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Led by Anzhela Mordyga, students leave a "memorial service" for closed schools outside Tweed Courthouse today.

Carrying small coffins and wearing mostly black, a group of about 100 high school students held a “memorial service” today for schools the city has closed.

The teens were organized by the Urban Youth Collaborative, a coalition of activist groups that is advocating for the city to add new resources for struggling schools instead of closing them. A recent graduate, Anzhela Mordyga, wore a black gown as she conducted the mock funeral service outside Department of Education headquarters. Another student scattered flowers as the group recessed to City Hall Park.

“This funeral service represents the damages and pain when schools are closed,” said Joseph Duarte, a freshman at Samuel Gompers High School, where students are worried that their school could be next to land on the city’s chopping block. Students who spoke at the event said they mourned not only school closures — Mayor Bloomberg has attempted 91 since he took control of schools — but also a lack of public engagement in education.

The memorial service drew attention to an issue that is at the heart of the UFT-NAACP lawsuit currently working its way through the courts. (more…)