Urban Education

School Closing: About 180 Philadelphia students were left in the lurch last month when their charter school, one of the nine new charters opened in the city this fall, closed its doors, perhaps for good.

Officials at the Center for Economics and Law Charter School, a finance immersion school for 9th and 10th graders, voluntarily closed their school Oct. 28 after learning that its fire-alarm and sprinkler systems were not working, said Barbara Grant, a spokeswoman for the 214,000-student district.

The school's problems don't end with the fire-code violations, however. State education officials have cited the school for safety, discipline, and staffing problems, all of which have been brought to the attention of Philadelphia officials, according to Dan Langan, a spokesman for...