GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Students at a Harlem school that could be closed got an unlikely ally today: famed philosopher Cornel West.

West spoked to students this morning at Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing Arts as part of librarian Paul McIntosh’s long-running speaker series meant to inspire students to stay on the right track.

Wadleigh and another school in the building, Frederick Douglass Academy II, are on the Department of Education’s shortlist of schools whose performance is so weak that they could be closed.

“I think it’s unfair and unjust and I intend to fight to make sure the school’s history and legacy is preserved,” West said after the speech. “We’re not going to allow this to happen.” (more…)