Superintendent Chosen School Closings Announced

  In the article "Philadelphia superintendent identifies schools he intends to close" by Kristen A. Graham, she examines the issue of school closings and what good and bad things will come out of it as a result. She also interviews the Philadelphia school district superintendent herself and gets quotes from other interviews as well. In total, Four middle, 11 high, and 22 elementary schools are closing in the city in almost every neighborhood. That means that there will only be 200 schools remaining in the city of Philadelphia.
  The article includes quotes from the superintendent and deputy superintendent, the president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and The Mayor. One quote that stood out to me was when the districts superintendent said "These data are simply unacceptable" when the article stated " The district is struggling academically, with the vast majority of schools failing to meet state standards. Eighty-two percent missed the mark on either math or reading goals, and 68 percent failed in both." The statement he made is shocking. The test scores are low but he made it seem that the whole world revolves around test scores with the statement.
  I think the school closing and the combining of schools could make things harder on the students. They have already adjusted to the school they were in and now they have to get used to another one due to schools closing and combining. Students now have to adjust to a whole different school, curriculum, and the other students along with them.
  This article makes me think that most people in the school district only pay attention to the test scores and that's what holds are overall grade for the year. I'm a student and even some of my teachers I've had and have, have said it themselves that our grade is also rounded up with the state tests and counts for most of our grade. I see it as true since each year we have so many tests do in any grade your in. I wish that we wouldn't have to take so many tests and that they weren't the most important thing in our school lives.