Chalkbeat

Philadelphia’s school selection process postponed to October

2026-08-31T21:50:50+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia’s school selection process this year will begin later than usual as the district waits for state officials to finalize standardized test scores.

The process will now open on Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. and close on Nov. 24, according to a statement from district officials late on Monday.

The selective admissions process was originally scheduled to open on Sept. 8, Superintendent Tony Watlington told families as much in his back-to-school letter just last week. The district’s subsequent decision to postpone the admissions process was done to ensure “families have access to official, verified 2026 assessment data when making their school choices,” according to the district statement.

Delays in releasing scores from the 2025-26 PSSA and Keystone exams have left educators and school leaders scrambling this year, and created uncertainty for families. District officials did receive preliminary PSSA score information in June but have opted not to release those scores to educators and families. Instead, they’re waiting for the state to review and release official results, which officials expect sometime this fall.

Criteria-based schools in the city usually rely on the most recent PSSA exams as part of their admissions requirements. District officials had previously said students would take an “alternative assessment” that could replace the PSSAs.

Monday’s statement said students will use both their 2025 assessment results and the official 2026 data as part of their applications this year.

“Once the verified 2026 PSSA and Keystone results are released … later this fall, District staff will contact all applicants to assist them with submitting their scores,” the district said. “Families do not need to take any action regarding their 2026 assessment scores at this time.”

There are several other important updates to the selective admissions process this year:

The district will only consider final grades in English Language Arts (or reading), math, and science. Grades in social studies, writing, or any other class won’t be used to determine a student’s eligibility for school admission.
Students who attended the district’s summer career and technical education program will get priority if they are applying to such a program for the 2027-28 school year.
ZIP code preference is still a factor in the admissions system. Families whose home address is within one of the following eligible ZIP codes may receive priority consideration when applying to Masterman, Central, Carver, and Palumbo: 19132, 19133, 19135, 19138, 19140, 19141.
Prekindergarten students seeking to enroll in the same school for kindergarten will get lottery preference.
The individualized review process has been expanded. This process is used for students who are English learners and those with disabilities or 504 plans. Those students will receive an individualized review regardless of whether they meet the eligibility requirements for any criteria-based school to which they applied. District officials said this is designed to allow more qualifying students applying to criteria-based middle and high schools to be considered.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia kicks off a new school year as students, educators brace for looming school closures

2026-08-24T18:51:22+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

After 120 years of operation, Philadelphia’s Overbrook Elementary School might have just had its final first day of school.

Kids skipped through the schoolyard and parents waved goodbye to students wearing fresh uniforms Monday morning as Overbrook and the entire Philadelphia school district kicked off the 2026-27 school year.

For some, the mood was somber. Overbrook is set to close at the end of this school year as the district moves forward with its plan to close 17 schools over the next decade. Nine schools, including Overbrook, will no longer welcome students next year.

“I’ve been to this school since I was in kindergarten,” said Overbrook fifth grader Mahogany. “I don’t want to lose something that I feel safe to have.”

District officials have promised robust support for families at closing schools and said the closures will ensure students can access higher-quality buildings and more educational opportunities. But many students, families, and educators say the looming closures are their major concern this school year. They worry about losing tight-knit communities and neighborhood gathering places. At some schools, the threat of sweeping changes — which would close the schools of more than 4,000 students over the next decade — is already having an effect.

Overbrook Principal Kenneth Glover said he didn’t yet have the school’s enrollment numbers for this year. But during a press conference Monday morning, he said he knew some families in the neighborhood had opted to enroll in nearby charter schools instead of returning to Overbrook for its final year.

Glover said he was prepared to work with the district’s school transition team “to make this a perfect school year for everyone.”

This year, he said “the focus needs to be instruction. The kids should not have to worry about this school being saved. That should be an adult issue.”

Fifth grader Mahogany has attended Overbrook since kindergarten, and worries about the planned school closure. “I don't want to lose something that I feel safe to have," she said.

The district has said that all students from the closing schools will be relocated to schools that are either higher-performing or in better-quality buildings. Its facilities plan reassigns Overbrook Elementary students to Guion S. Bluford and Lewis C. Cassidy schools. No teachers will lose their job due to the closures and instead will be reshuffled to empty positions at other schools.

Superintendent Tony Watlington, Board President Reginald Streater, and other dignitaries made no explicit mention of the closures at their morning back-to-school press conference at Alexander McClure Elementary School.

Streater said school leaders continue to work to help students succeed despite the district’s limited resources.

“While some decisions will be tough — and we all know some decisions have been tough — we must all remain resolute in our commitment to improving outcomes and create the conditions for every student to thrive,” he said.

Free backpacks, a DJ, and a batch of fresh-made smoothies greeted Parkway Northwest High School students on their return to classes.

Teachers, union leaders, and members of the City Council and state legislature say they plan to continue fighting the closures. But they have few levers to pull to influence the board’s decision. Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., who represents the area around Overbrook Elementary, said he will introduce legislation to prevent the Overbrook property from being redeveloped into condos.

“We want to be civil; we want to be cooperative with the school district,” Jones said at the press conference outside Overbrook on Monday. “But we will act up.”

The school board has the final say over which schools close, and it has already approved the plan. Members of City Council are looking into changing the board’s governance structure, which could give the council more influence.

Watlington said during Monday’s back-to-school press conference at McClure Elementary that his focus is on improving the district’s academic performance.

“While we’ve made some significant improvement, we know that the majority of our young people are still not at grade level in reading (or) math,” Watlington said. He added that the district is going to double down this year and that “we won’t rest until all of our children are at grade level in reading and math.”

Students plan to ‘keep going and keep pushing’

Parkway Northwest High School in Germantown greeted returning students with a balloon archway, a DJ, and a batch of fresh tropical smoothies. It will also close at the end of this school year under the district’s closure plan.

David Samuel, 16, arrived early to distribute backpacks to fellow students. But he planned to leave early from school to testify in a lawsuit that a community advocate filed against the district over its plan.

“I have to miss out on the first day, because this is something that’s really near and dear to my heart,” he said. “Just hearing the news and seeing what the parents are going to go through — I can’t stop here. I still have to keep going and keep pushing.”

Students get their class schedules on the first day of school at Parkway Northwest High School. It's one of 17 campuses slated to close under the School District of Philadelphia's facilities plan.

District officials said schools were added to the closure list based on several factors, including building quality, enrollment, and whether they had space for special programs such as pre-K and gym class. As part of its facilities overhaul, the district also plans to renovate 170 buildings.

But many students say they just want to remain in their schools.

Calin Shakoor, a 10th grader at Parkway Northwest, is determined to keep his grades up this year in hopes of convincing the school district to keep the school open.

He attended multiple meetings with the school board and City Council last school year to oppose the closure.

“Some people feel like it’s a done deal, others are still fighting for it,” he said. “All we can do is try to keep it open, make sure our academics is good and all that.”

Rebecca Redelmeier is a reporter at Chalkbeat Philadelphia. She writes about public schools, early childhood education, and issues that affect students, families, and educators across Philadelphia. Contact Rebecca at rredelmeier@chalkbeat.org.

Sammy Caiola covers solutions to gun violence in and around Philadelphia schools. Have ideas for her? Get in touch at scaiola@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

5 things to watch for Philadelphia’s 2026-27 school year

2026-08-21T16:47:13+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia schools will open their doors to students next week as educators and families brace for what could be a tumultuous year.

The upcoming school year will be the last for nine district schools as Superintendent Tony Watlington moves forward with his plan to close schools beginning in 2027.

Meanwhile, school leaders say they’re also focused on improving student attendance and boosting academic performance.

“We are going to get our reading scores up,” Brenda Elliott, the district’s deputy superintendent of academics, told Chalkbeat. “We are committed to ensuring every one of our students are reading on grade level.”

That could be difficult. Test scores released last school year showed that third grade reading scores declined, with fewer than 1 in 3 able to read proficiently. Amid low test scores and looming school closures, some members of the City Council say they want more control over education issues.

Janis Butler has been an educator for 53 years. But this will be her first year as interim principal at Fanny Jackson Coppin Elementary School. Her goal is to make sure “not only that the staff feels supported, but the students feel supported as well.” If she’s able to do that, “they will all rise to the occasion,” she said.

What’s Butler — who used to be a district student herself — most looking forward to on the first day back? “To give some hugs,” she said.

Here are five things we’re watching as the school year gets underway:

Philadelphia gears up to begin closing schools

With the Board of Education’s approval in April, the Philadelphia school district is implementing a sweeping facilities plan that includes closing 17 schools over the next decade.

Schools slated for closure at the end of this year include Lankenau Environmental Science High School, Paul Robeson High School, and Overbrook Elementary, which have mounted fierce resistance with the backing of members of City Council.

The plan also includes colocating several schools and upgrading nearly 170 others. This year, we’ll see whether the district is able to get any closer to scraping together the additional $2 billion it needs to pay for the upgrades — or whether it will scale back some of what it’s promised.

Lankenau High School students Tyrone Ware, right, and Niyasia Bounds say they don't know what they would do if their school closes. The district plans to close Lankenau at the end of the 2026-27 school year.

The district has pledged to help families affected by the closures. We’re keeping our eye on what services are available, and how families at closing schools decide what school to attend next.

Political fights over schools could escalate

Members of Philadelphia’s City Council are not conceding defeat on school closures.

Led by Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas, a group of councilmembers has demanded that the district and school board “return to the negotiating table” and consider removing some schools from the closure list. They’ve threatened lawsuits, called for board members’ resignations, and have even gone as far as to explore shifting to an elected school board.

There’s been no signal from the district that it’s reconsidering, but the political debate will no doubt continue into the school year.

Mayor Cherelle Parker has been conspicuously absent from public debates about school closures recently. In 2024, Parker declared that her administration would form a committee to review the district’s facilities plan. But that committee never materialized.

Shortly before the closure vote, Parker stood in lockstep with Superintendent Tony Watlington. Once a majority of her appointed board approved the plan and councilmembers began to raise objections, Parker receded from the conversation.

The mayor “supports the plan” and will work with the district, City Council, and state lawmakers “to identify the funds necessary to move forward with (building) improvements,” Debora Carrera, chief education officer for the Parker administration, said in a Friday email.

What will happen with any buildings designated for closure that could be conveyed to the city? Carrera said “no concrete plans have yet been identified.”

Will Philly’s new curriculum decisions pay off?

The district is about four years into a major, multimillion-dollar curriculum overhaul. Math came first in 2023-24, followed by English in 2024-25, and science this past school year. Some educators have welcomed the new materials, but many have told Chalkbeat they dislike the new curriculum and remain skeptical of its usefulness for students.

Math scores have improved and reading scores have fallen, but the Philly school district has opted not to release school-level data from last school year’s tests to educators and principals. While the state reviews some of the PSSA and Keystone exam data, district spokespeople say the data can’t be used to compare student performance or for selective admissions this school year. That makes it difficult to determine how students are faring.

Philadelphia district officials say their plan this year is to get reading scores up. Test scores released last school year showed that third grade reading performance declined.

The district has also said by next school year, they’ll offer an algebra course to all eighth graders. That means this year, they’ll have to expand access to more than 50 schools that don’t currently offer the class.

The district will overhaul charter school evaluations

The school board’s charter school office is expected to release a new way to evaluate charters, called Project RISE, this fall. If schools don’t meet certain standards, the board could choose not to renew their charters, kicking off a process that can lead to closing the school.

Recent charter nonrenewals have led to tensions between charter leaders and the school board. Charter leaders have alleged the process is biased. A handful of charters have sued the district over its decisions.

School board members have also called for an examination of enrollment in some charter schools. Separately, they’ve approved the first new charter school in nearly a decade, which will open this fall.

National debates over tech, vouchers come into focus

In Philadelphia, individual schools are largely on their own to determine how to manage students’ scream time and cellphone use. This year, we’ll keep our eye on whether that changes as Gov. Josh Shapiro calls for a bell-to-bell cellphone ban and more regulations on minors’ artificial intelligence use.

Shapiro has also yet to say whether he will opt into the Trump administration’s school tax credit program, which could funnel money to private schools. We’ll be following what he and other Democratic governors ultimately decide.

Are there other stories you think we should be covering? Reach us at philly.tips@chalkbeat.org to let us know your questions and ideas.

This story has been updated to include comment from Mayor Cherelle Parker’s office.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philly schools ask communities to help shape transition plan as controversial closures move ahead

2026-08-20T22:10:34+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The School District of Philadelphia’s closure plan is moving ahead as written, even as elected officials demand parts of the plan be reconsidered.

District officials announced Thursday they are opening applications on Aug. 31 for new school transition committees. Those committees will be set up for the nine schools closing this academic year, schools receiving students from a closing school in 2027-28, and any school phasing out grade levels at the end of school year 2026-27. Each 20-person committee will include a mix of teachers, school staff, parents, caregivers, community partners, and students.

The district says the committees will give feedback and help shape transition plans that reflect the needs of each school community.

Superintendent Tony Watlington and district representatives have spent the last few years defending themselves against criticism aimed at their approach to community engagement about the closures. At several board meetings, neighborhood hearings, rallies, and protests, Philadelphians said they don’t feel that their input has been deeply considered. Even individuals named by the district to sit on advisory committees in the early stages of the process said they found those efforts to be perfunctory and frustrating.

Since the vote to approve the facilities plan, elected officials, led by City Councilmembers Nina Ahmad and Isaiah Thomas, who chairs the city’s education committee, have launched a war against district leadership — threatening lawsuits, calling for school board members’ resignations, and shutting down board meetings in an attempt to gain some control over the list of schools scheduled to close.

Thursday’s move to assemble transition committees signals the district has no intention of making changes to the plan anytime soon.

Watlington said in a statement that for the transition process to be successful, the district will need to meaningfully partner with school communities.

“We really want this to be something that represents ‘nothing for us without us,’” Watlington said at Thursday’s school board meeting. “We want to be equal partners in how we implement this facilities master plan.”

In June, the district appointed Shakeera Warthen-Canty to lead the newly created school transition office, which will oversee implementing the facilities plan. The plan includes closures but also promises to modernize some 169 buildings. Watlington has said it’s a 10-year, $3 billion vision to build a new high school, renovate pools, update HVAC systems, improve bathrooms, refurbish athletic facilities, add kitchens, and redesign classroom spaces.

The transition committee applications will be open through Sept. 18. Watlington said the district’s outreach to parents and school staff “won’t be limited just to these committees. There’ll be other deep engagement.”

People can submit feedback on the transition process through this form.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia’s state test scores are delayed this year

2026-08-18T22:51:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Typically, Philadelphia teachers and principals use state test scores from the prior school year to assess student learning, roster kids into the proper classes, and prepare for the year to come.

Not this year.

Several teachers told Chalkbeat this week they haven’t seen results from the 2025-26 PSSA or Keystone exams and aren’t sure why. In the past, these scores have been shared with educators and school leaders around June. Teachers returned to classrooms this week for professional development, and students will return on Aug. 24.

School district officials said the holdup is with the state.

The district “has been notified that the release of official statewide PSSA and Keystone results by the Pennsylvania Department of Education is on hold,” district spokespeople said in a statement to Chalkbeat Tuesday. They did not respond to requests for clarification.

A spokesperson from PDE said in an email that school-level data did get sent out to school districts in June but that a “review of preliminary data is still underway.”

The delay will have ripple effects for students, educators, and school leaders. Though they have some student data from STAR benchmark exams, school staff rely in part on state assessments to determine which students need additional support, where teachers are most needed, and where extra resources should be spent.

The district “cannot use the 2025-26 assessment results to evaluate year-over-year student achievement or as the required criterion for school selection,” according to its statement.

Instead, students will be able to take an “alternative assessment” in the fall and submit those results. Not having state test scores for school selection could pose a host of new issues for families when that process opens on Sept. 8, but without further information from the district, any potential impact on admissions is unclear.

Typically, the state releases PSSA and Keystone test data to districts early in the summer. District officials then have a period, usually from June through July, to review the data, share it with school leaders, and make sure nothing looks awry. After that, the state sends out statewide comparison data that districts can share publicly. In past years, that comparison data was shared at school board meetings by September or October.

According to a field message PDE sent Tuesday morning, the statewide comparison data is still being analyzed and is not being shared publicly. However, that message confirms districts received preliminary school-level assessment data in June.

It is unclear why the district wouldn’t be able to rely on those results to measure student achievement or make school selection decisions.

Several Philly charter school leaders have shared preliminary state test results with their teachers, Chalkbeat has confirmed.

At least one Pennsylvania school district — Conrad Weiser Area School District in Berks County — has shared its preliminary PSSA data, according to school board documents.

Philadelphia is not the only district grappling with test score controversy. Testing experts are calling for an investigation into New York City’s scores, and New Jersey educators say their state score delays are forcing schools to start their academic years without crucial data.

This story has been updated to include comment from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Why a Philly district report on the success of its summer programs includes ‘imperfect data points’

2026-08-14T16:52:31+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

From the field trips to the childcare, Philly kids and their families say they’re enjoying the summer school programs provided by the school district and the city.

But are these programs translating to more success in the classroom? That question has been a tough puzzle to solve for district officials. And a report conducted by the district doesn’t necessarily provide encouraging — or clear — answers.

Every summer, thousands of students participate in the bevy of free summer programs Philadelphia offers. They range from camps and sports to workforce training, traditional classroom learning, and safe spaces for young people. Superintendent Tony Watlington and Mayor Cherelle Parker have promoted the programs in part as a way to boost academic achievement and reinforce math and reading skills during the summer, when the threat of learning loss is greatest.

But a new report from the school district about summer programming in 2025 found some students in three grade levels who participated in Summer Achievers — a core part of Parker’s push for year-round school — experienced more learning loss in reading on the Star assessment compared with district students overall. The report’s authors caution that in general, district students’ fall Star test scores are lower than their spring scores from the previous school year, due to the “summer slide.”

The popularity of these programs is growing: From 2023 to 2025, enrollment in the five largest summer programs rose from roughly 14,800 students in 2023 to nearly 16,800 students in 2025. And national research has found that summer programs can help students’ academic progress in math and literacy.

But spotty attendance is one of the reasons why measuring academic outcomes for students in summer programs can be difficult. The district does not track whether students attend the academic portion of the summer programs, or which students come on which days.

Several researchers told Chalkbeat that the district’s analysis, which it published in June, is ultimately inconclusive. They also raised questions about how the district is measuring academic success for students in the program. Not all Summer Achievers students took the Star assessments. And the report doesn’t say how to distinguish outcomes for Summer Achievers, who are also district students, from the district’s overall performance.

“You can’t tell from this [report] whether or not the summer programs had any significant positive impact on participants relative to the district,” Jon Supovitz, director of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education at the University of Pennsylvania, said in an interview.

There are separate, broader challenges related to assessing these summer programs, like isolating the effects of academic-focused programs from recreational ones. The programs, most of which are voluntary and free, attract a different group of kids than the district educates overall.

District officials told Chalkbeat that summer programming isn’t like tutoring and shouldn’t be evaluated the same way. They said their test score analysis was meant to be descriptive and includes “imperfect data points” intended to guide future summer program planning efforts. The programs are evolving and are intended to help students succeed over a longer stretch of time, they added.

“Would we expect there to be dramatic changes? Probably not, based on the model of the program,” Joy Lesnick, the district’s deputy chief of research, evaluation, and academic partnerships, said in an interview.

The district is betting that getting young people in the habit and pattern of attending school — or school-like environments — will boost attendance rates and create a positive association with learning that will compound over time.

“If you’re in the pattern of going to school and it’s a fun thing that you do and you’re doing these things that you enjoy, then you’re going to keep coming,” Lesnick said.

Summer Achievers just wrapped up its third summer. It’s part English and math class staffed by district teachers, part summer camp. It’s not mandatory and runs for around six weeks for four days a week from June to July. Lesnick said that works out to around 20 days of programming — the academic portion can account for three to four hours of each day.

But district officials say the intent of the programs goes beyond boosting standardized test scores.

“Ultimately we want the academic achievement to improve,” Lesnick said. “We also know that engagement and a strong school climate and a love of learning are also really important things to keep going, especially if you’re young.”

The report did identify what the district considers successful outcomes from some of the other five largest summer programs, although those aren’t based on measures like test scores. Nearly two-thirds of students required to attend Summer School recovered one or more academic credits, and nearly 60% of enrolled seniors graduated over the summer of 2025 as a result.

For some students, the programs are having the desired effect in terms of changing their mindset about school.

“This program actually helped me,” one summer school participant said in a written response to the district’s survey included in the 2025 report. “I’m glad I experienced this because it was a wake up call to come to school more.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Unequal algebra access in Philly is ‘discriminatory’ says key city official as district plans changes

2026-08-06T19:56:49+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia school officials say they want all eighth graders to have the opportunity to take an algebra course before high school, but they’re still roughly 50 schools and a school year away from reaching that goal.

Until everyone has access, the district’s math offerings remain inequitable, education advocates and city councilmembers said at a City Hall hearing on Thursday. And councilmembers said they want schools to offer the course to all students regardless of where they live or their test scores, although not everyone is necessarily on board with that idea.

Philly school leaders announced Thursday they intend to offer algebra at all 126 district schools that enroll eighth graders by the 2027-28 school year — for those students who are prepared for the extra rigor. That determination will be made based on students’ Star test scores.

“We certainly want to offer it to students who are ready for it,” Brenda Elliott, the district’s deputy superintendent of academics, told Chalkbeat before Thursday’s hearing.

Amid a heated national debate about when to offer access to the advanced math course, in Philly, patchy algebra availability for eighth graders can mean deserving students are locked out of the most competitive public high school. In addition, some see algebra as a gateway course to more advanced classes like calculus and career opportunities in science and technical fields. But experts caution not all eighth graders have a solid grasp on the basic concepts that algebra builds on. And granting universal access hasn’t translated to success for some districts.

City Councilmember and Education Chair Isaiah Thomas called Philly’s current approach “discriminatory.” And Councilmember Nina Ahmad said at the hearing that by not offering algebra to all eighth graders, “we’re really truly not letting our children have a quality education” at selective admissions schools, “which changes their trajectory in life.”

A 2023 Chalkbeat analysis determined that the lower the median household income in a Philly school’s surrounding neighborhood, the less likely that algebra is offered to eighth graders by that school. And because the course is a prerequisite for admission at Julia R. Masterman — the district’s most selective public high school — hundreds of students every year are effectively excluded from even applying there.

Thomas said his own children were among those excluded because they could not take algebra before high school.

About 400 district eighth graders passed the Pennsylvania state math test in 2025 and “could have succeeded in algebra, but didn’t have the opportunity because their school simply did not offer it,” Symbol Lai from Children First, a Philly nonprofit, said Thursday.

Lai suggested the district implement a universal screening process so “students’ readiness for algebra isn’t left up to chance.”

Philly is not the only city school district grappling with the algebra problem. In 2014, San Francisco pulled algebra courses from middle schools in an attempt to improve students’ foundational math skills and reduce racial disparities in math achievement. After largely failing to accomplish that, the San Francisco school board voted in March to reinstate the class as an elective available for all eighth graders.

In the 2025-26 school year, a total of 65 Philly schools offered algebra, an increase of 15 from two years before. The majority, 40 schools, offered it through a dedicated class in the building, and the remainder offered it through the district’s hybrid in-person, virtual learning program called Cross School Learning.

For the upcoming school year, Elliott said 42 district schools will offer algebra as a dedicated class or section and 33 schools will participate in Cross School Learning. That will bring the total number of schools offering algebra in some form to 75 schools.

That still leaves 51 district schools serving eighth grade students without access to algebra, according to district figures.

The district also offers a course called Algebra 1a for ninth graders who may need what Elliott called a “booster” class. The first-semester course allows students “to address gaps and build up their math proficiency,” and begin the grade-level Algebra 1 class in the second semester.

The course launched at 12 schools in the 2025-26 school year because Elliott said too many district students were failing Algebra 1 in ninth grade, signaling they weren’t properly equipped for the level of math rigor.

“When kids fail a class, particularly in that first year of ninth grade, it can be deflating,” Elliott told Chalkbeat.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Free school supplies, backpacks, and activities: 2026 back-to-school events in Philadelphia

2026-08-04T19:06:26+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia School District’s first day of school is rapidly approaching. Students return Monday, Aug. 24, and teachers will be back for professional development between Aug. 17 and 21.

This academic year, school communities will be battling the heat, dealing with a transition year before some school closures, and continuing to think about ways to keep young people safe and engaged in their learning.

If you’re looking for free school supplies, backpacks, health screenings, and community block parties, here’s where to go in Philly this summer.

Know of other events that aren’t on our list? Email us at philadelphia.tips@chalkbeat.org.

Ongoing

The School District of Philadelphia’s back-to-school bus tour offers free backpacks, snacks, activities, school registration help, and more. All events are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On Friday, Aug. 7, the bus will be at Penrose School, 2515 S. 78th St.

On Tuesday, Aug. 11, the bus will be at Marcus Foster Memorial Stadium, also known as Gratz Supersite, 1627 W. Hunting Park Ave.

On Thursday, Aug. 13 the bus will be at MLK High School, 6100 Stenton Ave.

On Saturday, Aug. 15, the bus will be at Roosevelt Mall, 2329 Cottman Ave.

Saturday, Aug. 8

Episcopal Community Services and the St. Barnabas Community Resource Center’s Gear Up for School event with free school supplies and activities

Where: 6006 W. Girard Ave

When: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Entrepreneurs of the Future and Men of Courage Philadelphia’s back-to-school drive

Where: 4821 Germantown Ave.

When: Noon to 3 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 12

Congreso block party featuring a backpack giveaway and petting zoo

Where: 2800 N. American St.

When: Noon to 3 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 13

Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes’ office is hosting a backpack giveaway and barbecue

Where: 2401 N. 54th Street

When: 3 to 6 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 14

The Salvation Army Kroc Center’s Back-to-School Backpack Event with free school supplies, carnival games, and a live DJ

Where: 4200 Wissahickon Ave.

When: 4 to 7 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 15

The Southeast Asian Market’s annual school supply giveaway

Where: FDR Park, 1500 Pattison Ave. and South Broad Street

When: 10 a.m.

United Missionary Baptist Church’s “Back 2 School” giveaway

Where: Athletic Recreation Center, 1400 N. 26th St.

When: 1 to 4 p.m.

House of Faith Ministries PA’s back-to-school giveaway

Where: 6624 Haverford Ave.

When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

House Of Glory Philadelphia’s annual community block party in Germantown with free produce, school supplies, and community resources

Where: 5245 Germantown Ave.

When: Noon to 3 p.m.

New World Leaders’ back-to-school event

Where: 5700 Haverford Ave.

When: 2 to 5 p.m.

Bright Little Scholars’ Back-to-School Giveaway

Where: 4500-02 Westminster Ave.

When: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

It Takes A Village Foundation’s Back-to-School Community Day with a backpack giveaway and health screenings for kids and adults

Where: 126 Leverington Ave.

When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 16

Maison Mane Hair Company’s school supply giveaway and block party

Where: 1633 W. Oxford St.

When: 3 to 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 19

ACHIEVEability’s backpack drive with 1,000 backpacks filled with essential school supplies

Where: 5901 Market St.

When: 4 to 6 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 21

Cecil B. Moore Library’s back-to-school bookbag drive featuring family activities, snacks, music, and a school supply and backpack giveaway for the first 100 attendees

Where: 2320 Cecil B. Moore Ave., at 23rd Street

When: Noon

Mansion Youth Coalition Inc.’s giveaway featuring North Philly Allstars Majorette Team

Where: James G. Blaine Elementary School, 3001 W. Berks St.

When: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 23

Back to School Cuts and Curls event featuring free haircuts, light braiding, school supply giveaways, and more

Where: Canaan Baptist Church, 5430 Pulaski Ave.

When: Noon to 3 p.m.

The Greater Philadelphia YMCA and Barbers Who Care are offering free back-to-school haircuts, school supplies, and health screening.

Where: West Philadelphia YMCA, 5120 Chestnut St.

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 5

Elegance Xtreme and other organizations’ back-to-school supply giveaway and community fun day

Where: Carroll Park, 58th and 59th streets and Girard Avenue and Thompson Street

When: Noon to 8 p.m.

Where to donate school supplies

The Young Chances Foundation in Grays Ferry is accepting donations of backpacks, notebooks, pencils, pen, crayons, glue, and other supplies from now until August 30th.

Cradles to Crayons Philadelphia is accepting donations. Find a local drop-off point here.

It Takes A Village Foundation is collecting supplies for a Classroom Support Box Program to provide classroom materials and educational resources to teachers. Reach out to info@itavf.org for more information, or call 215-512-6465.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Pennsylvania state budget includes $157 million more for Philadelphia’s schools

2026-07-13T17:59:38+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

Pennsylvania school districts will receive $11.8 billion next year in the state budget Gov. Josh Shapiro signed over the weekend, a $670 million increase from last year.

The $50.8 billion budget includes an infusion of money for career training programs and special education, along with more funding for teacher training stipends and additional requirements for cyber charter schools to monitor students’ wellbeing.

But the budget, which often includes major education legislation, does not have the school cellphone ban Shapiro wanted, and less money for early childhood education than the governor sought.

The budget puts $157 million more towards Philadelphia’s schools, the state’s largest district.

In response to a 2023 court ruling that found the state’s school funding system was unconstitutional, the budget provides a $565 million increase to districts in what’s commonly known as “adequacy funding.” It also puts $58 million more towards basic education funding and $47 million more towards special education funding.

While the overall budget is some $2 billion less than Shapiro had proposed, the final amounts for education are greater than what he initially put forward.

“To me, a quality education doesn’t just require dollars and cents, it also requires common sense,” Shapiro said during his budget address Sunday. He said that’s why he pushed to require schools to give all K-5 students 30 minutes of recess each day, a mandate that’s in the budget. Philly schools guaranteed daily recess for all district students back in February.

Mai Miksic, executive director of the Pennsylvania-based advocacy group Children First, said in a statement the budget will help schools “maintain and build on the academic progress made possible by increased adequacy funds.”

But she was disappointed that the budget “did not go far enough to support early learning.” Shapiro had initially proposed a $10 million increase to a program meant to recruit and retain childcare workers, and a $7.5 million increase to the state’s free pre-Kindergarten program, Pre-K Counts. But the final budget only included half those increases.

Laura Boyce, the Pennsylvania executive director of the advocacy group Teach Plus, said the boost to adequacy funding and teacher stipends was “something to celebrate.”

But she had hoped the budget would increase early literacy funding rather than hold it steady at $10 million. That’s a “good down payment,” Boyce said, but “not close to what we will ultimately need” to help schools meet the literacy requirements slated to kick in during the 2027-28 school year, like implementing professional development and screenings.

Over the past two years, Philadelphia students’ English language arts and literature test scores have fallen. Around one-third of students in grades 3-8 scored proficient or above in ELA on the most recent state assessments.

Some conservatives were hoping the budget would include more investment in the state’s existing school choice tax credit programs, while the deadline looms for Shapiro to say whether Pennsylvania will opt into the federal tax credit program. “Unfortunately, the budget deal does not meaningfully expand educational choice,” said Nathan Benefield, chief policy officer at the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative think tank.

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg said in a statement that he was disappointed the budget bill did not include a statewide cellphone ban. But he welcomed the additional overall funding for schools.

“We are, as ever, impatient for a faster schedule to close the adequacy gap between wealthy and non-wealthy districts once and for all,” Steinberg said.

Pennsylvania boosts funding for career training, student teachers

This year’s budget includes a $10 million increase for career and technical education programs as part of a $193 million total annual investment in workforce development. It also slightly changes testing requirements for those programs by allowing career training centers to administer the competency exams before students are in 12th grade, and therefore help them complete the programs.

Rep. Peter Schweyer, a Democrat and chair of the House Education Committee, applauded the changes, saying they would enable programs to enroll more students.

The budget also puts $10 million more towards the popular student-teacher stipend program, for a total of $40 million. The program has been oversubscribed in past years.

The increase means some 700 more student teachers and their cooperating teachers will receive stipends next year, according to a statement from the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

The budget also increased funding to the state’s childcare staff retention and recruitment program by $5 million for a total of $30 million.

Budget directs $120 million to K-12 mental health, safety

This year’s budget also includes $120 million for mental health and school safety improvements in K-12 schools. Last year, Shapiro’s administration approved the same amount for this category for school security updates, security personnel training, and mental health resources such as calming spaces inside schools.

Organizations that help prevent gun violence in Philadelphia and statewide will get $62.2 million from the new state budget, a similar amount to what was allocated last year. Violence prevention advocacy groups hailed the move, especially since those and similar efforts face threats on the federal level.

Last year, this funding also supported out-of-school-time activities that help children stay connected to trusted adults and reduce the risk of being exposed to violence.

The Shapiro administration credits the investment for a 35% decrease in homicides and a 40% decrease in firearm-related crimes statewide, according to Uniform Crime Reporting data cited on the state’s website.

Sammy Caiola covers solutions to gun violence in and around Philadelphia schools. Have ideas for her? Get in touch at scaiola@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Only 8% of Philly voters say public education is headed in the right direction

2026-06-23T19:35:35+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Only 8% of Philadelphia voters think that public education is headed in the right direction according to a new poll released this week.

The data shared with Chalkbeat on Tuesday of 1,029 registered Philly voters found that more than half of the respondents think the state of public education is worsening. Voters said they are unhappy with the condition of buildings, want to see more advocates pushing to improve the city’s schools, and want Mayor Cherelle Parker to be more engaged in education issues.

The online survey was commissioned by Philly for Great Public Schools, and conducted by Change Research. Philly for Great Public Schools is a new coalition led by Tamir D. Harper, a longtime education proponent and former district teacher, that advocates for traditional public, charter, and magnet schools in the city. The poll went out to voters via a series of Facebook and Instagram ads and text messages between May 27 and June 3, 2026.

The results show Philadelphians’ opinions about their public schools have soured over the last year. In a similar survey conducted by the same company in May 2025, 44% of voters said they were “very concerned” about the state of public education in the city, according to a statement from Philly for Great Public Schools. This year, 57% said the same. Overall, 81% of respondents said they are at least somewhat concerned about the state of public education, up 4 percentage points from a year prior.

The poll’s timing came during a particularly tense period for Philadelphia schools. The mayor-appointed Board of Education had just voted to close 17 schools at an explosive April meeting that drove City Council members to call for board members’ resignations and a switch to an elected board. The district had adopted a budget with millions in cuts and hundreds of teachers were being transferred to other positions — in some cases leaving the district altogether.

Harper said the poll results weren’t surprising after the year the district has had, but he said decisionmakers should take the data as a sign that they need to engage more meaningfully with parents and city residents.

“People feel like they don’t have a voice in how their children are being educated,” Harper said in an interview. “Families are scared. They wake up one day and their school may be on the list to close or it may be on the list one day and not on the list the next day.”

The poll found support for charter schools is high in the city. Among parents who responded to the survey, 63% said they support allowing new charter schools to open. Support for opening new charters was especially high among Black and Latino poll respondents (61% and 54% respectively) and those without a college degree (61%).

In the wake of the city’s budget fight about school funding, the survey found strong support for an audit of the school district at 86% of voters.

A slight majority of voters (52%) also said they opposed school closures, with 30% in support of the board’s vote to close some schools and modernize nearly 170 others.

“We have a city that is prepared to work together to address the issues. We have a city that is invested in public education, and now we need our leaders to listen,” Harper said.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Teenagers took over Philadelphia city government for a day. Here’s how it went.

2026-06-18T16:14:06+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Kailey Reinboth has won and lost many elections. In fact, her political resume is stacked — and she hasn’t even gone to college yet.

Through the Greater Philadelphia YMCA’s Youth and Government program, she served as a two-time committee chair in a student version of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, as well as chief of staff to a teenage governor. And she recently added still more to her budding government resume.

Reinboth and nearly 100 of her fellow high school students and recent graduates spent a hot summer Wednesday in the historic chambers of City Hall to participate in the Philadelphia City Government Youth Summit. The program is a full-day “civic immersion experience” hosted by the YMCA in partnership with the Mayor’s office and City Council.

Mayor-for-the-day Jada Fagan delivered an impassioned speech before her peers began to debate the legislation on their desks.

The students elected their own mayor — Cristo Rey High School graduate Jada Fagan — and assumed roles in the mayor’s cabinet, the City Council, press corps, and community advocacy groups. Their tasks were to debate, negotiate, amend, and vote on proposed legislation.

The program is a response to findings from experts like those at Tufts University that young people, especially youth of color, don’t feel qualified enough to participate in politics. It aims to build students’ civic awareness and foster skills like public speaking and critical thinking. Although Pennsylvania students are required to pass a civics test in order to graduate high school, the state has never required school districts to offer a civics course.

This was the first year the summit came to Philly. In previous years, Reinboth and other high schoolers have experimented with governing at the state level in Harrisburg.

Throughout the day, Lindsay Doyle Director of Youth Civic Engagement at the YMCA urged students to remember respect and decorum. “We are debating the ideas, not the people,” she said.

In their council session Wednesday, the students debated legislation they’d drafted about the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Reinboth, who will start her freshman year at Gettysburg College this fall, said her biggest takeaway from the experience was being able to communicate and talk to her peers in a respectful manner even when they disagree.

“Being able to have not just a conversation, but a civil, productive conversation, so that you can both benefit, is one of the biggest and most important things I’ve learned from this,” she said.

The Philly-area students received advice from real-life Mayor Cherelle Parker, and adult City Council President Kenyatta Johnson.

Fagan, the mayor for the day, said the summit taught her that writing sound policy and passing legislation is not a one-person job.

“No one person could get blamed for the decisions being made. It’s a full team,” she said.

This was the first year the Philadelphia City Government Youth Summit took over City Hall. In previous years students have experimented with governing at the state level in Harrisburg.

Nyjera Choice, 15, a ninth grader at the Philadelphia High School for Girls and a member of the youth government press corps, also came away from the summit with a more empathetic view of her elected officials.

Having to write the legislation, consider amendments, and weigh everyone’s different interests “gives you a broader perspective of what they have to handle,” Choice said.

In their session Wednesday, the students debated legislation they’d drafted about the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Students had to consider public transit, stadium projects, policing, trash pickup, cultural beautification efforts — and budget constraints. The result was a proposed $72 million bill that would fund various priorities.

In a lively City Council session, they expressed concerns about SEPTA’s “fiscal nightmare” and debated how to keep the beleaguered transit agency solvent while allowing for city residents and tourists to easily and affordably move around. They found errors in the legislation and asked for clearer definitions of abstract concepts.

Student Ja'kiyah Wright acted as City Council President. She said even though her legislation failed to pass, “it just showcased how determined we are and how engaged we are."

Ja’kiyah Wright, a rising senior at Universal Audenried Charter School and Youth City Council President, presided over the session. She wielded her gavel to keep councilmembers within their time restrictions and worked to ensure everyone was heard.

Ultimately, the council rejected the bill. Members agreed it needed more work in committee — and a spelling and grammar check.

Wright said even though the legislation, which she sponsored, was rejected, “It just showcased how determined we are and how engaged we are, because we can have these conversations and understand the problems with the legislation.”

Wright said she would love to be a part of Philadelphia’s local government in the future.

Actual Council President Kenyatta Johnson gave the students a passing grade on Wednesday. He said seeing them in action made him feel like the city’s future will be in great hands.

As for failing to pass their bill, Johnson said: “That’s the democratic process.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia budget deal will not restore hundreds of school staff cuts, superintendent says

2026-06-04T19:59:30+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

School District of Philadelphia leaders say $50 million in one-time funding approved by the City Council will not restore hundreds of staff positions the district is cutting, according to a memo obtained by Chalkbeat.

The City Council gave initial approval on Thursday to a $7.1 billion budget deal for the 2027 fiscal year, but rejected Mayor Cherelle Parker’s proposed rideshare tax that her administration said would generate $48 million in its first year and would stop the elimination of 340 staff positions at Philly schools.

Instead, the council sent $48 million from other budget sources in a one-time allocation to the school district to stop the cuts.

But later on Thursday, the City Council received a memo from Superintendent Tony Watlington saying that the funding was insufficient because it did not address the “underlying drivers of staff reductions.”

“The District cannot restore the 340 school based positions without a commitment to recurring and predictable funding over multiple years,” Watlington wrote in the memo.

He also wrote that the district’s finance team believes relying on a one-time funding to support recurring expenditures like salaries “may be viewed as a structural budget imbalance and could negatively affect the District’s long-term financial outlook, borrowing costs, and future capacity to invest in school facilities.”

Watlington’s memo does not address how the district could use or plans to use the $48 million instead.

Councilmembers quickly denounced the letter.

Education Chair Isaiah Thomas called Watlington’s memo “offensive and disrespectful” in a speech from the City Council floor on Thursday.

“For me that’s very, very shortsighted and doesn’t show leadership,” Council President Kenyatta Johnson said of the letter. He said district leaders should welcome the $50 million and reverse the cuts.

Standing alongside Watlington and Board of Education President Reginald Streater at City Hall Thursday, Parker called the $48 million a “band-aid” solution that would not solve the district’s persistent financial challenges: “It doesn’t get to the heart of the matter which is a $300 million structural deficit.”

Johnson said councilmembers remain committed “to work for long-term recurring revenue for the school district.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia city council approves budget without rideshare tax for schools

2026-06-04T17:36:18+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia City Councilmembers had been warning for months that Mayor Cherelle Parker’s proposed rideshare tax was dead on arrival. On Thursday, they put it to rest.

City Council gave initial approval to a $7.1 billion budget deal Thursday that leaves out the $1 tax on companies like Uber and Lyft that Parker said would have generated $48 million to stop staff cuts at Philly schools. Instead, councilmembers’ will draw a one-time infusion of $48 million from other budget sources for the school district. Members did approve Parker’s proposal for a use-and-occupancy tax on cell phone towers, which her administration says will send $2.4 million annually to the district.

That $50 million deal for fiscal year 2027 may be too little too late for a school district already in turmoil. The school board approved a district budget last week that included millions in cuts. Earlier last month, board members approved a plan to close 17 schools.

A coalition of advocacy groups and labor union organizers rallied outside of City Hall on June 2, 2026 in support of Mayor Cherelle Parker's rideshare tax:

Several educators told Chalkbeat forced transfer decisions have already kicked off and the district’s hiring process for next school year has reportedly been thrown into chaos. And while that $50 million may save some staff positions, 220 building substitute positions will still be cut. Enrollment declines mean some schools are eliminating class offerings and losing school-based workers beyond what the rideshare tax would have supposedly covered.

