School Reform Commission Floats $300 Million Bond to Keep the Lights On

The fun times continue at the year-old Philadelphia School Reform Commission. With just weeks to go before the release of a report calling for the closure of up to 20 percent of the district’s schools, SRC chairman Pedro Ramos yesterday announced the sale of $300 million in bonds to keep the district running through the end of the school year. On the upside, investors lapped up the offering — which will add $22 million a year in debt service to the district’s budget beginning in 2014 — after the state agreed to guarantee the debt if the district can’t pay in the future. [The Inquirer]