crisis response

The Philadelphia School Reform Commission moved Monday to borrow $300 million to bridge a massive deficit, emphasizing the bond deal will probably be the district's last for several years. In a brief, sober meeting, the commission approved a tough five-year financial plan for the district as a prelude to the bond sale to cover a deficit of more than $200 million in the current $2.5 billion budget, as well as a shortfall anticipated in the fiscal year that begins next July 1.

A Washington state prosecutor says his office will seek probation and treatment for a 9-year-old boy who took to school a gun that accidentally discharged and critically injured a classmate this past week.