{"id":243632,"date":"2026-07-15T03:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T03:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/243632\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T03:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T03:12:09","slug":"civil-rights-organization-files-complaint-against-pittsburgh-public-schools-ahead-of-closures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/243632\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil rights organization files complaint against Pittsburgh Public Schools ahead of closures"},"content":{"rendered":"

PITTSBURGH \u2014 Less than two months after Pittsburgh Public Schools approved a plan to close 12 schools across nine buildings,<\/a> the district is now facing a new civil rights complaint.<\/p>\n

Advancement Project, 412 Justice and the Education Rights Network filed the complaint Tuesday with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission on behalf of five Pittsburgh Public Schools students. <\/p>\n

Advancement Project is a national civil rights organization.<\/p>\n

They argue the district\u2019s school closure plan disproportionately harms Black students.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor decades, the district has under-resourced schools that mostly Black students go to and as that has happened over the years, you see these enrollment declines,\u201d said Adaku Onyeka-Crawford with the Advancement Project.<\/p>\n

The complaint argues the closures would have a disproportionate impact on Black students by forcing many to travel farther to school, placing them in more crowded classrooms and disrupting access to educational opportunities like African-centered curriculum and STEAM.<\/p>\n

Naomi Chambers, whose two children attend Miller PreK-5 \u2014 one of the schools slated to close \u2014 worries students will lose more than just their school building.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe school that they go to answers some of those socioeconomic things that we as a community face that other neighborhoods don\u2019t,\u201d Chambers said.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, Black students make up 62% of the students who would lose their schools under the closure plan, despite making up 49% of the district\u2019s overall student population. <\/p>\n

The filing also alleges the district declined to conduct an equity audit or explain how it would provide additional support to students most affected by the closures.<\/p>\n

For some advocates, the lawsuit echoes concerns they\u2019ve raised for decades.<\/p>\n

Wanda Henderson was among a group that filed a discrimination complaint against Pittsburgh Public Schools in 1992. She says the latest complaint reflects many of the same issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, this is like d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu for Black parents in Pittsburgh Public Schools,\u201d Henderson said.<\/p>\n

Henderson believes school closures are not the answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that the district has some financial problems but there needs to be another way to address the issue,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Pittsburgh Public Schools said, \u201cWe will not comment on pending litigation, and we have not received the complaint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those students represented in the complaint attend Manchester Pre K-8 on the North Side, Woolslair Pre K-5 in Bloomfield and Miller Pre K-5 in the Hill District.<\/p>\n

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