School district spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers’ President Arthur Steinberg said Thursday that Council’s deal may staunch some of the budgetary bleeding, but without a source of recurring revenue like the rideshare tax, the school district will continue to face financial challenges.

Failing to establish a source of recurring revenue for the district “will accelerate the exodus of teachers and exacerbate the shortage,” Steinberg said. “One-time fixes will not cut it.”

Councilmembers also approved a resolution Thursday calling for hearings to explore finding recurring revenue sources for the district in the future.

Meanwhile, public school advocates spent the week knocking on council members’ office doors, urging members to budget for more than $50 million citing the district’s $300 million deficit and urgent needs.

“A vote for less than $75 million means building substitutes are left behind and schools facing enrollment-based cuts get no relief,” Shanée Garner, executive director of the Lift Every Voice parent advocacy group, said in a statement. “It means the children and schools carrying the greatest burden today will continue carrying it tomorrow.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia school board adopts $4.6B budget with millions in cuts

2026-05-29T00:03:29+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia Board of Education approved a $4.6 billion budget Thursday night that includes millions in cuts and will result in schools losing climate staff, teachers, counselors, and substitutes.

Superintendent Tony Watlington said cutting some $225 million is necessary to begin to plug the district’s $300 million budget deficit while balancing rising salaries, healthcare premiums, and charter school payments. No staff will be laid off, Watlington has previously said. Instead, teachers and school-based staff might be reassigned to other vacant positions across the district.

“I’m agnostic to how we get the dollars, but we desperately need additional revenue,” Watlington said.

The budget passed 8-0.

The cuts come amid a cloud of bad news for Philly schools. Ahead of the meeting, City Council members rallied outside of the district building and blasted board members for their April vote approving the district’s plan to close 17 schools starting in 2027. Enrollment declines and other funding challenges mean schools will lose more staff, advanced placement classes, and after-school programs than the district is discussing.

Board member Joyce Wilkerson blamed state and federal underfunding for the district’s financial position. Philly is the only school district in the state that can’t raise its own tax revenue and is nearly entirely dependent on state and city funding.

“It’s a national disgrace, and a disgrace to this commonwealth” that Philly schools don’t receive more public funding, Wilkerson said.

Voting to approve the budget amounts to doubling down on the closure plan, City Council member Kendra Brooks said.

City Council member Jamie Gauthier called for the six board members who voted for the closure plan to resign. “We need a school board that is actually accountable to our community,” she said.

Though elected officials are publicly fuming about the closures, no City Council member has proposed a plan to help the district close its budget deficit.

Mayor Cherelle Parker has been pushing a proposed $1 per ride tax on Ubers and Lyfts to funnel more money to the school district. But the tax has become one of the central political battles in the city, and city council members do not appear poised to approve it as is.

Thursday’s vote locks the district’s budget cuts in while negotiations around the rideshare tax continue.

City Council member and Chair of the city’s Education Committee Isaiah Thomas said at Thursday’s rally that the rideshare tax is not part of his negotiation strategy.

Also on Thursday, the board approved a $266 million amended capital budget that lays out major renovations, building additions, system replacements, and playground construction for dozens of schools to be paid for with bonds. The district’s facilities plan intends to modernize some 170 schools in addition to the closures, but there’s no guaranteed funding for that plan, so it’s unclear how realistic those projections are.

The city has a July 1 deadline to enact a budget. Thomas said if school board members and district officials don’t come back to the table to discuss changes to the closure plan, council members will continue to put them on notice.

“We’ll just keep going,” he said.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Should Congress spend big to rebuild schools? This $500 billion campaign proposal will be a tough sell.

2026-05-18T10:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

America’s schools are crumbling.

There’s black mold in buildings in Alaska and Maine. Classrooms in New Jersey and Texas lack proper heating and cooling. And there are persistent plumbing problems in Idaho and Pennsylvania.

America’s aging school infrastructure is by one measure a nearly $90 billion problem. Federal leaders have acknowledged it since at least the 1980s but have declined to address it. Local school districts and state governments also haven’t solved it — in some cases, even after being ordered by a court to do so.

It’s a problem so big that one congressional candidate running to represent parts of Philadelphia — where the cost of repairing and upgrading public schools could cost up to $10 billion — is making it the centerpiece of his campaign. After struggling to find solutions in the Pennsylvania Legislature, state Sen. Sharif Street, a Democrat, believes only the federal government has the resources to tackle this issue. He thinks a $500 billion block grant proposal could find bipartisan support in a Congress and a country deeply divided on the federal government’s role in education.

“If we don’t address this at a federal level and come up with a massive amount of money to do so, we’re going to constantly be in a space of choosing all bad options,” Street said.

Those who lobby for the issue say Street’s proposal could put thousands of people to work, boost test scores, and strengthen communities. Street thinks it could — and must — be the nation’s next interstate highway project.

To make his case in Congress, Street must first get through a tough Democratic primary for the 3rd Congressional District on May 19. The winner of the primary is the heavy favorite to win the November election.

Regardless of whether Street wins the seat, advocates say it’s rare for a congressional candidate to make school infrastructure a key issue in a pitch to voters.

“It is absolutely viable, if Congress has the will to do it, and it would be transformative for America’s families and communities for decades to come,” said Ally Talcott, executive director of the Build America’s School Infrastructure Coalition, of Street’s proposal. “I think it is quite possibly one of the areas that could bring the country together.”

The centerpiece of Pennsylvania Sen. Sharif Street's congressional campaign is a $500 billion proposal to fund school construction and maintenance.

But Street is wading into a debate where others have previously failed to make progress. Convincing conservatives to support sending $500 billion for school facilities through a Department of Education the Trump administration is working to dismantle would be a tough sell, even if local bond measures for school infrastructure continue to do well at the ballot box.

R. Richard Geddes, a nonresident senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute specializing in infrastructure policy, said he thinks school construction and maintenance is “a huge sleeper issue” that few are paying close attention to.

Still, for a proposal like Street’s to succeed and that money be spent efficiently, Geddes there should be conditions. He suggested requiring municipalities to bundle projects like Pennsylvania did to build 550 bridges, or setting up a federal credit program like one that provides loans for highway and railroad projects.

Asking thousands of local education agencies to apply for some of the $500 billion pot would be “a mess,” and those districts wouldn’t reap the benefits of scale, Geddes said.

Cities and municipalities should also consider public-private partnerships, Geddes said. That could look like attaching a privately owned gym or coffee shop to a school building to generate revenue that could pay for a portion of the building maintenance.

Geddes said that could come with its own controversy, but “it would still be better than what we have, which is a lack of creative thinking.”

State and local funding lags for school infrastructure

To accommodate the baby boom generation, cities and towns built thousands of new schools. Since then, the fertility rate has declined, and post-pandemic K-12 enrollment has been shrinking. That’s left many school buildings half empty and costly to maintain.

State and local lawmakers typically patch up the worst infrastructure issues with small-dollar grants and emergency funds. But they haven’t come close to fully funding their school facilities’ needs. As of 2023, 13 states contributed less than 10% toward local district investments in school construction and capital improvements, according to the 21st Century School Fund’s State of the Schools report from last year. And 10 states made no contributions at all.

It’s estimated that the average annual gap between what districts are spending on their public school facilities and what is needed is nearly $90 billion nationally, according to the State of the Schools report.

It’s a crucial education issue that has been politically “orphaned,” despite recent history indicating it can be relatively popular with voters said Mary Filardo, a school construction finance expert and founder of the 21st Century School Fund. Voters approved nearly 80% of bond measures for school facilities in 2025, and they approved nearly 74% in 2024.

In May, Texas voters approved a $6.2 billion school bond — the largest in state history.

But local funding hasn’t been sufficient to meet all the needs. And in some places, like Philly, the school district lacks taxing authority altogether.

In Street’s hometown of Philadelphia, the school facilities crisis has become one of the most pressing political issues in the city. With a $300 million budget deficit and declining student population, the district is moving forward with a $3 billion plan to close 17 schools and modernize nearly 170 others.

But right now, the district can’t pay for it. The district’s annual budget is $4.5 billion, yet estimates for the total cost to repair and upgrade its schools range from $5 billion to nearly $10 billion.

“Philadelphia is one of the great American cities. And it’s like, how did you let this get this bad?” said Filardo.

Pennsylvania’s previous program to fund school repairs, known as PlanCon, stopped receiving funding in 2015. A new version has never received state funding.

“There’s no way that the city or the state at the local level can actually fully address those needs,” Street said. “We just can’t do it.”

Street said his proposal, which he acknowledged is a starting point and could end up being much smaller than $500 billion, would have the Department of Education send out funding through an as-yet-undeveloped formula that factors in local population and needs.

The Philadelphia school district spends about $770 million on facilities a year, mostly on debt service and emergency repairs when roofs collapse or boilers fail, Filardo said. Those emergency repairs can end up costing more than regular maintenance and upkeep.

Filardo says for districts like Philly it’s a bit of a paradox: “They’re not spending enough, but they’re spending a lot, and they’re not getting as good a value from what they are spending.”

Geddes said when cities and towns are faced with budget crises, “the easiest thing to do in the world is defer maintenance.” That goes for roads, sidewalks, and electrical grids as well as schools.

He suggested one condition of receiving federal funding could be locking in contracts that would commit municipalities to funding 10 or 12 years of proper maintenance in advance.

That maintenance will be critical, Filardo warned, as construction costs rise and the effects of climate change batter buildings and put extra pressure on electrical systems.

School infrastructure funded with ‘hodgepodge’ of federal policies

Talcott of the infrastructure coalition said the way the country currently treats school construction funding is via “a hodgepodge of federal policies.” Funding goes out piecemeal through several agencies and departments including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Education, and the Department of Energy.

A bill in Congress aims to take on the problem, but it’s a far cry from the $500 billion Street is seeking.

The Rebuild America’s Schools Act of 2026 co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat, would set aside $100 billion in direct grants and $30 billion in bonding authority over five years for school construction.

But Scott, the ranking member on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said gaining support for the legislation has felt like an uphill battle. The bill currently has no Republican cosponsors and hasn’t had a hearing. Scott and other lawmakers have introduced a version of the bill four times since 2019.

“If the locality can’t afford it and the state’s not doing it, then it’s either going to be the federal government or it won’t get done,” Scott said.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Billionaire and Republican megadonor is funding scholarships for students at closing Philly schools

2026-05-15T17:20:33+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

An organization funded by Pennsylvania billionaire and Republican megadonor Jeffrey Yass is offering scholarships for Philly students displaced by school closures to enroll in private schools.

This week, the Yass Prize — an organization founded by Yass and his wife Janine — announced new “Opportunity Knocks” scholarships. The scholarships will award $8,000 each year through high school graduation for 500 students whose schools are being closed under the district’s recently approved facilities plan.

Caroline Allen, director of the Yass Prize, said the scholarships are intended to provide families with stability during a time of uncertainty in the district.

“We’re really capitalizing on this time,” Allen said. Though no schools will close until 2027, Allen said “we don’t want to wait for two years for these schools to close down to do something.”

Allen said students who are deemed eligible and receive the scholarships could attend any of the 16 private schools in the city that have received the Yass Prize and have been “vetted” as “sustainable, transformational, outstanding and permissionless.” Those private schools are already preparing to receive an influx of students from district schools that are closing or merging, Allen said.

Yass is the richest person in the state and is well known for his support of charter schools and school vouchers. Yass critics in the public education advocacy space have condemned the scholarships as attempts to lure students away from the public school system.

Aly Shaw, senior research analyst at the LittleSis Public Accountability Initiative, a nonprofit research firm, said she’s been tracking Yass’s political spending and was not surprised to see his name on scholarships aimed at drawing students away from public schools.

“This is the disaster capitalism playbook exactly,” Shaw said, referring to the exploitation of crises for profit. She pointed to Yass’s public support for school privatization and aversion to paying taxes as actions that she said have drained funding from public schools. The scholarships are evidence of Yass “taking advantage of a disaster that he created to promote private schools,” Shaw said.

The scholarship applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and awarded on a first-come, first-served basis to the first 500 students who complete all required steps, including an “eligibility review” and school enrollment applications, Allen said.

Through the Center for Education Reform, a group that supports vouchers and similar policies, the Yass Prize has awarded over $60 million to more than 225 organizations across 45 states since 2021.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philly middle schoolers are examining AI — and questioning its impact on their lives

2026-05-08T18:21:54+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The middle schoolers at Philly’s Marian Anderson Neighborhood Academy have a lot of questions about artificial intelligence.

They want to know how the government is using AI and what impact the technology has on the environment. They’re curious about how it’s being used for creativity, and whether it will be with us forever — or if it’s an economic bubble waiting to burst.

The sixth through eighth graders have been researching these topics and grappling with how it makes them feel about themselves, their education, and the world around them. On Friday, they presented their findings to their parents, teachers, and some state and local officials in their school cafeteria. Overall, they said there’s a lot they still don’t know.

Marian Anderson Neighborhood Academy sixth grader Azizah Simmons researched how AI is affecting kids her age.

Sixth grader Azizah Simmons said she’s weighed the pros and cons and she’s pretty confident that AI’s overall effect on our society is negative. If used correctly, Simmons said language models like ChatGPT could help kids her age improve their writing. More often than not, she said students use it to cheat on homework or cut corners on writing assignments.

But it’s the ubiquity of the technology that worries her most.

“You can’t really escape AI,” Simmons said.

Conversations about AI have permeated every aspect of education since the arrival of models like ChatGPT. Familiar debates about cheating have given way to protests about transparency and student surveillance. Marketing pitches from companies promising “transformative” AI tools are now overwhelming superintendents’ inboxes. In Philly, educators are working with students to build their own curriculum to separate truth from AI slop, and confront the bias that can be embedded deep in the internal code.

And students say they feel like they have as much knowledge — or sometimes more — than the adults in their lives.

Sixth graders Thomas Mapp and Tyshaan Anderson’s research project focused on how video game designers use AI for level design, character creation, and visuals. Outside of school, they’ve been using AI to help them code games in Roblox and edit videos.

Anderson said he thinks the technology has helped kids like him experiment with creative fields like game design without needing to know the ins and outs of specific coding languages.

Marian Anderson Principal Nicole Patterson said she’s been inspired by her students’ civic inquiries and has learned a lot from them.

Patterson said she sees her school as a trailblazer in leading challenging conversations about AI. But she cautioned that “this is unfinished work.” She said students will continue their research and keep talking about these issues.

Marian Anderson computer science and technology teacher Trey Smith said the goal of Friday’s event was to help students and parents discuss how AI is now part of society, culture, politics, and everyday life, not just about how AI works.

“We’re all still trying to figure this out together,” Smith said. “For students to be in dialogue, not just with themselves and each other and me, but also with their families and with legislators and with school district officials and professors — I think it’s so important for them to learn together.”

That learning process can be tricky. Simmons said she ends up using AI involuntarily because search engines like Google now frontload AI overviews. That makes it difficult for young users to differentiate between what is a primary source link and what is AI generated.

“You use it without meaning to. It’s everywhere implanted in our lives,” Simmons said.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia Board of Education approves 17 school closures

2026-04-30T23:06:14+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia Board of Education voted Thursday to move forward with the district’s plan to close 17 schools beginning in 2027.

Board members took their 6-3 vote remotely after fleeing an intense and heated meeting where students, educators, and state and city policymakers demanded the plan be rejected. The vote means the district will kick off the process to close more than 4,000 students’ schools and reshape Philadelphia’s school district.

The $3 billion plan would also colocate and relocate several schools and modernize nearly 170 school buildings. Superintendent Tony Watlington has said adopting the plan is necessary to provide better educational opportunities and high-quality school buildings for all students. The district plans to put $1 billion toward it and raise the other $2 billion from government and philanthropic grants.

Ahead of the vote, members of City Council shouted down board members urging them to “Shut it down!” and students yelled “Shame on you!”

Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, chair of the city’s Education Committee, called for the resignation of every board member who voted for the closures, interrupted the meeting several times and promised a lawsuit would land Friday.

Philadelphia Councilmember Isaiah Thomas and other members of City Council rally the crowd calling to shut down the Board of Education meeting on April 30, 2026.

Board President Reginald Streater, Vice-President Sarah-Ashley Andrews, Joan Stern, ChauWing Lam, Cheryl Harper, and Joyce Wilkerson voted in favor of the plan.

“We cannot fully modernize every building, ignore enrollment shifts, or postpone action anymore,” said Streater. “We must call the question today before financial instability forces the hands of all of us in this room.”

Six of nine board members vote to approve school closures

Students, educators, and families packed the meeting, holding signs and blowing whistles. But few were allowed to testify to the board. Though school board meetings generally must have a public comment period, Thursday’s meeting was technically a continuation of the meeting that the board adjourned last week.

That meant only people who had previously signed up to speak were allowed to address board members. After Streater changed the meeting to be virtual, few people were online to give their comments. Microphones were removed from the meeting room where some people — including the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg — waited to testify.

Graham Williamson, a 10th grader at Lankenau Environmental Science High School, said he was inspired to see members of City Council fighting to keep his school open. But he said he had been telling school leaders to keep his school open since the district first announced its plan earlier this year.

“I’ve talked a lot already,” Williamson said. “I think it should be enough.”

Board members who voted against the proposal said they agreed that some closures are necessary. But they pointed out what they said were major problems with the plan, like its $3 billion price tag that the district does not have the funds to pay for and scarce details about what support would be available for students at closing schools.

The plan “will not lead to improved academic outcomes, it’s not financially viable, and it does not get us to the stated goal of 90% building utilization,” said board member Crystal Cubbage, who voted against the plan alongside Whitney Jones and Wanda Novalés.

All board members said they acknowledged that closing schools is a difficult and emotional decision. Even those who supported the plan said they had concerns. But they said the board needs to act to address the district’s declining enrollment, buildings with hundreds of empty seats, and enormous school repair costs.

“We must start now,” said Stern. “We cannot postpone this.”

Vote kicks off school closures, but plan could change

The district’s proposal would begin closing schools at the start of the 2027-28 school year. But there’s a legal process the plan has to go through before any of that happens. And lawsuits could derail the timeline further.

The board’s vote essentially directs the district to begin the process of closing schools. School leaders could still change the plan before the district implements it.

By the meeting’s conclusion, board members disappeared quietly through back doors and more than a dozen police officers stood guard outside the board’s office.

But parents, teachers, and students have told district leadership they will not go quietly.

“We will be here until the last person is removed from this building,” 29-year veteran Penn Treaty Middle School teacher Kristen Young said Wednesday at a rally to protest her school’s closure. “And that will likely have to be by force.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Your guide to Philadelphia’s upcoming school closure vote

2026-04-23T14:53:50+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Update: Board officials announced Thursday afternoon they will now meet April 30 to consider the resolution that includes the closures.

The Philadelphia Board of Education is moving ahead with plans to vote Thursday on the school district’s proposal to close 17 schools.

The closure plan, which the district first announced in January and initially targeted 20 schools, has received major pushback from school communities and local officials who worry shuttering schools will destabilize students, spark bullying and fights, and rob communities of vital resources.

“If we slow down just a little bit and just took more account for what the community says, what students say, we might get better results on how we should move forward,” said Overbrook Elementary School Principal Kenneth Glover at a Wednesday rally to save his school, which is on the closure list.

This week, students, educators, and policymakers launched a full-out campaign for the board to delay the vote. At the City Council earlier this week, members blasted School Board President Reginald Streater and Superintendent Tony Watlington, saying they were not sufficiently consulted in the planning and selection of the schools to be closed and modernized.

But Streater declined to postpone the vote. He said only that he would bring their concerns back to the other board members.

Watlington and district officials have said the closures and general rightsizing of the district are necessary and will expand educational opportunities for students. Over the past decade, enrollment in Philadelphia’s public schools has declined by more than 17,000 students. That’s left many students to learn in half-empty, inadequate school buildings that are costly to maintain.

District leaders say their facilities master plan, which includes the closures, will offer students safer school environments and will help the district better serve the needs of Philly students and families.

Here’s some additional information about the closure vote, and how you can get involved.

Where’s the most updated list of which schools would close?

The district is proposing to close 17 schools, modernize 169 schools, and colocate six schools.

The district’s facilities master plan website has more information about plans for each school.

Where is the vote happening and how do I participate?

The vote is part of the Board of Education’s Monthly Action Meeting, which is held at 440 North Broad Street and livestreamed online here. The meeting begins at 4 p.m.

You can submit written comments here (you must include your name and the subject line “Board Comments”). Or you can drop a statement off at the board office at the North Broad Street address.

What happens if the board votes yes?

If the board approves the resolution, the district and board will then move forward with required legal steps to close schools. The district may still make changes to the plan during that part of the process.

Per the plan, most closures would not go into effect until 2027. District officials have promised that schools identified for closure will have a planning year, during which staff and families will work with a “transition team” to ease students and teachers through the changes.

What other actions could the board take?

The board could decide to table the vote to give the district more time to receive community input. Board members could also vote against the closure plan and send it back to the district to make changes.

However, Watlington has said this version of the plan is the “final, final set of recommendations” he is putting forward.

How much will the facilities plan cost?

The district doesn’t have a firm plan to fund the proposal, which comes with a $3 billion price tag. Alongside the closures, the broader facilities master plan includes renovations to nearly 170 schools. That means fixing bathrooms, painting walls, and patching ceilings, among other repairs.

Watlington said the funding will come from a combination of philanthropic donations and district funds. However, the district is also facing a $300 million budget shortfall, which Mayor Cherelle Parker hopes to partially close with a controversial rideshare tax.

What will happen to teachers if their school closes?

Watlington has said no teachers will lose their jobs due to the closures. But the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers union has not thrown their support behind the plan.

PFT President Arthur Steinberg joined calls this week to delay the vote and is planning to host a protest outside of the district building ahead of Thursday’s vote. Steinberg said the union is working on an alternative proposal that it plans to release in the next few weeks.

Sammy Caiola covers solutions to gun violence in and around Philadelphia schools. Have ideas for her? Get in touch at scaiola@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Feud over Philadelphia’s school closure plan leads to threats against district funding

2026-04-22T22:08:29+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

In the hours before the Philadelphia Board of Education is scheduled to vote on its school closure plan, political threats and finger-pointing have reached a fever pitch.

City Councilmembers who say they were caught off-guard by the board’s sudden decision to hold the vote to close 17 schools this week have summoned Superintendent Tony Watlington and Board President Reginald Streater to multiple budget hearings, where they have threatened district funding. They say they felt misled by district leaders and — as Councilmember Nina Ahmad put it — “sandbagged.”

Meanwhile, at rallies to save individual schools from closure, state lawmakers have declared that they have long memories and will not forget the outcome of Thursday’s vote. They’ve said if the board votes to close beloved schools in their districts, they’ll be less likely to advocate for increased state aid for Philly schools.

“The administration, the legislative body, and the school district all look like you’re fighting against each other,” said Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, who at a Wednesday hearing asked Streater to delay the planned vote as a signal of political goodwill.

Streater refused to accept or reject the request, saying he would confer with the board members and come to a decision before Thursday.

The fiery political rhetoric signals that the relationship between city government, school board members, and district leaders has been damaged. Still, there are few alternate proposals to get the district the money it says it would need to maintain buildings and close its budget hole. And as angry as elected leaders are about the situation, many of those same officials are among the biggest champions of education funding who might be loath to punish the district by cutting school aid or withholding their support for increasing it.

“I don’t want to talk about school funding until we get a facilities plan that we all agree upon,” Councilmember and Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas told Chalkbeat. “You can’t tell us that we have to get in line with your facilities plan and then tell us we have to get in line with your funding plan. That’s disingenuous.”

The only proposal to increase city funding for the school district on the table right now is Mayor Cherelle Parker’s $1 rideshare tax, which at least one councilmember has said is “dead on arrival” if the closure plan moves forward as written. That proposal would provide an estimated $54 million to offset 340 planned staff cuts — a drop in the bucket for a district facing a $300 million deficit and which has been chronically underfunded by some $1.8 billion annually, according to a Commonwealth Court judge.

Members spent Tuesday and Wednesday questioning and excoriating Watlington, Streater, and the city’s Chief Education Officer Debora Carrera. But when it comes to voting to send the district money, “we always come through,” Councilmember Cindy Bass said at Wednesday’s budget hearing.

At that same hearing, Parker called for unity but did not back down from her tax proposal that has become increasingly unpopular at the City Council.

“I know it’s good theater for people to see what they consider to be our going to war, the administration, versus the council, the legislative branch versus the executive branch in opposition, with the school board in opposition with the school superintendent,” Parker said.

For many elected leaders, the issue might be a defining feature of their time in office. Their speeches over the last few months at rallies to keep schools from closing may help them get attention from families and latch onto a cause that’s spurring civic engagement across the city.

Parker, who appointed all of the board members, is up for reelection in 2027. All 17 City Councilmembers have indicated they intend to seek reelection in 2027, and this year, every member of the state House of Representatives is on the ballot.

“As we go through budget season in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we will remember that vote on Thursday,” state Rep. Morgan Cephas, a Democrat, warned board members at a Tuesday rally to keep Lankenau Environmental Science High School open.

Still, no City Councilmember has put forth a plan to help the district close its budget deficit or allocate more money to prevent closures.

“It’s complex for y’all. It’s complex for us. We’re trying to work as a partnership, and everybody’s gotta do a little bit of give and take,” Council President Kenyatta Johnson said Wednesday.

Education advocates say councilmembers could draw on the city’s budget surplus, shift the amount of tax revenue set aside for the district, or adjust the split of the city’s soda tax revenue to send more money to schools, for example. Thomas told Chalkbeat Wednesday he won’t entertain alternatives until they reach common ground with the facilities plan.

But holding up all city funding for the district appears unlikely.

Bass said Wednesday that not one councilmember “has taken a single vote against any level of funding” for the district in the past.

Thomas said if the board moves forward with a vote on the closure plan Thursday, he’s prepared to consider “plenty of options.”

Chalkbeat reporter Rebecca Redelmeier contributed to this story.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Sports, AP, and the arts: Here are the looming budget cuts Philadelphia school leaders aren’t discussing

2026-04-22T15:20:13+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system

Philadelphia school leaders have repeated one stat since the district’s budgeting process began last month: 340 full-time school-based positions will be eliminated next year if the district doesn’t get more funding.

But those cuts are only one piece of the puzzle. Now that principals are making their budgets, educators said the result is that schools are planning to cut many additional positions and programs that district officials are not talking about. Teachers and principals say that means tougher times for students and staff: crowded classrooms, more dangerous hallways, and fewer opportunities for learning.

Some schools are cutting class offerings, like art and Advanced Placement courses. Others say their schools will eliminate after-school programs. And though district leaders have promised no teachers will lose their jobs, some worry that there won’t be appropriate openings for them — leading to teachers leaving the district.

The breakdown of cuts the district shared with Mayor Cherelle Parker’s office and some members of City Council last week, which Chalkbeat obtained, largely focused on cuts resulting from the elimination of pandemic relief funds and extra funding sent to a few struggling schools.

It showed that fewer than five positions would be cut at most schools to plug the district’s funding hole.

But that breakdown did not include budget reductions from schools’ enrollment decline and other funding changes that happen annually. The amount of money the district allocates each school is largely determined by how many students it projects will enroll there.

Funding staff positions has also become more expensive, meaning the same budgets from last year won’t stretch to cover the same number of staff.

At Science Leadership Academy at Beeber, for example, teacher Alex Kopp, the teachers union representative in the building, said around 10 staff — including nine teachers and one climate staff — have received notices that they must find positions at other schools.

“It’s completely chaotic in terms of us planning anything,” Kopp said. The school will lose its athletic director, which means the school would offer no sports. It is also cutting all extracurriculars next year because there is no funding for them. Beeber’s principal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Over the past decade, enrollment in Philadelphia public schools has fallen by around 17,000 students, a roughly 13% drop. As district enrollment is projected to continue to decline over the next decade, some schools will likely continue to be hit hard by the resulting enrollment-based budget cuts.

Schools generally have to rework their budgets every year based on enrollment, and some make cuts. But educators said this year, the additional cuts from the district’s plan have made matters much worse.

At Olney High School, Principal Michael Roth said the school — which has lost around 200 students over the past two years — is cutting more than a dozen staff members next year. That’s due to a combination of the district’s budget cuts and enrollment-related funding changes at the school.

Roth said the cuts include teachers who offer AP courses and are involved with the school’s dual enrollment college credit program.

“It’s not just that you’re losing staff, you’re losing a piece of your community that families and students have connected to or related to for a long period of time,” Roth said at a City Hall press conference Tuesday. “We’re losing people but we’re also losing excellence.”

District leaders have said the budget cuts this year are financially necessary. “Without these interventions, future District expenditures will grow faster than revenues due to rising salaries, charter school payments, and healthcare cost increases,” district spokesperson Monique Braxton said in a statement.

Some cuts could be reversed if the city or state allocates more money to the district. But principals and educators have told Chalkbeat the uncertainty has already started to drive teachers out of the district.

“Who’s going to want to work in the district?” Kopp asked.

Schools lose programs under planned budget cuts

Some students say they’re already mourning the teachers and programs their schools are set to lose.

Adrianelly Mercado, a 10th grader at Olney High School, said before joining the school, she didn’t know much about dual enrollment programs and Advanced Placement courses that would help her earn college credit. But one of her teachers helped her access those opportunities.

Now, that teacher’s position would be eliminated under the school’s budget for next year. The future of Olney’s dual enrollment program is uncertain as well.

“It doesn’t make sense to me,” Mercado said during a rally against the staffing cuts outside Olney on Tuesday. “I hope that these teachers can stay here and help us have a great education.”

Students at Philadelphia's Olney High School say they worry they'll lose access to the school's dual enrollment programs due to the school's planned staffing cuts.

The Board of Education hasn’t yet signed off on the budget. But school leaders have already told teachers if their position is planned for elimination, and that they should apply elsewhere.

Emily Griest, a high school art teacher at Hill-Freedman World Academy, said that right before a parent-teacher conference with a family whose kid thrived in her art class, her school notified her that it’s planning to eliminate her position. If her position disappears, her students would not have access to an art curriculum.

“I was working really hard to expand the art department there to give kids more opportunities,” she said. “And instead, it became a conversation of, well, the choice is being taken away from students.”

Now, her plan is to look for another position teaching high school art in the district and “hope for the best,” she said.

There’s a chance schools end up getting more money next year if the City Council passes Parker’s proposed $1-per-ride tax on rideshares. The tax would funnel $48 million annually to the district. Superintendent Tony Watlington has said that would enable the district to avoid cutting 340 school-based positions.

But during a hearing on the rideshare tax at the City Council on Tuesday, many members seemed skeptical. Councilmember Curtis Jones labeled the proposal as “DOA,” or dead on arrival, and that by his count the proposal did not have the votes in council to pass as written.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

17 school closures: Philadelphia Board of Education to vote on new facilities plan Thursday

2026-04-20T17:39:10+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia Board of Education will vote Thursday whether to move forward with the school district’s school closure proposal, according to a resolution the board published Monday.

The latest version of the plan district officials released Monday would close 17 schools beginning in 2027. That’s down from the initial 18 school closures Superintendent Tony Watlington presented to the board in February.

The district’s updated proposal takes James R. Ludlow School off the closure list and nixes the plan to turn John Moffet Elementary into a middle school. Moffet would now become a K-4 school, with students attending Ludlow for middle school.

It also increases investments in some parts of the city where members of City Council have vehemently fought the plan. And although the district still plans to close Lankenau Environmental Science High School and Paul Robeson High School, it now plans to hold onto those two school properties and eventually repurpose them for community or student use, rather than sell the buildings or convey them to the city.

The plan, which includes colocating some schools and modernizing nearly 170 others, has a $3 billion price tag — up from an initial $2.8 billion. But there’s no guarantee the district will be able to foot the bill. Watlington said during a press briefing Monday that the district will put $1 billion towards the upgrades and hopes to raise additional funding from government and philanthropic grants.

The plans’ ultimate goal, Watlington said, is to increase educational opportunities for all students. Too many students are in half-empty, crumbling buildings that are not offering them the academic opportunities they sorely deserve, Watlington has said. And district enrollment is projected to continue to decline.

Board President Reginald Streater appeared supportive of the plan at the press briefing Monday, but it’s still unclear how other members will vote.

“We can’t expect a different result doing the same thing, understanding our budget realities,” Streater said. “We have to reorganize and go through this reform of how we do things in Philadelphia if we expect to provide our babies the resources they need to be who they want to be and who they can be when they grow up.”

If the board approves the resolution, it will kick start another process for the district and board to complete required legal steps to close schools. One of those steps will likely be additional public engagement.

Streater said the district could alter the plan again, based on enrollment or budgetary changes. But for now, this is the version the board will consider.

“This is the final, final set of recommendations that I’m presenting to President Streater and his Board of Education for consideration,” Watlington said.

Councilmember who fought closure plan now supports it

The district’s decision not to sell Paul Robeson High School seems to have swayed at least one city councilmember: Jamie Gauthier.

Gauthier had previously fiercely opposed the district’s plan. She had organized rallies against it and proposed rezoning the land for Robeson and other schools in her district to prevent them from being redeveloped into commercial or residential buildings. But on Monday, she said she supported the changes.

“This proves that you’re listening. It proves that you care about equity in this plan, and I and my community are grateful,” Gauthier said at the briefing Monday.

The $200 million increase to the plan’s price tag largely stems from bigger investments in Gauthier’s district, which includes parts of West and Southwest Philadelphia. These include modernization projects at Anderson Elementary, Bryant Elementary, and Mitchell Elementary, and a pool renovation at Motivation High School.

The plan increases spending in Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr.’s district in North Philadelphia as well. Young had also fought the facilities plan and said he was considering his own rezoning proposal.

On Monday, Young said in a statement that he welcomed the decision to remove Ludlow, which is in his district, from the closure list. But he called the move “clear proof that the school facilities plan is flawed and isn’t based on any sound rationale.”

“I remain firmly opposed to the Facilities Master Plan as a whole,” Young said.

Education Chair Isaiah Thomas calls closure vote ‘rushed’

Philadelphia Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas immediately critiqued the district Monday for giving Philadelphians only three days notice of the vote.

People had been pleading with the board for months to give them significant advance notice for any vote on the plan. On Monday, several educators told Chalkbeat they worried the tight timeframe would make it difficult for people to reorganize their week to attend the meeting.

“More information needs to be communicated to our communities before a vote is taken, and the school board should not take a vote on this plan until that has happened,” Thomas said in a statement.

Thomas said the vote as scheduled would be “rushed” and would “only further reduce public trust and fear about this plan and its impact on our young people.”

Teachers union opposes plan, is working on alternative

Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said his team did not receive prior notice of the plan’s changes or the scheduled vote.

“I think the timing is awful,” Steinberg said.

The City Council plans to consider a $1 per ride tax on Ubers and Lyfts on Tuesday that would funnel $48 million annually to the district and prevent some staff cuts. With the closure vote now looming, “it’s going to be more difficult to get the public on board and to keep people enthused about” the proposed rideshare tax, Steinberg said.

Steinberg said the union cannot comment on the substance of the plan because district officials did not “show their work” about how they decided which schools they planned to close. The union is working on an alternative proposal that it plans to release in the next few weeks, he said.

The $3 billion price tag is also a major concern, Steinberg said. He worries the district will not have the money to make all the investments and modernizations it has promised.

“My greatest fear is the closures will go ahead because they’re in place and they’re scheduled,” said Steinberg. “You’ll get three or four years down the road, and they’ll say, ‘Oh, well, we don’t have the money. We’re gonna have to stop here.’”

This story has been updated to include comments from City Council Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg, and Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

See how your school would be affected by the Philadelphia district’s proposed staffing cuts

2026-04-17T21:21:11+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

Nearly every Philadelphia school would lose staff next year under the district’s preliminary plan to eliminate 340 school-based positions to plug its budget hole.

But some schools would suffer more than others, according to a school-by-school breakdown of the proposed cuts created by the district and obtained by Chalkbeat.

Schools that receive additional funding because they used to be part of the district’s Acceleration Network, which Superintendent Tony Watlington dissolved in 2024, would be hit particularly hard. And climate staff, who are in charge of creating a safe environment and monitoring hallways, would lose the largest number of positions.

West and Southwest Philadelphia and Kensington are three of the neighborhoods where schools would receive the deepest cuts. The members of City Council who represent those areas say they’re already worried the school district is disproportionately hurting their neighborhoods through its separate plan to close schools beginning in 2027. The preliminary budget cuts add salt to the wound, they say.

In total, the district would cut around 149 teachers, 23 counselors, 119 climate staff, and 47 other support and administrative staff from its full-time equivalent positions.

These cuts are not yet finalized, and district officials say there will be openings for all school-based staff whose positions are eliminated.

The projected cuts represent estimates from before principals finalize their school budgets, according to a statement from the district’s Chief Financial Officer Mike Herbstman about the school-by-school breakdown. That means the breakdown could change. Schools with shrinking enrollments could lose more positions outside of these cuts.

There’s still a chance the cuts don’t go through. Mayor Cherelle Parker, who’s publicly opposed the proposed staff reductions, has championed a rideshare tax that she and Watlington said earlier this week would enable the district to avoid eliminating school-based positions.

Debora Carrera, the city’s chief education officer under Parker, noted at a press conference that climate staff intervene to defuse conflicts at school: “They are the eyes and the ears of our schools. They know when children are struggling or suffering.”

But the $1 per ride tax requires approval from the City Council. It’s unclear if members will support it.

And that proposal would not save the 220 building substitute positions the district also plans to cut.

In the meantime, schools are moving forward with preliminary budgets for next year that include cuts that teachers have said could derail learning. Last week, teachers began receiving notice that their schools plan to eliminate their positions and they should apply to others.

Former Superintendent William Hite launched the district’s Acceleration Network as a way to funnel additional resources to struggling schools in hard-to-staff neighborhoods.

When Watlington did away with the network two years ago, he said the 13 schools previously in the network would keep the additional funding.

This new round of proposed cuts would end those extra resources and apply additional cuts to those schools. The result is these schools would lose the most positions under the preliminary plan.

Former Acceleration Network school James Rhoads, for example, would lose the full-time equivalent of more than 13 staff, including four teachers and nine climate staff. Another former Acceleration Network school, Delaplaine McDaniel, would lose four teachers and around five climate staff.

Schools that could close avoid potential 2026 cuts

The Board of Education has not yet approved Watlington’s proposal to close 18 schools beginning in 2027, but Watlington has said schools on that closure list will be protected from budget cuts this year.

Still, some City Council districts where several schools would close under the district’s plan are home to schools that are also being hit hardest by the budget cuts.

For example, the district that includes Kensington, Hunting Park, and Frankford would lose the equivalent of 63 full-time school staff members. It’s also where several schools are slated for closure.

“Many of those positions are filled by people who are from the neighborhood or who have been in those schools for many years,” said Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, who represents the area. Together, the proposals for staff cuts and school closures are “causing additional challenges and stress on my community,” she said.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who represents parts of West and Southwest Philadelphia, said in a statement that she was “dismayed” that the proposed budget cuts would eliminate 51 full-time equivalent school staff positions in her district.

“This harm is compounded by the fact that the current version of the School District’s facilities master plan invests less in our communities than almost any other Council District,” said Gauthier.

Lozada said she did not have a position yet on Parker’s proposed rideshare tax. Gauthier said she was reviewing the proposal.

“We need to be careful about new taxes that we know will fall on consumers, especially if they won’t stop the closure of our neighborhood schools,” said Gauthier.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

‘It’s enough already’: Newark lawmaker pushes back on GOP scrutiny

2026-04-16T13:25:57+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to get the latest news about the city’s public school system delivered to your inbox.

New Jersey’s fiercest budget debate this year is over education spending — and Newark is at the center of the conversation.

At a heated state Assembly budget hearing on Wednesday, Republican lawmakers’ questioning returned repeatedly to the state’s largest school district. Statewide, Republicans have taken issue with Newark’s spending on everything from an AI surveillance system to COVID relief funds for tutoring, and a controversial lease for a new elementary school.

GOP Assemblymember Gerry Scharfenberger, who represents Monmouth County, said at Wednesday’s hearing “we need way better accountability,” and audits that run through budgets with a “fine-toothed comb” for urban districts like Newark. Assemblymember Al Barlas, who represents parts of Bergen, Essex, and Passaic counties, said for the millions being spent in Newark, “we should all be offended by the fact that these kids are not graduating and are not reading” at grade level.

Republican lawmakers have targeted Newark and other urban school districts partially in response to state funding cuts that have hit suburban schools particularly hard.

But Assembly Budget Chair Eliana Pintor Marin, who represents Newark and served on the city’s Public Schools Advisory Board, said the focus on Newark is reductive and pits school districts against each other rather than aiming at the real issue — reforming a school funding formula that lawmakers agree isn’t working for everyone.

“I’m just tired of it,” Pintor Marin said Wednesday of the outsized attention paid to Newark schools by lawmakers who don’t represent the city. “It’s enough already.”

Pintor Marin said Newark is still recovering from the deep school funding cuts enacted under former Republican Gov. Chris Christie. The district has gone through state control, been federally audited for spending COVID relief funds, and has had a state monitor in place through the district’s transition back to local control.

In short, Pintor Marin said, Republicans’ calls for more state and federal oversight of Newark schools are “ridiculous.”

She noted the way the state funds education is tied directly to the number of students enrolled in each district and the cost to educate them. Newark’s enrollment is up, she said, and it educates a greater population of English learners and those with disabilities so state funding should increase accordingly.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s proposed budget includes two new state Department of Education positions specifically for oversight and accountability of school districts, state Education Commissioner Lily Laux said at the hearing.

Assemblymember Alexander “Avi” Schnall, who represents parts of Monmouth and Ocean counties, pointed to the Lakewood School District’s multiple state monitors as evidence that increased state oversight does not equate to improvement.

Over the last 12 years, Schnall said Lakewood has had 11 state-appointed monitors, with four currently stationed in the district.

Those monitors “have not made much of a difference,” he said. “If anything the fiscal deficit has grown by a lot.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

No more diapers or sweeping punishments: How Philly parents helped guarantee student bathroom breaks

2026-03-27T17:23:20+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

On an unseasonably hot March day outside of Bluford Elementary School, Philadelphia mom Cat LaTorre hustled from car to car handing out flyers.

The bold purple lettering spelled out the school district’s new wellness policy guaranteeing kids daily recess, regular bathroom breaks, and more. But to LaTorre, they represented something on top of that: victory.

