New York City: In the Face of Intense Opposition, Mayor Bloomberg Closes 19 Public Schools

At 2:40 a.m. Wednesday morning, at the end of a crowded and angry nine-hour public meeting at Brooklyn Technical High School, New York City’s Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) voted 9-4 to close seven middle or elementary schools and 12 high schools. Over 10,000 students will be affected by the closures. The vast majority of the students at these schools come from poor and working-class backgrounds.

So unpopular were the closings that the city administration deployed hundreds of police outside and inside the Brooklyn Tech auditorium in an attempt to intimidate the audience. It was in keeping with police behavior at other recent events. A group of parents and teachers who attended a protest last week against the closings at Mayor Bloomberg’s residence have reported that the NYPD videotaped them.'

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