Alternet - Philadelphia is so broke the city is closing 23 public schools, never mind that it has the cash to build a $400 million prison.
Construction on the penitentiary said to be "the second-most expensive state project ever" began just days after the Pennsylvania School Reform Commission voted down a plan to close only four of the 27 schools scheduled to die. Facing a $304 million debt, the Commission instead approved a measly $2.4 billion budget that would shut down 23 public schools, wiping out roughly 10% of the city's total.
...Scheduled to be completed in 2015, the new prison's cell blocks and classroom will be capable of housing almost 5,000 inmates.
Construction on the penitentiary said to be "the second-most expensive state project ever" began just days after the Pennsylvania School Reform Commission voted down a plan to close only four of the 27 schools scheduled to die. Facing a $304 million debt, the Commission instead approved a measly $2.4 billion budget that would shut down 23 public schools, wiping out roughly 10% of the city's total.
...Scheduled to be completed in 2015, the new prison's cell blocks and classroom will be capable of housing almost 5,000 inmates.