“These are the things we won for you, mama,” she said to a parent and her daughter driving off at dismissal time. “We’re trying to do bigger and better things for you.”

LaTorre is one of dozens of parent volunteers with the grassroots advocacy group Lift Every Voice Philly. They’d spent the better part of two years confronting district officials and city leaders with stories of students wearing diapers to school because of insufficient bathroom breaks. They sent letters and testified in meetings about entire classrooms of students being punished for a single kid’s bad behavior. They showed up to Philadelphia City Council meetings demanding joy for their children, and said they didn’t think that was too much to ask.

Cat LaTorre, a member of Lift Every Voice Philly, shares a flyer about the district's new wellness policy with a parent at Bluford Elementary School.

Lift Every Voice’s work shows how hard it can be for parents in the city to affect change, but also how it can be done. It took a lot of advocacy, false dawns, and more than one tearful school board meeting to do what at one point felt impossible to the group. These parents, most of whom had little formal history or background in activism, ultimately had a major influence on policy in the big bureaucratic system that is the Philly school district.

And other parents are starting to take notice. The district’s proposal to close 18 schools has spurred hundreds of Philly families who’ve never considered themselves education activists to look for an advocacy playbook that gets results.

Following a Board of Education vote last month, it’s now official district policy that all students will get daily recess, regular movement breaks to stretch, as well as access to water and bathrooms that can’t be restricted as punishment. In addition, teachers can no longer collectively punish groups of students for the actions of a few, and students can’t be forced to have “silent lunches” where speaking is prohibited.

“We navigated something that is so significant, that is life-changing for our kids and for our families,” LaTi Spence, a member of Lift Every Voice, told Chalkbeat.

Councilmember praises Lift Every Voice’s ‘community power’

Just days after the school board’s vote, in a blur of metallic purple pom-poms, members of Lift Every Voice celebrated the landmark policy change at the district’s headquarters. Superintendent Tony Watlington and other local dignitaries stood arm-in-arm with the LEV parents.

“‘Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will,’” Watlington said, quoting the abolitionist Frederick Douglass. “I wish we had done this much sooner. But I’m pleased that we’re doing it today.”

Of course, “power” over Philly public schools resides with district leaders like Watlington and the school board.

Superintendent Tony Watlington celebrated the Philadelphia school board's vote to approve the wellness policy at the school district headquarters in March.

The board’s Feb. 27 vote to adopt the policy was perfunctory and took place without debate. But for months before that, it appeared and then disappeared from school board meeting agendas.

The Lift Every Voice parents discovered there was always another survey to fill out, another person they should meet with, or another time for public comment.

The process was exhausting and at times, demoralizing, they said. But it wasn’t unfamiliar.

The wellness policy was not Lift Every Voice’s first demand from those in power in Philly schools.

The group began in 2022 as a grassroots gathering of Black parents who said they felt ignored and shut out of important conversations about public education in the city. Lift Every Voice’s 2023 campaign to expose the school nurse staffing shortage forced a public reckoning and gave the advocates their first taste of success.

Since then, moms and grandmas in their signature purple shirts have canvassed neighborhoods, visited with members of the City Council, and roamed City Hall.

Carrera Wilson, center, said Lift Every Voice Philly helped her build confidence and get more involved in her children's education.

“They testify, they build power,” Councilmember Kendra Brooks said at the celebration of the board’s wellness policy vote. “That’s what community power looks like.”

And their success comes as community organizing around public education is seeing a resurgence in the wake of the district’s closure proposals.

At several community engagement meetings and rallies across the city protesting the closures, many parents and public school advocates have accused the bureaucracy of Philadelphia schools of creating a wall between families and the district.

But it’s not insurmountable, parents said.

“We don’t win all the battles. But this one’s really significant,” Spence said. “I think it’s giving people and parents hope to know that, especially with the news around the school closures, that there’s a piece of joy that we did get and we can hold on to.”

Cat LaTorre spread the word about the new wellness policy by talking to parents at dismissal at Bluford Elementary School.

Changing policy in Philly public schools isn’t easy

Lift Every Voice Executive Director Shanée Garner said changing how the district works can be messy because “our systems are not built to respond to people.” She said the school district has been historically underfunded and has cycled through different leaders, board members, and various amounts of state oversight.

The core of LEV’s work has been about fostering relationships, Garner said. “If we want to build a future where everyone is looking out for each other,” she said, it requires elected officials, school leaders, and parents to take the time to get to know each other.

Julie Krug, another parent in LEV, said she thinks the group was able to move hearts and minds by choosing policy priorities drawn from stories rooted in their personal experiences with their kids and their schools. “What I’ve learned is how powerful that really is,” she said. “It’s irrefutable.”

Members of Lift Every Voice say their advocacy work's goal is to create better school environments and more joy for Philly students.

Building sustained parent power also requires educating families about the levers of control and the city’s political hierarchies, and how to navigate them.

At meetings, volunteers run through scenarios about issues like bullying, vaping, and advocating for resources for students with disabilities. They discuss how to find the right person to reach out to whether that’s a teacher, counselor, assistant superintendent, or administrator. They practice writing an email or note that will best convey their concerns.

The goal is to demystify the system and arm parents with the knowledge and skills to advocate for what their children are owed.

Carrera Wilson, another founding Lift Every Voice member and mother of five, said prior to joining the group, she was an activist in her heart and in her mind, “but actually making moves, making changes, connecting with people that actually can do things? That have some pull? No.” she said.

Wilson said LEV helped her build her confidence, learn how to organize, speak in public, and grow her skills as a community leader.

“We had to fight. It took a lot to get here,” Wilson said. “I just was a parent that cared and didn’t like what was going on in my kids’ school. And now I can actually go home and tell my kids, look on the news, Mommy did this. We won this.”

Lift Every Voice's members say they want their numbers to grow. They're also working with the district to ensure Philadelphia schools have the resources to implement the new wellness policy.

In many ways, LEV’s work is just beginning. The group is now working with the district to help develop a plan to ensure the wellness policy is followed, and that schools have the resources they need to follow it.

The parents’ goal is “bigger numbers, more power, more success,” said Wilson. They want parents to start expecting better of their schools and holding their district accountable.

Wilson said there was a time where she and the other parents felt like “we can’t do anything, we can’t bust through that wall.” But Wilson said that to be standing outside Bluford with a list of guarantees they fought for made what she and others in Lift Every Voice did all worth it.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia mayor increases her proposed rideshare tax to help patch school district’s budget

2026-03-23T21:16:48+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker wants to increase her previously proposed rideshare tax to stave off the school district’s plan to cut hundreds of staff positions.

Eliminating all those positions “is not acceptable to me,” Parker said at a press conference at Delaplaine McDaniel School on Monday. “We have to keep these staff members in schools where they’re very much needed.”

Parker’s initial blueprint for next year’s budget, which she released March 12, included a tax of 20 cents per ride purchased through popular apps like Uber and Lyft that originate within city limits. It would have earmarked the estimated $9.6 million in resulting revenues for schools.

Shortly after that announcement, district officials released their initial budget proposal for next fiscal year. It included sweeping cuts, including eliminating 340 school-based positions.

On Monday, Parker said she wanted to increase the rideshare tax to $1 per ride beginning in January, which would save 240 of those school-based positions from elimination, school officials said. That includes approximately 130 teachers, 55 student climate staff, and 55 other school-based positions.

But even the higher tax rate on rideshares wouldn’t solve the district’s budget crisis by itself. After accounting for the $1-per-ride tax, the district would still plan to cut 100 school-based positions in the coming year, as well as 130 central office staff and 220 building substitute positions. Teachers would not be laid off, but would be reshuffled to fill vacant positions.

The rideshare tax would result in $48 million annually for the school district beginning in fiscal year 2028. But the district has a $300 million budget deficit, which Superintendent Tony Watlington said is the result of decades of underfunding combined with the end of federal pandemic relief funds.

Watlington is also looking to fund a proposed $2.8 billion district facilities plan which would close 18 schools and renovate more than one hundred others.

“If we don’t do something, and we don’t get this help from the mayor’s initiative, we know that our expenditures will grow faster than our revenues,” Watlington said at the press conference alongside Parker on Monday.

Parker said she would leave it up to rideshare companies, like Uber and Lyft, to decide whether they would pass the tax onto users.

Parker announced that the new tax would also provide $3 million annually to help fund free SEPTA transit passes for some school staff, including school climate staff, support staff, and maintenance staff. But she didn’t specify what exactly would make staff eligible for the free passes.

Monday’s announcement comes weeks after Parker released her initial budget plan for fiscal year 2027 to the City Council. That plan included the initial rideshare tax increase and a modification to tax calculations for cell towers which Parker’s administration says would bring in an additional $2.4 million annually for schools.

The Philadelphia Parking Authority already charges rideshare companies a 1.4% fee on gross receipts. Two-thirds of that revenue goes to the school district. In 2023, the tax generated $6 million for the city’s schools, according to a parking authority report.

Parker’s proposal is not a done deal. The new tax will need City Council approval. The city’s deadline to pass a budget is June 30. The school district is expected to release its own budget summary for the upcoming fiscal year later this week.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Here are the budget cuts Philadelphia school leaders are proposing for next year

2026-03-13T15:10:26+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia school district must make deep cuts to plug a $300 million budget hole, officials said this week.

Superintendent Tony Watlington told reporters no teachers would be laid off in the round of proposed cuts he shared this week. But for the 2026-27 school year, hundreds of district employees would be reassigned to fill vacant positions and an already-lean central office will shrink further.

Philly’s school budget crisis is the result of decades of underfunding and the end of federal pandemic relief funds, coupled with rising teacher salaries, charter school payments, and increased health care costs, Watlington and district Chief Financial Officer Mike Herbstman told reporters Wednesday. That means the school district is currently spending more money than it’s taking in.

The district proposes eliminating all of its approximately 220 building substitute positions and reassigning another 340 school-based positions, like some climate staff and special education aides, to other roles. Those two changes combined would save $56 million.

Some 130 vacant central office positions would be cut, outside contracts would be reduced, and other central office “budget efficiencies” would result in $130 million in savings, Watlington said. Those budget efficiencies would include combining some administrative teams, reassessing property casualty insurance, and changing the way the district approves travel expenses among other savings.

The district would also end two programs championed by former superintendents that gave additional resources and staff to low-achieving schools to help them improve: The former Acceleration Network, previously known as the turnaround network, and the System of Great Schools.

The district’s goal is to eliminate its deficit by cutting $225 million in fiscal 2027 and an additional $20 million in each subsequent year through 2030.

The district will present its initial budget summary for the upcoming fiscal year, including the proposed cuts, to the Board of Education on March 26.

“We’re restructuring some to keep everybody who’s in the house in the house so that there are no position cuts or layoffs,” Watlington told reporters on Wednesday.

It’s unclear how these cuts and reassignments will affect classrooms as principals have only just begun the process of setting their school budgets for the next academic year. But Watlington said he couldn’t rule out some larger class sizes, for one.

“I don’t want to hide or obscure the fact that it will have some impact, because we’ll have to do more with less,” Watlington said. “We will not take our foot off the gas in terms of our expectations.”

Watlington said school leaders will have the discretion to decide which roles are reassigned though they can’t move roles for classroom teachers, principals, and assistant principals.

He did not provide a list of which contracts or vendors the district is looking to cut. But Watlington said he’ll take a “hard look” at reducing any program that does not show a clear throughline to improving student attendance, teacher attendance, test scores, graduation rates, and dropout rates.

In a statement, district spokesperson Monique Braxton said a full list of the vendors who may see their contracts cut or sunset “will be detailed later in the budget cycle.”

Watlington said in the long term, he expects the state to deliver on its constitutional mandate to fund its public schools adequately. A state commission calculated Philly schools need an additional $1 billion to meet student needs. But “that won’t happen in two days or overnight,” Watlington said.

Because Philadelphia is the only school district in the state that can’t raise its own revenue, it is dependent on philanthropy and state and local policymakers.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro recently proposed an increase of $151 million for the district, and Mayor Cherelle Parker this week said she wants to send $12 million more to public schools via a new tax on rideshares and a modification to tax calculations for cell towers.

But even if those increases occur, they would still not be enough to solve all the district’s budget problems, Watlington said. And last year’s state budget delay cost the district $6.5 million in interest payments.

The district is also trying to find a way to pay for its $2.8 billion proposed facilities plan that could result in 18 school closures in addition to modernizations for 160 buildings.

Philly district budget cuts would hit substitute teachers hardest

Watlington pointed to large school districts like Broward County in Florida and Los Angeles Unified School District that recently announced thousands of public school employee layoffs to plug budget holes.

“I think we’ve done our level-best to have a different story here in Philadelphia,” Watlington said.

Though no teachers will be laid off, eliminating building substitutes could mean headaches down the line for Philly’s larger schools.

Herbstman, the district CFO, said schools will continue to receive long-term substitutes for teachers out on extended leave as well as day-to-day substitutes if a teacher calls out sick. But he did not say how those roles would be coordinated or whether additional money would be needed for outside contractors to fill substitute roles.

The individuals currently acting as building substitutes may be assigned to fill other vacant positions, Herbstman said.

Watlington says Philly schools are not wasteful

Watlington emphasized that despite persistent claims of district waste and administrative bloat coming from some elected officials, “the school district of Philadelphia already has a very lean central office.” He said that position is backed up by external audits and recent credit increases.

The narrative that there is rampant waste in Philly schools is “patently, absolutely false,” he said.

Watlington said in addition to the cuts, his office is going to “be very aggressive and very assertive” about growing enrollment in the school district through recruitment — including making their case to private school families.

“This school district has so many wonderful, fantastic things that are happening,” Watlington said, citing his usual talking points about increasing test scores, rising graduation rates, and declining dropout numbers.

“We’ve got a good story to tell. We’re getting better,” he said.

Here’s a breakdown of the planned budget cuts:

Freeze central office vacancies, cut 130 vacant central office positions, and cut other central office costs ($30 million).
Reduce contracts and “low return on investment” programs ($36 million).
Implement efficiencies in the budgeting process ($103 million).
Eliminate 220 building substitute positions ($13 million).
Reassign 340 school-based positions ($43 million).

The school board is expected to adopt a final fiscal 2027 budget on May 29.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Supporters of the new federal school choice tax credit pressure Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro to opt in

2026-03-12T19:44:47+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

School choice advocates and two Philadelphia lawmakers are urging Gov. Josh Shapiro to opt into a federal tax-credit scholarship program that would pay for private school tuition and other education expenses.

But Shapiro is delaying his decision until President Donald Trump’s administration releases rules laying out how much control and accountability states will have over the federal program.

The strategy from Shapiro and other Democratic governors to put off making a yes-or-no decision on the tax credits reflects the barrage of political pressures they are facing.

Supporters of the tax credit say that governors who spurn the program are simply losing out on funding that will go to other states, instead of helping their students. But embracing a measure backed by the Trump administration that promotes private school choice might clash with the ideological preferences of Democratic officials and many of their voters.

Pennsylvania already authorizes two tax-credit scholarship programs, the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit and Educational Improvement Tax Credit. Both give tax breaks to businesses that donate to organizations that provide private school scholarships to students.

But the federal program doesn’t rely on state funding. The new federal tax credit, which passed last summer as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill, would reimburse taxpayers for donations of up to $1,700 annually to scholarship-granting organizations.

The program allows donations to pay for more than just private school tuition. Proponents say those scholarship funds could be put toward tutoring, after-school programs, education technology and other educational expenses for both private and public school students.

But there are still many questions unanswered.

The U.S. Treasury Department is developing rules outlining how much authority states will have over the program. Those rules could spell out how public school students could benefit alongside private school students, or whether states could require that scholarship granting organizations serve only low-income families or prohibit them from discriminating against LGBTQ students and teachers.

The rules could also outline how the federal program may or may not stack with existing state tax-credit scholarships.

A spokesperson for Shapiro said in a statement Thursday his office is “awaiting federal guidance to address key questions about how this program would work, including which students will be eligible, how this federal initiative will interact with existing programs.”

Meanwhile, Democratic and Republican supporters of the tax credit made their case at a press conference Thursday.

“If Pennsylvania does not opt in, residents here can still claim the [tax] credit, but their donations will go to scholarships in other states,” state Rep. Martina White, a Republican who represents parts of Philadelphia, said at a press conference on Thursday. “In other words, Pennsylvania taxpayers will help fund scholarships elsewhere while our students miss out.”

Democratic state Sen. Anthony Williams, who represents Philadelphia, was not in attendance on Thursday, but sent a statement in support of the federal program.

“If Pennsylvania chooses to opt out, then we can say with certainty that the first $1,700 of every single Pennsylvania taxpayer’s federal taxes will leave the state, and it’s going to go to the U.S. Treasury, to the IRS,” Jorge Elorza, CEO of Democrats for Education Reform, said at the press conference. “Who knows what’s going to happen with the money when it gets there?”

But Susan Spicka, executive director of the public education advocacy group Education Voters PA, told Chalkbeat it is “wildly irresponsible for anyone to call for Pennsylvania to opt into the federal voucher program before Treasury issues rules delineating how the program will work.”

Spicka said without those rules, it’s unclear how much it will cost taxpayers for the state to implement and oversee the program.

Without clear accountability measures, Spicka worried the program could open the door “for extraordinary opportunities for waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

How a Philadelphia high school is fighting AI slop and internet lies

2026-03-10T18:20:09+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Nine Kensington Health Science Academy seniors are waging war on misinformation and disinformation in their Philadelphia high school hallways — and they say it’s working.

They know the social media algorithms they spend hours scrolling are feeding them AI slop, medical lies, and political rhetoric customized to confuse and anger their classmates and family members.

They’ve seen loved ones fall for fake videos, and have unintentionally shared some themselves.

Now, these students are on a mission to give their classmates tools to spot internet lies.

“People are trying to control what you think and see,” senior Apollo Sunun told Chalkbeat.

Through a student-powered initiative called Project FACTS, nine Kensington Health Science Academy seniors are teaching their classmates how to spot AI slop, medical misinformation, and political lies before they hit “share.”

In the wake of the 2024 presidential election, KHSA Principal Nimet Eren told Chalkbeat she launched Project FACTS. It stands for “find out where a post is from, analyze it, challenge it, think for yourself before you share.” Eren said FACTS is a nonpartisan effort to teach students how to think for themselves and question the information they’re being presented with.

Media literacy classes have gained momentum in recent years as educators channel their desire to help young people decipher fact from fiction online.

Sunun and eight other seniors quickly joined in the effort: Rafael Rosario, Antonio Edwards, Ian Santiago, Jalyssa Moll, Saniya Salcedo, Carlos Perez, Arianna Cartagena, and Solange Jean.

Eren and those students built FACTS into a curriculum and incorporated it into lesson units for classes to conduct during homeroom and advisory periods. The message became more powerful when students led the charge, Eren said.

In February, Kensington Health Sciences Academy High School seniors presented their FACTS curriculum process at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education Ethnography Forum.

The nine seniors started a FACTS club, meeting weekly during lunch to read articles, social media posts, and other sources of information to interrogate what they’re encountering online and develop informed opinions.

“It’s definitely encouraged me to be more careful with the things I see,” Cartagena said.

Then, they presented their findings to their peers. The students designed fake texts and emails and held assemblies for the wider student population. They talked to their friends about limiting screen time and had discussions about how social media pulls them away from reality.

Eren said before FACTS, the school didn’t have a curriculum to address social media, algorithms, and “everything that was happening online.” Now, she often overhears students in between classes asking each other to “check their facts.”

“I definitely hear kids use the FACTS acronym around the school, and it lets me know people really understand,” Salcedo said.

The key to reaching teenagers? Acknowledging the positives about social media in addition to the drawbacks, the students said.

“We didn’t want to focus too much on the negative, because that would have caused especially people our age, to tune out of what we were talking about,” Cartagena said. “We weren’t trying to persuade them into just thinking that social media was negative, but to make them think about how using social media may impact their lives.”

The students also try to tailor their work to their school. In April 2025, the students delved into medical disinformation around ongoing measles outbreaks across the country. KHSA is a neighborhood high school with a special focus on health sciences so it was a natural fit, Eren said. Students conducted their own research and hosted a panel of doctors, nurses, and reporters who helped them navigate truth from fiction about vaccination fears.

Ahead of the midterm elections, they’re ramping up their efforts again. Several of the FACTS seniors will be old enough to vote in November and they said they’re worried about their classmates — and older loved ones — making political decisions based on bad information.

“If somebody spreads something totally false about one of the candidates that’s running, and somebody believes it, now their mind is swayed to vote for somebody else,” Moll said.

Cartagena said it’s not just about educating teenagers. The adults in their lives need help navigating online spaces — sometimes even more than students do. Salcedo said she’s aware of the scams that target older people and she’s seen her loved ones fall for them.

“It’s kind of scary because [they] can vote,” Salcedo said.

Cartagena said she hopes their FACTS curriculum will inspire students — and parents — to think more deeply about what they’re encountering online. Eren said she wants FACTS to be a national model.

“I think parents, they understand and they know the dangers of social media, but a lot of the time they’re not actively seeking to stop it,” Cartagena said. “I just think hearing and seeing it coming from us, it may encourage parents to be more on top of their kids and their social media.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia schools eliminate half days, guarantee bathroom breaks

2026-02-27T11:00:01+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Half days are over in Philadelphia schools starting this June and bathroom breaks are now guaranteed.

At the bitter end of a more than eight-hour school board meeting on Thursday night, Board of Education members approved plans to amend the district calendar for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years to end half days for students during staff professional development time.

District officials released new information on Tuesday that the planned half days for March, April, and May will continue as scheduled, but June 11 will be a full day. It will also be the last day of school for students. June 12 will be the final day for staff.

Superintendent Tony Watlington said district data shows student attendance has cratered on scheduled half days. Going forward, he said he wants the district to “eliminate and sunset half days from our school calendars for now and forevermore.”

The board also approved a new district wellness policy that codifies access to recess and bathroom breaks for all students that cannot be restricted as disciplinary action. The policy also guarantees movement breaks every 90 minutes of seat time for elementary school students.

Thursday’s vote was a win for Lift Every Voice parent advocates who have spent the last 18 months urging board members to adopt these changes and more as part of their “joy campaign.”

The advocates said the policy was necessary because some educators and school leaders had restricted kids’ bathroom breaks, recess, lunch periods, and water breaks as punishment for bad behavior.

The board also approved several contracts that will tie in to the proposed plan to close 18 Philly schools and renovate others, including:

A resolution authorizing the district to apply for up to $20 million from Pennsylvania’s Public School Facility Improvement Grant program for school building improvements.
Adding $17.5 million to an existing $7 million contract with Keystone Realty and Fellerman & Ciarimboli Law, PC, to identify school district buildings that are significantly undervalued and appeal those valuations.
Adding $3.3 million to an existing $5.3 million contract for InProcess Consulting, LLC, for the software behind several district apps and dashboards, including the facilities planning process data dashboard.

Clarification, March 3: This story has been updated with new information from the district about the remaining half days for this school year.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Will Philadelphia’s school board approve closing 18 schools? It has a lot to consider first.

2026-02-27T03:06:52+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia’s $2.8 billion plan to close nearly 20 schools is now in the hands of the Board of Education.

Thursday’s board meeting marked the first time most of the members spoke publicly about the proposal the district released last month. It’s likely to be the core issue of board meetings going forward.

The district’s plan would close 18 schools beginning in 2027, colocate (combine two schools in one building) and relocate others, and invest in more than 100 school buildings. Superintendent Tony Watlington announced at the meeting Thursday that the district removed Conwell Middle School and Motivation High School from the initial proposed closure list it released last month after taking community feedback into consideration. He said the district would not cut staff positions as a result of the closures.

Board members said during the meeting that they understand the motivation behind the proposal but need more information and more time before they decide whether they support it. A vote hasn’t been scheduled. The board will hold a town hall March 12 to hear more feedback.

Students, educators, and families packed the meeting, with hundreds more in an overflow room, urging the board to reject the proposal. Several union officials, state representatives, and City Council members joined them in a protest before the meeting, calling for more transparency about the data officials used to decide which schools to close and more investment in school building maintenance.

Several self-described “shy kids” testified that their schools helped them come out of their shells and improved their mental health. They asked for greater investments in their buildings and urged officials to consider students as “more than lines on a spreadsheet.”

Students from AMY Northwest and Lankenau Environmental Science High School said the district should fix the selective admission application system that they said keeps small schools’ enrollment artificially low. Parkway Northwest and Laura Waring students said by closing their school the district was closing their home.

Watlington emphasized that the plan comes after dozens of community engagement meetings and reflects feedback from Philadelphians.

Kathryn Lajara, special education compliance monitor at Stetson Middle School, said she felt like the meetings so far had been “just checking a box.”

“They keep claiming that this is what people want, but it’s actually not,” Lajara said. “They hold these community meetings, but then there’s really no comprehensive feedback from it.”

Board members ask for more clarity about closure plan

Board President Reginald Streater asked for open hearts and minds from the public about the plan. He said that chronic underfunding and declining enrollment put the district in a difficult position.

Streater said he was infuriated that the board is being asked to consider closing schools but that it is willing to make tough decisions.

Watlington told board members that the plan would benefit all students by increasing access to desirable classes and academic programs and ensuring students attend class in high quality buildings.

Several board members called for more clarity about how the district would address transportation and safety concerns and provide support for displaced students. Some said that they worry the plan doesn’t directly support student learning and that the promised new opportunities would not be equally accessible.

“If we are asking communities to sacrifice neighborhood schools, the benefit must be worth the sacrifice,” said board member Wanda Novalés.

Several board members said they worried about how the district would scrape together enough money to afford the plan’s $2.8 billion price tag. District leaders have already said they would need additional philanthropic and public funding. And they wanted to know how school leaders will prevent this situation in the future.

Watlington said he doesn’t believe in closing schools and that he wouldn’t want his own child’s school to close. He said he is committed to growing district enrollment to avoid future closures. However, he said if enrollment continues to decline — a trend largely the result of falling birth rates — “we’ll be back in this boat again at some point.”

Leaders of 5 school-based unions oppose school closure plan

Leaders of five school-based unions joined the protest before the meeting, including the heads of the teachers union, principals union, and school police officers union.

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg called the plan to close schools an abomination. He said he feared students and staff would leave the district if the board approves it.

Robin Cooper, president of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, which represents school principals and other staff, called for more transparency from the district about the decision-making process.

Bernadette Ambrose-Smith, president of the School Police Association of Philadelphia, said she was particularly concerned about student safety. As far as she knew, Ambrose-Smith said that the district had not done a safety analysis of the closure plan.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philly to defend a $2.8 billion plan to close schools amidst student walkouts and lawmakers’ protests

2026-02-26T17:31:54+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington is preparing to defend the district’s school closure and modernization plan at a marathon board meeting Thursday. He’s got his work cut out for him.

The plan would close several schools starting in 2027. Some buildings would be handed to the city, others sold, and many repurposed as district swing space or administrative offices. Officials say the Board of Education won’t vote on the plan Thursday.

Late Wednesday, the district quietly released plans to upgrade some 200 buildings. However, those changes come with a big caveat: Academy at Palumbo, for example, may get new bathrooms “if the district is granted additional government and/or philanthropic funding.” In other words, that funding is far from guaranteed.

Meanwhile, reactions to Philadelphia’s school closure plan underscore the political and policy tightrope district officials are now tiptoeing. The district’s closure plan has been shouted down by community members, teachers, elected officials, public school activists, and union representatives since its introduction. City Council members told district representatives earlier this month that though they don’t get a vote on the plan, they’ll make their feelings known through the budget process.

At community meetings across the city, district officials have been on the receiving end of blistering tirades and passionate pleas from Philadelphians who say the proposed closures and mergers will decimate communities, spur gentrification, crater student achievement, and wipe away any iota of trust and goodwill the district has gathered.

District officials have maintained the plan would be good for Philly. They say it’s necessary to shift students from half-empty, aging buildings into schools more equipped to give them the academic opportunities and staffing support they need. They say there will be a transition year during which district staff will support schools through the challenges of merging and relocating.

Ultimately, students will benefit from these changes, Watlington has said.

The students of Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice, one of the schools targeted for closure, don’t feel the same. They walked out of their classrooms on Wednesday singing “we shall not be moved” and carrying signs that highlight their high graduation rate and their commitment to public service.

State representatives have shown up to community gatherings and protests to voice their support for the schools in their neighborhoods.

“I’m concerned. I’m annoyed because it’s too fast,” State Rep. Darisha Parker said at a recent community meeting at Fitler Academics Plus in Germantown. She told district representatives “if you’re going to disrupt, uproot, and destroy our community then we need to tell you what we ain’t going to do for y’all.”

Philadelphia ninth grader Dane McFarland spoke passionately about how much Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice has meant to him and his friends.

Parker said the district was being “unfair” and should have convened meetings with local and state representatives to walk them through the plan and give the community time to raise funds before putting closure on the table.

Watlington has said the plan will cost $2.8 billion, using $1 billion in district funds and $1.8 billion in new public and philanthropic dollars.

But getting the political support for that funding will be an uphill battle.

“I know we at war,” Parker said. “They never convened a meeting with the Representatives who’ve gotta pay for these bills.” People at the district “just come up with a number and say, ‘find the money and make it work,’” Parker said.

State Rep. Morgan Cephas said on Instagram that in her nine years as a state representative, “a school has never closed in my district and it will not start now!” She rallied to protect Overbrook Elementary School, another school the district plans to close. At a packed community meeting at Overbrook recently, students sobbed into microphones begging district staff not to close their building.

School staff and the unions that represent them also aren’t sold on the plan.

Ahead of tonight’s board meeting, the five unions representing district employees are planning to hold a “save our schools” rally to protest the closures and are demanding to see the data underlying the district’s decisionmaking.

“Our schools need fixing and funding — not closure,” Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Chief of Staff LeShawna Coleman told the City Council earlier this month. The union conducted its own review of the plan and said they are “gravely concerned” that the plan will “provoke distrust and anxiety among beloved, established educators in schools designated for closure.”

But the community opposition to the plan has also revealed something more fundamental about Philadelphia neighborhoods: Residents want the chance to turn things around.

Ala Stanford, a congressional candidate who graduated from Fitler, said at a recent community meeting that if the district was serious about investing in schools, district officials could start by having more of a presence in the communities they serve.

“Come show up so we can show you who we are and what we’re doing,” Stanford said. “Maybe there could be a philanthropic effort where we can donate. The state can give some, y’all can give some. The community gives what they can.”

Parker and others who spoke at Fitler said they want to host a fish fry, raise money, “and do what we can” to keep their school open.

This story has been updated to reflect new information about planned upgrades to some 200 schools.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Pennsylvania’s teaching workforce is in trouble. ‘Strategic staffing’ could change that.

2026-02-23T22:41:50+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Teaching in Pennsylvania is at a breaking point, according to a new report.

The rate of educator attrition is rising, turnover is disproportionately impacting urban and rural districts, and on the ground teachers are reporting feeling burnt out, overworked, and underprepared.

All of this creates an inhospitable environment for student learning, according to new research from PA Needs Teachers, a statewide coalition led by the Teach Plus advocacy group and the National Center on Education and the Economy.

Their solution is to radically reimagine what it means to teach in Pennsylvania schools. The report’s authors, including Philly teacher Trey Smith, are proposing shifting from a traditional one-teacher-in-front-of-one-classroom approach to something that’s more collaborative that would help students as well as educators.

In the various models they propose, small groups of educators and support staff work together to schedule, plan lessons, give constructive feedback on their teaching, and help each other grow.

New teachers would receive mentorship and guidance, experienced teachers would be compensated and recognized in their schools, and paraprofessionals and tutors would pay extra attention to struggling students.

In practice, a group of 100 students may share a team of six educators who get guidance and support from a “lead teacher.” That would replace a model, for example, of four teachers each responsible for their own separate classroom of 25 students with little feedback on their individual teaching styles.

The report authors call it “strategic staffing.” Smith thinks of it as a teaching team. And schools in Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, are primed for this sort of innovation.

“I really want us to think about, how are we honestly accounting for what teachers know and how they can grow?” said Smith, who teaches at Marian Anderson Neighborhood Academy in Southwest Center City. “Teachers are not all the same, so whatever system we design, we can’t treat teachers like widgets or cogs in a big machine.”

Smith said any new teaching model has to “maximize the talent we have,” including teachers with varying levels of experience and classroom management skills.

New teachers with the least classroom experience are often given the most challenging school assignments. Black or Hispanic students and those from low-income families are therefore the least likely to receive the most experienced, qualified teachers in Pennsylvania.

And Philly, which employs less than 20% of the state’s teachers, accounts for 30% of statewide attrition, according to the report.

As a digital literacy teacher, Smith is a specialist. That means when other teachers need coverage, either because they’re absent or trying to find time to plan ahead, he’s often the first to get the call to step in. But what he said he really wants is to be in constant conversation with other teachers to game-plan and get creative about ways lessons can interlock and students can engage with the same ideas across multiple subjects.

“I have no collaborative planning time with my colleagues and my grades because I’m their coverage,” Smith said.

Doylestown middle school teacher Jill Weller-Reilly, another co-author of the report, said if the state wants teachers to stay in the field, schools need to provide educators with opportunities to grow and advance in their careers.

“We don’t lose new teachers because they can’t do the job. We lose them because we don’t help them learn how and set them up for success,” Weller-Reilly said.

According to Teach Plus polling from 2025, 70% of educators nationwide said they “definitely” or “probably” would want their school to adopt such an approach.

The report authors note there are no state-level limits on class size at the K-12 level, and the state does not mandate a specific student-to-teacher ratio. As a local control state, Pennsylvania school districts have a fair amount of autonomy for things like budgeting, teacher time, and compensation. Those factors could make “strategic staffing” easier to implement.

However, union negotiations and limited district resources do mean districts like Philly would have to get buy-in from multiple parties to launch a strategic staffing model.

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg signaled some interest in the idea, saying in an email to Chalkbeat that “districts including ours must be more innovative with resource allocation to improve hiring, retention, and professional support.”

But change can be notoriously hard for educators, administrators, and school communities. And the report’s proposal comes with a cost.

While most strategic staffing models are intended to be budget-neutral after schools have gone through the design process, the Teach Plus advocates said, there are significant up-front costs to getting one of these models off the ground.

Teach Plus wants state lawmakers to establish a grant program and a way to evaluate the effectiveness of Pennsylvania’s programs alongside similar models like North Carolina’s Advanced Teaching Roles program. State evaluations of the North Carolina program are beginning to show promise, with some data demonstrating it helped improve students’ math and science scores and teachers’ perceptions of their jobs. North Carolina’s program costs about $16.5 million to run annually in 17 districts.

Another major hurdle to establishing strategic staffing in classrooms is simple exhaustion with new initiatives. Philadelphia, like other major city school districts, has experimented with innovative teaching and learning models in the past, only to have them fade away or lose funding and attention.

But Smith said if the changes are born from the bottom up, and truly take educators’ ideas into consideration, it could make Philly a prized destination for future teachers.

“I still am hopeful if the approach is such that it really honors what teachers know and think, that’s how the model can work,” he said.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia council members won’t ‘rubber stamp’ school closure plan

2026-02-17T21:54:02+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia city council members are adamant that although they get no official vote, they will have a say in the district’s school closure process.

At an all-day hearing on Tuesday, council members interrogated Superintendent Tony Watlington, Board of Education President Reginald Streater, and other district representatives about the proposed plan to close 20 Philly schools beginning in 2027.

Members raised concerns about the plan’s lack of detail about student transportation, safety, changing demographics, and academic inequities. Some members said the plan feels rushed, while others took issue with what they said is a lack of consideration about the intricacies of Philadelphia neighborhood dynamics. They also said the community engagement process hasn’t made families feel included.

City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said his members will do their due diligence to elevate the concerns of students and families across the city and “will not just rubber stamp” the plan as is. But the decisionmaking power lies solely with the district and school board. There won’t be any City Council vote.

In response, district officials emphasized the plan is still a draft proposal. Watlington will formally present it to the school board on Feb. 26, but the board will not be voting on it at that meeting. Streater declined to give a timeline for the voting process, but Tuesday’s hearing made clear that changes are likely before the plan is adopted.

“If there are schools that council wants me to take off the list and add others on that list, we are open to you telling me what those are,” Watlington told council members.

Council member and Education Committee chair Isaiah Thomas said he and his colleagues intend to use their “bully pulpit” to influence the plan’s final form since they do not get a vote of their own.

“We are the checks and balances,” Thomas said, but “the crazy thing is, we don’t even have a vote.”

Councilmember Jim Harrity told district representatives he is “infuriated” that he and his colleagues will not get to vote on the plan and pointedly mentioned the upcoming city budget process as a way members will signal their approval or lack thereof.

The “budget’s coming, and we will be looking,” Harrity said.

Philly is the only school district in the state that cannot raise its own revenue, and about 40% of its $2 billion budget comes directly from the city. Last year, Councilmember Kendra Brooks criticized the city’s budget deal for failing to include a meaningful increase in funding to the school district. The lion’s share of the district’s budget comes from the state.

District officials have told community members that the closure plan is not primarily about saving money. They maintain the reorganization will focus on increasing student access to high-quality academic opportunities, clean and modern buildings, and expanding pre-K programs.

The district said it is projecting to spend $1 billion of its own resources and will seek an additional $1.8 billion in public and philanthropic funding to fund its closure, co-location, and modernization plan.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Watlington and Streater said the plan is their attempt at longterm “thoughtful” planning to stretch the resources the district has while recognizing that it has been underfunded for decades.

Watlington said Tuesday the plan in its current form already represents a careful compromise.

“We could have released a draft plan that closed twice as many schools and been able to defend it,” Watlington said.

But city council members said there is more meaningful engagement to be done. Councilmember Cindy Bass said she has not been contacted or included in the districts’ decisionmaking process. Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, who sits on the education committee, said she has noticed a pattern of district officials “dancing around” difficult questions.

More than 40 members of the public signed up to speak on Tuesday, many of whom said they are urging the district not to close their neighborhood schools, but to invest in them. Streater and Watlington said the district does not have the money to do so.

Streater and Watlington promised they’ll be listening to community feedback and council members.

Here’s a breakdown of how the district is proposing to spend the $2.8 billion officials say is needed for the closure and modernization plan:

Council District 1 would get $308,049,008. Some $57 million of that will go to making South Philadelphia High School a career and technical education hub.”

Council District 2 would get $302,284,081. About $54 million of that will go towards renovating John Bartram High School.

Council District 3 would see $204,947,677. Some $19 million of that will go to funding improved heating and cooling, electrical systems, and adding an elevator and playground space for the co-location of Middle Years Alternative and Martha Washington.

Council District 4 would get $216,819,480. About $50 million of that will be dedicated to renovating Overbrook High School.

Council District 5 would get $290,748,937. Some $8 million of that will go to renovate and add a new auditorium for Franklin Learning Center.

Council District 6 would get $55,769,008. More than $27 million will go to Edwin Forrest School to create an addition to allow it to accommodate K-8 students.

Council District 7 would get $388,795,327. More than $32 million of that will go to building an addition on John Marshall School that will include a gym and an elevator.

Council District 8 would get $318,986,215. Nearly $43 million of that will be set aside for Martin Luther King High School for construction to accommodate the incoming co-located Building 21 school, an electrical upgrade, and building upgrades.

Council District 9 would get $442,934,244. $42 million at Laura H. Carnell School. Modernization projects will include the construction of a new addition to increase the capacity and for restroom renovations, ADA improvements, exterior site improvements, and stormwater management.

Council District 10 would see $275,829,539. District statements say Watson Comly School will be modernized, including the construction of a new school building for the middle school grade students from William H. Loesche and Watson Comly.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro proposes $151 million funding boost for Philadelphia schools

2026-02-03T20:59:56+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s newly proposed budget would add $151 million more for Philadelphia schools and increase public school funding statewide by more than $660 million.

The Philadelphia school district would get a total of $2.2 billion in general funding under the new proposal, including money for basic education and special education, and funds meant to go to the state’s highest needs school districts.

Shapiro is also seeking $420 million for publicly funded pre-K programs, $158 million for career and technical education programs, and $35 million for the popular student teacher stipend program.

Speaking at the state Capitol Tuesday, Shapiro said the new proposal follows his administration’s promise to make school funding statewide more fair after a judge ruled in 2023 that the state’s previous school funding formula was unconstitutional.

“We’ve invested a record amount of money in public education, and created a brand-new formula that drives that money out to the schools that need it most,” Shapiro said.

But the proposal still leaves poor school districts, including Philadelphia’s, underfunded and leaves out funding advocates say is essential for some education programs.

In addition, Shapiro is calling for further reform to how school districts fund cyber charter schools. In last year’s budget, lawmakers reduced the amount districts had to reimburse cyber charter schools compared with brick-and-mortar schools. That change was estimated to save school districts at least $178 million statewide.

The new proposal would allow school districts to write off more of the money they used to send to cyber charters and creates new limits on how cyber charter schools calculate tuition rates. It’s estimated to save an additional $75 million for districts.

Shapiro called for several changes to statewide education law in his address. He called on lawmakers to move forward with legislation that would ban cell phones use for kids while they are in school. And he said he has directed members of his administration to explore legal options to require the developers of AI chatbots to require age verification and parental consent.

Shapiro also said he has directed the State Board of Education to develop recommendations for schools to guarantee recess for all students.

The spending plan comes at a crucial time for Philly schools. Superintendent Tony Watlington last month released a wide-ranging facilities plan that would downsize the district, close 20 schools, merge others, and renovate some buildings. But even with Shapiro’s proposed funding boost, the district would still need to find more government and grant funding to pay for the $2.8 billion facilities plan.

Philadelphia is in a unique and difficult funding position. It’s the only school district in the state that cannot raise its own revenue and, as such, 99% of its operating budget is controlled by state and city officials.

Mayor Cherelle Parker in 2024 increased the district’s share of city property taxes from 55% to 56% in the 2025 budget, which her office claimed would send an additional $250 million to the city’s schools through 2030. Parker said she would increase that percent again in 2030, but her four-year term concludes in 2027. There’s no guarantee that a 2030 increase would materialize.

Still, the district is staring down a multimillion annual deficit. And Shapiro’s proposed increase is not a done deal. The state Legislature will deliberate and must offer its own spending plan by July 1. Last year, the final budget arrived four months overdue, forcing school districts to take out millions in loans.

