Teachers Union Proposes Keeping All Philly Schools Open

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers offers an alternative to the district's 10-year, $3 billion facilities plan that closes 17 schools.

Updated on Nov. 11, 2026 in Unions

Screen-print poster illustration of a solitary aging red-brick school building with tall windows and a stone cornice, centered against a flat sky, suggesting the question of keeping older Philadelphia schools open. — The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers proposed spending $25 million to repair 17 schools on the district's closure list instead of closing them next year. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Should Philadelphia keep its 17 closure-list schools open and repair them instead?

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers released an alternative school facilities plan that keeps all schools open. The union proposes the district immediately spend $25 million to repair and maintain the 17 schools on the closure list, in place of the district's plan to close them starting next year.

Why it matters

The district says it has too much unused capacity at its school buildings, while the union argues that buildings fixed and cleaned would cause enrollment to bounce back. The competing plans set up a dispute over how Philadelphia should address declining enrollment and aging facilities.

The union's proposal is a $25 million immediate repair plan for the 17 schools slated to close, set against the district's $3 billion, 10-year plan that would modernize 169 buildings. Whether repairs would reverse enrollment declines has not been established.

The players

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers is the union representing public school teachers in Philadelphia, and it released the alternative facilities plan.

Art Steinberg

Art Steinberg is the president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and he called on Mayor Cherelle Parker to intervene.

The details

The union asks the school board to put its plan into action by the end of this school year. Its proposal would not preclude the district from modernizing 169 school buildings, and it would allow parents to make enrollment decisions for 2027. PFT President Art Steinberg called on Mayor Cherelle Parker to step in.

Next school year: the district's plan would begin closing 17 schools.
End of this school year: the union requests that the school board adopt its plan.
2027: parents would make enrollment decisions under the union's proposal.

Political Context

The union's alternative directly opposes the district's $3 billion, 10-year facilities plan, which closes 17 schools starting next year. The union argues that repairs would reverse enrollment declines, while the district says it has too much unused building capacity.

Families in the 17 schools slated for closure would be directly affected by whichever plan the school board adopts. Parents would make enrollment decisions for 2027 under the union's proposal.

The takeaway

The competing plans put repair spending and building closures at the center of Philadelphia's school debate. How the school board and mayor respond will determine which path the district takes for enrollment and facilities.