Spending precious tax money on a modern high school building is a good thing. Philadelphia students deserve updated buildings, whether through building new, or refurbishing the older buildings. We could modernize more school buildings, if we did not waste so much money on corporate welfare like new stadiums for incredibly wealthy professional sports monopolies, who can easily afford to build their own stadiums. As for why Lincoln HS? 1) Our state Representative was the Speaker and his party controlled the School Reform Commission, and he used a new school as a way to reduce the student body population.

Joe, the new Lincoln is much smaller than the old one. Based on what I was told, the new Lincoln was supposed to be built for students living in the immediate area, and bussing was to either be eliminated or drastically reduced.

all the high schools were decent till busing started ,it effected the neighborhoods inturn ,recreation centers ,movies, shopping centers,enterainment places. the problems were never solved just spreadout.

This is not a cheap shot against the high performing teachers who practiced there between 1968 and 71 when I attended, because I had a few, TOO FEW.. My year book featured them on strike !! They for the most part were more interested in their benefits than reaching hard to motivate students such as myself. But that’s exactly what they are supposed to earn their pay for – reaching and teaching the hard cases. The A students in my classes needed no special help – yet those teachers were glad to accept the credit for those students academic excellence, which they earned for the most part on their own accord. Too many of my teachers long ago lost their motivation for many reasons, many not of their own causing. But they did not “soldier on”, as we expect our MILITARY to do, regardless of the conditions. NO EXCUSES. I do not harbor ill will, I view them as pathetic failures of a UNION oriented force that is self focused rather than student focused. UNIONS protect the marginal performers – who should have been made to find some other form of manual labor. Lastly, I have no doubt that a building can improve morale, but it’s a mistake to misplace success or failure on lifeless things. It is the people inside that make an institution a success or an abject FAILURE. We shall see about the new Lincoln in 10 years, until then the verdict is on hold.
I was lucky I became motivated late in my senior year, not the preferred or best course of action, but nonetheless in large part due to the sole efforts of a Guidance Counselor Mr Puckett. I earned a A.S. degree from CCP and a B.A. from La Salle Univ, as well as 30 years with in the federal law enforcement / military arena. I was one of the lucky ones I succeeded despite Lincoln for which I hold both fond memories of childhood as well as not so fond ones because of a severely crippled teaching structure corrupted by unionization. Bottom line..People need to rise or fall based on continuing reassessment of merit, when you stop performing you are gone !!!
The time for a self serving – alleged elite – phony aristocracy has long passed. Young people need to be shown excellence by example, that my fellow citizens start with parents and is reinforced by teachers.
My rant is don, Thank You. E Kess