Philadelphia plans to close 17 neighborhood public schools – here’s what went wrong when it shuttered 30 schools in 2013

The former Anna Howard Shaw Middle School in Southwest Philadelphia became Hardy Williams Elementary, a K-6 charter school, in 2015. Julio C. Vega, CC BY-NC-SA

The Philadelphia School Board voted in May 2026 to close 17 of its 218 schools. Seven are elementary schools, five are middle schools and five are high schools. Additionally, three other high schools will move into existing schools and share buildings.

I am an educational anthropologist and co-author of “Schools for Sale,” a forthcoming book that examines what happened during Philly’s last wave of mass school closures, when the district closed 30 of its 249 public schools between June 2012 and June 2013.