Shapiro’s proposal leaves districts underfunded by more than $3 billion

Many education advocates welcomed the increased investment in education and said they would urge state lawmakers to support the proposed boost to school funding.

“The governor is making good on his commitment to fully fund our public schools and bring real opportunity to kids in Pennsylvania,” said Laura Boyce, Pennsylvania executive director of Teach Plus. “We will be fighting alongside him to ensure these commitments are passed into law in this year’s budget.”

Still, Pennsylvania schools remain underfunded by more than $3 billion compared with what they should get under the state’s adequacy formula, which was developed by a bipartisan commission to determine how much money schools need to operate. Some groups also worry the proposal leaves some education mandates unfunded.

Last year’s budget, for example, created new requirements for all districts to use evidence-based reading curriculums and implement new literacy training for teachers. But the new budget proposal does not include more funding for early literacy initiatives. The Pennsylvania Literacy Coalition, which has advocated for increased early literacy support, has called on state lawmakers to invest $50 million in those initiatives.

“In recent years, our commonwealth has taken important steps forward, but there is more work to be done,” said Pennsylvania Literacy Coalition leader Rachael Garnick. “We must meet this moment with the urgency, leadership, and sustained investment required to ensure that no child’s future is determined by whether the system was prepared to teach them to read.”

Some advocates also say the student teacher stipend program needs more money to effectively address the state’s severe teacher shortage. Though this proposal boosts funding for the program by $5 million, Lenny Sweeney, a leader with the group PA Needs Teachers, said in a statement the program needs further investment to meet the need.

The group is calling for state legislators to commit $40 million toward the program. “It is a practical, cost-effective, bipartisan strategy to rebuild Pennsylvania’s educator pipeline, bolster local economies, and support student success across the commonwealth,” Sweeney said.

Shapiro, who is broadly rumored to be seeking a presidential bid in 2028, took several hits at the Trump administration during his address, including its move to freeze some federal education funds last year. He also highlighted statewide gains since he took office, including improved statewide attendance and graduation rates.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia teachers, students call for changes to school closure proposal

2026-01-30T00:53:42+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Protestors rallied outside of the Philadelphia school district’s main office in the bitter cold Thursday afternoon, calling on members of the Board of Education to put a stop to the district’s proposal to close 20 schools in the coming years.

The plan, which district officials announced last week, would impact 1 in 3 district schools and result in nearly 5,000 students affected by school closures beginning in 2027. Students would be moved out of deteriorating old buildings to fill empty seats in many underenrolled schools. But it would also relocate hundreds of students to lower performing schools and close schools in neighborhoods the district’s own data shows are vulnerable because of social factors and past school closures.

Superintendent Tony Watlington has said closing schools and shuffling enrollment would lead to more opportunities for all students.

But inside the school district’s main building, board members — who have final say on the closures — gave no indication on how they will respond to the district’s sweeping proposal. They said they would share those thoughts at their board meeting on Feb. 28, when district leaders plan to formally present the plan.

Board president Reginald Streater said it would be “inappropriate” for him to speak about the plan’s merits ahead of the presentation. But he thanked Superintendent Tony Watlington for creating a plan for the district’s aging facilities. Streater said the board will review the proposal during its February meeting but not vote on it.

School leaders, teachers, and parents urged the board to prevent closures and to come up with a better plan that keeps schools open. During a spirited public comment session, several said the proposal would destroy tight-knit school communities and leave students with longer commutes and more crowded classrooms. Some worried the data the district used to make its decision was flawed. And others said they feared the plan reflected a disinvestment in schools where the majority of students are Black and brown.

More than a dozen students and staff from Lankenau High School rallied in front of the district’s main building ahead of the meeting.

“Our voice should be heard,” said Krysten Fanis, a sophomore at Lankenau Environmental Science High School, which the district wants to close and turn into an honors program at Roxborough High School. “How they’re trying to recommend to shut down our school is not OK.”

Board members encourage people to weigh in

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that district leaders have already said they may shift parts of the plan before they formally present it to the board at next month’s board meeting.

That may be a response to the swift pushback. Some City Council members have called for specific changes. And many teachers, students, and families have said they will fight for their schools to stay open.

Streater and other board members encouraged teachers, students, and families to attend the community engagement sessions the district plans to host in the coming weeks at each school it proposes closing. Two board members said they would make an effort to attend the meetings.

Board Vice President Sarah Ashley-Andrews stressed the importance of community input at the meetings. “We want to hear your voice, your comments and concerns,” she said.

Several educators and community members connected to Conwell Middle School, which the district wants to close, held signs during the meeting urging school leaders to keep the school open. Longtime Conwell Principal Erica Green stressed the school’s history, tight alumni network, and recent investments, some of which were funded by settlement money from lawsuits against opioid manufacturers.

“Do not let the almighty dollar drive a choice to remove a beautifully designated historic school and beautifully gifted young people,” Green said.

Representatives of other schools said that the whole district will be impacted by the proposed closures.

“This is a collective effort,” said Paul Brown, a psychologist at Roxborough High School who attended the protest. “Rather than singling out individual schools to fend for themselves, we should be all working together to ensure every student can go to their neighborhood school instead of traveling across the city.”

Board members also appointed two non-voting student board representatives: Brianni Carter, an 11th grader at Philadelphia High School for Girls; Ramisha Karim, an 11th grader at Northeast High School; and Semira Reyes, an 11th grader at The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts.

Carter and Karim said they aimed to attend the community engagement meetings to hear what their peers and adults are saying.

Board members also voted to approve several contracts and grants, including:

$15 million for mechanical, plumbing, fire protection, and electrical engineering design services.
$3.7 million for purchasing facilities supplies, tools, and building materials
$610,000 to replace the fire alarm system at James G. Blaine School.
An agreement with the Community College of Philadelphia to use space at Ben Franklin High School.

Three of nine board members were absent from the meeting, and four called in remotely.

Sammy Caiola covers solutions to gun violence in and around Philadelphia schools. Have ideas for her? Get in touch at scaiola@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

New Philly nonprofit wants to end generational poverty, 1 child at a time

2025-12-22T18:38:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The secret to a perfect dirt bowl snack isn’t in the pudding, or the crushed Oreos, or even the gummy worms. It’s about patience, according to Kevin Kelley.

That’s something second graders Donte and Chris and first grader Derrick are working on one Wednesday after school with Kelley and Justin Agard, their mentors.

“Just a little bit, pour it slowly since it’s a liquid,” Kelley said, watching as the boys cautiously tipped a jug of milk into measuring cups and stirred in whipped topping.

“That tastes good!” exclaimed Donte. “Like, real good. But I need more Oreos.”

Kelley, a Philadelphia native, works with Donte and Chris and six other Philly youngsters through a new nonprofit program called Friends of the Children Philadelphia. (Chalkbeat is using pseudonyms for the kids to protect their identities.)

The program serves at-risk young kids, starting at ages 4 to 6, who have experienced trauma due to gun violence, poverty, family incarceration, abuse, or other adverse factors that can affect their mental health and academic performance.

Justin Agard plays foosball with three kids he mentors through Friends of the Children Philadelphia.

Friends of the Children isn’t a typical after-school program or mentorship — Kelley will be with his little ones and their families consistently for the next three years, at least. Friends of the Children offers families a commitment that the program will be there in a child’s life from kindergarten through high school graduation — “12+ no matter what,” they say.

Betty Handy, executive director of Friends of the Children Philadelphia, said the model is based on rigorous research that shows long-term, stable, positive relationships with a caring adult can make a meaningful difference in a child’s life. She said she believes the program can help lessen generational poverty in the city and keep young people out of the prison system.

While it’s new to Philly, the organization has branches in more than 30 locations nationwide. A five-year study of the program found “significant effects” in favor of the model, including students reporting less trouble in school and greater emotional strengths. In its first year in Philadelphia, the program served 24 children.

Each mentor, called a Friend, is required to sign a three- to five-year full-time paid contract and takes on a caseload of around eight kids from North Philly and Kensington who have been referred to the program by school staff, community organizations, or foster care workers. Those Friends become immersed in that child’s life starting at elementary school and a program mentor will stay with them through high school. In its first year, the program had three Friends on staff, but is looking to grow that number.

The Friends sit in on classes in school, they can attend report card meetings, offer homework help, take the kids on trips to the library or aquarium. Currently, the program is working with kids at William D. Kelley Elementary and Bayard Taylor Elementary schools, as well as the North 10 Lenfest community center.

The Friends also act as a lifeline for caregivers who are trying to find employment or get back to school themselves.

“We’re not prescribing what they need, but we are offering support in a way that keeps their dignity intact” Handy said.

Kelley may help a parent navigate a job-hiring process or point them to the right city contact person if their heat or electricity goes out. If one of his kids is struggling with behavioral challenges in the classroom, Kelley will speak with the teacher, the student, and the caregivers to come up with a comprehensive plan to work through any issues.

“The most important aspect is we start them young,” Handy, known by the kids in the program as “Mama Betty” said. “We do early intervention, and we are here to guide the child, one on one, for several years, staying in their lives, to see them succeed.”

Betty Handy, known by the young people she mentors as "Mama Betty," says the Friends of the Children program model is effective, research-backed, and will have a ripple effect over time.

For Justin Agard, another Friend in the program, caring for these kids is personal.

In 2007, while Agard was at Temple University, his younger brother was murdered in New York City for his rumored involvement with gangs and drugs. Years later, one of Agard’s son’s friends — whom he had coached — fell victim to gun violence.

After his brother’s death, Agard got involved in anti-violence work, coaching, substitute teaching, and working within the foster care system. He and his wife raised successful kids of their own and thought of fostering or adopting.

When he discovered Friends of the Children, he realized their model “is what I’ve always felt was missing” in the behavioral health field in the city he said.

“It just made me feel like I can really impact a kid’s life for the better over a long period of time” Agard said.

Kelley and Agard are both Black men and they say that representation is vital to relationship-building, trust-building, and the ability to make young Black kids like Donte, Chris, and Derrick feel supported, understood, and safe.

For young Black men, who make up the majority of the kids the program serves, asking for help can be really hard, Kelley said. The kids he works with are learning to become comfortable making mistakes in front of Kelley and asking for assistance with things like reading or spelling in a safe space. They work on confidence-building and emotional regulation in addition to academics.

Kelley said when he’s working with his eight kids through the program, he’s constantly thinking about a line his nana, a longtime Philadelphia school district teacher, used to say to him: “I love you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Three kids play together at Friends of the Children's North Philly clubhouse, where they also work on their academics.

The Friends program just wrapped its first operating year this past August, Handy said, but she’s already thinking about expanding to South Philly and other neighborhoods where young kids are at risk.

Handy said she’s aware of the good they can do for Philly’s youngest learners and their families. But it’s a duty and a responsibility she and Kelley and Agard don’t take lightly.

“Lives are in the balance,” Handy said. “Too many times there are adults who don’t show up for our youth. But our Friends at Friends of the Children, they show up.”

This story has been updated to clarify details about the length of the program.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia eyes providing more help for 10th graders to boost graduation rates

2025-12-12T20:55:32+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

To boost graduation rates, Philadelphia school leaders say they are looking to expand a key early high school support program to include 10th graders.

This comes after a district analysis released last month found that 97% of students considered “firmly on track” at the end of 10th grade graduated within four years. Students are considered on track based on the number of credits they earn.

The district first began monitoring whether ninth graders were on track to graduation in 2017. It partnered with longtime dropout prevention group Philadelphia Academies Inc. to launch initiatives meant to reduce ninth grade dropout rates and support freshmen in more than two dozen district high schools. The moves are backed by research that shows a strong relationship between the number of credits students have by the end of ninth grade and whether they’ll graduate within four years.

But the intense level of support, attention, and resources that comes with the ninth grade on track program doesn’t follow students to their sophomore year, said Aja Holden, the district’s executive director of the Office of Postsecondary Readiness. Holden said her team was hearing from young people that when they left ninth grade, they were asking “what about us?’”

The work to help more students stay on track to graduate dovetails with the Philadelphia district’s aim to improve the district’s four-year graduation rate and reduce the number of students dropping out. During the 2023-24 school year, the most recent year of available data, nearly 16% of students did not graduate within four years — an improvement from previous years, but still higher than the statewide rate. The number of students in grades 7-12 who dropped out of the district was nearing 4,000 in 2021-22 but has since fallen to 1,680 in 2024-25, according to district data.

Holden said the district is still exploring the possibility of an expansion to 10th grade, including what it would require in terms of resources and staff. The ninth grade on track program is funded through 2027 with $2.6 million of district money and $8 million from the Neubauer Family Foundation. (Chalkbeat receives funding from the Neubauer Family Foundation.)

“Do I believe it will happen? Yes.” Holden said. “Do I have an answer about quite when? No, not yet.”

The new analysis indicates some young people were falling back off track after ninth grade, and that recovery was rare for those who were behind when they started 10th grade. Around 91% of students who were off track at the end of 9th grade remained off track at the end of 10th grade.

Even among 10th graders with excellent attendance, only 14% who were off track regained on-track status, showing how difficult it is for students to recover from being behind.

Students considered off track include those who may be missing a single requirement or several requirements. The more credits a student has missed by the end of 10th grade, the less likely they were to graduate within four years, the district’s analysis found.

The new analysis also underscores how influential ninth grade is for students. Around 80% of students who completed enough credits by the end of ninth grade to be considered on track to graduate stayed on track at the end of 10th grade.

But Holden said it also created a sense of urgency for her and her team to think about how to better support 10th graders too.

For Holden, high school success is more than just credits and grades. She said having a meaningful high school experience, full of good memories, strong relationships, and connections that can help students succeed after they leave the district is paramount.

“I need all of the students of Philadelphia, all the students in the district, all of our tens of thousands of high schoolers, to make it from start to finish,” she said. “I don’t want anyone to be left behind.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia district will consider transferring vacant school buildings to the city

2025-12-11T23:10:22+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Some long-vacant Philadelphia school buildings might be transferred to the city for redevelopment as potential housing units in the near future.

The Board of Education approved a resolution Thursday granting the district the ability to negotiate with the city to sell or otherwise transfer some vacant buildings for housing or other purposes that benefit the community

The resolution passed 6-2, but several board members said they felt strongly that the district should not grant the city any sort of exclusivity or claim on vacant properties without exploring other development opportunities.

Board President Reginald Streater stressed at the meeting that the resolution does not immediately transfer any school buildings to the city but is the first step in a process.

“I would be derelict in my duty if I didn’t explore this as a mechanism,” Streater said.

The approval also is a political move signaling that the board — which is mayorally appointed — is aligned with Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration.

Parker has made building and restoring some 30,000 housing units a core part of her agenda and has publicly expressed her interest in using empty school buildings for that purpose.

Philadelphians, elected leaders, and even a charter school have renewed their focus on the district’s empty buildings after police found 23-year-old Mount Airy woman Kada Scott’s body buried in the woods behind the Ada H. H. Lewis Middle School building, which has sat empty and blighted since 2008.

The district has 20 vacant buildings valued at an estimated $80 million, according to the city’s office of property assessment, that would be considered for transfer under Thursday’s resolution. According to the resolution text, the district would still need to consider outstanding bond obligations, legal processes, or potential revenue impact before making any formal agreement with the city.

Thursday’s resolution kicks off the process of exploring the possibility of a transfer, but any agreements to exchange a school building would need to go before the board for a vote, according to the resolution.

Board member ChauWing Lam, who voted against the resolution, said Thursday she wasn’t sure the document was necessary to have those exploratory conversations with the city. She said she was concerned that the district and board would be foregoing and limiting the board’s ability to consider other offers outside of Parker’s administration by adopting the resolution.

The resolution frames any potential transfers as a cost-saving measure for the district, which is facing a budget deficit and spends money and staff hours on the upkeep of vacant school buildings. The resolution says those buildings are unused and not needed for education and the resources they require could be better spent on classroom needs.

Board member Wanda Novalés said Thursday any proposal brought to the board regarding the sale or transfer of any district-owned buildings should be financially beneficial for the district because the properties “belong to our students.”

Streater said the resolution only covers currently vacant buildings and would not apply to any future schools closed through the district’s ongoing facilities planning process.

A list of schools targeted for closure, co-location, renovation, or reuse is expected in the next few months.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org

Judge’s ruling in charter case casts doubt on Philadelphia school board member’s legal standing

2025-12-10T23:09:38+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

A Philadelphia judge has stated that a longtime member of the city Board of Education is not actually a “de facto” member.

On Monday, Judge Christopher Hall of the Court of Common Pleas granted an injunction to two charter schools that prohibits the school board from moving forward with a process that could lead those schools to close.

The two charter schools, People for People Charter School and KIPP North Philadelphia, have gone to court to stop that nonrenewal process. In the initial September lawsuit, People for People alleged that Joyce Wilkerson is an “illegally and unlawfully seated” board member, because she was not confirmed by the City Council in January before taking her seat on the board. The school also claims Wilkerson “corrupted” the board’s vote to start the nonrenewal process.

In the footnotes of his ruling granting the injunction, Hall wrote that Wilkerson “was not a de facto member of the Board of Education” when the board voted to start the nonrenewal process for the two schools. He also wrote that Wilkerson’s participation in several board meetings without being properly confirmed, along with her decision to be the first board member to make a motion to vote on commencing nonrenewal for the charters, likely “tainted” the board’s August vote. Seven board members voted for nonrenewal.

Hall’s comments have the potential to destabilize the city school board and could raise questions about Wilkerson’s votes since the board’s term began in 2024. They also breathe new life into a fight from Mayor Cherelle Parker’s first months in office, when some City Council members opposed Parker’s nomination of Wilkerson to serve on the board again, due to concerns that she was unfairly critical of charter schools.

In a show of political force, Parker asked Wilkerson to continue to serve on the board — without a vote by the City Council to approve Wilkerson’s appointment.

A fixture in Philadelphia education for many years and a former president of the school board, Wilkerson was appointed to the board by former mayor Jim Kenney in 2018 and confirmed by the City Council in 2020. She also served on the School Reform Commission that previously governed city public schools.

In footnotes accompanying Monday’s preliminary injunction, Hall characterized Wilkerson as the “ringleader” of the vote to start the nonrenewal process for the two charters — though multiple board members asserted she played no role in influencing their votes, according to court transcripts.

During one court hearing on Nov. 12, Hall acknowledged that “there’s a lot of political haze in the case.” But ultimately, he said the key issue is whether Wilkerson was authorized to sit as a board member and, if she wasn’t, whether her participation had any impact on other board members’ votes to issue notices of nonrenewal.

Hall’s injunction does not state how or whether he will ultimately rule on Wilkerson’s position on the board. The order does state the injunction “does not bar the board from independently acting.”

People for People’s lawyer, Mark Seiberling, said in a statement that the school was pleased with Hall’s ruling. “We look forward to Ms. Wilkerson’s replacement being nominated and confirmed,” he said.

Parker’s office did not respond to a request for comment about Hall’s Monday injunction. In the case before the Court of Common Pleas, the city submitted a brief saying that Wilkerson is a “legally proper” seated board member. It argues that Wilkerson’s position is valid because of legal precedent that has allowed officials to remain as holdovers in their positions after their term has expired until a successor replaces them.

Board of Education President Reginald Streater said in a statement Wednesday that the board’s vote to begin the process of nonrenewal for the two charters was based “on the merits of each Board Member’s independent assessment of the schools’ outcomes.”

He signaled in his statement that the judge’s focus on Wilkerson’s status on the board makes it appear that “the underlying issues” with the schools’ academic performance are “being overshadowed” by politics.

Streater also said any delay in the process for deciding whether People for People and KIPP North Philadelphia will close would impede the board’s ability to conduct public hearings and address ongoing concerns.

“Our schools, families, and children deserve resolution,” said Streater. “We remain committed to transparency and to continuing this work in the best interest of the community.”

The school district can appeal Hall’s Monday decision. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Jan. 8.

Dispute over board member’s standing highlights charter controversies

The district and board’s process for overseeing and evaluating charters has been a point of contention for years and is currently under review. For example, the board has dealt with allegations it has been systematically unfair to charters with Black leaders. An investigation by an outside firm found the board had not shown intentional bias against Black-led charters, but did recommend that the district review its policies and pursue a more transparent process.

People for People launched the case against Wilkerson and the Board of Education in September, shortly after the board’s decision to move forward with non-renewing the school’s charter. KIPP North Philadelphia joined the case in October.

People for People’s annual charter evaluation report shows the school — which has operated for over 20 years — did not meet the district’s academic standards for student proficiency across multiple subject areas for several years.

The evaluation of KIPP North Philadelphia, which opened in 2018, shows it also had poor academic performance along with a high suspension rate.

Despite these concerns, the district’s Charter School office recommended five-year renewals, with conditions, for both schools. But board members were not convinced.

“After more than two decades in question and operation, there’s still no evidence of sustained academic success,” Streater said of People for People at its June board meeting.

Meanwhile, KIPP North Philadelphia’s high student suspension rate worried Board Vice President Sarah-Ashley Andrews: “When this many students are being removed from their classroom, something deeper is happening.”

In a Nov. 12 court hearing on the case brought by the two charter schools, lawyers for the charters questioned board members about how the non-renewal process works and whether Wilkerson had influence over their decisions.

But all of the three board members who testified — Streater, Wilkerson, and Whitney Jones — said they had not spoken to each other privately about the nonrenewal outside of public board meetings or executive sessions. “There’s no trying to compel anybody to do anything,” Streater said.

KIPP Philadelphia CEO Natalie Wiltshire told Chalkbeat on Wednesday that as the former board president, Wilkerson’s “voice carries outsize weight on that board.”

Wiltshire said board members did not reach out to her for clarifying information or to ask any questions about the school prior to their vote.

“None of these board members have stepped foot in my school,” Wiltshire said.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Newark board member says superintendent contract approval was ‘dangerous’ and ‘reeks of impropriety’

2025-11-26T17:59:31+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to get the latest news about the city’s public school system delivered to your inbox.

In the wake of Newark Superintendent Roger León’s controversial contract extension, a lone board member spoke out Tuesday night raising legal, ethical, and procedural concerns with the approval.

Board member David Daughety called the manner by which the board approved León’s contract extension “dangerous” and said it “reeks of impropriety,” potentially causing the board to be perceived in a “corrosive way.”

León’s contract was apparently extended after a board member said last month she would switch her vote from an abstention to a “yes” vote long after the initial vote failed in September and without any formal motion to reconsider or a notification to the public.

Melissa Reed, the board member who switched her vote, said Tuesday night she was under immense pressure, and her mental health has deteriorated in the weeks since the first contract extension vote was taken.

Board policy experts and education advocates have also called the extension approval into question.

“Unanimous consent of the board was never requested, nor was a motion properly made and seconded to allow such vote altering to take place,” Daughety said during Tuesday night’s board meeting. “The precedent that we have just opened ourselves up to, that any board member at any given time can change a vote from the past without a motion or express consent of the board, is dangerous and reeks of impropriety.”

Approving a superintendent’s contract and overseeing their work running the district are among the most important responsibilities a school board carries out. Since regaining local control from the state, Newark community members have called for more transparency around León’s contract extension requests. This latest confusing and last-minute approval perpetuates uncertainty and “fuels the perception of impropriety,” Daughety said.

Daughety said he attempted to request a second impartial legal opinion on the matter via an email to Board President Hasani Council in October and was denied. On Tuesday night, his public motion to request the second opinion was rebuffed by the board president and called “out of order” by the district’s general counsel.

“My renewed request for a second legal opinion is not personal. I’m not out to get anybody or obstruct anyone getting their contract. If the votes are there, then the votes are there. But this was not the legal or right order of getting it. This was not explained correctly on the record,” Daughety said.

Daughety’s concerns were met with some applause from the public in attendance.

District general counsel Brenda Liss said under the board’s own policy, requests for second opinions can only come from the board president.

“We’ve been violating board policy — be serious,” Daughety said in response.

León and Liss both said that any of Daughety’s concerns with the superintendent’s contract should have been brought to them privately as a privileged personnel matter, out of the public eye. The superintendent’s contract is a public document.

“It’s not that I don’t want the public to understand these issues, but to the extent that they are addressed to me, I discuss them with the full board in closed session,” Liss said.

Council told Daughety that León’s contract “has already been ratified and signed,” saying “the matter is closed at this time.”

“The state is watching. The county is watching. Our city is watching, our district is watching, and our students are watching. All eyes are on Newark right now,” Daughety said. “We need to act in the best interest of the people and this institution. We worked too hard for local control to finally achieve it, but see it perceived in such a corrosive way.”

Melissa Reed, the member who changed her vote, said Tuesday night her mental health “has not been the best” since the contract vote. She said her decision to switch her vote was “not made lightly” and “came after weeks of pressure, conversations, and a deep sense of responsibility” for Newark’s children, schools, “and the stability of this district.”

“Intentional or not, I felt myself being positioned as a scapegoat, the one who would carry the blame for a decision far larger than me,” Reed said. “My vote was not about agreement. It was about preventing harm, it was about preventing chaos.”

Reed said her decision to switch her vote does not erase her concerns about equity, accountability, and transparency in the district, and “it surely does not mean the work is done.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philly principals reach tentative contract agreement with school district

2025-11-25T16:07:54+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia principals union and school district reached a tentative contract agreement late Monday that includes raises and language recognizing administrators “as vital partners in the educational process.”

No further details about the new four-year agreement were available.

The 1,000-member Commonwealth Association of School Administrators Teamsters Local 502 or CASA union represents school principals, climate workers, safety supervisors, and other administrators. They have been working without a contract since their prior four-year agreement expired in August. Union members have packed school board meetings and a City Council hearing in recent weeks, increasing public pressure on the district to reach a deal.

But a strike threat was never on the table. A longstanding provision in nearly all of the union’s prior contract agreements, as well as Pennsylvania’s Act 105 law, forbade administrators from stopping work.

The new tentative agreement “will provide continued stability for our administrative leaders,” said CASA President Robin Cooper in a joint statement with school district Superintendent Tony Watlington late Monday night.

Cooper said the agreement addresses key issues for union membership including wage equity for administrators who have several years experience in the district, across-the-board salary increases, and includes “collaborative language” that “affirms the dedication and innovative leadership” that school principals provide, “recognizing them as pivotal change agents, who drive both student and teacher success.”

Watlington said in the joint statement that the agreement “provides the stability, clarity, and momentum we need to continue our strong partnership with CASA and to advance our five-year strategic plan” as well as “honor[ing] the dedication of our CASA members and upholds our commitment to strong financial stewardship.”

Since August, the district has settled new multi-year contracts with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the School Police Association of Philadelphia, which represents school safety officers.

The tentative agreement will go to union members for a vote sometime during the first week of December, Cooper told Chalkbeat on Tuesday.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia school principals demand new contract but stop short of strike threat

2025-11-21T01:08:23+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia principals are ramping up public pressure on school district officials to secure a new contract. But they’re not threatening to strike.

District principals, climate workers, and school safety supervisors packed the standing-room-only Board of Education meeting on Thursday in navy and gold Commonwealth Association of School Administrators Teamsters Local 502, or CASA, T-shirts. Union members have been working without a contract since their previous agreement expired in August.

CASA President Robin Cooper had strong words for Superintendent Tony Watlington and the district, saying contract negotiations have been “one-sided.” The union’s bargaining team has presented several counter proposals to end what Cooper calls “wage compression” and address increasing health premiums, but has been stonewalled by the district’s negotiators, according to Cooper.

“We have to fight our own district to properly support our needs,” Cooper said.

Under their prior contract agreement, members of the CASA union agreed not to strike or stop work.

But she stopped short of calling a strike. Under the union’s prior contract, members agreed they would not “engage in, instigate, or condone any strike, work stoppage or any concerted refusal to perform normal work duties.” That commitment still holds, Cooper told reporters outside of the meeting room.

“This is our district and we’re gonna take care of it,” Cooper said. “We’re still going to stand by our schools because this is who we are, and this is what we do.”

Watlington told City Council members earlier this week he is optimistic about reaching a contract deal in the “near term.”

“We value you and we’re gonna get this done,” Watlington told the union members Thursday.

Meanwhile, several parents, advocates, and community members also testified at Thursday’s meeting demanding the district reconsider its plan to close some public schools.

“It’s true that some neighborhoods face real enrollment challenges, but those neighborhoods call for support, not closure,” education researcher Ryan Pfleger told Watlington and school board members at Thursday’s meeting. “If a building is crumbling, repair it.”

District officials have said the highly-anticipated plan — originally slated to drop at Thursday’s board meeting before being delayed — will include proposals for every school building across the city. Some will be closed and their buildings repurposed, others colocated, and the rest either renovated or left as-is.

The district pushed back releasing a draft of that plan to an unspecified date, in order to gather more community responses through a survey it launched this week.

Watlington said Thursday the goal of the survey, which will be open through Dec. 11, is to solicit big-picture feedback from parents about four main themes: how to better use building space, reduce “unnecessary” school transitions, reinvest in neighborhood high schools, and expand access to selective-admission schools.

“I want people to just step back and just dream a bit,” Watlington said. “We’re committed to not fumbling the football at the two-yard line.”

Board members approve school security contracts

While the facilities plan was not on Thursday’s agenda, board members did vote on several contracts for school security efforts, including:

— $195,000 to expand the district’s existing student-run “youth court” program which helps young people mediate conflicts in school. During the 2025-26 school year, the district plans to add new program sites at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber, William L. Sayre High School, and West Philadelphia High School. The three additional youth court program sites will all be active “no later than June 2026,” according to the district.

— $321,178 to GXC Inc. for walkthrough weapons detection devices and metal detectors at district high schools and middle schools.

— $732,094 to Safe at School Consulting LLC for state-mandated security assessments at all schools by the end of the 2025-26 school year. The assessments will “evaluate current safety measures, identify any vulnerabilities, and provide guidance for any enhancements to physical safety and security needed at each school,” according to the district.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia is going to close public schools. Here’s how you can weigh in on the process.

2025-11-19T20:25:37+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The School District of Philadelphia is knee-deep in a process to close, colocate, and renovate schools in the coming years. And district officials say they want to hear more public feedback on how that process is going.

This month, the district announced it would delay the release of a draft plan outlining proposed outcomes for every school, in order to gather more community responses through a survey it launched this week. Superintendent Tony Watlington told City Council members on Tuesday that such a plan would be put before the school board sometime this winter.

“We know that many of the district’s aging and unequal facilities are underenrolled or overenrolled,” Deputy Superintendent of Operations Oz Hill told reporters on Monday ahead of the survey’s release. “This process seeks to more efficiently use our limited staff and facility resources to improve and enhance the quality of education for our students.”

Over the past year, district employees and consultants have hosted some 47 “public listening and learning sessions” and have received over 5,700 responses to an earlier survey about the closure process. But many parents, advocates, and community members say despite all that, the process has come across as vague, frustrating, and overly controlled.

Parents and neighbors at an event Chalkbeat hosted in partnership with Germantown Info Hub last month said it felt like the district was front-loading community engagement early on without providing tangible information about plans for each neighborhood school.

What they want, community members said, is to know what the future holds for their school, not general information about district-wide processes. And they want time to weigh in on those individual school plans before anything is set in stone.

District spokesperson Alex Coppadge told reporters on Monday that principals have made it clear that school-level engagement and partnership will be critical once the draft plan is released.

“We get it. People want to know exactly what’s happening to their specific circumstance, and so we want to be empathetic towards that” Coppadge said. “We want to create space and ample time to make sure that whatever that engagement looks like, is thoughtful, is meaningful, allows us the opportunity to take their feedback back and really try to move forward as partners.”

Once the district releases plans for individual schools, Coppadge said there will be an “extensive engagement period,” but declined to say how long and when that would be.

“I know that it will not be a rushed process, and that we will try to do it as thoughtfully and meaningfully as possible,” she said.

You can respond to the new district survey here.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia City Council turns up heat on school district over charters, principals’ contract

2025-11-18T22:45:38+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia City Council members questioned school leaders during a Tuesday hearing about several longstanding issues, like decisions to send non-renewal notices to two charter schools and fiscal concerns.

But they deferred asking questions about one pressing issue: the district’s facilities plan, which officials have said will lead to closing schools.

District officials were initially scheduled to release recommendations of which schools to close, colocate, modernize, and repurpose earlier this month. But they delayed the announcement to conduct a community survey.

Superintendent Tony Watlington told the City Council on Tuesday that the district is “committed to bringing recommendations this winter.”

Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who chairs the council’s education committee, said the council will hold a hearing in January to focus on facilities once the draft plan is public. He urged council members to hold their questions about the plan until then.

With that issue essentially off the table, council members questioned school officials about other simmering concerns. Here’s a breakdown.

Council presses district on overdue principals union contract

District principals have been urging the school district for months to agree on a contract with their union, the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, or CASA. The union has been without a contract since its last one expired in August.

Thomas questioned Watlington about why negotiations have stretched on so long.

Watlington said he could not share details while contract negotiations are ongoing, but that he is “optimistic” about reaching a contract deal in the “near term.” When asked by Thomas for a deadline, Watlington said it would not be appropriate to set one.

Several school district principals attended the hearing, wearing T-shirts branded with the CASA logo.

“We’re here in support of our district,” said CASA President Robin Cooper during a break from the hearing. “But also to be clear that we need a speedy resolution to our contract.”

Cooper also declined to share details about how negotiations are going.

Thomas asks about fate of 2 charter schools

Thomas also pressed board members about steps they’ve taken to not renew the charter agreements of KIPP North Philadelphia Academy and People for People Charter School.

“We’re still here today with the possibility of Black-led institutions being closed while their white counterparts are allowed to stay open,” said Thomas, who has previously criticized district leaders for closing other Black-led charter schools.

Thomas said he was concerned about the board’s decisions because “it’s not clear cut that the Black-led institutions were doing a worse job than their white counterparts.”

Board of Education President Reginald Streater said the board has tried to be more transparent about its non-renewal decisions by hosting several public meetings about charter renewals. During those meetings, board members said they were concerned about both schools’ low academic performance.

Streater also clarified that the board has not made final decisions not to renew both schools. Instead, he said, the board has triggered a non-renewal process mandated by state law to review the schools. He did not say when the board will make the final decisions.

People for People Charter School sued the school board in September following the board’s move towards not renewing its charter. The lawsuit focuses on the role of board member Joyce Wilkerson, who the school alleges is an “unlawfully seated member” of the board.

District leaders commit to eliminating budget deficit by 2030

The district’s budget presentation to the council showed it is expecting a $341 million deficit in fiscal year 2026, and will need to use around half its reserve funds to cover that cost.

During recent years, federal COVID relief funds helped fill such funding gaps, said the district’s Chief Financial Officer Michael Herbstman. But since that funding ended last year, the district has “a deficit in our budget that looks very similar to where we were before” it got those dollars, Herbstman said.

This year’s delayed state budget has added to the district’s financial difficulties. The district received additional $193 million in the 2025-26 state budget, which passed last week. But it had to take out around $700 million in loans during the four-month-long budget standoff, Herbstman said.

Herbstman said he estimated interest on the loans will cost the district around $7.5 million, which it must pay by April 1.

Superintendent Tony Watlington said one of the district’s priorities is eliminating its budget deficit by 2030, which will mean cutting some spending.

“We have to take some austerity measures over the next several years,” Watlington said. “We’ve got to balance our budget, and we’ve got to get our house in order.”

Mayor cautions against ‘political fights’ over school closures

Although City Council members held off on pressing Watlington and other officials about school closures, Mayor Cherelle Parker said she supports the district’s approach to the issue.

“I know that change is hard,” Parker said at Tuesday’s hearing. “I want every parent to know that I want what every parent wants: our children to have something better than what we had.”

Parker said she hopes to turn some underutilized school buildings into housing to help achieve the goals she has laid out in her housing plan, which some City Council members oppose.

When the district last closed schools more than a decade ago, the city council passed a nonbinding moratorium on school closures.

Parker said she would not stand for anyone trying to “manipulate” the process. “I support Dr. Watlington and President Streater enough that I’m going to fight tooth and nail to make sure no one attempts to bring them into any political fights,” Parker said.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia councilmember ‘supportive’ of selling vacant Ada Lewis building to a charter school

2025-11-14T19:56:04+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

A member of the Philadelphia City Council and leaders of West Oak Lane Charter School have quietly discussed a plan for the charter school to acquire the vacant Ada H. H. Lewis Middle School building.

“I have had conversations with leadership from West Oak Lane Charter School, who have expressed their interest in acquiring the property,” Councilmember Cindy Bass — whose district includes Germantown, where the school is located — told Chalkbeat in a statement Thursday. “Many community members have voiced support for returning the site to educational use. While the final decision rests with the School District, I am supportive of that direction.”

But any sale of the Lewis building to a charter school would need the school district’s approval — as Bass acknowledged — and a school board vote. There’s no sign that board members would approve any such sale.

The district is undergoing a long-term planning process to take stock of its buildings and consider school closures, co-locations, and renovations. It intends to submit recommendations to the school board this winter.

“The Board of Education has not been involved in any discussions about the potential sale of the Ada Lewis building, nor have we received any recent proposals regarding a sale or transfer,” said Imahni Moise, a spokesperson for the school board, in a statement. “All decisions about District-owned facilities will be made through our ongoing comprehensive facilities planning process, which is still underway.”

The crumbling building that once housed the school has gained renewed attention in recent weeks after police found 23-year-old Mount Airy woman Kada Scott’s body buried in the woods behind the building. Lewis closed in 2008 but the district still owns the building and is tasked with inspecting it. Neighbors and Germantown community members say the building and surrounding grounds have attracted graffiti, squatting, and other criminal activity.

Bass has publicly called for the school district to demolish the building, saying “the risks posed by this abandoned building are no longer hypothetical. They are real and they are unfolding in front of us.”

In 2020, developer Ken Weinstein proposed clearing the Lewis campus to build homes and negotiated a letter of intent with the school district to do so. Despite his proposal receiving “near unanimous consent from the community,” according to Weinstein, the proposal was quietly tabled at a May 2021 school board meeting and hasn’t been taken up again.

Some community members claim Bass stood in the way of that sale, but the councilwoman has repeatedly denied doing so. She wrote an op-ed for the Chestnut Hill Local this month appearing to connect Weinstein’s plan with gentrification efforts in the Germantown community.

Debbera Peoples-Lee, chief executive officer of West Oak Lane Charter School, told Chalkbeat in an email that the school has “expressed interest” in acquiring the Ada Lewis building.

“The Ada Lewis site represents an unparalleled opportunity for WOLCS to expand its mission and meet both student and community needs,” Lee wrote in an email.

As the school district considers closing more buildings — it already has 20 vacant properties in its portfolio — Weinstein said in an interview this week that he hopes the Lewis sale goes through. But he said he’s skeptical that a charter school would be able to raise the more than $87 million he estimates it would take to renovate the building.

“I don’t care who redevelops or reinvests in that blighted site, it just needs to be done,” Weinstein said.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

What Pennsylvania’s budget deal means for education

2025-11-12T20:52:34+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Pennsylvania’s new $50.1 billion state budget — four months overdue — includes a $193 million increase for Philadelphia schools, and several accountability reforms for cyber charter schools and districts’ literacy programs.

The budget and accompanying school code bills reduce the amount that school districts pay cyber charters, while also adding stricter reporting requirements for those schools regarding student absenteeism and academic performance. School districts statewide will also have to adopt “evidence-based” reading curriculum by the 2027-28 school year and do more to support struggling readers.

The budget package also includes $25 million for child care teacher recruitment and retention bonuses; a $7.5 million increase for Grow PA, which gives scholarships to aspiring educators; $30 million for student-teacher stipends; a non-punitive push for students to complete their college financial aid forms prior to graduation; and a $50 cap on teacher certification fees.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the budget package Wednesday afternoon, flanked by Rep. Jordan Harris and House Speaker Joanna McClinton, both Democrats who represent Philadelphia.

“This budget builds on the progress we’ve made to be able to deliver better schools and more opportunity for our kids,” Shapiro said.

In an increasingly polarized and combative political environment, Pennsylvania officials cast their budget agreement Wednesday as a moment of unity for a divided legislature. It also gives badly needed financial relief to the state’s school districts, which resorted to various unappealing tactics like short-term borrowing to keep things running while they waited for state education funding — a situation that one observer likened to setting money on fire.

“We are voting on a budget today that continues to make historic investments in education,” said Harris, the House appropriations committee chair, before the vote in Harrisburg Wednesday. “It’s taken us a long time to get here, but the truth of the matter is we’re here and we’re here together.”

Education spending had been a central sticking point in budget negotiations. But in the shadow of a federal government shutdown and decisive election wins by Democrats this month in many races, Pennsylvania lawmakers said this budget will send a clear political message: We’re capable of compromising.

“I don’t agree with everything in this budget — that’s part of a divided government,” said Republican Rep. Jesse Topper on the House floor Wednesday. But he said he thinks the “robust” increases in education spending with the added requirements that districts adopt “evidence-based” literacy programs “will make a difference” for Pennsylvania students.

While the budget deal does not create a new private school voucher program that Republicans sought, Topper praised the $50 million increase in funding the budget allocates for the state’s existing school choice program that relies on tax credits.

In the absence of a state budget, the Philadelphia district borrowed $585.5 million to allow it to continue to function and will need to pay that money back, in addition to finding funding for the interest payments. A bill pending in the legislature would require the state to pay districts back for “interest payments and fees” stemming from lawmakers’ inability to pass a budget on time.

However, the Teach Plus advocacy group expressed concern that districts will not ultimately get reimbursed for interest they paid on any such borrowing. “That money will never reach classrooms and students, and local taxpayers will shoulder this unnecessary expense,” Teach Plus said in a Wednesday statement.

Philly district officials are also undergoing a complex facilities planning process that will result in school closures and require millions for renovations and building maintenance. The new budget includes $125 million for school facilities funding.

Budget addresses Pennsylvania’s school funding ‘adequacy gap’

This marks the second state budget since a state court ruled in 2023 that Pennsylvania’s previous school funding formula was unconstitutional because it left poor districts underfunded.

Following that ruling, a bipartisan commission crafted a new funding formula to consider districts’ tax bases and students’ needs to distribute funds. The new budget largely follows that formula and boosts funding for the state’s poorest districts.

“This budget responds to the mandates of our constitutional court to address the issues of inadequacy and equity,” said Sen. Vincent Hughes, a Democrat who represents Philadelphia, on the Senate floor Wednesday.

Still, advocates say the additional funding does not fully address Pennsylvania schools’ needs.

