The city's hotly contested plan to phase out 19 low-performing schools comes up for a vote tonight.
Most of the schools are high schools with lower than average graduation rates, including Jamaica High School in Queens and Columbus
High in the Bronx. They would be phased out starting this fall, meaning no new students would be admitted. In most cases, new schools would open inside the same buildings. A few of those would be privately managed charter schools. Parents and teachers have been rallying against the closings. Many believe their schools could improve if given more time but the city says there is no time to waste. The Panel for Educational Policy will vote on all of the closings. More than half of the panel's 13 members were appointed by the mayor so the plan is expected to pass.
The Department of Education has made one change since proposing the closures: it'll now keep the automotive repair program at Alfred E. Smith High School in the Bronx. It still wants to close the rest of the school and has scheduled a vote on that 20th school next month.
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