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| What Philly's Talking About |
| FIFA Wants To Charge You up to $620 To Park Your Car | Fans are now being asked to fork over hundreds of dollars for parking passes, with the final price tag depending on the size of your vehicle, to park at the Linc during World Cup games. To put this in perspective, parking there is $50 to $100 for an Eagles game. You’re better off taking SEPTA, which is keeping fares at $2.90 and offering free rides back. [Axios, 🎧 City Cast Philly] | | Say Goodbye to Borromini’s 100-Layer Lasagna | Punished for being too popular, the restaurant’s 100-layer lasagna has been scrapped from the menu after too many people ordered it. Owner Stephen Starr wants patrons to give other overshadowed pastas a chance, but he said a different lasagna may return in the future. Was it really that good? Let us know your favorite place in the city for pasta. [🔒 The Inquirer] | | | School Cell Phone Ban Bill Gains Support After Overhaul | The new changes would require public and private schools to implement policies restricting phone use throughout the school day beginning in the 2027-2028 school year, with exemptions. The original bill passed in the state senate, but the legislature will have to vote again on the amended version. [The Center Square] | | | New EV Chargers Could Be Coming Near You | If City Council approves, two companies will install hundreds of new curbside and parking lot chargers throughout Philly starting as soon as next year. Priority will be given to underserved neighborhoods impacted by pollution, and drivers can request charging stations near their homes. [Billy Penn] |
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| Philadelphia School Board President on Closures: ‘This Decision Wasn’t Taken Lightly’ |
|  | Board of Education President Reginald Streater (Courtesy of the School District of Philadelphia) |
| Last Thursday the Philadelphia Board of Education, in a 6-3 vote, passed a controversial facilities master plan that will close 17 district schools. The meeting was disrupted by several City Council members, forcing it to be halted twice before resuming virtually. As emotions still run high days after the vote, Board of Education President Reginald Streater joined City Cast Philly to explain why he made the tough call. Below are excerpts from that conversation. | | Why was all of this so necessary? | “ What this plan is really trying to do is address the inadequate opportunities that our children have in the School District of Philadelphia. When we look at our resources, we're unable to provide extended pre-K access … in order to get an AP course, some children have to go halfway across the city or go to certain criteria-based schools. | | "Children should have algebra in early grades so that they have the opportunity to not only go to college, but also to be able to qualify for some of our amazing criteria-based schools. So the facilities plan is to try to solve that problem.” | | What does closing schools, though, have to do with making these educational improvements? | ”For schools that have less than 100 students in them, on average it's about $50,000-per-pupil for that school. | | “When you have a district where you have schools with 200, 250, 100, or 80 students in it, it's hard to have the equitable distribution of resources to support student learning. ... It’s very cost-prohibitive to do that. Some of our schools have nine students in a grade. Some have 10. It's just not sustainable. | | “ We could continue the status quo and have chronic underachievement in the School District of Philadelphia and scrape by to get by while honoring the legacy of facilities….[But] I believe we can provide them a better educational experience. I believe that we cannot do that how we're built, and that's the tough decisions the board has to make. I’m a father, I have kids in the district right now, and I’m willing to make that sacrifice. Not accept it, but understand that I think what we're trying to do is just. ” | | |
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