“Lawmakers’ five-month delay in passing this year’s budget left schools, educators, and families in unnecessary limbo and resulted in avoidable harm,” said Deborah Gordon Klehr, executive director of the Education Law Center-PA, in a statement. “This is another step forward – one that must be followed by continued commitment and sustained investment until every student, in every community, has the resources they need to learn and thrive.”

Cyber charter reforms will save Philadelphia district millions

Pennsylvania school districts previously have paid cyber charter schools the same amount per student as they provided to brick-and-mortar charters. But the new budget changes that, lowering the amount of money districts owe charters per student. Those changes are estimated to save the Philadelphia school district nearly $50 million this school year, according to an analysis from the House Appropriations Committee.

This year’s reforms replace last year’s $100 million payment to reimburse school districts for the cost of tuition paid to cyber charter schools.

Cyber charter schools will also be required to create policies that monitor whether students are present during synchronous parts of instruction. To be marked present, students “must be visible to the teacher on camera,” the budget bill states. For asynchronous instruction, when teachers are not live on camera, cyber charters will be required to monitor how students are progressing on certain “benchmarks” and report that information to the state.

In addition, cyber charters will have to create wellness check policies to “ensure the well-being” of enrolled students. These changes come after the death of a student enrolled in a cyber charter following her alleged torture and starvation by her guardians.

The budget legislation also prohibits students who are habitually truant from transferring during the school year to a cyber charter school, unless a judge determines that the transfer is in the child’s best interest.

Cyber charter operators said in a joint statement Wednesday the reforms would amount to a significant budget cut and could force up to seven cyber charter schools to close within two years. And they estimate the budget deal would lead to layoffs of 2,000 cyber charter teachers and staff.

Jon Marsh, CEO of Esperanza Cyber Charter School based in North Philly, said in a Wednesday statement that the budget represented “an attack on some of the most chronically disenfranchised and disadvantaged students in our Commonwealth.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Where to find free food in Philadelphia as SNAP benefits remain in limbo

2025-11-07T20:15:11+00:00

President Donald Trump’s administration asked a federal appeals court on Friday to block an order requiring full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments to be paid to states today.

On Thursday, a federal judge ordered Trump’s administration to deliver November’s SNAP payments. More than 42 million Americans relied on federal food stamps January through August during fiscal year 2025, according to the U.S Department of Agriculture.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell, who issued Thursday’s order, was one of two federal judges who ruled last week that the Trump administration is required to fund SNAP through the government shutdown.

Nearly 2 million people in Pennsylvania rely on federal food stamps, including around 472,000 Philly residents.

This week, Mayor Cherelle Parker announced a citywide “One Philly SNAP Support Plan,” which she said is a $14 million “coordinated intergovernmental, public/private partnership response” to fund food distribution efforts as well as rent and utility assistance. Philly-based businesses such as Aramark and GIANT Company have also donated fresh produce to some Philly schools.

However, Parker acknowledged in a statement the city “cannot fully replace the SNAP funds in limbo,” and the ongoing budget impasses at both the state and federal level are “creating a significant cash management challenge” for the city.

Below is a map of food pantries and other places offering free food and meals to students and families in Philadelphia. Each location has a phone number listed if you would like to contact them about donations or volunteering.

If you can’t see the map, there is also a list of the locations offering free food below it.

Please call the locations beforehand to make sure they are open.

Where to get free food in Philadelphia

Mercy Neighborhood Ministries

1939 W. Venango St.

Philadelphia, PA 19140

215-222-4393

Food distribution program

Wednesdays at 7:30 a.m.

Saturdays at 10:00 a.m.

We Love To Give and Beloved St. John

4541 N. Broad St.

Philadelphia, PA 19140

267-433-2227

Grocery distribution

Saturday, Nov. 8

Noon–2 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 22

Noon–2 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 13

Noon–2 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 27

Noon–2 p.m.

TCRC Community Healing Center food distribution sites

215-791-0645

First African Baptist Church

6700 Lansdowne Ave.

Philadelphia, PA 19151

Second and fourth Mondays of the month

9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Nazarene Baptist Church

3981 Nice St.

Philadelphia, PA 19140

Wednesdays

10 a.m.–1 p.m.

Community members can also get clothing, diapers, toys, and school supplies.

Northeast Baptist Church

4744 Tackawanna St.

Philadelphia, PA 19124

Wednesdays

Noon–3 p.m.

Faith Assemblies of God Church

1926 Margaret St.

Philadelphia, PA 19124

Thursdays

10.a.m–1 p.m.

Temple University Community Garden Field

Northeast corner of Broad and Diamond Streets

Philadelphia, PA 19122

First and third Fridays of the month

10.a.m–1 p.m.

Ujima Friends Peace Center

1701 Lehigh Ave.

Philadelphia, PA 19132

First and third Saturdays of the month

9 a.m.–noon

Germantown Friends Meeting

47 W. Coulter St.

Philadelphia, PA 19144

Every third Sunday of the month

Noon–3 p.m.

Community members can also get clothing and books.

People’s Emergency Center

325 N. 39th St.

Philadelphia, PA 19104

267-777-5880 (main office)

267-777-5477 (community resource hotline)

Food cupboard

Saturdays

10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

A photo ID is required to receive food. Food is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants are asked to come just once a month.

Prevention Point Philadelphia

2913-2915 Kensington Ave. (corner of Kensington Avenue and Monmouth Street)

Philadelphia, PA 19134

215-634-5272

Snacks and sandwiches

Monday–Friday

Breakfast

Tuesdays

10 a.m.

Hot lunch

Wednesdays

Noon–2 p.m.

Community night

First Thursdays of the month

5–8 p.m.

First Redemption Evangelical Church

4400 N. Broad St.

Philadelphia, PA 19140

215-324-3775

Food pantry

Thursdays

10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

Food is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis as long as supplies last.

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Free pop-up produce markets

Pediatric Primary Care, Cobbs Creek

225 Cobbs Creek Parkway

Philadelphia, PA 19139

215-476-2223

Wednesdays

9 a.m.–noon

Karabots Pediatric Primary Care Center, West Philadelphia

4865 Market St.

Philadelphia, PA 19139

267-425-9800

Thursdays

9 a.m.–noon

Mighty Writers food distribution

There may be longer lines at some locations. Some recipients may have to fill out registration forms and/or show identification. The organization does not require proof of U.S. citizenship.

Mighty Writers West

35th and Fairmount

Philadelphia, PA 19104

215-387-1066

Monday–Friday

11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

Mighty Writers El Futuro

1025 S. Ninth St.

Philadelphia, PA 19147

215-602-0236

Tuesday–Friday

Noon–1:30 p.m.

Mighty Writers North

23rd and Seybert

Philadelphia, PA 19121

610-263-5379

Tuesdays and Thursdays

Noon–1:30 p.m.

Lucien E. Blackwell Community Center

761 N. 47th St.

Philadelphia, PA 19139

Tuesdays

2–3 p.m.

First and third Wednesdays of the month

2–3 p.m.

John Street Community Center

1100 Poplar St.

Philadelphia, PA

Thursdays

1:45–2:45 p.m.

Broad Street Love

315 S. Broad St.

Philadelphia, PA 19107

215-735-4847

Lunch

Monday–Friday

11:30 a.m.–1:15 pm.

St. Francis Inn

2441 Kensington Ave.

Philadelphia, PA 19125

215-423-5845

Seated meals

Monday–Thursday

4:30–6 p.m.

Friday–Sunday

11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.

Takeaway breakfast

Tuesday–Wednesday

10–11 a.m.

Can’t find what you need on this list? Find more food services in the Philadelphia area by visiting this list from ShelterBridge, this spreadsheet of resources supporting SNAP recipients in the Philly area, the City of Philadelphia’s food and meal finder, Philabundance’s food map, or the Share Food Program’s map.

Susan Gonzalez is Chalkbeat’s editor for social media and platforms. If you know of any food resources or news tips that might be helpful to students and families in Philadelphia, send her an email at sgonzalez@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

What a Mikie Sherrill gubernatorial win means for education

2025-11-05T03:24:04+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to get the latest news about the city’s public school system delivered to your inbox.

Democrat Mikie Sherrill will be New Jersey’s next governor, delivering a sharp rebuke to Republicans who hoped to uproot the state’s school funding formula, expand the charter school sector, and launch a private school voucher program.

The Associated Press called the race for Sherrill Tuesday evening.

“I hear you, Newark. I’m going to work with communities from the ground up so all of our neighbors thrive,” Sherrill said late Tuesday evening. “I’m going to make sure our kids are safe online and schools have the resources they need to address the mental health crisis.”

Sherrill, a U.S. congresswoman since 2019 whose district includes Essex County, has pledged to invest in tutoring, student mental health, and equity in schools, largely echoing policies laid out by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

But notably, she and her opponent, Republican Jack Ciattarelli, both vowed to expand the state’s Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, which allows students to attend a public school in a different district. That expansion could mean Newark may participate for the first time.

With more than 84% of ballots counted, the unofficial election results as of 10:15 p.m.:

Democrat Mikie Sherrill: 56.3% (1,549,432 votes)

Republican Jack Ciatarelli: 43.1% (1,187,437votes)

On the campaign trail, Sherrill did not make education issues central to her agenda, and her positions did not stray much from those of her predecessor, Murphy. Her election likely means Newark Public Schools will continue to enjoy the degree of local control they wrested back from the state five years ago.

The Newark Teachers Union endorsed Sherrill and president John Abeigon said he hopes she’ll further some of Murphy’s initiatives, such as the creation of teacher taskforces and boosting teacher pensions.

Sherrill has also said she would modernize the state’s school funding formula, originally written in 2008. Newark, the state’s largest school district, has historically been one of the most underfunded. This school year, 84% of the district’s budget came directly from state aid, and any changes in funding or policy could affect teacher hiring, tutoring programs, and support for the district’s most vulnerable students.

Abeigon thinks updating the formula is a good idea, but said he would urge the state to bring in teachers to the conversation.

“If they take a look at the formula with nothing but politicians at the table, then don’t bother sitting down,” Abeigon added.

Sherrill has also floated the idea of requiring some of the state’s smallest school districts to merge as a cost-saving mechanism.

In addition, Sherrill supports a statewide ban on cellphones in schools. In Newark Public Schools, the current policy allows electronic devices and cellphones in school, but students may not use them to make calls or take photos or videos from within the school building unless they receive permission from a school administrator.

This story is part of the NJ 2025 Reporting Fellowship, which collaborates with 15 local and community news organizations, the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, and NJ Spotlight News. The stories in this collaboration focus on immigration, education, healthcare, the economy, and the environment, highlighting the perspectives of diverse communities in New Jersey.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Newark superintendent’s abrupt contract extension raises ethics questions

2025-10-31T20:01:09+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to get the latest news about the city’s public school system delivered to your inbox.

Experts say the Newark Board of Education’s late-night move to extend Superintendent Roger León’s contract without public notice or debate was ethically questionable and potentially “totally improper.”

In a surprise move Thursday night, one Newark school board member suddenly requested to switch her abstention on a September vote on León’s contract extension, which failed last month, to a “yes” vote without any formal motion to reconsider.

Both the board president and board counsel said Thursday that this verbal switch constituted an approval for León’s contract extension, and he would remain in office through 2030. The district’s general counsel, Brenda Liss, who is the district and school board’s attorney, said the decision was made possible under Robert’s Rules of Order, a set of rules used by public bodies to conduct business.

The vote switch created confusion among members and the public and reignited familiar concerns about the district and school boards’ transparency. Community members have repeatedly demanded more transparency around León’s contract extension requests and have instead witnessed automatic renewals and limited public discussion.

And experts Friday said the officials’ explanations for why they proceeded without prior notice don’t add up.

Bruce Bishop, executive director of the national Parliamentary Procedure Institute, told Chalkbeat the board’s procedure was not in line with Robert’s Rules. While Liss’s assertion that board members may change their vote if there are no objections is correct, Bishop said, there is a time limit. Once the board moves on to other official business, the time to swap votes has passed.

Because the prior meeting where the original vote was taken had been adjourned, and then a new meeting a month later was called to order, minutes were approved, and a quorum was established, “then certainly by any definition, other business took place or was introduced, and it would be totally improper” and “totally unauthorized” for that board member to change her vote from an abstention to a yes.

“It’s simply too late to authorize that,” Bishop said.

Betsy Ginsburg, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools and a longstanding school board member and board president, said while she doesn’t think “there’s anything illegal” about what the board did Thursday, “it’s not part of the orderly process by which you want a public body to conduct business,” she said. “If you’re going to do something that big, it should at least be an agenda addendum.”

Bishop did note that Robert’s Rules — or any parliamentary rules — create mechanisms by which board members could reconsider or rescind a prior vote. But that would mean giving proper notice and allowing time for debate or discussion in public.

“Absent a motion to reconsider, you can’t just reconsider something,” Bishop said. “If you’ve got an open meeting law, then it would require public notice that the board intends to revisit the issue that they considered last month,” he added. “None of that happened.”

Newark’s school board has quietly approved León’s contract extensions before

Decisions like these have underscored how the promise of community oversight and a more responsive leadership may differ from the reality of the school board and district’s governance. The board’s murky procedural practices also highlight how Newark Public Schools, New Jersey’s largest school system, is rebuilding its governance from scratch after 25 years of state oversight.

The contract extension makes León one of the longest-serving superintendents in state history.

Attempts to quietly move León’s contract extension to allow him to “accomplish the goals” laid out in his 10-year plan have happened before. Those attempts have been made with few opportunities for public input. In 2019, school board members added two years to León’s original contract at a sparsely attended board meeting, extending it to 2023.

School leaders were criticized in 2023 after reports that León’s contract had been automatically renewed because of a clause that extended his term by five years.

In August, Chalkbeat obtained León’s contract extension proposal only through a public records request. The district has also denied Chalkbeat’s public records request for León’s annual evaluations between 2018 and 2025, citing records laws that protect personnel documents.

The school board has also given little insight into other decisions it has made in the past.

In 2023, the board unanimously appointed a charter school teacher to fill a vacant seat, but after an unexplained delay to swear him in, the board eventually appointed someone else. In 2024, former member Dawn Haynes abruptly resigned from her role without a board explanation. Chalkbeat later found that Haynes resigned over a settlement with the district related to her daughters’ legal claim over alleged racist experiences at a Newark high school.

While parents and school advocates have raised concerns over how León addresses issues such as racism in schools, student achievement, and support for vulnerable students, others say extending his tenure to 2030 is necessary for “stability” of the school district.

During a September public hearing to extend León’s contract, Denise Cole, a longtime community advocate who fought for the return to local control, said keeping León on until 2030 is “a simple matter of stability, continuity, and fairness.” Parents raised a long list of complaints, but only a few opposed the extension, while others questioned why the board was considering it three years before Leon’s contract ends.

Ginsburg suggested upcoming elections may have added urgency to the contract extension request and underscored a need for stable leadership in an uncertain time.

The looming gubernatorial election could mean changes for Newark’s public schools, where more than 90% of students identify as Black or Latino, and just under half of district students require English language and special education support.

Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli has said if he wins, the state’s education department may place more scrutiny on “underperforming” districts like Newark, impact funding for English language learners, and institute changes to the school funding formula that could devastate Newark schools’ budget.

The Newark school board also has an election next spring where four board members’ terms end. Among those whose terms are up is member Josephine Garcia, who was on the committee to appoint León as the district’s first superintendent under local control. Board president Hasani Council, Allison James-Frison, and newly appointed board member Melissa Reed — the member who switched her vote — are also up for election next April.

And while it can be easy to criticize Newark’s governing slips, Ginsburg said, she urged empathy and understanding for board members who are volunteers conducting business in a politically turbulent time.

“It is a scary time for board members all across the state, not just in Newark,” Ginsburg said. “The level of rhetoric has gotten so extreme that just about any decision that boards make that has some amount of impact is not just going to be criticized thoughtfully, it’s going to be criticized in irrational and emotional ways.”

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Newark school board approves superintendent’s contract extension after member abruptly switches vote

2025-10-31T02:48:20+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to get the latest news about the city’s public school system delivered to your inbox.

In the dead of night and amid a flurry of confusion, Newark’s school board seemingly extended Superintendent Roger León’s contract through 2030 on Thursday — without an official motion or prior public notice.

Last month, the board failed to pass a proposal to extend León’s contract, which had been set to expire in 2028. Four board members voted in favor, two abstained, and two recused themselves due to conflicts of interest. One board member was absent.

A contract extension proposal was not officially on the board’s voting agenda on Thursday. But after the superintendent’s report during the meeting, one board member, Melissa Reed, who previously abstained on the contract extension vote, said she would consider changing her decision and vote for the extension if León were to make a “public commitment” to “fix equity” in the district.

In addition, Reed said León should release a report that details instances of racism and religious harassment at the Newark School of Global Studies. She also said León should implement recommendations included in the report, improve district transparency, and provide a concrete process to register every 16- and 17-year-old to vote, among other changes.

“Mr. Superintendent Roger León, if you’re willing to stand publicly with us on these commitments, then I will stand with you,” Reed said during the board meeting.

León, who was present at the meeting, did not publicly respond to Reed’s request on Thursday.

Board president Hasani Council then asked Reed to clarify if she wanted to change her vote from last month and vote in favor of the extension. “That’s correct,” Reed responded.

Council told Chalkbeat after the meeting that Reed’s decision meant that León’s contract extension through 2030 had been approved.

“She changed her vote from an abstention to a yes, which now allows the superintendent’s two-year extension to pass,” said Council, who recused himself from last month’s vote to extend León’s contract due to a conflict of interest under the district’s nepotism policy.

During Thursday’s board meeting, Brenda Liss, the district’s general counsel, said the board policies and bylaws “have no provision on this, so we look to Robert’s Rules,” referring to a set of rules commonly used by deliberative bodies to conduct business

“Robert’s Rules provides that a board member may change their vote at any time if there is no objection from the board,” said Liss. “If she says that she wants to change her vote, as a matter of courtesy in the past, this board has allowed any member to change their vote without question or without motion.”

Last month’s attempt to extend León’s contract failed to pass after parents and advocates raised concerns about student achievement, racism in schools, and inadequate support for the district’s most vulnerable students.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat Philadelphia launches gun violence reporting project

2025-10-29T10:00:01+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Gun violence is on the decline in Philadelphia, but for students, educators, families, and neighbors who’ve been affected by shootings in the city, every incident is life-altering.

That’s why Chalkbeat Philadelphia is launching a new project to report on gun violence through the prism of schools and education. Over the next year, we’ll cover the impact of gun violence on Philly’s students and efforts to find solutions to the public health crisis.

We’re excited to announce West Philadelphia resident Sammy Caiola will spearhead this coverage. Sammy is an award-winning text and audio journalist with a decade of experience telling stories about trauma.

She previously served as the first gun-violence prevention reporter at WHYY, where she undertook a two-month community listening tour that informed her reporting in Philly. She has also been a special projects reporter and an interim editor for Kensington Voice, a hyperlocal news site focused on covering the Kensington neighborhood, which has experienced a disproportionate number of shootings in recent years.

Sammy is also the co-director of the Association of Gun Violence Reporters, a new networking organization designed to support journalists who cover firearms and their impact. She’s held multiple fellowships at the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma and the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, and is currently a mentor with the Association of Health Care Journalists’ firearms reporting fellowship.

Sammy’s coverage will focus on several key questions: How do schools support students who are the victims or perpetrators of gun violence? How should schools address the risk of suicide? How do educators work to teach students trying to live amid the threat of shootings? How does this environment impact attendance, teaching, and learning? What is working to prevent violence or support young people? What could schools and officials be doing better?

This yearlong project was developed with The New York Times’s Headway initiative, which covers progress on societal challenges.

We’re still shaping this beat and we can’t do it without you, our readers and fellow Philadelphians. You can follow our work by signing up for our newsletter and please reach out to our tips email philly.tips@chalkbeat.org if you have story ideas. You can also send a secure message via the Signal app to our tipline: (908) 827-1448.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

This Philly educator helps students map the land, water, and sociopolitical systems

2025-10-16T20:16:40+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

High school educator Anna Herman is a self-described “food person.” But her interests and expertise extend well beyond the plate.

As an urban agriculture, food, and natural resources teacher at The U School in North Philadelphia, Herman asks her students to research soil health and study the connection between the land, water, and the sociopolitical systems that contribute to their lives and diets.

“It’s about understanding the cycles of nature. It’s about understanding how to have access to more fresh, healthy food,” Herman said. “We’re trying to give kids exposure to things and then tangible career pathways within those things, so that there’s a sustainability throughline within that work.”

This year, Herman was selected to create a new curriculum unit through Yale University’s National Initiative program, which pairs public school educators with Yale faculty to “strengthen teachers’ content knowledge,” according to the program description.

Herman’s unit is called “Mapping the Future.” It combines analog and digital resources — think clay and paper as well as drones and Geographic Information Systems software — to map everything from Philadelphia’s topography to the indigenous histories of the Lenape people as they navigated displacement and environmental changes.

Herman wants her students to “excavate stories” about our land and geography and understand “the connections between how food grows, how energy is used in the food system, and how food companies use cognitive science to sell you ultra high processed foods” among other issues.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How and when did you decide to become a teacher?

Before this, I ran an out-of-school time urban agriculture entrepreneurship program at Awbury Arboretum called Teen Leadership Corps. I was doing that, and I was an urban garden educator at Penn State Extension. I ran the Master Gardener program for six years. And before that, I was in the industry. I was a food business consultant and entrepreneur. I was a chef, and a caterer, and I worked in restaurants.

I didn’t go to graduate school, I saved up a chunk of money and I traveled. What I learned when I traveled is that every culture that has great cuisine, it’s really about the connection between the crops that are grown, or the cheese that they make, the wine — whatever it is, it’s very much place-based. So I became interested in gardening from that. I was always a food person. I became a garden person and a garden educator because I wanted good ingredients.

I didn’t quite understand those connections initially, that good cooking comes from good ingredients, good ingredients comes from good farms. Good farms come from good soil. Good soil comes from taking care of the cycles [of nature] so I became an environmentalist, sort of through the back door of food. And then I really became an environmental educator probably when I had kids.

This is my capstone career. I came to teaching in my late 50s with a lot of experience in food, agriculture, and natural resources and so this program was a natural thing for me.

What does your work look like in a classroom setting?

We do a boatload of food growing indoors and out. We do some food processing, we do a lot of field trips and work with partners. Our major focus is green career exploration. So it’s thinking about whatever interest you have, there is some way of thinking about that in a more sustainable way. If you’re interested in construction, it’s understanding the material supply chain in the construction field. It’s understanding energy. We do a lot of trips, we have a lot of really fantastic partners who take kids out in the field.

In our classroom, we’re telling sustainability stories around Philadelphia, place-based stories using tools from National Geographic’s 2892 Miles To Go education program, like these powerful GIS tools that [students] could use to do place-based storytelling projects. … We had all these resources. We had all these workshops. It was a really fantastic experience.

I realized one of the things that was missing for me and for [students] was a deeper understanding of how to use how to use maps, how maps can be part of the storytelling, but also how they can help you understand the environment, how they can help you understand history, how they can help you tell stories, and how they can help you learn content.

And how does that tie into your ‘Mapping the Future’ unit?

This mapping unit very much starts with what this geographic area was like before humans. It imagines ecological time. And then it goes into what it looked like when the Lenni Lenape were here. And you can see the neighborhoods, you can see Wingohocking [Creek]. You can see Manayunk, which meant ‘the place where we drink,’ and this is the place where we got clams, and all these names that kids will recognize. And then we use 3D printing to make the shape of Philadelphia.

I have a lot of hands-on opportunities to learn the shape and the geography and the geology of Philly, and then how it specifically relates to watershed issues, environmental issues, where were factories located in the ’50s that now are creating lead issues in the soil? Where’s the water flowing from here to there?

One of our partners brought in a map, literally the size of our gym, that the kids could walk around on and look at the river. They could walk from Schuylkill County down to Philadelphia. And then in Philadelphia to see where the water actually flows.

Anna Herman's students at The U School participate in a map activity.

Students don’t quite understand that we drink the river. If we throw our trash in the street, it ends up in the drinking water, and we have to pay to clean it up. And so we’re trying to make all these very tangible connections in a place-based way.

We’re trying to combine data collection, data visualization, with how you communicate about issues, and how you advocate for things.

How do challenges going on in Philly communities impact your lesson planning?

Every year I poll students and have a process for excavating what things matter to them. It’s almost always gun violence, the opioid crisis, and trash. Those are the three things that they notice that they really want to change.

Our first unit of the year is very much about viewing the city through the lens of those issues. It turns out there’s a lot of really interesting research about how greening and cleaning impacts gun violence and various public health measures.

They find that out for themselves, and then they are very excited to actually [act on it] they’re like, ‘oh miss, we should go out and clean the yard, because people have been throwing stuff around.’ I’m like, ‘that’s a great idea. There’s 12 brooms and four pairs of gloves over there. Go ahead.’ The idea is for them to come up with these solutions.

I have a huge back burner of ideas and projects that we could work on and whatever things kids in this particular cohort are interested in we pull up for the front burner.

What’s something you’ve read that’s made you a better educator?

“The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “Braiding Sweetgrass” were two books that really were influential in terms of reminding myself how connected everything is and how important it all is.

I am a big reader, and I think that speculative fiction, sort of imagining the future and imagining this place in the future—you can’t push towards change without having an idea of what the future is going to be like. I do a lot with the “Parable of the Sower” and “Parable of the Talents” [by Octavia E. Butler].

Ezra Klein’s new book called “Abundance” is also pretty special. Just in terms of the political realities.

In a couple of my units I do flash fiction and ask students to just quick-write: What do you imagine it would be like if we don’t make changes? And if we do make changes? Imagine from the perspective of a kid waking up in North Philly looking out the window, what do they see? What do they smell?

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Preliminary data shows Philadelphia students have higher math scores, better attendance

2025-10-09T22:50:12+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia students’ math scores have improved over the past three years and student attendance is on the rise, according to preliminary student performance data for last school year shared at a school board meeting Thursday.

Still, the district remains far from hitting the goals set by the Board of Education, which state that more than half of all students in grades 3-8 should achieve proficient math and English language arts, or ELA, scores by 2030.

In math, 25% of students in grades 3-8 scored proficient or advanced on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, known as the PSSA, marking a nearly 9 percentage point increase from three years ago.

The scores show a rebound from the pandemic and reflect the district’s new curriculum, Superintendent Tony Watlington told the board.

“When you hear people say the district is not getting better, we encourage all of us to fact-check folks on the record, because they are,” Watlington said.

But the preliminary scores also show areas of struggle for the district’s nearly 120,000 students.

Over the last three years, grade 3-8 English language arts scores have fallen slightly, with around one-third of students scoring proficient or advanced. In high school, students’ scores on the state Keystone literature exam also fell over the last two years.

The scores indicate the district is still recovering from pandemic learning loss and a subsequent dip in student achievement. Third grade reading scores remain below where they were a decade ago.

At the meeting Thursday, board member Crystal Cubbage pointed out that the district’s test score goals are “ambitious.” Watlington said he plans to keep the targets the same “because we’re doing better in some areas than others” and will review them annually.

Last year, the board voted to adjust the goals and extend the district’s deadline to reach them to 2030. They were originally set in December 2020 before the COVID pandemic and were crafted to be reached by 2026.

District officials say new curriculum, support will improve achievement

The new data comes in the wake of the district’s $100 million curriculum overhaul. Last year was the district’s second year using a new math curriculum and first year with a new English language arts curriculum; this year, it’s rolling out a new science curriculum as well.

Jermaine Dawson, the district’s deputy superintendent of academic services, said the results show where the district needs to provide students and teachers with more support with the new curriculums. The low English language arts scores, in particular, show that students are starting behind from where they should be, he said.

“In ELA we are not happy with those results,” Dawson said. “What this curriculum has exposed for us is that many of these students did not have the foundational skills.”

Dawson said the district has provided further support and training to teachers on implementing curriculum, including professional curriculum learning days that teachers could receive a stipend to attend.

Last year, the district also provided “high-impact” tutoring to around 500 students in English language arts and math. It plans to expand the program to 20 schools this year to serve more than 600 students.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education is expected to release the final results of the 2024-25 school year PSSA and Keystone assessments in November.

Rebecca Redelmeier is a reporter at Chalkbeat Philadelphia. She writes about public schools, early childhood education, and issues that impact students, families, and educators across Philadelphia. Contact Rebecca at rredelmeier@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philly families say they have enough school choice. What they want is help navigating the system.

2025-10-02T19:33:55+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Shonique Hennigan attended Philadelphia district schools as a young person. There weren’t many other choices at the time, she said.

But her kids — like other Philadelphia students — have hundreds of possible options, one advocate estimates.

The challenge now, says Hennigan, is figuring out what school to choose: Which is the right fit? The right location? Which will offer her kids the safest, best chance of succeeding academically?

Those are the questions facing not just Hennigan, but families across the city as school selection season gets underway. Parents and experts say Philly families are often overwhelmed by their choices and the complicated systems necessary to choose a school — and they want more help navigating the process.

That means stress and anxiety for parents and students, and the potential to miss out on opportunities because the system can favor those with the resources, time, and means to fully engage with it.

At this year’s K-12 School Fair at the Philadelphia Convention Center on Sept. 20, Chalkbeat spoke to more than two dozen families about school choice in the city and what it feels like to go through the school selection process. The district’s application process — which allows pre-K through 11th grade families to choose a school outside their designated neighborhood catchment school for the 2026-27 school year — closes on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 11:59 pm.

“The reality of it is we have lots of options,” said Stacy Holland, executive director of Elevate 215, a nonprofit education advocacy group in the city. Between traditional neighborhood schools, charter schools, magnet schools, citywide schools, cyber schools, and private schools, Philly has “over 400 options for kids,” she said.

And for scholarships and tuition assistance at private schools, Pennsylvania already has two tax credit scholarship programs. Still, lawmakers in Harrisburg remain deadlocked over the state budget, driven in part by a lack of agreement over school choice policies. State Senate Republicans have repeatedly pushed for a new taxpayer-funded voucher program for private and parochial schools.

“This choice conversation has almost just gotten totally commandeered by the politics of vouchers,” Holland said.

Holland said it’s time for officials and experts to stop looking at choice as a “political issue and more about just a user issue.”

“We need to build a system where parents have an ease of access,” she said.

This month, Elevate 215 launched a new tool called Philly Schools Compass designed to simplify the selection process by allowing families to compare schools and search by grade level, neighborhood, and school type — district, charter, private, and virtual.

The school district also launched its own new Explore tool this summer that allows families to see each district school’s academic and extracurricular offerings.

But even with the tools available, many families told Chalkbeat they’d like the process to be simpler and more straightforward.

Ninth grader Cherish Davis said the school selection process has been “kinda stressful” to go through so far, even with her dad Damon Davis doing his best to support her through the process.

She said she feels like she “partly” has an understanding of what factors would make a good school for her, but she knows there are a lot of options and schools she has never heard of or considered.

School choice process is demanding and complicated

From start to finish, Holland said, the existing school choice process asks a lot of families.

First, parents have to explore “what are the questions you should be asking” to determine what type of school environment would help their children thrive. Are they interested in environmental science? Do they prefer a big school or a small school? Do they want to be close to home or use SEPTA public transit to travel? Do they want to play basketball, join a bowling league, or take up robotics?

Once parents figure out “what I think my kid needs,” Holland said the next step is to determine “how do I go about educating myself” as a parent. That can mean connecting with an organization like Elevate 215, contacting the school district with questions, building a detailed spreadsheet, talking to fellow parents, or visiting different schools in-person. But all of that takes significant time and energy — for working parents and those with fewer resources, those barriers can be prohibitive.

After a family has a list of schools they like and fit their needs, they can apply through the district’s school selection application where they rank their top five choices of district schools. For charter schools, families can use the Apply Philly Charter application system and apply to up to 15 schools through that process. Both applications rely on a lottery system but have different deadlines.

Most private schools have their own, separate application process and may require a parent interview. Neighborhood catchment schools do not require any application and families can simply go to that school to enroll.

Once the application process is concluded, accepting a seat can be an additional challenge. Students can be waitlisted or receive multiple offers from various types of schools and tight deadlines to accept.

At the school fair, parents Stacey and Brock Marshall said Philly offered a good variety of choices for their two sons in the ninth and fifth grade, but they wanted help navigating the system.

One thing that could be useful, they said, is more “bullet-pointed information” in an easy-to-digest format.

Nicole Marion, who has a ninth grader, said she definitely feels overwhelmed by all of the options. She said the pressure to make the right choice for her child led to her feeling “a lot of anxiety” this year.

Parents also told Chalkbeat they worry about school safety, low reading and math scores, and crumbling facilities — all of which adds to the stress and pressure to choose a “good” school.

Philly families are looking for more clear-cut information

Some of that anxiety has been ramped up by conservative messaging from local groups and the Trump administration.

The conservative Commonwealth Foundation has lobbied aggressively for expanding Pennsylvania’s school choice policies in recent years, saying in several press releases that students are “trapped in failing schools” across the state.

Last year, the Commonwealth Foundation debuted digital billboards over major highway routes in Philly urging Pennsylvanians to support a proposed state-backed scholarship that eligible students could use to pay for tuition and fees for attendance at participating private schools.

Philly families already have access to the Children’s Scholarship Fund of Philadelphia, a privately funded program that gives scholarships to low-income families to attend tuition-based schools via another lottery process.

But the families Chalkbeat spoke to say they’re not looking for an escape from the current school system — they’re looking for help navigating it.

Holland said to help relieve some of the stress and uncertainty from parents’ shoulders, the city’s number one priority should be improving the quality of schools currently available to families, as well as making the system more user-friendly.

“We have work to do,” Holland said. “But it doesn’t mean there’s not options for families to choose from.”

Parents Jessica and David McDermott said the school choice process can be overwhelming. They want to give their daughter agency in the decision-making but they said they’d appreciate more clear-cut information.

The McDermotts said they’re “still confused” about the district’s ranking process. They feel like there is “plenty of choice” but not enough transparent information about all of the offerings.

“No one can say which school is going to be good,” Jessica said. “You have to think about your core values and what’s important to you.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

This Philly school turned a dusty storage room into a new library

2025-10-02T17:36:51+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Bahir Hayes, principal of William C. Bryant School, says he learned to love reading in the fifth grade.

That year, he remembers being fixated on a school library book about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson that he wanted more than anything in the world. His mom preferred that he read Harry Potter instead, and he obliged.

“I was so mad, but it was actually one of the best things that ever happened to me, because that’s where I found my love of reading,” Hayes said.

The effect was immediate. Hayes said that year was a “turning point” in his education. He started spending more time in the school library and saw his reading scores start to soar. He was accepted into a prestigious high school in the city, attended Bloomsburg University, and eventually became principal at Bryant.

From day one as a school leader, Hayes said he’s been focused on one goal: Opening a library so his students could fall in love with books the way he did.

On Wednesday, Hayes finally cut the ribbon on that achievement.

“This was a big dream of mine,” Hayes said. “Opportunities like this can change a child’s complete experience, and actually can change their life. I’m living proof of that.”

Few schools in Philadelphia have libraries within their buildings and only one — Masterman, the city’s most coveted high school — has a full-time librarian on staff. Getting Bryant’s library set up required nearly a year of work with help from several outside partners, including the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (known as WePAC), Teach for America, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Libraries.

Over the past 10 months, community partners cataloged 5,000 books and cleaned up the dusty top floor of the school that had been mostly used for storage. The new library space has a colorful area rug for group reading, tables for studying, and the sun streams in from the multiple skylights in the ceiling.

What was once a dusty storage room has been transformed into a new library.

Staffing the library will also be a team effort. The school is looking for parent and community volunteers to sign up for library shifts with the goal of increasing parent engagement with the school. Students on Wednesday each received a blue drawstring bag full of books to start their own libraries at home.

Jennifer Leith, executive director of WePAC, said Bryant students have made strong progress in boosting their reading scores over the past few years. She said having a school library will help improve kids’ reading comprehension further.

According to district data, the percentage of Bryant students who scored proficient or advanced on the state PSSA English Language Arts exam increased from 14% in 2021-22 to 24% in 2023-24, the most recent year data was available.

Beyond the benefits of reading books, Leith said the act of selecting what to read helps students learn about themselves, their interests, and the worlds around them and within their imagination.

“Choosing a book can be the one choice students get to make in their school day that’s their own,” Leith said. “It gives them agency.”

Or in Hayes’ case, the book that doesn’t get chosen can be the one to inspire a lifelong love of reading.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Watlington gets contract extension to be Philadelphia schools superintendent through 2030

2025-09-25T22:57:32+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Members of the Philadelphia Board of Education voted unanimously to extend Superintendent Tony Watlington’s contract through 2030 on Thursday.

Watlington’s original contract was set to expire in 2027 — one year shy of the scheduled completion of his five-year strategic plan. Thursday’s vote signals near-unified support for the superintendent from local officials including the board, Mayor Cherelle Parker’s office, and union leaders as the district confronts significant financial and political obstacles.

“Extending your contract now ensures that we will move forward with stability, clarity and continued and renewed momentum,” Board President Reginald Streater said before the vote. “Not saying we’re a Super Bowl team yet, but I’m seeing signs of winning.”

Board Vice President Sarah-Ashley Andrews praised Watlington for making efforts to be present at district events. She said his leadership is “the kind that’s visible, approachable, and rooted in community and we’re keeping the ball rolling with student achievement.”

At the district’s relaunch of the district’s Parent and Family University program on Wednesday, Debora Carrera, the city’s chief education officer, said that “we are in lockstep with the school district.” Parker has called Watlington “my guy” and “the best school superintendent in the country” in her two budget addresses to the City Council.

Watlington’s current annual salary is $367,700 and under the extension he will get a 3% raise annually.

Watlington thanked the board for its confidence in him on Thursday and vowed to “roll up our sleeves” to tackle the district’s challenges ahead.

“We’re going to work hard,” Watlington said following the vote.

Throughout his tenure, which began in June 2022, Watlington has navigated the district’s many challenges with what’s become a signature style of polite and measured stoicism.

At every public appearance, Watlington repeats a specific refrain: Dropout rates are down, attendance and graduation rates are up, and so are some student test scores thanks in part to a complete curriculum overhaul. However, Philly students’ math and reading scores are still below their peers’ scores in Pennsylvania, below the average for all large cities, and below national averages.

Politically, Watlington has few, if any, public detractors. He earned praise for settling contracts with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers – which said it was on the verge of striking — and the School Police Association.

He assuaged the concerns of City Council Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas enough to avoid public hearings examining a controversial teacher discipline process. And his administration has entered into an agreement with the federal government to avoid being prosecuted over the district’s multi-year failure to properly address concerns about asbestos in schools.

“For the first time in a very long time, there is stability in school district leadership and an alignment in values,” Arthur Steinberg, president of the PFT, said in a Thursday statement. “Superintendent Watlington has demonstrated his respect for our members in the only way that matters: a strong, on-time labor contract.”

But the district’s challenges are far from settled and the next five years will test Watlington’s leadership.

This fall, district officials are expected to present their plan for school closures, renovations, and co-locations. That’s already elicited some concern from community members. The ongoing state budget impasse, combined with uncertainty about federal funding, has district officials projecting a multi-million dollar budget deficit. Board members last month approved the district to borrow up to $1.55 billion just to pay its bills through December.

And as the Trump administration continues to target large urban school districts for their equity policies, Watlington’s response to national politics will be closely watched, especially if federal officials put pressure on Philadelphia schools.

“In the lean times ahead,” Board member Crystal Cubbage warned, “it’s going to be really important to embrace partnerships” as a district.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia school district relaunches Parent and Family University

2025-09-24T22:46:19+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia school leaders say they’re reinvesting in parent education to improve student outcomes and build trust between families and the district.

School officials on Wednesday announced the relaunch of the district’s Parent and Family University program — part of fulfilling a longstanding promise from Superintendent Tony Watlington to help parents and families engage with their children, schools, and communities.

That means parents will be able to access new resources, like online classes, physical and mental health information, and tools to support their children’s learning. In-person sessions will feature free babysitting and child care services, food, and other resources. The program will launch in eight schools on Oct. 14, with plans to expand.

The program shows “that we are wrapping our arms around our children and our families,” Watlington said at the launch event at Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus School Wednesday.

Watlington said a key pillar of the program is to provide families with support and resources to increase student attendance and joy in school — something advocates have long been pushing for. He said he hopes more outreach to parents and families helps build trust in the district.

“This is not just parent involvement,” said Watlington. “This is an equal partnership.”

The program also includes access to adult classes on financial literacy and money management, ways for families to connect with community service opportunities, and voting information. Watlington said some organizations, like Scholastic and Philadelphia Financial Scholars, have partnered with the district to deliver these services.

But the courses and resources are “not just about sharing information,” Board of Education President Reginald Streater said at the launch event, “it’s about building trust.”

The district first introduced Parent and Family University in 2009 under then-Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. By 2010, the program had more than 12,000 participants.

At the time, parents took classes in person, and attended a graduation ceremony at the end. The theory was that investing in parents would mean better outcomes and experiences for students.

But under new district leadership, the program slowly wound down, and by 2015 it had ended.

After Watlington became superintendent in 2022, he pledged to relaunch the Parent and Family University as part of the district’s new strategic plan.

School officials conducted a parent and guardian survey earlier this year about potential offerings. The survey showed that parents were interested in information about school-specific topics like school selection, report cards, and college and career readiness. Some also said they were interested in topics like mental health, nutrition, and digital literacy.

The survey results showed that few parents said they would be likely to attend in-person sessions, while more than half said they would attend virtual sessions.

“Your feedback mattered,” Streater said. “We are here to deliver.”

However, the survey respondents did not reflect the demographics of the school system. Of the roughly 1,750 respondents, white families, those earning more than $100,000 and those who live in South Philadelphia were overrepresented. The majority of students in the district are students of color.

Michelle Gainer, a parent of a student at Eleanor C. Emlen Elementary, said she plans to take advantage of some of the new programming. She said she thinks parents like her could benefit from more help accessing resources about housing, utilities, financial literacy, and mental health.

“I’m just looking here at some of the resources, and like, these are all great,” said Gainer. “I wish I would have had that when I was younger.”

Gainer said she hopes programming is available in person and in different communities across the city: “I think that’s the best way to really connect with parents and families.”

As kids danced to music and snacked on cookies at Wednesday’s event, parents milled around picking up resources about Parent and Family University.

