing these schools,” Stringer said, “In the eyes of the public, a vote for closure tonight will represent little more than a nod to the Mayor.  Therefore, I urge the PEP members to vote against the closure of these 20 schools, until DOE makes public the full range of information necessary to make an informed vote.  This will give the pubic some assurance that this process is real, not rigged.” Read the Borough President’s full testimony here

At the UFT rally, thousands of protesters gathered outside Brooklyn Technical HS in an impassioned appeal to the panel’s final decision to close down 19 schools for poor performance. Nine of the panel’s thirteen members had voted for school closures while the other four representatives from the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan borough had opposed them.

Click here to read a Daily News story on the rally and PEP vote