For city councilman Mike Brown, this was a real lesson in civil disobedience for these students.
"We're going to send a message to the governor that we're not going to stand by and not let your voice be heard," Brown said.
And so they spoke out about a recent ruling to close the Maurice J. Moyer Academy, a $10-million charter school that state officials say will shut down next fall because of its record of underachieving, with high student turnover, poor curriculum, and unqualified teachers, but students have a different view.
"I hadn't thought about going to college until I came to Moyer, now I really want to go, so, what I'm trying to say is, Moyer Academy needs to stay open," student Autumn Kelson said.
"It's a big family and it's very important to me; I don't want to go back to public school and make the same mistakes that I made before. I'm really improving, I'm planning on going to college," Amanda Dorsey said.
The students can only hope their voices were heard by state officials today and as does Theo Gregory, the director of the embattled school.
"We know we have a difficult population, we have an at risk population, and if you look at the stats though, we are getting better at what we're supposed to do every year, so give us more time," Gregory said.
But Dr. Lillian Lowery, the State Secretary of Education says time has run out because records show students have failed to meet state testing standards in every grade and subject since it opened in 2006.
"We have to deal with the facts and sometimes the facts are dissimilar to the emotion around the facts," Dr. Lowery said.
Still Gregory, once known as a bulldog public defender, vows to keep the Moyer Academy open for the inner city at risk students even if that means going to court.