Doretha Crooks, whose son is in fifth grade at Cassidy, said it would be useful to be able to listen along to sessions while she’s cooking dinner or finishing another task.

Crooks said she’s glad more resources will be available for parents. Her son recently switched from virtual school to return to a brick-and-mortar school, and she said she looks forward to more opportunities to learn about curriculum and support her son’s education.

“Everything is changing,” said Crooks, referring to new technology students use to learn and new research on what works best. “Parents need to be reeducated.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philly schools will borrow up to $1.5 billion to pay for a new teacher contract and other costs

2025-09-11T22:20:01+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia Board of Education approved the new teachers’ union contract on Thursday. But with the state budget still not finalized, members also voted to authorize borrowing to pay for it and other costs.

The new three-year contract includes annual 3% raises over three years and a one-time $1,400 bonus for all Philadelphia Federation of Teachers members. It also provides teachers with paid parental leave for the first time in district history, according to union officials, as well as an end to the controversial sick leave policy known as 3-5-7-9.

Board members voted unanimously to approve the contract. But they also warned the state budget impasse will cost Philadelphia students resources and opportunities.

“It’s a disgrace,” board member Joyce Wilkerson said of the budget standstill. “We need the funding, we need it now, we shouldn’t need to borrow.”

Board Member Whitney Jones said because of the stalemate “and the uncertainty it creates the district is being forced to borrow” more than three times what the board was expecting to borrow. The associated interest payments could soar to $30 million, board members said.

Accordingly, board members also voted 8-0 with one abstention on Thursday to approve the issuance and sale of notes totaling up to $1.55 billion. This money would be short-term borrowing and would need to be borrowed and repaid within the same fiscal year.

“The budget delays are costing our schools money that we do not have and it’s further limiting what we can provide to students,” Jones said.

The contract negotiated between the PFT and the district assumes an increase in school funding proposed by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro back in February. More than two months after the state deadline for lawmakers to pass a budget, they remain deadlocked. More than $1 billion in payments for K-12 schools across the state have already been delayed, according to the state department of education.

Philly schools are still awaiting $374 million according to the district’s Chief Financial Officer Michael Herbstman.

Without annual funding increases from the state, the district will likely need to borrow to be able to pay for the contract across all three years, in addition to its other financial obligations like payments to charter schools. The district is already staring down a growing budget deficit.

Herbstman told board members 53% of the district’s budget comes from state funding, and therefore “it’s not sustainable long term to continue to operate as normal without them.” The Philly school district is almost entirely reliant on state, city, and federal funding, as it is the only district in the state that can’t raise its own revenue.

Board Member Wanda Novales said “every week of the delay puts more pressure on our budget, and every dollar spent on interest is a dollar not spent on our kids.”

The $30 million that would go to paying interest on that borrowing would be equivalent to a little over 200 teacher salaries, Herbstman said.

Pennsylvania and Michigan are the only states that haven’t passed a budget this year. And school funding is a major area of disagreement in both states.

In Pennsylvania, where budget negotiations largely take place behind closed doors, Republican legislative leaders have proposed holding public education spending flat while floating increases in state dollars for private school vouchers and tax-credit scholarships. Democrats have rejected those ideas and education advocates have argued such proposals fly in the face of a court ruling that deemed Pennsylvania’s prior school funding system unconstitutional.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philly is expanding one of its most effective dropout prevention strategies

2025-08-27T14:20:02+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

A Philadelphia program focused on addressing the city’s student dropout crisis is expanding into four new district schools this year.

Philadelphia Academies Inc. — a longtime partner in dropout prevention efforts in the School District of Philadelphia — announced this month it is bringing its 9th Grade Success Network to Building 21, Franklin Learning Center, Philadelphia Military Academy, and Hill-Freedman World Academy for the 2025-26 school year.

The program focuses on schools that serve students from traditionally marginalized groups, particularly Black students, who have faced systemic challenges to persisting in their education, leading to higher dropout rates, research has shown.

School leaders and educators in the program get specialized professional training in adolescent development, relationship building, and intervention techniques. Ninth grade assistant principals also get regular coaching and assistance analyzing student data to ensure those most at risk of dropping out get the attention and support they need.

LaTrina Stewart, ninth grade assistant principal at Franklin Learning Center, will be participating for the first time this school year. She said she’s hoping her students feel “ultra supported” this year.

“I don’t want to have to dig a child out of a hole and I don’t want children to have to dig themselves out of a hole,” she said. “That safety net to catch them before they even get in the hole — that’s what the ninth grade academy provides for us.”

With this expansion, the 9th Grade Success Network will operate in 28 district schools, with a goal to reach 32 schools by next year, said Christopher Goins, the president and CEO of Philadelphia Academies Inc., or PAI. This is the first year the program will work in selective admissions schools like Franklin Learning Center and Hill-Freedman. The program is funded through 2027 with $2.6 million from the School District of Philadelphia and $8 million from the Neubauer Family Foundation.

Nadia Schafer, director of the 9th Grade Success Network at PAI, told Chalkbeat the program is expanding because it’s working.

The program served more than 4,500 students in the 2024-25 school year, according to Philadelphia Academies data. A ninth grade student is considered “on-track” to graduation by the district and PAI if they earn at least one credit in each of the core subjects English, math, science, and social studies, plus one additional credit in a subject of their choosing. Students who earn all As and Bs in their four core classes plus at least one additional class are considered “firmly on-track,” Schafer said.

For the students the program served last year, Latino boys and Black boys improved their “on-track” rates by 5 percentage points and 4.4 percentage points, respectively.

Thomas Murtaugh, ninth and 12th grade principal at the School of the Future, said his student on-track data “drastically improved” since being part of the program. The share of students on-track to graduation went up 27% in the second year of the program and has remained consistently high, he said.

District officials noticed too, Schafer said. In fact, district data shows the “on-track” strategy contributed to a 10.2 percentage point increase in the four-year graduation rate over the last seven years. Superintendent Tony Watlington has also reported the district’s dropout rate was down by more than a thousand students last school year, due in part, to the on-track program.

There’s evidence this approach is working in other large urban school districts. Philly’s strategy was built off of a blueprint initiated in Chicago, which has also reported all-time high graduation rates.

Ebony Hollingsworth-Lowery, ninth grade assistant principal at William Sayre High School is about to start her fourth year with the program, and she said it’s been a “roadmap for success.”

As a former athlete, Hollingsworth-Lowery said the leadership coaching and regular check-ins work for her because they form a kind of “playbook” to help keep her and her ninth grade team of counselors, community advocates, educators, school staff, and administrators all focused on the same goals.

“It forces you to really look at your students, your teachers, and what systems are in place to be able to be successful,” she said. The program instills a way to “know your students, know who they are, but also, most importantly, know their needs, because if we can’t meet their needs, they’re going to retract from school.”

But not every high school is equipped to take on the program, according to Schafer, and there’s a competitive application process for schools to be selected. Schools with lower graduation rates and lower on-track rates are given priority because “we think it’s important to spend our resources where they’re going to make the most difference,” Schafer said.

Schools must also have a ninth grade administrator and a ninth grade core team of educators dedicated to teaching solely ninth grade, “not someone who is teaching English 1, 2, 3, and 4,” Schafer said.

With the ongoing teacher shortage and funding constraints in the city, those requirements can be a challenge for schools. That’s why PAI opened applications to criteria-based schools for the first time.

“It’s tough when maybe it’s not quite time” for some of those neighborhood schools to join the program, Schafer said, but she said they are working with the district to get other neighborhood schools “ready to be able to take on this work in a future year.”

For Stewart, the resources that the success network provides, “should be a part of what high schools get without it being left up to what principals have in their budget,” she said.

But this year at least, she’s hopeful.

“We need this,” Stewart said.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

It’s Philadelphia’s first day of school. Here are 3 things we’re watching.

2025-08-25T17:56:25+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Nearly 118,000 Philadelphia students headed back to classrooms on Monday. Some celebrated birthdays. Others were thankful for the relatively cool weather. And more than a few wished summer could’ve lasted just a bit longer.

With a new tentative teachers union contract agreement under their belts and the threat of a strike all but forgotten, Superintendent Tony Watlington, Mayor Cherelle Parker, Board of Education President Reginald Streater and other elected officials greeted arriving students at Edward Steel Elementary School in Nicetown with cheers and metallic red pompoms.

“This is a school year where we have wind underneath our wings, even though we have a lot of challenges in front of us,” Watlington said Monday.

Indeed, the district is staring down a multi-million dollar budget deficit worsened by a lingering state budget impasse that’s likely to delay crucial payments to Pennsylvania districts. That delay has also caused public transit cuts that are already disrupting students’ rides to and from school. And the district’s ongoing facilities planning process will come to a head this fall when officials are expected to release their plan for school closures and renovations.

Despite the challenges, school leaders opened their doors on Monday with optimistic messages.

Edward Steel Elementary School students are expected to repeat the school motto: "Safety first, respect always, and striving for achievement.”

Steel Elementary Principal Angikindslows Senatus said this year, he’s leaning into his school’s three core principles: “safety first, respect always, and striving for achievement.”

“We want to make sure that regardless of the challenges and the issues that we face, that we make sure that we cross the boundary and meet each other,” Senatus said.

Here are three things we’ll be watching this school year.

Philadelphia school closures are likely

District officials have said the structure of the city’s public school system needs to fundamentally change. That means school closures are likely coming.

As enrollment demographics shift, some schools have become overcrowded, forcing students to learn in hallways and trailers, while other buildings are more than half empty and are costly to maintain. Some schools have temperature-controlled spaces and proper equipment for gym class, career and technical education programs, and prekindergarten. Others have been repeatedly closed for asbestos remediation and inadequate heating and cooling.

As a result, district officials have been drafting a plan to close, repurpose, colocate, and remodel each of its more than 300 buildings. That plan is expected to be presented to the Board of Education in November.

Painful SEPTA cuts could impact student attendance

In the absence of a state budget deal, SEPTA has moved forward with massive cuts, service reductions, and fare increases, including the elimination of some 400-series bus lines, which specifically serve schools at the beginning and end of the school day.

Educators, parents, and advocates told Chalkbeat they’re worried the transit changes will mean students will have a harder time getting to school and participating in internships and extracurricular activities.

The SEPTA cuts are adding “chaos” to the school year, said Sean Vereen, president and CEO of Heights Philadelphia, which connects Black, Latino, and first-generation college students from low-income communities with workforce and college attainment programs.

“There are already too many barriers to young people accessing their opportunities, and this seems to be another place where we’re putting up barriers that we don’t need to,” Vereen said. “Young people require stability and investment, and all these things send the opposite message.”

Watlington has emphasized increasing student attendance rates during his time in office. He said last week that no students will be penalized if they’re late because of transit issues, but it remains to be seen how the cuts will affect district attendance rates.

Teachers welcomed students back to school on Monday with cheers and red pompoms.

School choice programs continue to dominate the conversation

The perennial push for new voucher-like school choice programs and funding are among the issues at the root of Pennsylvania lawmakers’ budget stalemate.

Emboldened by the new national federal tax-credit scholarship program, Pennsylvania Republicans are resurrecting a plan to allow families to use state money to pay some private school tuition and other education costs. While Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro supported a prior voucher proposal, he subsequently backed down and vetoed such a proposal in 2023.

Meanwhile, Democrat legislators have said increasing funding for public school districts is not only their budget priority, but also constitutionally mandated.

At the same time, Philadelphia school officials are trying to balance growing demand for traditional and cyber charter schools with their desire to boost enrollment at neighborhood public schools. The Philadelphia Board of Education voted last May to approve the city’s first new charter school in nearly a decade, but members last week also voted to move forward with the nonrenewal process for two underperforming charters.

While the leaders of one charter school have already said it will close next year, those in charge of another, Memphis Street Academy, have vowed to continue fighting a judge’s closure order.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia teachers union, school district reach tentative contract agreement

2025-08-25T12:12:38+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia teachers union and school district reached a tentative contract agreement late Sunday night, potentially avoiding a citywide teachers’ strike hours before students and teachers return to the classroom.

District and union leaders announced they had reached a three-year contract agreement, but they did not disclose any details about the contents of the agreement as of Monday.

“The PFT is thrilled that we have been able to reach a tentative agreement with the School District of Philadelphia on a three-year pact ensuring that school will open on time, as well as three years of labor peace,” said Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg in a joint statement with Superintendent Tony Watlington.

Watlington said in the statement that the agreement “both honors the hard work of our educators and maintains our record of strong financial stewardship.”

Watlington, Steinberg, and Mayor Cherelle Parker appeared side by side to praise the agreement, at the district’s back-to-school welcome event at Edward Steel Elementary School on Monday,

“You don’t prove that you value public education by simply pumping your fist in the air symbolically,” Parker said. “We’re going to keep moving forward, and we’re going to keep working together.”

Union leaders had been preparing their members for a strike in the leadup to the school year. The PFT, which represents some 14,000 educators and school staff, was negotiating for salary increases, amending the district’s controversial sick leave policy that union members say punishes teachers for using sick days, and adding paid parental leave.

The state budget impasse made negotiations more fraught, Steinberg said Monday. District officials have been operating off of a financial plan that assumed major funding increases under Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget, but Republican legislators have resisted approving those increases.

Steinberg said they came to a decision to rely on the budget figures Shapiro has proposed, and that “we’ll adjust on the fly if we have to.”

Parker said she believes teachers “should be paid what they’re worth.” She vowed that “every chance we get to generate more revenue to help them, we will,” but that under the deal announced Sunday, the district and union “did the best they could with what they had.”

Though neither Steinberg nor district spokespeople would comment on the details of the negotiation process earlier this month, Steinberg previously told Chalkbeat the district’s proposals “weren’t as irksome as they usually are” and that during negotiations “nothing that set a bad tone, as it has in the past.”

On Monday, Steinberg said while the collective bargaining process was “adversarial” at times, it “did not stray off into contentiousness very often.” He said Sunday morning both parties “sat down and had a frank conversation,” made progress, and then reached an agreement by late Sunday evening.

The three-year agreement will be put to PFT members for a ratification vote and if approved, it will also go to the Board of Education for a vote.

This story has been updated with additional comments from Mayor Cherelle Parker and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg.

District and union leaders announced they had reached a three-year contract agreement, but they did not disclose any details about the contents of the agreement as of Monday.

Watlington said in the statement that the agreement “both honors the hard work of our educators and maintains our record of strong financial stewardship.”

Watlington, Steinberg, and Mayor Cherelle Parker appeared side by side to praise the agreement, at the district’s back-to-school welcome event at Edward Steel Elementary School on Monday,

Steinberg said they came to a decision to rely on the budget figures Shapiro has proposed, and that “we’ll adjust on the fly if we have to.”

The three-year agreement will be put to PFT members for a ratification vote and if approved, it will also go to the Board of Education for a vote.

This story has been updated with additional comments from Mayor Cherelle Parker and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia students can get free school supplies, vaccines, and more at these back-to-school events

2025-08-07T19:15:18+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

It’s back-to-school season in Philadelphia and the school district and community organizations across the city are hosting free school supply giveaways and medical clinics to help students prepare to return to classrooms.

This year, advocates say access to free resources is vital for Philly families because of the federal government’s deep cuts to social safety net programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, coupled with delays in Pennsylvania’s state budget process.

“It’s really important this year because with the state of the government right now, a lot of people will be losing their health insurance,” said Portia Ackridge, who runs DentMed Inc., a nonprofit that’s partnering with Remote Area Medical to bring a free medical clinic to the School of the Future. The clinic will offer free dental care, eyeglasses made onsite, school vaccines, physicals, and other services for children and adults.

This is Ackridge’s third year organizing the clinic in Philly. But she said this year, the federal funding cuts and freezes have meant her organization has struggled to get medical providers to volunteer their services at the clinic and donations have slowed.

“Funding is down this year,” Ackridge said. “People are uncertain right now about the government.” She said that “makes a huge difference” in how many services they’re able to provide.

But Ackridge said the care that the clinic is able to offer will be crucial for Philly’s young people.

“Do you know how hard it is to concentrate, to try to learn something when your tooth is hurting and you have no relief?” she said. “It’s very important to make sure these kids are going to school healthy, where they’re not in any pain, where they can see the class board if they’re sitting in the back of the classroom.”

The free clinic will be held at School of the Future at 4021 Parkside Ave, on Aug. 16 and 17 starting at 6 a.m.

Philly’s first day of school is Aug. 25.

For more free services and school supplies, Chalkbeat’s partners at Germantown Info Hub compiled a list of events in their neighborhood, and Chalkbeat’s partners at Kensington Voice have a list for folks in Kensington as well. City Cast Philly also has a list of more citywide events.

If you have school supplies to donate, the Navy Yard is collecting items for Bregy Elementary School and D. Newlin Fell elementary in South Philly through Sept. 1 at various dropoff locations. Find more information here.

This is not an exhaustive list so if you know of another event that should be added, you can email philadelphia.tips@chalkbeat.org.

Where to find free school supplies in Philly

The School District of Philadelphia’s back-to-school bus tour offers free school supplies, snacks, activities, and assistance with enrollment.

On Saturday, Aug. 9 the bus will be at Citizens Bank Park, 1 Citizens Bank Way.

On Tuesday, Aug. 12 the bus will park at Marcus Foster Memorial Stadium, 1627 W. Hunting Park Ave.

And on Friday, Aug. 15 the bus will come to Roosevelt Mall at 2329 Cottman Ave.

Friday, Aug. 8

In Fairhill, CASA de Consejeria y Salud Integral is hosting a school supply event at 3210 North American St. from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Also in Fairhill, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children is throwing a back-to-school carnival at 160 E. Erie Ave. from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 9

In West Oak Lane, The GRYC Center is giving away free backpacks from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 7700 Ogontz Ave.

In Northeast Philly, Catholic Community Services is cosponsoring a backpack giveaway outside of Max Myers recreation center 1601 Hellerman St. from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In West Philly, St. Matthew AME Church is throwing a back-to-school block party from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 215 N. 57th St.

Wednesday, Aug. 13

In West Philly, ACHIEVEability is giving away school supplies from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 5901 Market St.

Thursday, Aug. 14

In South Philly, Cradles to Crayons is bringing its Backpack-a-thon giveaway to Lincoln Financial Field, One Lincoln Financial Field Way from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Sunday, Aug. 17

In North Philly, MomCode and Kiddievents are offering free hair braiding, backpacks, and school supplies from 1 p.m. until supplies run out at the Club House Suite at 3525 I St. They are also collecting donations of backpacks, school supplies, and hair products.

In South Philly, the Southeast Asian Market is hosting its annual back-to-school giveaway in FDR Park from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at 1500 Pattison Ave. and S. Broad St.

Thursday, Aug. 21

In Olney, the Olney Community Collaborative is having a giveaway at James R. Lowell Elementary School, 450 West Nedro Ave. from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 23

In Point Breeze, City Council President Kenyatta Johnson’s office is hosting a Community Appreciation Day with free food and school supplies at Point Breeze Avenue and Tasker Street from 12 p.m. until 8 p.m.

In Cedar Park, Conquerors Community Development Corporation will have a back-to-school community day at the Victory Christian Center of Philadelphia, 5220 Whitby Ave. from 10 a.m. to 1pm.

Sunday Aug. 24

In West Philly, Barbers Who Care is offering free kids’ haircuts and school supplies at the YMCA at 5120 Chestnut St. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 6

In West Philly, EleganceXtreme is giving away school supplies and horseback riding sessions from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the 1300 block of N 58th St.

Ongoing

For educators and families, the Philly Book Bank is giving away free books at MLK High School, 6100 Stenton Ave with priority given to district teachers. Find more information and how to sign up here.

Students can get free vaccines at Vaccines for Children sites across the city and discounted vaccines and physicals at various CityLife Health Clinic locations.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia teachers union prepares for strike as contract negotiations continue

2025-07-31T17:17:37+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia teachers union leaders are preparing members for a strike as contract negotiations with the school district continue in the lead-up to the first day of school.

Negotiations are “moving more slowly than I would like,” Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, told Chalkbeat this week. But he said despite the union and district making “some progress” toward an agreement, they have not reconciled some of the most pressing issues. Among them: salary increases for teachers and school staff, reforming the district’s controversial sick leave policy that union members say penalizes teachers for using sick days, and adding 12 weeks of paid parental leave. Union members currently get no paid parental leave.

Christina Clark, a district spokesperson, said in an email Thursday that she would not comment on the details of the negotiation process but that district officials “look forward to working with the PFT on a proposal that honors the hard work of our staff each day.”

Philly school officials have said the district is staring down a growing annual budget deficit, and it remains the only school district in the state that can’t raise its own tax revenue.

Steinberg said he still thinks there’s room for compromise. The district’s “initial set of proposals weren’t as irksome as they usually are,” he said but declined to give more details. “There were some [proposals] that we don’t think we can agree to, but nothing that set a bad tone, as it has in the past.”

A majority of the union’s 14,000 members voted to authorize a strike in June. A work stoppage could disrupt the first weeks and months of school. The first day of school for students is on August 25 and teachers are scheduled to head back to classrooms on August 18.

Though Steinberg said “we’re not ready to walk out tomorrow,” if negotiations stall in the next few weeks, “we could hit the bricks the next day,” he warned. The union’s contract expires on Aug. 31.

Steinberg declined to comment on how likely a teacher strike would be for the start of the school year, but he did say the union has begun reaching out to members who struck with the PFT during its 1981 and 2000 walkouts to give the newer members a “feel for what it was like and what to expect.”

As the summer stretches on, Philadelphia is inching closer to what could be a calamitous start to the school year. In addition to the threat of a teacher strike, the city’s public transit system is preparing to cut SEPTA bus and rail lines that serve more than 50,000 students and extreme heat conditions could likely result in school closures during the first week back.

What’s more, a state budget impasse has officials warning of delayed payments to prekindergarten programs and school districts posing additional complications for Philly schools’ budget. And ongoing uncertainty from the Trump administration has school leaders wary about relying on federal funds.

Labor leaders, including Steinberg, held a press conference Thursday urging Republicans who control the state Senate to send a budget bill to Gov. Josh Shapiro promptly.

Autumn Fingerhood, a district parent and stadium worker with the Unite Here Local 274 labor union, said her daughter relies on SEPTA to get to school, and she’s concerned service cuts could make their morning commute a challenge.

“They need to pass this budget,” she said. “My children need to be taken care of.”

Union contact negotiations throughout the city have also taken on a new tenor following the eight-day sanitation worker strike this month. That strike resulted in a contract agreement that fell short of what the union wanted but shored up the public’s general support for labor, Steinberg said.

“The school district likes to claim that they are the fastest growing large urban school district in the country,” Steinberg said. “A strike will derail that and really eliminate any progress that they have made.”

And as for Mayor Cherelle Parker’s promised teacher salary increases in 2030, “I’ll be long gone by then,” Steinberg said. “My members need money now.”

This story has been updated to include comment from a spokesperson for the School District of Philadelphia.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Here’s the data Philly is using to pick which schools close — and here’s what’s missing

2025-07-24T23:32:20+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

School officials in Philadelphia say closures are coming — and they’ve promised to use data about building needs, enrollment, and neighborhoods to decide which schools shut their doors.

But more than a year into the district’s facilities planning process, details on which schools are desperately in need of repairs and which ones are struggling most with enrollment remain murky.

For months, the district has pushed back a promised release of the information officials have said will inform its recommendations of which schools to close, colocate, modernize, repurpose, or maintain as they are. And the data the district has shared — which officials have only made available via printouts at community engagement sessions — includes serious limitations and inconsistencies, according to principals and educators in attendance.

At community engagement meetings held by the district this month, some educators pointed out that the district’s stated capacity for their schools did not seem accurate, based on their experiences in their buildings. Others noted that the data creates an incomplete picture about the city’s enrollment, as it only captures a moment in time and does not include charter or parochial school enrollment.

Ultimately, some principals worry their schools could be targeted for closure or colocations based on data that does not accurately reflect their schools. And some community members said that failing to holistically review their schools’ strengths and challenges could result in decisions that harm children and neighborhoods.

Deputy Superintendent Oz Hill has been telling community members "nothing is etched in stone" and that their input is still valuable.

Many educators and community members attending meetings also asked for clarification about how the data would be used to determine school recommendations. Despite assigning scores and color codes to different school factors, the district did not explain how these scores and codes could make different outcomes for schools more or less likely.

District officials said there was no formula, but that they would take many factors into account including comments and concerns shared at the meetings.

“Nothing is etched in stone,” Deputy Superintendent Oz Hill told a group of educators and community members at an engagement session at Thomas K. Finletter School. “We are still at a point where your input can make a difference.”

Chalkbeat’s analysis of the district’s data revealed further inconsistencies and gaps. The district provided Chalkbeat with a list of each district school’s capacity based on its current metrics. But the figures provided did not match the numbers shared during the engagement meetings. For example, the Abram S. Jenks School is 87% full according to the spreadsheet given to Chalkbeat. But in the printed handouts from the engagement meetings, the school has the same number of students enrolled but is marked “severely overcrowded” at over 130% full.

The data the district gave to Chalkbeat also did not include information for several schools, including schools that recently returned to district control after being operated by charter organizations.

The capacity figures the district provided to Chalkbeat and the capacity figures shared at the community meetings were “collected at different points in time,” according to Monique Braxton, a district spokesperson. The district did not further explain the discrepancies. And updated capacity data for the schools “will be available when we launch the public website,” Braxton said.

District officials have repeatedly said the data they have shared during engagement meetings is preliminary and will be updated after walkthroughs of each school and a review by principals, some of whom have been away on vacation this summer.

The new data will be released before the facilities plan is made public, several district facilitators at the meetings said.

But time is running out. The district plans to solicit feedback on a draft facilities plan beginning in October, which it will then present to the Board of Education in November.

At a session at Thomas K. Finletter School, several teachers and school leaders affiliated with Feltonville Arts & Sciences expressed concerns about the school capacity numbers the district shared at the meetings.

If the district doesn’t have accurate information on its buildings, the educators said, they have serious reservations about the validity of the process overall.

“Don’t make it neat on paper,” said Malcolm Cooper, a music teacher at Feltonville Arts & Sciences, at the risk of making things “messy in real life.”

District’s scores for schools spur confusion, concern

Throughout July, district officials hosted more than a dozen engagement sessions to explain the facilities planning process, solicit feedback, and share printouts of school data. Chalkbeat attended half of these sessions, speaking with parents, educators, community members, and district officials in attendance.

The data printouts included enrollment and capacity numbers, as well as color-coded designations for each school based on building quality, neighborhood vulnerability, and program alignment.

District officials said that school building scores were based largely on a 2024 building audit.

Program alignment scores reflected whether a school’s space adequately serves its programming needs, like having a gym or space for prekindergarten programs.

Neighborhood vulnerability scores combined two factors. One is the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s social vulnerability index data for a school’s neighborhood that considers poverty and housing density. The other is whether a neighborhood has experienced a district school closure in the past.

For example, a school with more students enrolled than its building capacity allows may be marked “red” for overcrowding, but have a program alignment of “good,” and a neighborhood vulnerability score of “moderate risk.”

In the community meetings, district officials have said their decisions will primarily consider the neighborhood vulnerability score, then a school’s capacity, utilization, and building’s structural condition, and then the further “nuance” of a school community, including where students could be moved and what special programs schools offer.

But the officials did not make a direct connection between how schools were ranked on these different factors and how likely it is that the district would decide to close, colocate, or modernize them.

But at every session Chalkbeat attended, at least one person asked for more clarity about how the district arrived at the summary scores for each school and raised concerns about their accuracy.

Luisa Velasquez, co-director of the Friends of Vare-Washington nonprofit that raises money to support the elementary school, said she believed the “moderate risk” vulnerability designation assigned to the school didn’t reflect the school’s real needs.

Velasquez noted that though more wealthy families have moved to South Philadelphia, many have chosen to send their kids to private schools, charter schools, or selective admissions schools. As a result, the demographics of Vare-Washington Elementary’s neighborhood don’t necessarily reflect the school’s demographics, she said, “because we have kids from all over the city coming to us to get a decent education.”

In a similar vein, others have noted that the data doesn’t capture the location of charter schools.

Velasquez told Chalkbeat she left the community meeting skeptical of how the district will use its data for decisions about schools.

School data reflects limited timeline and scope

Deputy Superintendent Oz Hill said the engagement sessions so far have been eye-opening. He urged families to attend more meetings, which district officials have said will continue throughout the fall.

“Every single engagement [session], I learn things about these schools and the communities that I didn’t know before,” Hill told Chalkbeat at one such meeting on Monday.

Some attendees also worried that the capacity data was too rigid. In Northeast Philadelphia, for example, school leaders said a growing immigrant population means a school’s enrollment can fluctuate throughout the year. If Feltonville Intermediate School filled its classrooms to 100% capacity on the first day of school, educators asked what would happen after winter break when a handful of new students want to enroll.

A community engagement session about school closures, colocations, and modernizations at Philadelphia's Andrew Hamilton Public School on July 17.

Sabrina Scott-Feggins, principal of General Philip Kearny Elementary who attended a session at the district’s headquarters, said she still has questions about the district’s process and calculations.

For example, since COVID, her school decided to take two underused classrooms and turn them into a makeshift library because the school didn’t have one. Though on paper those rooms may count as empty, she noted that they are in use and provide a vital resource.

But she said she was heartened by the opportunity to provide feedback directly to district officials. And as a principal, she can get on board with a decision that benefits students — even if it means reconfiguring schools.

“I feel hopeful,” said Scott-Feggins. “I feel like this is the beginning of being heard.”

Clarification: This story has been updated to more accurately reflect Principal Sabrina Scott-Feggins’ comments about the district’s planning process.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philly mayor adds schools to extended-day initiative, says it’s year-round school ‘in my mind’

2025-06-27T19:22:24+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s signature “extended day, extended year” school initiative is expanding to 15 new schools next year, even as it remains a far cry from the “year-round school” she promised on the campaign trail.

At a City Hall press conference Friday, Parker said the 15 new schools will offer free before- and after-school programs, “camp experiences” during winter and spring breaks, and will participate in the city’s existing six-week Summer Achievers summer camp starting with the 2025-26 school year.

Friday’s announcement brings the total number of schools participating in the extended day, extended year initiative to 40 — 30 district schools and 10 charter schools. It’s jointly funded by the city and school district with a budget of $26.1 million for last year and the expansion.

Parker said Friday parents — especially those with busy work schedules — have told her they are “relieved and inspired by what this program has meant for them.” Superintendent Tony Watlington said there’s been some limited evidence that many of the students who have participated in the program have improved their regular classroom attendance rates.

But Parker said she’s also heard from parents who were confused or upset about her campaign-trail promise of “year-round school” and interpreted it as students sitting at a desk doing strictly academic work for 365 days a year.

“That’s not it,” Parker said.

In its first year, “extended day, extended year” schooling appeared to mostly expand access to enrichment opportunities that schools already had in place.

But Parker on Friday characterized before- and after-school care available throughout the year, as well as programming available during holiday breaks, as “access to year-round education.”

Asked if she intends for the initiative to move more towards a truly “year-round” schedule, Parker demurred.

“In my mind, this is year-round,” she said.

So far, some 3,000 students have participated in the various before and after-school programs offered at the participating schools, Chief Education Officer Debora Carrera said. Officials expect the initiative’s expansion will add 5,000 seats.

Alison Barnes, principal at Vare-Washington Elementary School in South Philadelphia that participates in the program, said it has been “nothing short of game-changing for our families.”

Jazmine Rodriguez, a Vare-Washington parent, said the after-care program her fourth-grade daughter participates in through EDEY has been a “lifeline.”

“It’s nice knowing that when I get home, homework is completed, she received the help that she needed,” Rodriguez said. “It just gives more time for family time.”

The new district schools in the program will be:

Anne Frank Elementary School.
Tanner G. Duckrey School .
Lewis Cassidy Academics Plus.
Roberto Clemente Middle School.
James R. Lowell School.
Edwin Forrest School.
Delaplaine McDaniel School.
James Rhoads Elementary School.
Edward Steel Elementary School.
Frances E. Willard Elementary School.

The new charter schools will be:

Universal Alcorn.
General David B. Birney.
Esperanza Academy.
Harambee Institute of Science and Technology.
Wissahickon.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia Board of Education indicates it will not renew 2 charter schools

2025-06-27T02:00:41+00:00

The Philadelphia Board of Education directed the Charter School Office at its Thursday meeting to draft charter renewal agreements with four charter schools, indicating they will likely vote to renew those schools’ charters.

But for two schools, KIPP North Philadelphia Academy and People for People Charter School, the board directed the Charter School Office to draft a notice of non-renewal, which kicks off a process that can ultimately lead to closing a charter.

Board members said they were concerned about the academic performance of both schools, which have test scores far below the district average and have not shown significant improvement in recent years.

The decision to pursue non-renewals came as a blow to parents, educators, and officials connected with both schools who attended Thursday’s meeting.

“As a turnaround principal, I knew the path wouldn’t be easy,” said Susanna Tagoe, who became principal of KIPP North Philadelphia last year. “I also know that this requires deep courage, deep resilience, and deep commitment to our students, our families and our staff.”

The school, which serves around 680 students in kindergarten through seventh grade, has shown poor academic performance, with only 6% of its students scoring proficiently in the state math test last year. It also suspended more students than the district average, with nearly 1 in 3 students suspended last year, including nearly a third of all second and third graders and half of its sixth grade class.

“When this many students are being removed from their classroom, something deeper is happening,” said board member Sarah-Ashley Andrews. “These numbers tell us that this school community is in distress.”

Meanwhile, Anthony Fratanduono, principal of People for People Charter School, urged the board to renew the school based on the growth it has shown in recent years in math, science, and language arts test scores. He said the school would continue to work to improve its academics.

The school “is more than just a place of learning,” Fratanduono said. “It is a second home for our students and our families. It is a space where children are seen and supported.”

But board members said the school’s slight gains recently in some subjects did not make up for years of low test scores across the board.

“After more than two decades in question and operation, there’s still no evidence of sustained academic success,” said board President Reginald Streater.

The board is considering a total of 18 charter schools for renewal this year, meaning that it must decide whether to allow those charters to continue operating or begin a process that could result in closure.

The board had already directed the Charter School Office to draft and negotiate renewal charters with 12 of those schools before Thursday’s meeting.

Robin Cooper, president of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, Teamsters Local 502, spoke against the charter renewals. She requested an “investigation” into how charter school supporters have been able to fill public speaking slots while district school supporters allegedly “can’t get on the list.” Her union represents school principals and other school officials.

Streater said the board “will be looking into” how the public speakers list is compiled in response to Cooper’s testimony.

District allocates $190 million to pay parents for school transport

The board also voted to approve millions in spending for transportation, school safety, students experiencing housing insecurity and more.

The full list of contracts can be found on the board’s website. Among the approved items on the consent agenda were:

$191 million over five years for the district’s ongoing “parent flat rate” program which pays parents up to $3,000 a year per household, for students who opt out of bus, van, or cab service to and from school. According to the district, 15,000 families and 18,000 students are currently participating in the program.
$34 million for SEPTA student fare cards for some 63,000 eligible students at public, charter, and non-public schools who use public transit to get to class. SEPTA adopted a budget on Thursday that plans for major cuts to its transit services, which the district said will impact the ability of 21,000 students to get to school reliably and consistently and limit students’ access to after-school programs.
Nearly $12 million in equipment costs for the district’s buses and other transportation vehicles, and another $8.4 million for yellow bus repairs.
$2.7 million to extend contracts with outside groups that provide services to students experiencing homelessness.
Roughly $366,000 for various school safety costs including contracts with the Philadelphia Police Department for increased police presence outside of schools in the Safety Zone program, security cameras near Olney High School athletic fields, and emergency lights in school safety vehicles.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Justice Department brings criminal charges against Philadelphia school district over asbestos

2025-06-26T23:33:50+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

The Department of Justice filed criminal charges Thursday against the Philadelphia school district for not meeting requirements to keep students and staff safe from asbestos exposure.

The Justice Department found that the district failed to conduct timely asbestos inspections, as mandated by federal law, and that district officials “purposely” delayed inspections and “knowingly and regularly failed to make necessary repairs,” according to the agreement.

However, the school board voted unanimously Thursday to enter into an agreement with the Justice Department to resolve the investigation and avoid being prosecuted at least for now, in what the federal government called a “conditional release of liability.”

The details of the yearslong investigation were made public Thursday. Philadelphia became the first district in the country to face criminal charges over this type of environmental violation, the Justice Department said.

Nearly 300 schools the Philadelphia district owns contain asbestos, a common building material that can cause breathing problems and lung disease when it deteriorates and is breathed in. Federal law requires school districts nationwide to regularly monitor for asbestos and to ensure they repair any damage quickly to reduce exposure risk.

Many Philadelphia school buildings are aging and in desperate need of repairs. In recent years, the district has closed several schools due to asbestos, forcing students to relocate partway through the school year.

The Justice Department’s investigation, which began in 2020 and examined the district’s asbestos monitoring program between 2015 and 2023, revealed “a longstanding and widespread problem of asbestos contamination in Philadelphia schools,” according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The district’s approach “endangered students and teachers, and, in some cases, foreclosed any education at all by requiring the closure of the school,” the statement said.

Failure to abide by the Justice Department agreement may result in criminal sanctions against the district.

In exchange, the district has committed to complying with asbestos-related laws, including inspecting buildings every six months and regularly repairing damage. The agreement also requires the district to report updates about its asbestos program to the court twice a year.

Superintendent Tony Watlington, who has led the district since 2022, said in a statement that since the investigation began, the district has “rebuilt” its asbestos management program. All district-owned school buildings are now inspected twice per year, and the school district has increased its investment in environmental management, according to Watlington.

DOJ finds major problems with Philadelphia’s asbestos monitoring

The Justice Department’s agreement details a long list of problems with how the district ran its asbestos monitoring program, including failing to supervise the team in charge of handling asbestos and inconsistently inspecting schools with major asbestos problems.

In 2019, for example, staff at Laura Carnell Elementary School found several areas where asbestos that should have been encapsulated to prevent it from breaking down into the air had been left exposed. In one area, the crumbling asbestos had been merely wrapped in duct tape, according to the agreement.

Separately, in 2020, a teacher was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an incurable form of cancer frequently caused by exposure to asbestos.

According to the agreement, there were 31 schools affected by the district’s inadequate approach. Several had widely known asbestos issues, including Building 21 Alternative High School, Southwark Elementary, Universal Vare Charter School, Frankford High School, and Franklin Learning Center.

Special Agent in Charge Allison Landsman of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division said in a statement the agency is committed to prosecuting environmental law violators, especially when students and teachers are at risk.

“This resolution requires additional accountability on the School District of Philadelphia to ensure protections are in place to prevent future asbestos exposure,” she said.

School district promises to improve asbestos monitoring

In the agreement, which the board had initially planned to vote on at its previous meeting in May, the district committed to following federal asbestos monitoring laws and agreed to increased oversight.

The school district will now report to a court about its asbestos remediation process for up to five years. After three years, the district can request early termination of the agreement if it has complied with the law for at least six months.

In the agreement, the Justice Department recognized the district had improved some of its asbestos monitoring practices since the investigation began, including hiring more staff in its Office of Environmental Management and Services and tripling its budget for environmental work from $21 million to $61 million.

The agreement also states that the district has updated its software to track asbestos data and is regularly sharing related information with the public. A list of the district’s annual asbestos inspection reports for each school is available on its website.

The district’s current facilities planning process, which board members have said will likely result in some school closures, is also partially meant to address buildings’ environmental problems.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia teachers union votes to authorize a strike

2025-06-18T00:24:08+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Members of the Philadelphia teachers union voted to authorize a future strike Tuesday, flexing their political muscles amid contract negotiations with the school district.

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers said 94% percent of members in attendance at a meeting Tuesday evening voted to give leaders the power to call a strike if the union and the school district fail to reach an agreement by August when their contract expires.

The likelihood of a strike is unclear. But if PFT leaders do call a strike of their 14,000 members, it could disrupt the opening days of the new school year. The 2025-26 school year begins August 18 for staff and August 25 for students.

The union and district return to the negotiating table Wednesday. Christina Clark, a district spokesperson, said in an email Tuesday that district officials are “optimistic that we will reach an agreement on a successor collective bargaining agreement.”

PFT President Arthur Steinberg said in a statement that the union already “has made progress toward an agreement that demonstrably improves members’ working conditions.” But key demands remain, specifically changes that would address the district’s staffing shortage “that has left teachers, counselors, and other school staff juggling duties beyond their own job descriptions.”

The district started the school year with 347 teacher vacancies.

Tuesday’s vote signals that the union is taking stock of its political power in the city. It’s the PFT’s first strike authorization vote since the district regained local control from the state.

When the school district was under state control from 2001 to 2018, the PFT was barred from striking and teachers went without an active contract for five years. As a result, union leadership says teacher salaries have lagged, which has contributed to teacher churn.

The average Philly classroom teacher salary in 2024-25 was $85,719, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

In February 2024, the union and district were on good terms. Both parties agreed to a one-year contract extension that included raises and retention bonuses well before the previous contract’s expiration date in August 2024.

The district may have some additional resources to offer — but not for several years. Mayor Cherelle Parker and members of City Council reached a budget agreement this month that would increase the district’s share of property tax revenue from 56% to 56.5% in 2030. Parker said that increase will provide an additional $12 million per year for teacher salaries.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

New Philadelphia budget ‘sets up our schools for major cuts’ as deficits loom, councilmember says

2025-06-12T18:48:26+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia’s new $6.8 billion city budget does little to help what many call the city’s chronically underfunded school district close its looming deficits — and public education advocates say the city could have done more.

The final budget — which reflects a deal between Mayor Cherelle Parker and City Council leadership — passed 15-1 on Thursday. It includes some significant wage and business tax cuts as well as Parker’s signature housing initiative, but it does not deliver a meaningful funding increase to the school district.

By not adding new money for the school district, “this budget sets up our schools for major cuts in the coming years,” Councilmember Kendra Brooks said. Brooks was the lone no vote on the budget.

The final budget looks nearly identical to what Parker originally proposed for schools in March. It increases Center City parking fees, which Parker’s office says would add $4 million to district coffers. And it will increase the school district’s share of the city’s property tax revenue from 56% to 56.5% in fiscal 2030. Parker’s office estimates that shift will mean $12 million in new funding to the district, albeit all at once five years from now.

It also includes $500,000 to “fully cover the credentialing costs for current Career and Technical Education teachers” employed by the district, according to a statement from Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson.

