With the Philadelphia School District in the midst of a financial crisis, it's the students who are paying the price.
The district's summer of turmoil began with massive cuts, leaving 3,800 workers -- teachers, assistant principals, secretaries, counselors and cafeteria aides -- without jobs. All this after announcing the closure of 23 city schools.
The cuts and closures were an attempt to fill a more than $300 million budgetary deficit.
One of the schools forced to shut down was Fairhill School in North Philadelphia where yesterday about a dozen children, parents and former teachers came together to build a shrine of flowers, stuffed animals and candles in the front of the building, according to Nextcity.org.
"Nobody was hurt or nobody was killed, but the school was essentially killed due to the budget cuts," summer program coordinator for Congreso de Latinos Unidos Tim Gibbon told Nextcity.
For more and pictures of the memorial, go to Nextcity.org.
