We already know what will happen to the equipment: It will make the leasing terms of the property more attractive to the for-profit charters that will inevitably rent the schools:
When Superintendent William Hite sits down with Phillies star Cole Hamels later this month, it won’t be to talk baseball.
The pitcher, along with his wife and staff from the Hamels Foundation, will be trying to find out what will happen to more than $400,000 worth of playground and library equipment that the foundation has donated to three schools now slated for closure. The foundation will also be seeking assurances that future donations won’t meet a similar fate.
Hamels Foundation operations officer G-N Kang said she and other officials were “shocked and surprised” to find that three Hamels-supported schools were on the district’s list of 37 proposed closures. The schools include Bayard Taylor Elementary, whose new $317,000 playground opened last summer; Wilson Elementary, which received a $50,000 playground in 2010; and Shaw Middle School, which received a $50,000 “family resource and professional development center” for its library in 2011.
Cole Hamels is a smart guy. I hope he figures this out, and I hope he starts speaking out about the politically incestuous world of for-profit charters.