But the district is grappling with a growing annual deficit that is slated to reach $466 million in 2027 and $774 million in 2030. And while Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget would send some $160 million more to Philly schools in fiscal 2026, it’s unclear whether schools will get that increase.

The school district’s budget is $4.6 billion.

For fiscal year 2026, the district is planning to use 40% of its “rainy day” fund to cover a $306 million budget hole, which district leaders say is the result of decades of unconstitutional underfunding by the state.

Donna Cooper of the education advocacy group Children First told Chalkbeat that given the size of the city’s funding surplus, it could have easily afforded to change the district’s share of property taxes this year rather than waiting until 2030. She added that the City Council should have demanded the change take place sooner.

Last year, the city increased the district’s share from 55% to 56%, which Parker’s office said added $24 million for the city’s schools. Parker has said she would like to gradually shift the district’s share of property taxes to 58% over time.

“It makes absolutely no sense to me,” Cooper said. “I personally cannot conjure up the logic that would enable people to argue that there’s not enough money to do it this year, and certainly no reason to even say it should wait till 2030.”

Cooper said because Philly is the only school district in the state that cannot raise its own tax revenue, it’s at a political disadvantage during budget negotiations. Of the district’s budget, $2 billion comes from the city, $2.4 billion from the state, and nearly $180 million from the federal government, although President Donald Trump has proposed cutting some federal education spending.

“We really need Council to unite behind the cause of the school district, because it is the obligation for them to do it,” Cooper said.

Asked why the City Council did not significantly increase school funding this year, Council President Kenyatta Johnson cited “the uncertainty” of potential cuts coming from the Trump administration.

“As we move forward, we’ll look at the school district’s finances and how they are operating,” Johnson said. “If we have to make adjustments to make further decisions financially to support the school district we’ll evaluate that in the future.”

Early on in the budget negotiation process, Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who chairs the education committee, said he was mulling the possibility of putting that property tax shift in this fiscal 2026 budget. But the proposal did not survive the negotiation process.

While the city waits for state lawmakers “to develop a fair funding formula to equitably and properly fund our schools, we in Philly have to find more creative and immediate ways to invest in our students, teachers, and everyone who makes Philly schools excellent,” Thomas said in an email.

Brooks said “multiple Councilmembers and parents across Black and brown neighborhoods advocated” for an increase in the property tax revenue that goes to the district “in order to boost public school funding,” but were unsuccessful.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Concerns grow over potential plan to close Philadelphia schools

2025-06-10T20:17:43+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia school district has pledged that any future school closures — which officials have said are likely — will be markedly different from the last, brutal battle over shuttering local schools more than a decade ago.

Rather than impose the district’s closure plans onto Philadelphians, officials have said that moves to close, colocate, or repurpose schools would be guided by local community members and experts. They also pledged the process would be data-driven and transparent.

“This isn’t the district’s plan. This isn’t the Board of Education’s plan. This is Philadelphia’s plan,” Deputy Superintendent of Operations Oz Hill said at a November community meeting. “These are our children that have to live with this plan.”

But several parents and community leaders participating in the district’s formal advisory groups say the facilities planning process has already become opaque. After sitting through meetings filled with PowerPoint presentations that lack crucial financial or school-specific data, some advisory group members have called for an overhaul of the district’s approach and more clarity.

“It’s been extremely frustrating how little our input actually gets heard,” said Elaine Simon, former co-director of the Urban Studies program at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the community leaders advisory group. “Meetings are overly structured and artificial, because we never get information or understanding of what their process actually is.”

Advisory group members said they took time off work and rearranged their schedules to attend the meetings, often scheduled for the middle of the day. But to Simon and several other members of the parent and community leader groups who spoke with Chalkbeat, the time has felt wasted by bureaucratic presentations and unspecific brainstorming sessions. Many worry the district is using them to add credibility to a flawed process, without considering their feedback about how to prevent closures in the first place.

The district’s final facilities plan is due in December, but the district has missed some of its own deadlines related to various parts of the process.

In an email, Alexandra Coppadge, the district’s chief of communications, said the district’s aim is to create a facilities plan that supports communities and student achievement, maximizes the use of school buildings, and provides more access to programs like prekindergarten and arts classes.

“The District is committed to completing a facilities plan that includes deep and thoughtful community engagement,” Coppadge said. She added that the district plans to host additional listening and community engagement sessions and will share more data in the coming months.

Since January, Simon and other advisory group members have met with district staff for an hour around once a month on Zoom, with one recent meeting scheduled in-person at the district office.

The advisory board members Chalkbeat spoke with emphasized that they want the process to go well. As the district tries to address a budget deficit, deteriorating infrastructure, and some school buildings with hundreds of empty seats, several members said they understand the district’s challenges and hope to contribute to a thoughtful solution.

“We do want a facilities plan,” Akira Drake Rodriguez, an assistant professor of city planning at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of one of the advisory groups, told the school board last month. “But we want one that prioritizes community needs and not just the district’s.”

Philadelphia district officials indicate school closures are likely

School districts across the country, including Denver and New York City, have been mulling school closures to cope with enrollment drops since the pandemic. But some people in those communities have urged districts to invest in their neighborhood schools and keep up regular building maintenance, rather than resort to closures.

Around 115,000 students now attend Philadelphia district schools, marking a 12% drop from a decade ago. Though enrollment grew slightly last year, several schools have hundreds of empty seats, while others are at capacity or are overcrowded.

District officials have said school closures are on the table. But they’ve stressed that they plan to avoid repeating the mistakes of the last round of closures in 2013, when 23 schools closed. That process decimated community trust in the city’s schools. And district officials readily admit it had a negative impact on students. The performance of displaced students declined, the performance of students attending schools where those displaced students were reassigned also declined, and student absences increased.

“It was not worth the cost,” Deputy Superintendent Hill told families last year.

This time, officials say the aim is to improve students’ learning environments, not just save money.

Last year, the board hired a public relations firm at the cost of $179,500 to facilitate community outreach and feedback sessions, and hosted more than 30 in-person public listening sessions. More than 500 people participated, according to the district. But several of those meetings that Chalkbeat attended consisted of mostly district representatives, with few parents or other members of the public in attendance.

Then, last November, the district launched its advisory group process, asking community leaders, parents, and educators across the city to attend regular meetings with district officials.

But those meetings have been extremely disappointing, Rodriguez told Chalkbeat. “We don’t ever get our questions answered,” she said.

Generally, advisory groups spent at least half of each meeting listening to district presentations of information that could mostly be found on its website, according to several group members Chalkbeat spoke with.

Though district representatives attended the meetings, several members echoed Rodriguez’s concern, saying their requests for more detailed information went unanswered.

Rodriguez said meetings have focused more on closing and colocating schools, instead of maintaining buildings. She wants the district to avoid closing schools entirely. Ultimately, she worries that her participation may be used to rubber-stamp a plan she does not agree with.

Other advisory members who don’t want closures say the focus on school closures and colocations in some meetings have made them worry the district has already decided that some closures are inevitable.

“At best, we are being given a window into a process,” said Adam Blyweiss, a member of the parent advisory group and a teacher at Jules E. Mastbaum High School. “At worst … we are being given the data-driven tools to effectively have us be the hatchet man instead of the district.”

School district behind on its own deadlines

The district has already missed some of its own deadlines to share key information, leaving advisory group members concerned that any proposal will be extremely rushed.

In May, the district was set to share a community update about its plans. But at that month’s board meeting, that didn’t happen.

Reporters were scheduled to receive a briefing about a new data website about the district’s facilities in April, with a public launch scheduled for Monday, April 7. The district told advisory group members that it would provide them with data in April too, according to an official document Chalkbeat obtained. But neither reporters nor advisory group members ever got access to the website. Advisory group members that Chalkbeat spoke to said their April meetings were cancelled.

Coppadge said the district plans to provide an update on the facilities planning process at its June board meeting. She said the district “held the release” of the data tool “in order to not disrupt our focus on accelerating academic achievement and state testing,” and that it plans to release the tool later this month.

Some advisory group members say that delay has undercut their ability to provide feedback and recommendations.

“We don’t have enough information,” said Kristen Goessling, director of participatory research at Pennsylvania State University and a member of one of the advisory groups. “Where is the data? What are we actually considering?”

Goessling said she understands that school closures are a sensitive issue. But she worries that the district’s concern about how it presents information could undermine its ability to form useful partnerships.

“I have more confidence than I can contain about us solving this problem,” said Goessling. “But we are not looked at as resources. We are looked at as obstacles.”

Mayor Cherelle Parker has also missed her own related deadlines. In December, Parker announced her administration would convene a committee of elected officials and labor and business representatives to review the district’s planning process. Parker said that committee would be formally introduced last winter. But today, no such committee exists.

The city’s Deputy Chief Education Officer Sharon Ward said in an email that Parker is “finalizing the membership list and intends to announce the group soon.”

The district has now begun gathering advisory group members in person at its headquarters.

Melanie Silva, a parent of a student at Rhawnhurst School who is also a member of the parent advisory group, attended the first round of those meetings on Monday. She said the meeting was the first time she saw preliminary data about potential schools that may be considered for closure or colocation. The district insisted information shared remain confidential.

Silva said it was useful to finally see some data, but it largely consisted of summary scores that rated the condition of buildings and the vulnerability of neighborhoods, without explaining what the scores were based on. It was the kind of information Silva thought the district would have prepared before starting its community engagement process.

To Silva, the experience leads to a bigger question about the district’s approach to potentially closing schools: “It’s like, do you want to be transparent or not?” she said. “Do you want people to know or not?”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia Board of Education approves city’s first new charter school since 2018

2025-05-29T21:39:42+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia Board of Education voted Thursday to approve the city’s first new charter school in nearly a decade.

At a tense board meeting in a packed room, board members said they were “obligated” to approve the Early College Charter School of Philadelphia — since the application met all of the standards set by the state charter school law. Still, several members expressed serious reservations about the new school’s impact on the district’s budget.

The board approved the school in an 8-1 vote. Early College Charter is the first new charter school the board has approved since it regained local control in 2018. The vote represents a turning point for education in Philadelphia and a big win for the city’s charter school community and its supporters, who have criticized the board’s resistance to new charters and other ways it’s approached the charter sector. Charter critics counter that the publicly funded and privately run schools have fallen far short of their promises to students.

The board previously rejected Early College Charter’s application in February. That decision drew the attention of elected officials and others who questioned the move. The group behind Early College Charter subsequently submitted a revised application before Thursday’s vote.

Board President Reginald Streater remained unsure about his vote until the last moment.

He ultimately voted to approve the application, but cautioned the school’s founders that he hoped this vote would be the “beginning of a constructive relationship” between the school and the district.

“You spoke of excellence,” Streater said to those in the room who applied to open Early College Charter. “Please prove it.”

Before casting his vote, Streater also said Pennsylvania’s charter school law does not address the complexities that the Philly school district is facing, including historic underfunding and a persistent teacher shortage.

More than a dozen charter advocates, parents, politicians, and community activists told board members the school is highly desired and would provide new opportunities for students in need.

“We know what we have submitted meets the intent of the law, and we’ve gone above and beyond what the application asks for,” said Keshema Davidson, who’s on tap to be Early College Charter’s CEO.

Board member Joyce Wilkerson was the lone no vote on Thursday. She said there are empty charter and district seats across the city, and that many schools lack certified special education teachers.

“It is inconceivable to me” that the board would vote to approve a new school amid the district’s “already stressed resources,” Wilkerson said.

The applicants behind Early College Charter say it would be Pennsylvania’s first open-enrollment middle and high school to focus on early college attainment. Students would graduate with a high school diploma, as well as some college credits or an industry-recognized certificate or both, according to the application.

The founders also say their proposed school is built on successful models in other states but has been meticulously tailored to Philly. They say the school would focus on educating underserved students, and that their vision adheres closely to the intended values of Pennsylvania’s charter school law.

But charter critics remained unconvinced on Thursday.

Robin Cooper, president of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, Teamsters Local 502, which represents school principals and other school officials, warned that the district has heard promises from charter school leaders before that “seemed too good to be true,” but that resulted in “carnage” for the district.

And LeShawna Coleman, chief of staff for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, also pointed to looming district school closures and teacher shortages, telling the board: “It is irresponsible and outrageous that this board would even contemplate authorizing any new charter.”

Early College Charter is now scheduled to open in the fall of 2026.

Critics say Philly’s charter sector rife with broken promises

In the leadup to Thursday’s meeting, one question loomed: If a charter school application meets all of the technical requirements of state law, are board members obligated to approve it, even if they have concerns about the impact on the district?

Thursday’s vote may have answered that question.

At their February meeting, board members said there was a lot to admire about the school’s application, only to reject it.

Before Thursday’s vote, Davidson and Anna Winter, who was also involved in Early College Charter’s application, told Chalkbeat that vote to reject the school’s application galvanized families, as well as political players from both sides of the aisle.

The district’s charter school office told board members Thursday that the school’s revised application addressed all of the concerns that had been raised with the original application.

Although Philly’s school board has not approved a new charter school since 2018 when it regained local control from the state, it has voted to renew charters and expand the number of seats at schools that were already operating.

In the intervening years, the charter sector has experienced scandals, poor academic performance reports, and broken promises. The aspirational Renaissance Charter turnaround program did not result in significant progress. And on the whole, student performance in charter schools is on par with student performance in traditional district schools.

District payments to charters also limit the district’s “ability to manage its expenses,” Fitch Ratings, a credit ratings agency, reported recently.

Since the district can’t raise tax revenue on its own, it has limited power to control its budget. One lever of local control that board members have exercised over the years is denying several charter school applications.

“In this time of uncertainty,” creating new charter schools would be “an imprudent risk for us to take,” Wilkerson said in February when she voted to reject Early College Charter’s application.

But some charters have stood out as models for citywide programs beloved by families and students. And thousands of Philadelphia families continue to enroll their children in charter schools.

Of the district’s roughly 198,300 total students, roughly 64,000 are enrolled in 81 brick-and-mortar charters, and another 14,250 are in cyber charters, according to the latest available district data.

Mayor Cherelle Parker hasn’t explicitly encouraged charter growth, but she has stated she wants to see an end to the “competition” between the school district and charters.

The school board is also revising its process for authorizing charter schools, through an initiative dubbed Project RiSE. The board approved a $300,000 contract with the National Charter Schools Institute on Thursday to “research charter authorizing best practices,” Streater said. But critics have claimed this process has largely taken place behind closed doors.

Some say innovation is crucial for Philadelphia education

Davidson and Winter cast themselves as atypical charter school founders.

They both served in administrative roles at Cristo Rey High School, a well-respected private Catholic school in the city, and don’t have extensive experience in the charter school world.

“We’re brand new, we have no baggage in this game,” Winter said in an interview.

Davidson said she and Winter felt “very strongly” that the school should operate as an open-enrollment public school with no selective criteria.

Philly already has a district school dedicated to programs in which students can earn associates degrees and professional certifications: Parkway Center City. But as a selective admissions school, not everyone gets in.

Early College Charter plans to use the city’s lottery application process for charter schools. But its backers say it will “focus its outreach, recruitment, and marketing” on reaching middle and high school students who live in 17 ZIP codes in which the average income for one adult with no children is below $46,363 before taxes, according to the application.

Davidson said for her and Winter, their intention is not to create a network of charter schools akin to Universal, ASPIRA, or KIPP, which have all been frequent targets of charter critics in Philadelphia.

“Our goal is to bring forth this one, high-quality school” that could serve as a blueprint for any traditional district schools, Davidson said.

Winter and Davidson said they empathize with the board’s position: they’re contemplating school closures while also being asked to approve a new school, but they still believe there is room for a collaborative relationship between Early College and both entities.

“We believe the bar should be very high, and that we should be held accountable to fulfilling the commitment we’re making to families,” Winter said.

Early College Charter’s application also shines a light on bigger questions for Philadelphia education, Winter said.

“Are we open for collaboration? Are we open for innovation? Are we ready to be at the table to talk about how we can improve and offer high-quality schools in our public district?” she said.

At one time, Philly had its own Innovation Network that produced district schools like SLA Beeber, Building 21, and The U School.

But that network no longer exists, district spokesperson Monique Braxton said.

That left Davidson and Winter with one option to open a new public school, they said: start a charter school.

Davidson said concerns about school closures and other budget worries are precisely why new public school models like Early College are needed to help families. She said Philadelphia parents and students should not simply be forced to wait for officials to improve the current system.

“Waiting while we fix things will mean that we have an entire generation of children that have not gotten access to a high-quality education,” Davidson said.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia school district paid $700,000 to alleged ‘bad actors’ posing as vendors

2025-05-22T16:39:54+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia School District fell victim to a $700,000 wire fraud scam last year, city and school leaders said Thursday. It is asking the state attorney general to investigate.

City Controller Christy Brady said that during the district’s annual audit, her office was informed that nearly $700,000 in payments made to vendors for flood damage repair and compensatory services for students with disabilities was instead diverted to the bank accounts of “malicious bad actors” rather than the contracted vendors.

“It appears the bad actors gained unauthorized access to the school district’s banking data or manipulated existing payment systems to send unauthorized funds to their own accounts,” Brady said at a press conference Thursday. “This was a cyberattack on the school district.”

Superintendent Tony Watlington said while the vendors did not receive their payments, the repair work and services owed to those students was provided.

Watlington said the district reported the fraud to the FBI and has since “implemented a number of measures to enhance internal controls,” but declined to provide more details because of the investigation.

Brady’s office discovered four instances of fraudulent payments to two vendors in 2024, she said. One payment was for over $563,000 for flood damage repair work and the other three were for a total of more than $126,000 for services for students with individualized education programs.

According to Brady, all district vendors are set up to receive paper checks as payment, but in the instance of these four payments, someone impersonating the vendors requested that money be sent electronically via an Automated Clearing House — or ACH — payment. The money never reached the actual vendors, Brady said.

In a statement after the press conference, district spokesperson Monique Braxton said “at no time was there reported compromise to either the District’s financial data system or the student data management system.”

Brady and Watlington appeared alongside City Councilmember and Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas on Thursday to emphasize that the city and district are seeking to recover those funds. They did not say when the vendors would be paid.

School districts across the country have been hit with wire fraud scams similar to what the Philly school district experienced in recent years. In many cases, districts have been unable to recover the money. However, in one Florida community, a school superintendent said 92% of stolen funds were recovered after someone impersonated a construction vendor and falsified bank account information.

While Brady said her office and the district are “committed to full transparency” on this issue, they did not identify specific vendors, financial institutions, or other details regarding the payments, saying “we do not want to compromise any ongoing investigations.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Pennsylvania Republicans resurrect school voucher plans as state budget talks heat up

2025-05-20T17:04:21+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

As Congress considers establishing a national school choice program, Pennsylvania Republicans are trying to revive plans for a statewide school voucher program.

State Rep. Martina White, who represents parts of Philadelphia, organized a Republican policy committee hearing on Monday to examine the School District of Philadelphia’s finances, staffing, and possible “waste, fraud, and abuse.” But no school district leaders were present at Monday’s hearing to answer lawmakers’ questions.

White and at least one fellow lawmaker said they came away from the hearing with a renewed belief that private school vouchers would benefit Philadelphia families who are unhappy with the condition and performance of their city schools. White told Chalkbeat on Monday that schools in her Northeast Philly neighborhood are overcrowded, and she would like to see “basically a school voucher” be made available to those parents “to be able to use that for the child to go to the school of their choice.”

Earlier this month, the state Senate education committee approved legislation to create a new voucher program called the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success — or PASS — Scholarship.

The bill would establish state-backed scholarship funds that eligible students could use to pay for tuition and fees for attendance at participating private schools. This year’s PASS legislation is nearly identical to last year’s proposal and very similar to a program called Lifeline Scholarships from two years ago.

Republicans’ support for private school vouchers is important because, as lawmakers decide on the state budget and how much money to provide public schools, state GOP leaders also say they are unconvinced that increasing funding to school districts will improve student outcomes. While Republicans control the Pennsylvania Senate, Democrats control the House.

When schools get more money, students tend to stay in school longer and score better on exams, according to a 2023 review of dozens of studies.

Vouchers have a questionable track record regarding their ability to improve student outcomes. But private school choice programs have proliferated at the state level in recent years. President Donald Trump supports vouchers. And a Republican budget bill in Congress would establish $5 billion in annual tax credits to fund private school scholarships, although the future of that provision of the bill is also unclear.

Pennsylvania Republicans have tried but failed for years to create a new voucher program at the state level. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, at one time supported legislation to establish vouchers, but he subsequently backed off that position and vetoed the Lifeline Scholarships proposal in 2023. State Sen. Anthony Williams, a Philadelphia Democrat, has also supported state GOP voucher proposals, including this year’s PASS legislation.

Pennsylvania already has two programs that use tax credits to fund scholarships: the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit and the Education Improvement Tax Credit.

Philadelphia school leaders say district needs more funding

The Pennsylvania House policy committee, which White convened Monday to discuss Philly schools, has no legislative or administrative power over the school district. But White said what she and other lawmakers need to see in Philly are “real results for kids and families.”

Though White said school district representatives were invited to the hearing, none were available to answer lawmakers’ questions in person and submitted written testimony instead.

Superintendent Tony Watlington and Board of Education President Reginald Streater wrote in their testimony that the district has made “significant” progress improving student attendance, decreasing the number of students who have dropped out, improving third graders’ reading scores, as well as students passing their career and technical exams.

They also wrote that the district has “stabilized its finances,” received a positive credit rating affirmation, and are in need of more funding — which state lawmakers are in a position to provide or withhold.

“Despite making academic gains and appropriately managing our finances, decades of chronic underfunding continues to be a critical challenge for the district,” Watlington and Streater wrote.

White expressed disappointment that no district officials appeared in person to testify. District spokesperson Monique Braxton said in a Monday email that officials have invited White to meet with district leaders.

The policy committee did hear testimony from one Philadelphia parent as well as Christian Barnard, a policy analyst with the libertarian Reason Foundation think tank who criticized the district in several ways.

For example, Barnard (and White) said they were unhappy with the level of fiscal transparency publicly available for individual schools. However, school-level budgets are on the district’s website and include line-item descriptions of funding allotments for staff, extracurriculars, special education, and more.

Barnard also said the district is being inefficient by not reapportioning staff to account for school enrollment changes. Though the district recently ended the controversial practice of reassigning teachers once the school year has begun, Braxton said that staff are still moved around according to school needs and budgets. And Barnard said he was “skeptical” about the district’s assertion that it is underfunded, a claim backed up by a Commonwealth Court judge’s 2023 opinion that found the state system of funding schools was unconstitutional.

The Philly district, which is facing a growing annual deficit, is also undertaking a “rightsizing” process that the school board has warned will likely result in some school closures, colocations, or repurposing buildings.

Ultimately. White said the district is working through its challenges, but she would like to see the district embrace more choice for families — starting with approving additional charter school proposals or seat expansions. The school board has not approved a new charter school since 2018 but it has added more than 2,000 charter seats over the same period of time.

White also said that lawmakers “need to know that taxpayer funds are not being wasted or misallocated.”

She said she hopes to collaborate on that effort with the school district and bring that message to the state capitol.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia City Council president proposes early childhood task force as workers seek higher wages

2025-05-12T20:39:46+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Hundreds of Philadelphians rallied at City Hall on Monday demanding more support for what they say is an understaffed, underresourced, and underappreciated field: Early childhood education.

“We are the people raising your kids,” said Tyrone Scott, director of government and external affairs at First Up, an early childhood advocacy group. “Acknowledge us.”

Scott spoke about the challenges for early childhood education as part of the national Day Without Childcare protests. Child care centers in Philly have experienced severe staffing shortages and rising costs in recent years. That’s led to classroom closures and other strains that have restricted families’ access to free public pre-K seats and child care opportunities.

Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, who has used child care services for his two children and spoke at the event, pledged to launch a city task force to figure out how to make child care workers the “number one priority” in the city.

“Our teachers, our workers that come day in and day out, you deserve a high-quality raise. You deserve high-quality benefits,” Johnson told the crowd. “If we can provide subsidies and support for big time developers … then surely we can find ways to support what I believe is the most essential service here in the city of Philadelphia, that’s early childhood development.”

Though Johnson did not lay out how the task force would work, speakers at Monday’s rally said they’ll hold their elected officials to that promise.

To create such a task force, Johnson will need to draft and introduce a resolution laying out what it would do before bringing the measure to fellow council members for a vote.

Johnson wants to put the resolution to a vote before his colleagues leave for summer recess on June 12, said Vincent Thompson, Johnson’s communications director. If it passes, Johnson would then have to appoint people to the group. The soonest the task force could start work would be late summer or early fall.

Early childhood advocates like Scott are also asking Pennsylvania lawmakers to support Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed $55 million for child care workforce recruitment and retention grants that would raise wages for child care workers by about $1,000 per employee.

But state budget negotiations are tense. And Shapiro’s plan is just a start, Scott said. His group estimates that early childhood teachers in most Pennsylvania counties will need at least $5,000 more to earn a living wage.

In Philadelphia County, the estimated full-time hourly rate for these teachers as of 2021 was $14.37 for annual earnings of $29,884.

Philadelphians gathered at City Hall for the national "day without childcare."

Last year, Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker added signing and retention bonuses for some early childhood teachers, but those in the workforce said they need more significant wage increases.

Lisa Burden, administrative director at Your Child’s World child care center, said costs to run a high-quality center are rising. She said many of her teachers rely on federal food benefits and other forms of government assistance to remain in their jobs because they love their work. But she’s lost staff to higher paying jobs at fast food restaurants and retail stores.

“We need more money, not only in order to pay our bills, but also to pay our staff,” Burden said. “There’s a lot of children now with special needs, and because of that, we need more teachers in every classroom.”

Erica Fitzgerald, an educator at Lovie Lee’s Stars of Tomorrow child care center, said “temporary” fixes like grants and bonuses may be nice, but they are no substitute for long-term, sustained wage increases.

“It’s time to stand on business,” she said. “We want stable wages.”

Sharmaine Wims used a day off from work to come to Monday’s rally with her grandson Zah-Fir.

Zah-Fir can be “all over the place” and is learning to manage his emotions, said Wims. Wims’ son, Zah-Fir’s father, was murdered when Zah-Fir was two months old and she’s since had to take care of him, she said.

Wims said Zah-Fir’s early childhood teachers at Whiz Kidz Developmental and Early Learning Academy have been crucial partners in helping her support him and her other grandchildren while she works to earn money for the family.

“It’s horrible, they get paid nothing,” Wims said of Zah-Fir’s educators. “My grandson has learned so much. They’re not babysitting him. He’s [practically] in school.”

Wims said she’s tired of hearing “all these words” from elected officials about how valuable early childhood educators are. She wants to see wages rise for the people who care for her grandson.

“I can’t imagine them not being there,” Wims said.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia tutoring program focused on student literacy cut by DOGE

2025-05-06T19:20:34+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Tyreek Wiggins struggled to read anything longer than three-letter words at the start of this school year.

But with the help of his Joyful Readers tutor Kirra Silver, Tyreek — a third grader at Philadelphia’s Mastery Prep Elementary Charter School — quickly began gaining confidence.

He mastered the challenging and sometimes conflicting “z” and “s” sounds and jumped six units ahead in his studies. Last week, dressed in a sharp grey suit and classic black fedora, Tyreek accepted a 2025 Young Reader of the Year award from the tutoring program to mark his accomplishments.

He held his trophy high to a cheering crowd and triumphantly announced: “Reading is not my best skill, but I am improving.”

Not long before that ceremony, however, David Weinstein, the founder of the Joyful Readers program, got some much less uplifting news. The group’s grant would be terminated effective immediately as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to AmeriCorps through the U.S. DOGE Service.

Joyful Readers is one of the 28 AmeriCorps programs across Pennsylvania that has been gutted by DOGE. While tutors will finish out this school year, its future is now uncertain. Cuts to AmeriCorps have also affected student tutoring programs elsewhere.

Weinstein, a former AmeriCorps member who spent his first year of service at Kensington High School, said the order ending the grants came from DOGE, which stands for Department of Government Efficiency and is led by business executive Elon Musk. The order stated that the work Joyful Readers was doing no longer matches the federal government’s priorities.

The anger and sadness came immediately, Weinstein said in an interview with Chalkbeat.

“Since when is teaching kids to read not a national priority?” Weinstein said.

AmeriCorps, created by Congress in 1993, pays young people a small stipend and some money to help offset the cost of a college degree to spend a year working full-time on community service projects. Every year, more than 200,000 AmeriCorps volunteers and workers nationwide work on disaster relief efforts, educational programs like tutoring, environmental stewardship, community health programs, and services for military veterans.

In Philadelphia, AmeriCorps members work with the school district to provide computer science tutoring and mentoring, arts education, academic instruction, social-emotional support, and more to thousands of students through programs like Joyful Readers, City Year, ArtistYear, and Teach For America (TFA).

But in April, federal government representatives informed these program leaders and the state agencies that disburse their grants that some $400 million in contracts would be cancelled across the country — $6 million of that was designated for Pennsylvania

For Weinstein, that would have meant sending a late-night email or making a phone call to his 50 tutors to tell them not to show up to school the next day. Those tutors who told their students “yes you’re going to see me at the next session” would have had to “break that promise,” Weinstein said. And 1,000 Philly kids like Tyreek would have been left to wonder what happened.

Weinstein said he avoided all of that by pulling together enough funding for his tutors to finish the school year.

Weinstein said the program’s grant this year was for some $833,500. As part of the AmeriCorps program, Joyful Readers was required to find matching funds from the Philadelphia community. They applied for an expanded grant next year to support up to 75 AmeriCorps members, but Weinstein said he hasn’t heard back yet.

“It’s hard to imagine we’d receive that grant,” Weinstein said.

Lawsuits say gutting AmeriCorps will have ‘irreparable’ impacts

Weinstein said he’s managed to keep the program afloat for the time being, but he’s eagerly awaiting the results of legal challenges to the AmeriCorps cuts.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed on to a multistate lawsuit alleging the Trump administration’s “abrupt decision to dismantle AmeriCorps flouts Congress’s creation” of the agency and “usurps Congress’s power of the purse and thereby violates the Constitution’s separation of powers.”

“The gutting of AmeriCorps will inflict immediate and irreparable harms on the Plaintiff States, their residents, and the public at large,” the suit says.

According to the complaint, more than 7,700 K-12 students in the Philadelphia area have an AmeriCorps teacher.

Education advocacy groups, community organizations, and the AmeriCorps Employees Union AFSCME Local 2027 have also filed their own suit challenging the cuts.

Without the services provided by AmeriCorps, the teacher shortage in the city would get worse, said Anna Shurak, executive director of Teach For America Philadelphia.

This school year, 120 out of more than 300 vacant positions were ultimately filled by TFA educators. More than 400 TFA alumni work as teachers in Philadelphia classrooms. And nearly 10% of all Philadelphia principals are TFA alumni, Shurak said.

“At a time when teachers are needed more than ever, Teach for America plays the vital role of having folks coming in that are committed, that are interested, that are focused on our students,” Shurak said.

If the AmeriCorps cuts stand, Shurak said, it will not only rip educators away from their classrooms but hamper TFA’s ability to recruit young people into the teacher pipeline — a process that was already strained in the years following the pandemic.

For Philly school leaders, the chaos and uncertainty of the Trump administration’s cuts to education programs has been “consuming,” Lewis Elkin Elementary School Principal Charlotte Gillum said in an interview.

One of Gillum’s students, second grader Saarenn Roberts, also won a Joyful Readers Young Reader of the Year award this year.

While the school works with a variety of programs to meet the needs of their students, Joyful Readers is a standout, Gillum said. She said the tutors work on self-confidence and “make the students believe in themselves” while also working to improve reading skills.

It’s “that mix that allows students to know they can stumble and they can be OK and keep trying,” Gillum said, which delivers real results for her students.

“It is disappointing that there is an attack on education that is going to potentially rob us of that,” Gillum said.

Juny Ardon, Saarenn’s Joyful Readers tutor, said at the awards ceremony that to help elementary school students with reading, “you need more than just methods and strategies. You need heart and humanity.”

Autumn Taylor and her tutor Fionna Farrell celebrate Autumn's Young Reader of the Year award.

Lakia Cintron, whose daughter Autumn Taylor won a Joyful Readers award, said she’s seen Autumn’s reading improve significantly but she’s also “improved as a person as well.” Cintron said, “she’s elevating.”

Tyreek’s tutor Kirra Silver said she’s disappointed the federal government is targeting programs like Joyful Readers.

The more that students and children have access to programs like Joyful Readers, “the better it will be for our society,” Silver said.

Silver’s advice to parents and caregivers if Joyful Readers ends?

“Read to your kids as much as possible, uplift them, tell them it is OK to make mistakes as long as you’re trying,” Silver said.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect more precise teacher vacancy figures from Teach For America.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Broken sinks, rodents, mysterious dripping liquid: Philly students want their schools fixed

2025-04-24T19:02:57+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

A group of seniors at the Academy at Palumbo High School in South Philly was so fed up with their deteriorating building that they decided to investigate.

They started documenting their “grimy” unusable bathrooms, the stifling heat and humidity in the gym and lunchroom, the peeling paint, rodent sightings, and mysterious liquid dripping from classroom ceilings.

They also documented what their peers around the city thought. As part of advocacy group Generation Citizen’s civics day earlier this month, the Palumbo students surveyed their classmates and students across the district asking for their experience with school conditions. What they found disappointed them: More than 77% of the 200 respondents said they noticed maintenance issues at their schools, and nearly 68% rated the conditions of their bathrooms a two out of five — or worse.

Such responses were consistent across schools, they said, including at coveted magnets like Central High School. The students said they intend to bring these concerns to the district and school board at their action meeting on Thursday.

Palumbo students say their bathroom conditions are "grimy."

The district is undergoing a facilities planning process to overhaul its buildings with the hope of improving some of these conditions for students in the years to come. But that process isn’t moving fast enough for the thousands of Philly students who say their learning conditions now aren’t setting them up for academic success.

Palumbo’s building was constructed in 1930, and the students there now said they can tell.

Student Kimora Kelly said it makes her “miserable” to feel like their building isn’t receiving appropriate funding, resources, and care.

“We see our school, and then compare [it to] other suburban schools. Their schools are so much cleaner, look more fresh. It looks like a better environment to actually learn,” Palumbo senior Kian Lieu told Chalkbeat.

Lieu’s cousin attends one of those suburban schools where “the paint is white instead of yellow,” he said.

“This environment doesn’t make you want to come to school,” Lieu said. “We are grateful for what we have, but you know, things can always be better.”

Philly students, educators, and school staff have been telling the district about their poor bathroom conditions and insufficient ventilation, heating, and cooling for years. The average age of a Philly public school building is around 73 years old. But some, like Palumbo, have been around for nearly a century or longer.

At several student-focused community meetings this past winter, young people told district officials about dirty bathrooms, rats, overcrowding, and a general feeling of neglect.

“A lot of the people who are responsible for our buildings haven’t been in one,” or spent sufficient time in them like the students and staff have, said Palumbo student Gretta Rogan. “We joke about inviting [elected officials] here and giving them lots of water and then letting them see the bathrooms for themselves.”

While there was toilet paper in these bathroom stalls, Palumbo students say often by the end of the month, there isn't enough.

As of 2023, there were some 2,000 bathrooms spread across Philadelphia’s 218 district school buildings, yet the district only employed eight plumbers, according to district data. In the 2022-23 school year, district officials told school board members that it takes some 50 days for bathroom repairs to be completed.

According to district spokesperson Christina Clark, the district now employs 10 plumbers in addition to outside contractors.

Clark said in an email that the district launched a “restroom task force” in January and will report data from that task force in July. She also said officials have “streamlined the work order process” and improved internal forms and systems to “ensure faster response times.”

“Preliminary data from the current school year shows that repair timelines have improved, with average turnaround times decreasing in many schools,” Clark said. “We continue to monitor progress closely and are committed to both improving infrastructure and communicating more clearly with our school communities about timelines and expectations. We are determined to provide our students with clean, safe, and functional spaces.”

Student waits to leave school before using bathroom

On the day Chalkbeat visited Palumbo in April, several bathroom sinks were out of order, and while most stalls had some toilet paper, “most of the time they don’t,” Kelly said. The doors don’t consistently close or lock and long waiting lines between classes can make students late.

“I just wait until I go home to use the bathroom” Kelly said.

When sinks don't work, Palumbo students say they have to wait in long lines to wash their hands, delaying their return to class.

The second floor gym has a different problem. “You have no air, the windows don’t open, so you’re just sitting there sweating in this hot room” Kelly said. “With no air, what am I supposed to do? Just pass out?”

For their investigation, the Palumbo seniors also spoke with a member of their custodial staff who told them cleaning supplies and toilet paper are often in short supply. While they try their best to keep the school clean, janitorial workers told the students there’s only so much they can do without closing the school entirely to upgrade bathrooms and fix electrical issues.

What their schools and the district need is more funding and better systems to allocate it, the students said. A Commonwealth Court Judge ruled in 2023 that Pennsylvania’s school funding process was unconstitutional, shortchanging districts like Philly and exacerbating many of these building challenges.

As the city and state continue to shape their budgets this summer, Palumbo students said adding funding for school facilities is nonnegotiable.

Without repairs, the decrepit building conditions will continue to affect the way students feel about their schools, their ability to learn, and could even drive enrollment down, the Palumbo students said.

A few months ago, student Kayla Howard said Palumbo — which is a selective admissions magnet school — hosted an open house to court prospective families.

Seeing their faces as they took in the “dirty, dull” floors and walls, Howard said, was “sort of embarrassing for our image, and also just our reputation as a whole.”

The Palumbo students said as part of their project, they wanted to think about possible solutions. They highlighted the city’s Whole Home Repair program which provides funding to low-income homeowners to fix roofs, electrical systems, heating and cooling issues, and more.

Could something like that work for schools? The students think it could be worth a shot.

“We have the bare essentials to be in a school,” student Emily Alava said, “but the effort isn’t put there to make us enjoy being in school.”

This story has been updated to include a response from the School District of Philadelphia.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

This Philly principal overcame bullying and wants to create a safe haven for her students

2025-04-24T10:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

There’s nothing Philadelphia Principal Nichole Polk dislikes more than a blank, beige wall.

One of her first priorities when she became principal of North Philly’s Potter-Thomas School in 2019 was to fill her hallways with vibrant colors, positive affirmations (”be kind — all are welcome here”), and towering murals of basketballs, paint tubes, open books, and chemistry flasks.

Polk said she wanted every student and every staff member to get excited about being in the building. Because growing up in Philly, Polk’s own school experience did not make her feel welcome.

Polk said she was made fun of by her classmates and teacher when she developed a stutter in fifth grade. She became terrified to speak and withdrew within herself, suffocating the part of her that liked to pull pranks on her younger sisters and joke around with her friends.

“I didn’t necessarily want to be there, but I knew that I had to be,” Polk said of her time in school. Her mom, Alfreda, placed a lot of importance on all three of her daughters getting a good education and insisted that Polk be held back a year to get speech services.

“I really didn’t see myself going to college, because my relationship with school wasn’t good,” she said.

Potter-Thomas School Principal Nichole Polk wanted to cover her beige school walls with colorful murals and positive messages.

Prior to becoming an educator, Polk tried out nursing, did a stint at TV Guide, and held other odd jobs around the city. It wasn’t until she had her first daughter that something clicked: “I need a life with purpose, because now I’m about to be a mom.” she said.

She found her way back to education as a therapeutic support staff member working with an eighth grader at another district school. It was there that Polk said she noticed some of the same behaviors from students and teachers that so upset her during her own time in school.

“I was like, wow, this is not good for these children,” she said.

From there, Polk became a literacy intern teacher, then a classroom teacher, school-based teacher leader, assistant principal, and eventually took her place at the helm of Potter-Thomas as principal.

Now, she said her goal is to create a safe haven for all her students, more than 100 of whom are learning English and may need extra support to speak up for themselves, just like she did.

Her work earned her a coveted Lindback Distinguished Principal Award this year, and the honor came with $20,000 to be used for her school community.

Among Polk’s favorite phrases on her school walls is one about embracing the “power of yet” and the bright future that she said all of her students (and staff members) contain within them.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What was your own experience with school growing up in Philly?

I never saw myself as an educator because of my own educational journey, it wasn’t a good one. It was good up until fifth grade. In fifth grade I developed a stutter. Back then, we did round-robin reading, and just knowing that my turn was coming up — I knew that the anxiety makes my stutter more challenging. No matter how much I try to prepare, I would stutter. I was made fun of, unfortunately, by my classmates and my teacher, and it silenced me for the year. I just showed up to school every day and didn’t say anything. I didn’t participate. No one came over to me to say, “Hey, is everything okay?”

I got F’s all the way through, and when it was time for promotion, my mom said, “Absolutely not.” I was left back. My mom got me speech [therapy]. I stayed in speech up until about 10th, 11th grade. I learned how to [emotionally] regulate, and I was also becoming more secure in myself — that made it a little easier dealing with the stutter.

I always felt like my mother, my parents, kept me safe and that I could go to them, but at the same time, I didn’t know how to articulate that and bring that to her to say, “Mom, I’m going to school and not talking because the teacher is making fun of me.”

Adults are supposed to make me feel loved, and like this is a safe environment for me. So how can I say this is not safe? I was really confused.

One of Potter-Thomas school's mottos is "we achieve as one team, one goal, no excuses."

How do you think your experience with school impacted the leader you are now?

Looking back on it, it was unfortunate, but it was such a blessing because without the experience, I wouldn’t be where I am right now.

My leadership “why” is to ensure that every staff member, student, parent, and community member who comes in this building feels safe, loved, and is always learning.

To have a growth mindset, I have to feel safe and loved in the space in order to do that, and I have to feel safe within myself. Once that happens, it’s like the sky’s the limit.

I have seen children coming into school for the first time or coming into Potter-Thomas for the first time and not knowing that this is a safe space. Because they think, “Hey, I don’t know you. You don’t know me. I need more than a hug on this first time to know that I feel loved and feel safe.” At first, they’re going against, they’re crying. They don’t want to be here. Then, as they see what our school is about, it’s like wow, look at them. It’s a beautiful thing.

We also love up on our teachers in the same way. I’m still learning and growing. I also show up as an example to say, “I’m here to coach you, but here, this coach is here to coach me because I’m learning and growing, too.” You’re not going to be ridiculed for not knowing. You’re not going to be looked down upon for not knowing. You’re going to be supported through not knowing until you know.

Is there anything in the outside community that impacts what goes on at Potter-Thomas?

For a brief moment, the ICE situation had impacted us. Students and families were afraid. Families were afraid to send their students to school. They were afraid to walk them to school because they didn’t know what was going to happen when they got here. Fortunately, that has subsided.

Our parents sometimes have bad experiences too. So we love up on them consistently, so they can drop their barriers and know that this is a safe space for their children and also for them.

Although there is a lot going on out there, we have come a long way for our community to see that that’s out there, but in here, it’s something different. It’s a haven.

What’s the best advice you’ve received?

Be self-reflective. That is very important and is something I do every day, because it keeps me grounded. It also keeps pushing me to learn and grow. One of the best ways to self-improve is to make the decision. If it’s good, you can learn from that. Taking that chance, being a risk-taker, by making the decision and having a good turnout, that’s great. On the flip side, if it didn’t work out, what do you need to do to make it better?

You can go back and forth, you can think the worst, you can even go around calling a bunch of people for feedback, but it’s like, just do it. You’ll be proud of yourself afterwards.

What advice would you give to your younger self in school if you could?

I wonder if I would have known that I was enough earlier on and that I did deserve a seat at the table, what I would’ve realized about my fifth grade experience. Would I have shared what was going on?

Life, we’re living it, so as you continue to move and grow in your journey, how can you do things differently, and then how can you support others along the way?

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Pennsylvania GOP to hold hearing on ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’ in Philly schools

2025-04-18T18:49:14+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Pennsylvania Republicans plan to hold a hearing about purported “waste, fraud, and abuse” in the School District of Philadelphia, but made no specific allegations in their announcement.

Meanwhile, district leaders say they’ve been responsible with taxpayer money.

State Rep. Martina White, who represents parts of Philadelphia, issued a notice this week that on May 19, the House Republican Policy Committee will be hosting a hearing aimed at investigating the district and “uncovering solutions that prioritize the success of our children.”

White is also urging people to report any “mismanagement, waste, or abuse” within the district as well as any “ideas to improve schools, reduce inefficiencies, or enhance student outcomes,” via a website titled: “School District of Philadelphia Oversight.”

The issue of government waste and inefficiency has received unprecedented attention recently, due in large part to the Trump administration’s U.S. DOGE Service led by Elon Musk. The Trump administration, Musk, and DOGE — which stands for Department of Government Efficiency — have cited waste, fraud, and abuse to justify cutting programs for students with disabilities, teacher training grants, and the entire Philly division of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. But what exactly that phrase entails is the subject of intense dispute.

“Over the years, parents, students, educators, and community members have witnessed or experienced firsthand the challenges within the School District of Philadelphia,” wrote White, who did not mention DOGE in an April email obtained by Chalkbeat. “From waste and mismanagement of resources to fraud and systemic abuse, these issues have not only hindered progress but have also led many families to seek alternatives for their children’s education.”

Superintendent Tony Watlington has said repeatedly that the district under his leadership has been a “good steward” of state and city funding. Watlington’s refrain this year has been that student attendance is up, the four-year graduation rate is up, the dropout rate is down, the district’s credit rating has improved, and some standardized test scores are improving.

Still, Watlington told reporters at a recent budget briefing that due to decades of court-determined underfunding and the end of pandemic relief aid, the district is facing a growing annual deficit. Philly schools are also undergoing a facilities “rightsizing” process that the school board has warned will likely result in some school closures, colocations, or repurposing.

A spokesperson for the Philly school district said Friday that Watlington and other district leaders would respond “in a timely manner” if state lawmakers reach out to them about the hearing.

White has previously been critical of the district’s handling of overcrowding in the Northeast section of the city. She has also pushed for spending increases for school choice programs in the state.

Some progressive advocates have questioned the district’s spending on outside contractors in recent years. And city lawmakers have pushed the district for more transparency around the costs associated with the district’s teacher discipline process. Many charter school advocates have also alleged the district’s charter school approval process is inefficient and flawed.

White’s office said she was unavailable for comment Friday.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Teacher ‘rubber room’ hearings called off by Philadelphia City Council after officials cite progress

2025-04-15T20:27:36+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The chair of the City Council Education Committee has called off plans for public hearings on a controversial teacher discipline process in the Philadelphia school district, following what officials say is significant progress for the system’s efficiency.

The hearings would have focused on what’s formally called the reassignment room — but what’s commonly called the “rubber room” — for teachers accused of misconduct. Last year, Isaiah Thomas, the committee chair, said his concerns about the lack of transparency and costs related to the rubber room led him to request hearings about the process.

But at a joint press conference with Superintendent Tony Watlington on Tuesday, Thomas said he’s satisfied with how it’s changing and no longer thinks hearings are necessary, at least for now.

The rubber room is in fact a series of windowless rooms at the school district’s headquarters. Teachers who have been accused of misconduct are removed from their classrooms by the district and assigned to these rooms while the district investigates their cases. While they wait, teachers have reported catching up on reading, pursuing professional development opportunities, exercising, napping, or scrolling social media.

The first part of those investigations is supposed to take anywhere from 60 to 90 days, depending on the nature of the accusations, according to district policy. But some educators have claimed their investigations have dragged on for months or years with no resolution while teachers collect full pay.

There are some 75 people currently in the rubber room according to district spokespeople. That number is down from 84 in July 2024. Watlington said Tuesday the number is “fluid” as people move in and out of reassignment.

Watlington said at Tuesday’s press conference that the district has “overhauled” parts of its investigation process and has been able to clear 87% of the backlogged cases since July 2024 — ones that have been open for longer than the 60- to 90-day window. Of the 46 backlogged cases from last year, the district said it reduced those to six by January 2025.

District staff are more closely tracking the timelines of these cases, working with a new case management system, and are improving their transparency and communication with teachers in the rubber room, Watlington said.

“We’ve had a number of cases where individuals have been in that reassignment room process well beyond 90 days, and some were quite egregious,” Watlington said. “We’ve taken steps to clean all of that up.”

While most of the policies and practices that have allowed the district to clear many of those backlogged cases are not new, the district is now doing a “better job at adhering to them and having expectations that follow our policy procedures,” Watlington said.

Thomas said he was pleased with how the process has changed.

“We already see the difference,” Thomas said. “We already see more timely investigations. We see that it’s become more efficient.”

Still, both Watlington and Thomas said more work needs to be done to further improve the process. Watlington also confirmed that the district’s inspector general has been looking into the rubber room.

Thomas said Tuesday teachers in the rubber room have complained about a lack of communication regarding their cases, and that they often don’t know what they are accused of or how long they would be removed from their classrooms. Educators have reported feeling like they are in jail when sent to the rubber room.

Watlington said Tuesday the district has not hired any new staff to help work through the backlogged cases but is looking to fill two administrative roles to oversee the investigation process. The district currently has five people — including supervisors — responsible for investigating cases of teachers in the rubber room, Watlington said.

One of Thomas’ key reasons for demanding public hearings on the issue last year was to assess “how much money we’re wasting” by paying teachers’ full salary and benefits while they are in the rubber room while also paying substitutes to cover their classes.

Thomas said Tuesday it is “especially important to members of City Council” that the district work to improve their processes before seeking more funding.

Watlington said the district is analyzing how much the current process is costing the district but did not have a cost estimate available on Tuesday.

“I do not believe that every problem can be solved by more money and more people,” Watlington said.

Still, Thomas said he and his staff have talked to teachers in the rubber room and though they said they are “not necessarily satisfied” with their situations, they are “happy to see the progress that’s been made.”

The City Council had not put the planned hearings on its calendar before Tuesday.

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers also said there is much more the district should be doing to reinstate teachers who are not found guilty of wrongdoing.

“Amid a district-wide staffing shortage, the absence of just one educator from our classrooms is one too many — especially in light of the fact that a majority of staff are eventually cleared of any misconduct,” said PFT President Arthur Steinberg in a Tuesday statement. “Even staff who are cleared are not returned to classrooms right away due to bureaucratic inefficiencies within the administration.”

For now however, Thomas said he will not be calling for hearings — “unless I change my mind.”

This story has been updated to amend the number of people currently in the rubber room upon receiving new information from the school district.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Pennsylvania says schools already comply with civil rights laws and are not ordered to scrap DEI

2025-04-09T23:11:12+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Pennsylvania’s deputy education chief said Wednesday the state is already in compliance with civil rights laws and is signaling the state will not order schools to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as President Trump’s administration has demanded.

U.S. Department of Education officials last week directed state education commissioners to certify they have eliminated DEI programs, which the administration considers illegal. Without that certification, states would lose federal funding — specifically Title I funds designated for high-poverty districts including Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania’s Executive Deputy Secretary of Education Angela Fitterer wrote in a letter Wednesday that the state Department of Education “certifies that it has and will continue to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” which bars discrimination based on race, national origin, or shared ancestry in programs that receive federal funding. Fitterer also wrote that the department has “confirmed that it adheres to all applicable laws providing for equal access and participation to all persons.”

The letter “affirms” that all of Pennsylvania’s school districts “have previously certified, on multiple occasions, that they comply and will continue to comply with Title VI.”

Fitterer’s letter is not as forceful a refusal to comply as neighboring New York issued last Friday, but it does signal that Pennsylvania will not be instructing schools and districts to end DEI programs as the Trump administration required.

Meanwhile, the Indiana Department of Education said Wednesday it will abide by the Trump administration directive and intends to collect signed forms from schools and districts certifying that they do not use or promote DEI.

The U.S. DOE’s order has drawn a line in the sand for local education agencies: Bow to the Trump administration’s efforts to strike all programs concerning racism and inequity in schools, or risk losing a massive chunk of federal funding. When he took office, Trump signed an executive order threatening to withhold federal funding from schools that he said were promoting “discriminatory equity ideology.”

In an accompanying letter to school districts on Wednesday, Pennsylvania’s Acting Secretary of Education Carrie Rowe told district leaders “no further action is required” by them at this time because the Trump administration did not define what would be considered “illegal DEI.”

Rowe wrote, “there are no federal or state laws generally prohibiting efforts relating to diversity, equity, or inclusion” and the U.S. Department of Education lacks sufficient authority to change grant terms without a formal administrative process.

“As an agency with delegated authority,” Rowe said that the Education Department “cannot make improvisatory changes to legal assurances and impose new requirements on recipients without adhering to rulemaking procedures, nor can it alter substantive federal law by administrative fiat.”

Illinois’ school chief similarly pushed back against the order on the same grounds Wednesday, challenging the Trump administration to outline which programs and activities violate federal civil rights law.

Federal education aid accounts for about 10% of the Philly school district’s budget of more than $4.5 billion. Diversity, equity, and antiracism are cornerstone issues for the district — they are woven throughout Superintendent Tony Watlington’s five-year strategic plan and are embedded in the district’s curriculum and professional development strategies.

A decade ago, Philadelphia became the first major city in the country to mandate that all students take an African American history course to fulfill graduation requirements. Nearly half of the district’s enrolled students (49%) are Black.

Spokespeople for the School District of Philadelphia and the Board of Education did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment about the state’s letter.

“At PDE, we are focused on supporting Pennsylvania schools and ensuring that all Pennsylvania learners have the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed,” said Erin James, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Education in a statement Wednesday. “Regardless of changes taking place at the federal level, the [Gov. Josh] Shapiro Administration will continue to do everything in our power to support Pennsylvania learners, educators, and schools.”

Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, senior attorney at the Public Interest Law Center, said Wednesday “the right to an education free from discrimination does not owe its power to an election, but rather to legislation and the state and federal constitutions.”

He added “tomorrow, like yesterday, Pennsylvania schools will open their doors to serve, nurture, and challenge every child from every background. What PDE is relaying, in understated terms, is that no fiat can change that profound responsibility and opportunity.”

Update: This story has been updated to include information from a letter sent to Pennsylvania school districts and a similar letter issued by the Illinois state superintendent.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia school district’s free summer programs are expanding

2025-04-08T20:10:37+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Two thousand more students will be able to participate in the Philadelphia School District’s free summer programs this year, but looming budget deficits and threats to federal funding may put those programs at risk.

Starting in June, some 25,000 students from all grade levels will get the chance to spend their summer learning to weld, launching a small business, playing in a drumline or citywide orchestra, attending summer camp, or brushing up on their academics.

In total, the programs will operate in 135 schools across the city — but spots are limited. And even though the district is expecting to serve two thousand more students this summer than last year, that’s a fraction of the nearly 118,000 students the district educates.

Families can sign their kids up for the free summer programs here.

The district is also facing ongoing threats to federal funding from the Trump administration, the end of pandemic relief money that supported many of these summer programs, and a looming budget deficit.

For now, Superintendent Tony Watlington said the district has the funding and is prioritizing its summer offerings as a way to bolster student learning and improve upon the slight academic gains made recently.

“This district has done a really good job of managing its fiscal health,” Watlington said at a press event at Thomas Edison High School Tuesday. “While there are some districts that are suffering this summer with their summer programming, we’re not one of them, because we’ve been good stewards of the public tax dollars.”

Thomas Edison High School principal Lillian Izzard, right, said her school's summer programs provide a safe and structured environment for young people during this summer.

Edison Principal Lilian Izzard said summer career and technical programs like the welding class offered at her school are “invaluable for students” as a way to try something new. They also offer students the opportunity “to see themselves in a high school setting like Edison, to see if this school could be a good fit for their high school journey.”

Barry Pearl, a longtime welding educator at Edison, said he’s excited to work with his students this summer. Last summer, they made metal roses. And during the school year, students have taken on practical work like making height adjustments to metal chairs, as well as working on perfecting their technical skills.

Pearl said some of his students are natural welders, and he finds meaning in helping them advance their skills and set them on a path to a job that pays well.

“Last year was the first year, and it really took off,” Pearl said of the summer welding program. “I’ve been doing this for 40 years, and it’s just amazing.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Trump DEI threat endangers 10% of Philadelphia schools budget

2025-04-04T21:15:09+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia school district is at risk of losing a tenth of its overall budget due to a Trump administration threat to strip federal funding from states that don’t publicly pledge that they’ve eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

U.S. Department of Education officials directed state education commissioners on Thursday to certify within the next 10 days that they have eliminated DEI programs, which the administration considers illegal under civil rights law. Failure to comply would lead to a loss of federal funding, the directive said, specifically Title I money designated for high-poverty districts.

Such cuts could have major implications for the already cash-strapped district. Federal education aid accounts for about 10% of the district’s budget of more than $4.5 billion. Philadelphia received over $193 million in federal Title I formula aid in 2024-25 and another $43 million in Title I grants specifically for school improvement, according to district budget documents.

At a Friday event memorializing Martin Luther King Jr. on the calendar day when he was assassinated, speakers took the opportunity to denounce the Trump administration’s attempts to eliminate the Department of Education and threats to withhold funding from school districts.

“When public education is weakened, it is students, especially in cities like ours, who suffer the most,” Martin Luther King High School student Aniyah Daniels said at a press conference at her school on Friday.

So far, Pennsylvania education officials have not commented on the order. A spokesperson for the Philadelphia School District said district officials are still reviewing the order but had no further comment as of Friday.

The latest attack on DEI from the federal government stems from the Trump administration’s controversial interpretation of both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. Experts are questioning the legality of this latest move. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in late January about withholding federal money from schools that teach “discriminatory equity ideology” — a reference to DEI.

According to the Philadelphia school district’s website, its office of diversity, equity, and inclusion “serves as the bedrock for the School District’s commitment to anti-racism.” And the district’s commitment to equity is interwoven throughout Superintendent Tony Watlington’s five-year strategic plan for the district.

The Education Department’s Thursday directive lacked specifics, leaving educators to question what might be included in the administration’s broad definition of DEI.

Philly’s African American history course mandate, in addition to policies aimed at diversifying the selective admissions process and charter schools focused on Black students, could be among the programs threatened by the Trump administration’s attacks on DEI initiatives.

Democratic state Sen. Vincent Hughes told Chalkbeat the threat to Title I funds over DEI was “asinine” and said it was an admission that the federal government does not want students to be taught “American history.”

“I would hope that Pennsylvania would not sign,” Hughes said, adding, “It needs to be fought, we’ll go to court and hopefully we’ll prevail in court”

U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat representing Montgomery and Berks counties, said Trump and his allies are targeting schools because they “want an uneducated electorate.”

“It’s Orwellian, frankly,” Dean said at Friday’s press conference. “I’m here to say I will not sit down and be silent while this is going on.”

Martin Luther King High School Principal Keisha Wilkins said her students would be hurt by eradicating DEI, specifically if district schools ceased to teach African American history.

“Knowing our history helps us to not repeat it,” Wilkins said. “I’m fearful that the programs we’ve put into place will not be here anymore”

Standing alongside lawmakers, public education advocates, and city representatives, Wilkins also struck a defiant tone. “I am scared but I also know my children are resilient,” she said, adding, “we have power in numbers.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia parents demanding more joy in schools bring campaign to City Council

2025-04-04T17:19:35+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

A group of Philadelphia parents and caregivers say they’re sick of schools that they allege disproportionately discipline Black students, restrict access to recess or restrooms as a form of punishment, and fail to meet students’ emotional needs.

What do they say would help reduce those problems? A joy chief.

Advocates with Lift Every Voice, a Black-led parent and community organizing group, packed City Council chambers during Friday’s joint committee meeting waving metallic magenta pom-poms and demanding city and district leaders do more to make schools places that students are excited to attend.

They and their supporters have been urging school district and city leaders to take student joy seriously for more than a year. Among other things, they’re renewing their calls for the City Council and school district to hire a “Chief of Joy” who would audit school culture across the district and recommend policies to support students’ mental and physical health.

Several councilmembers expressed their strong support for the campaign.

“If we want better outcomes, if we want our kids to show up and succeed, we have to make sure our schools are places where they feel safe, supported and valued,” Councilmember Kendra Brooks said. “Joy is a serious intervention. Joy is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.”

Students joined Lift Every Voice advocates in City Council on Friday to ask for more recess and opportunities to express joy at school.

Amid a fiery national debate over education that often focuses on parental rights, eliminating social-emotional learning, and eradicating programs that support diversity, equity, and inclusion, Philly parents who support Lift Every Voice’s mission say those are things schools desperately need more of, not less.

Amy Furling, a district parent and Lift Every Voice advocate, said the group has been meeting regularly with the school district to discuss standardizing a 20-minute minimum recess policy, but she told the City Council “that’s clearly not enough.”

“There’s a lot more that we need to do and a lot more that we expect and demand of the district,” she said.

Jayme Banks, the school district’s deputy chief of prevention, trauma and intervention, told City Council members the district is in “active partnership” with Lift Every Voice. She also said the district supports the group’s calls for programs and systems that “promote respectful and inclusive practices, affirm student dignity, and elevate student voices.”

Banks outlined how the district has focused on restorative justice practices when students misbehave, and that students should not have their access to food, water, and restrooms restricted as a form of punishment. Banks said the district has held professional training about appropriate discipline policies and is “leaning into schools” to examine their own discipline data.

Lift Every Voice hasn’t attached a specific funding demand to its requests. But Banks cautioned staffing shortages and budget constraints limit the district’s ability to make sure its own policies are adequately followed everywhere. The Trump administration’s threats to withhold federal funding from schools that use DEI policies further complicates the district’s budget projections.

With additional funding, the district could hire more counselors and climate staff members, and expand access to art and music programs like Lift Every Voice is calling for, district officials have said.

Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas did signal that education funding increases may be coming in the City Council’s proposed budget this year. Mayor Cherelle Parker proposed increasing the school district’s share of the city’s property tax revenue from 56% to 56.5% in fiscal 2030 to pay for teacher salary increases. Thomas said the council will be proposing to move that up to fiscal 2026.

“I pray that before we leave office that we are able to raise our hands and say we fixed the education crisis in the city,” Thomas said.

But parent advocate Keisha Nicholson said underfunding is only part of the problem.

“Disinvestment is violence and too often, poor Black parents are left to pay the price and shoulder the blame for broken systems,” Nicholson said. “We want you to carry our stories — our grief, our rage, our hope, and our clarity — into the budget process.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia adopts preliminary schools budget as it eyes long-term deficits, Trump uncertainty

2025-03-27T23:18:02+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.

The Philadelphia Board of Education has adopted a preliminary $4.6 billion budget for the school district in the upcoming fiscal year — but financial pressures on city schools are intensifying.

The budget approved unanimously by the board Thursday is roughly the same size as this year’s budget. But the district is staring down a growing annual deficit that is slated to reach $466 million in 2027 and $774 million in 2030.

The district will adjust the preliminary budget as state lawmakers and city officials finalize their own budgets this summer. The district is planning to use 40% of its “rainy day” fund to cover a $306 million budget deficit, which officials say is the result of decades of unconstitutional underfunding by the state.

“We’ll get through this year just fine,” Superintendent Tony Watlington told reporters earlier on Thursday. But he added that going forward, if state and local lawmakers don’t increase funding for Philadelphia’s public schools, cuts will have to be made.

“If we did not use the fund balance, quite simply we would have to make people and program cuts,” Watlington said.

Watlington is adamant that the district is making incremental but sustained progress under his leadership, and that he’s been a “good steward” of state and city funding. He says that’s a crucial message for state lawmakers as they draft Pennsylvania’s budget, and amid a federal government intent on eradicating what it calls waste, fraud, and abuse. That focus by the Trump administration has led to — among other things — the gutting of the federal Office for Civil Rights in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia is the only school district in the state that cannot raise its own revenue, meaning 99% of its operating budget is in the hands of state and city officials.

During the COVID pandemic, the district used federal relief funds to plug prior budget holes, allowing it to accrue some money in its reserve fund. Because those COVID dollars expired at the end of 2024, the district is now dipping into that reserve fund to support the same programs and continue progress on Watlington’s ambitious five-year strategic plan.

Importantly, the preliminary budget does not account for labor union contract negotiations, or the district’s ongoing facilities planning process that will likely result in school closures and infrastructure changes. It also doesn’t factor in an estimated $50 million the district would get if Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed reforms to the way cyber charter schools are funded.

The majority of district spending goes towards employee salary and benefits. The district is negotiating a new contract with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers — the union’s current contract expires in August 2025. It will also negotiate new contracts with several other unions over the next two years. Mayor Cherelle Parker, who enjoys the support of many labor unions in the city, has indicated she would like to see the district increase teacher salaries in the near future.

The district would receive some $160 million more funding from the state this year under Shapiro’s budget proposal. But even in that scenario, when the loss of federal COVID relief funding is also accounted for, the district’s overall revenue would rise just 1%, while spending on items like charter school payments is outpacing that.

As the Trump administration looks to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and reshape the federal government’s K-12 priorities, Watlington said there’s corresponding uncertainty about the district’s federal funding. The district receives some $500 million annually from the federal government that supports students with disabilities, English learners, prekindergarten programs, reimbursements for student meals, and other programs.

Overall, Watlington said the district is heading in a positive direction but that progress is precarious.

Among the encouraging signs Watlington highlighted: District enrollment is up by 1,800 students, the number of students attending school regularly has increased, third graders are improving their reading and math scores, the graduation rate is up, and the number of students dropping out is down by 1,400.

Board members Joyce Wilkerson and Wanda Novalés said the looming deficits and uncertainty at the federal level are “stomach turning” and will demand increased advocacy from district and board leadership.

“I think it’s time for us to make some noise, for our babies and our students,” board Vice President Sarah-Ashley Andrews said. “These may be scary times, but it’s not the time to back down.”

The board must adopt a final budget by May.

The board also approved a $26.8M “donation” to the district from Mastery charter schools that represents an estimated value of building improvements that Mastery intends to pay for.

These building upgrades will take place between April 2025 and December 2026.

Because Mastery charters occupy district-owned buildings, improvements to these buildings will together be considered a donation — an unusual arrangement, as one public speaker said.

Board President Reginald Streater said the vote to approve the donation is not a “signal” about any future board decisions regarding those building improvements.

Construction and renovation projects at charter schools must be voted on by the board.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philly teacher embraces AI but treads carefully amid data privacy and bias concerns

2025-03-25T21:43:36+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

When Adrienne Staten’s fellow teachers first started talking about using artificial intelligence tools in their classrooms, Staten was not on board.

“AI was scary to me,” said Staten, who’s been a Philadelphia educator for 27 years. “It was like some ‘I, Robot,’ they’re going to take over the world kind of stuff.”

Staten teaches English at Northeast High School, the city’s largest high school, where many of her students have learning disabilities, are dealing with trauma and mental health challenges, or are learning English. She said she didn’t think incorporating a new technology into her lesson plans would help much.

Then, about three years ago, a colleague wrote Staten a poem using an AI chatbot. That completely blew her mind, she said. From there, Staten decided she had to learn more about generative AI, how it works, how she could use it as a teaching tool, and how to inform students about the pitfalls, biases, and privacy dangers of the emerging technology.

AI companies have made grand promises to teachers and school leaders in recent years: Their product will personalize student learning, automate tedious tasks, and in extreme cases, transform the role of teachers altogether. But experts have also raised ethical concerns about how student data is used (and misused) by AI companies, how students can use AI for cheating and plagiarism, the erosion of critical thinking skills, and the spread of misinformation.

Philly school officials say they’re grappling with these questions, while also asserting that the district is leading the way on AI through a professional development program that begins this year. The district has established detailed guidelines and procedures for using AI that attempts to protect student data privacy. But those policies haven’t stopped the district from rethinking certain tasks, like the way teachers design assessments and judge skills such as writing.

As the technology becomes more advanced and embedded within peoples’ lives, teachers like Staten want more support and guidance about it. That means the district must respond and evolve quickly. They also want to guard against how previous technological innovations affected schools and students.

“Everyone seems to have forgotten all of the lessons learned from the social media era,” said Andrew Paul Speese, deputy chief information security officer for the district. “If this tool is free, you are the product.”

How Philadelphia schools are experimenting with AI

When ChatGPT became popular a few years ago, Staten said, “I think we all as teachers were uncomfortable.” Their first thought was that students would use it to cheat, she said.

But what she found is that some of her students were “petrified of it.”

“They don’t understand how it works. They don’t get the idea that just because it spits something out, it doesn’t mean you have to use it,” she said.

Staten can relate. Her early days of teaching involved a lot of printed paper, textbooks, and handwriting. When the district gave teachers “brand-new, shiny computers,” they sat unused in her classroom. She said she was not a particularly tech-savvy person — until COVID.

Now, every student has a Google Chromebook laptop, and the access to technology has transformed how Staten thinks about lesson planning. Being able to do their own research gives all of her students ownership of the lesson, and it’s changed how they respond to activities, Staten said.

Her students who are English learners have found using AI helps them feel more comfortable with their writing and grammar while also giving Staten an opportunity to talk about tone and voice in their writing.

The AI will “spit something out,” and then it’s a conversation starter with that student to determine “is that really you? Does that sound like you? Do you know what this word means?”

Ultimately, Staten said she wants her students to learn how to use machines as a tool to help them locate their humanity within their own writing.

In general, that’s the sort of attitude the Philly school district wants to cultivate. But the district has also prioritized being very clear about what the policies are for acceptable use of AI that guide that enthusiasm, said Fran Newberg, deputy chief in the district’s office of educational technology.

Since November, the district has been training teachers to work with two approved generative AI tools: Google’s Gemini chatbot (which is available for high school students and staff) and Adobe’s Express Firefly image generator (available for all K-12 students).

Both of those programs are examples of generative AI, which includes any tools that draw on a dataset to create new work, such as large language model chatbots like ChatGPT, or programs that produce images, music, or video.

The district’s guidelines for generative AI provide broad resources for some of the most frequently asked questions about academic integrity, verifying information produced by an AI tool, and some examples of how AI could be used in the classroom.

Above all, the district’s guidelines say educators must require students to disclose their use of AI and use citations where applicable.

Balancing passion with appropriate limits can yield encouraging results. At one district school, Newberg said elementary students wrote detailed descriptions of their own imaginary mythological bird creatures. Then, they drew pictures of what they thought their bird would look like. At the end of the project they plugged their descriptions into Firefly.

She said those students looked on in wonder as their drawings and paragraphs were brought to life.

School leaders worry about student data privacy, safety

The district’s approach to AI policy has provided a foundation for what some experts hope will guide national efforts to use AI in education.

Starting this month and next, the district is rolling out a new professional development program called Pioneering AI in School Systems, or PASS. Developed in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania, PASS provides three tiers of professional development involving AI — one for administrators, one for school leaders, and one for educators.

Michael Golden, vice dean of innovative programs and partnerships at Catalyst @ Penn Graduate School of Education, said by the fall of this year he and his colleagues hope to make PASS available to any school district in the country and across the globe.

“We’re building on the prowess and expertise in Philadelphia to create something that’s scalable and usable in many different contexts,” Golden said.

The district’s enthusiasm for and caution about AI are part of what made Philly an attractive option for the professional development program. But in some ways, the district was pushed to embrace the technology.

Speese, the district’s deputy chief information security officer, said two things happened that forced the district to take AI seriously.

First, in August 2023, an influx of Philadelphia teachers asked for support and information about generative AI just as New York’s school chief made a decision to block ChatGPT citing “negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content.”

Then, Microsoft made its AI assistant, called Copilot, a mandatory part of their software.

Philadelphia has been a Google-centric district. But Speese said he knew if Microsoft was mandating AI in its software, he suspected Google would soon follow. If district officials banned AI tools altogether, it could completely cripple student computers, email servers, and other systems. A blanket ban could also push some students and teachers towards untested models, putting themselves and their schools at risk.

“Obviously, even if we tried to block it, people are going to be using it on their mobile phones so how do we enable you to use these tools in a way that makes sense within our environment?” Speese said.

So district officials set about changing contracts to include language about safe data collection, privacy, and data storage.

The contract language stipulates the data a student feeds into the tools and the output those tools generate must be “housed exclusively in the United States,” can’t be sold or shared without permission, and that vendors won’t use the data to train their AI models.

“Parents have a right to feel that we are doing everything we can to protect their children’s digital footprint,” said Newberg, the deputy chief for education technology.

AI companies have run afoul of other state’s laws and other school district’s rules. One whistleblower told Los Angeles school officials that the AI tool their district adopted was misusing student records and left sensitive student information open to potential hackers.

Newberg drew a connection between AI and the reaction to the rise of social media. She said district leaders initially brushed off social media as a tangential development. But then social media started impacting students’ mental health, increased cyberbullying, and broadcast photos and sensitive student data to the world.

“We want our students to start having agency and start being skeptical,” Newberg said. “We were not as smart with social media.”

But new, free, and experimental AI tools pop up every day. It’s hard for guidelines and rules to keep up.

For teachers like Staten, educating her students about the biases embedded in these systems, how to protect their privacy, how to see through misinformation, and recognize when a fact is actually an AI-generated hallucination, is paramount. And that’s what keeps her up at night.

“I just want to know that I gave them all the equipment and tools that they need to be okay out there,” Staten said. “It’s a process. I realize that it’s going to take some time.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Dual enrollment students’ classes could be disrupted by looming community college strike in Philly

2025-03-17T18:42:57+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Nearly 1,000 high school students at the Community College of Philadelphia’s dual enrollment programs could be affected by a potential strike at the city’s largest institution of public higher education.

Over the weekend, 97% of the community college’s staff and faculty union members voted to authorize a strike, should their union and the college’s administration fail to reach a contract agreement. The union is demanding pay raises that keep pace with inflation and class size reductions, the return of a child care center on campus, and subsidized transit passes for staff and students.

The vote means union members agreed to allow their leadership to call a strike at any time, but the faculty are not on strike.

In a statement Monday, representatives from the American Federation of Teachers Local 2026 union, which represents 1,200 full- and part-time faculty and other staff members, said a strike would be a “last resort if continued negotiations fail to produce meaningful progress” towards their proposals.

“Our members are the front lines of the college, in the offices, in the classrooms, on the ground and everywhere in between. We are tired of waiting and we are strike ready,” union Co-President Rainah Chambliss said in a statement.

There are 973 students currently participating in dual enrollment programs at the Community College of Philadelphia, and this school year, there have been a total of 1,366 students who’ve been enrolled in these programs. In addition, there are an estimated 600 students who study in dual enrollment programs over the summer.

The number of new dual enrollment students at CCP has increased 23% from last year, according to a report from the community college’s president.

The Philadelphia school district also partners with the college on a “Gateway to College” program. This serves students ages 16 to 21 who dropped out of high school and lets them earn their high school diploma and college credits simultaneously.

In the event of a strike, dual enrollment classes could be canceled and students and their family members would be notified via email and text, said Shannon Rooney, a vice president at the Community College of Philadelphia, in a statement. These high school students “may need to make up classes that are missed” if there’s a strike, Rooney said.

“As with all students at the College, dual enrollment students would be encouraged to remain engaged with their coursework by way of their course syllabi and any course materials, advance readings, and assignments,” Rooney said.

If the faculty go on strike, Philadelphia district students would remain at their high school, and complete their senior year projects and any other graduation requirements under the supervision of a counselor or teacher while they participate in “college and career readiness” lessons online, district spokesperson Monique Braxton said.

The union and the community college leadership have been bargaining since January 2024, and faculty have been working without a contract since their previous one expired in August 2024.

With graduation looming, the college said this month the administration filed a request for the appointment of a fact-finding panel with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board.

The college said in a statement that it’s confident its proposals “provide fair terms and wage increases for all.” But union members, joined by several elected officials last week at the launch of the strike authorization vote, say there is money in the college’s budget to raise salaries, add more counselors and student advisers, and reopen a childcare center shuttered during the pandemic, among other proposals.

The union’s position has notable political support. Mayor Cherelle Parker’s proposed budget includes $15 million over five years for the college to “support its workforce,” on top of other funding for the school. Last October 2024, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of the union’s demands, and several of its members joined union members on campus last week in a show of solidarity.

Among them was City Councilmember Kendra Brooks who studied at CCP as a single mother. Brooks’ daughter is now a dual enrollment student at Franklin Learning Center.

Dual enrollment is “an amazing opportunity,” Brooks said. “We have to rectify the strike situation so we don’t interrupt learning for our students. … We’re talking about how we can build the next generation of professionals in the city and CCP is an amazing start. So why not get them started early?”

This story has been updated with additional information about plans for district students in the event of a strike.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org

Teacher salary increases a long-term priority for Philadelphia mayor in her education budget

2025-03-13T22:11:33+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s second city budget address Thursday promised millions for teacher salary increases to be realized in 2030 but was otherwise light on education funding details.

Parker’s $6.7 billion budget and accompanying five-year plan rely on continued funding from last year’s shift in property tax revenue, which administration officials say will amount to a $250 million funding increase for city schools through 2030. But her proposal falls short of the transformative funding boost some advocates have called for in the face of federal uncertainty.

Parker’s budget seeks to increase the school district’s share of the city’s property tax revenue from 56% to 56.5% in fiscal 2030. The mayor’s office says that increase will pay for an additional $12 million per year to the district “to be specifically earmarked for teacher salaries.” Her spending plan would also add $4 million to district coffers via higher Center City parking fees, and nearly double the number of schools participating in her extended-day, extended-year school program.

As Philly’s mayor, Parker must present a one-year budget as well as a five-year spending plan. Parker was elected to a four-year term in 2023 and can run for another term in 2027, but the change in property tax revenue for the district would take effect three years after the end of her first term. The City Council ultimately adopts the city budget.

The school district is also currently negotiating a new contract with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Parker’s proposal could be a signal that she would like to see raises as a part of that new contract.

“As proud as we are of our efforts to improve the quality of our educational system during the first year of the Parker administration, we know how much more work remains to be done,” Parker said in her address to members of the City Council on Thursday.

The school district’s budget is $4.6 billion. Of that amount, $2 billion comes from the city, $2.4 billion from the state, and nearly $180 million from the federal government. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget for 2025-26 includes a $200 million increase for Philadelphia schools but that increase is subject to negotiations by state lawmakers.

Most of the district’s federal aid comes through the Title I program that focuses on students from low-income backgrounds, and through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. President Donald Trump’s administration is attempting to radically shrink if not totally dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. However, the recent job cuts at the Education Department did not affect funding levels for those and other federal programs.

The Trump administration’s layoffs at the Education Department hit the Office of Civil Rights particularly hard; all of the staff at the office’s Philadelphia branch were let go.

At a separate Wednesday press conference, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg said “nobody knows exactly how these layoffs are taking effect” in Philadelphia or what the impact will be on pending civil rights complaints.

“This continuing chaos will stop kids from learning,” Steinberg said.

Parker did not mention any changes in funding for the city’s free prekindergarten program in her budget address. The city released its complete budget proposal Thursday evening.

What’s in Parker’s budget for Philadelphia schools?

The most prominent part of Parker’s proposal for education spending is the district’s increased share of property tax revenue, which would take effect in fiscal 2030.

Last year’s shift of the district’s share from 55% to 56% brought the district an additional $24 million, according to city budget representatives — though they originally anticipated that figure would be closer to $18 million.

Parker is also proposing to raise parking fees in and around Center City from $3 to $4 an hour and direct additional revenue from that increase to the district. Parker said this would be the first parking rate increase since 2014, and that the additional revenue would be divided between the school district and the city’s general fund.

In her address, Parker also reiterated her support for her “year-round school” campaign promise, which has translated into an expansion of “extended-day, extended-year” schooling. In its first pilot year, the program largely expanded access to already-existing before- and after-school programming that’s mostly delivered by nonprofits and outside organizations.

Parker said her proposed budget proposes expanding that program from 25 schools to 40 schools — 30 of the schools would be district-operated and 10 would be charters. Her administration claims this would add 5,000 seats to the year-round school program, for a total of 12,000 seats across the city. According to the budget proposal, Parker is estimating the cost of that expansion to be $10.9 million over five years.

Parker’s office did not release an expanded list of schools that Parker wants to offer extended schooling.

Earlier in Thursday’s council session, City Councilmember and Chair of the Education Committee Isiah Thomas introduced a resolution “opposing any attempts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education or slash federal funding for public school programs that support low-income students and students with disabilities.” The council adopted the resolution via a voice vote.

Thomas also signaled that the City Council may seek to increase the share of property tax revenue schools receive above the mayor’s proposal.

“I think the .5 percent increase in real estate taxes is a good start. We’re going to possibly entertain even more than that,” Thomas told Chalkbeat.

Clarification: This story has been updated with a more precise figure for the cost of extended-day, extended-year school expansion following the release of the city’s budget documents.

Dale Mezzacappa also contributed to this story.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

‘Stop the cuts!’: Educators, school activists rally to protect federal funding for public education

2025-03-04T21:36:06+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free weekly newsletter to keep up with how education is changing across the U.S.

On a cloudy, cold Tuesday morning, a cluster of teachers and community activists in Newark chanted “Stop the cuts!” as they stood in their coats outside an elementary school that serves the district’s students with disabilities.

In a Philadelphia school auditorium, teachers, district officials, and lawmakers faced more than a dozen students with disabilities and promised to protect the educational services those students rely on.

In Chicago, the rain came down as more than 20 union members stood in front of Minnie Miñoso Academy elementary to join educators across the country to rally support for public schools and urge lawmakers not to cut federal funding.

The rallies on Tuesday were part of a national effort led by the American Federation of Teachers to protest threats to cut federal funding for education. The “Protect Our Kids” day of action came as newly-installed Education Secretary Linda McMahon prepares to overhaul the federal education department and shift how the agency operates.

McMahon, sworn into office a day before, promised senators at her confirmation hearing that key funding streams, such as for students with disabilities, won’t be harmed. But many advocates fear plans to upend the education department could affect federal support for low-income students, students with disabilities, first-generation college students, and other vulnerable groups.

Republican budget proposals already call for significant cuts to school meals programs and to programs overseen by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which include Medicaid. Those are important sources of money for public schools. And public education supporters fear even steeper reductions in education spending as Republicans look for ways to pay for President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.

“The millions of children and young adults who get funding to help them in literacy, to help them with occupational therapy and physical therapy, to help them go to college, to help them with hands-on learning — that’s what the federal government spends this money for,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten in a virtual press conference. “It goes directly to schools for these kinds of services.”

Across the country, in small towns and big cities, thousands of educators donned “Red for Ed” shirts and held walk-ins at their schools — and posted on social media using the hashtag #ProtectOurKids — to explain how taxpayer money funds necessary educational services.

Public schools are governed by local school boards and primarily supported by local property taxes and other state revenues. The federal government provides funding and support for school lunch programs, students with disabilities, homeless students, those from low-income families, and students learning English.

Newark schools receive roughly $80 million in federal funding, about 10% of the district’s annual budget. Philly schools receive more than $500 million in federal support, roughly 10% of that district’s budget, while Chicago Public Schools receives $1.3 billion, about 16% of its budget.

Outside of New Jersey Regional Day School in Newark, a few dozen educators and local leaders gathered Tuesday morning to call for protections to critical federal programs that support students with disabilities.

Newark at risk of losing pipeline of student teachers

In Newark, city and school leaders joined educators and student teachers outside New Jersey Regional Day School, one of five specialized schools that serve students with disabilities in the Newark Public Schools district.

Beck Akinyemi, a student teacher pursuing their teaching certification at Montclair State University, stood alongside peers and held up a sign that read “stop the attack on education.” Akinyemi is part of the latest cohort of students supported by the Teacher Quality Partnership grant, a federal grant program that helps prepare teachers for high-need schools and subject areas through a teacher residency with partner school districts.

But Akinyemi is at risk of not completing the program after the federal education department canceled the grant at Montclair State in February. Partner districts of the program, such as Newark Public Schools, could lose their pipeline of qualified teachers due to the cuts.

“Not only will this affect all the necessary social roles schools play in our communities, they will affect the future of the next generation of educators,” Akinyemi said.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka called the threats of federal funding cuts an attack on public school education and working class families.

“We need to do what we can to support the folks here, the organizations here, and make sure the funding remains solid and stationary,” Baraka said in front of a small crowd of educators, student teachers, and union members who chanted “stop the cuts” after his speech.

New Jersey receives around $1 billion in federal funding every year for education, and about half of that money is used for programs serving students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Of the $1 billion, New Jersey receives over $460 million in IDEA funding, according to the Education Law Center. This school year, Newark received $66 million in special education aid from the state, according to the district’s latest budget.

Last week, the Newark Board of Education joined school boards nationwide, including Philadelphia, in passing a resolution to formally oppose the Republican congressional budget proposals and Trump administration threats to education funding more broadly.

In Philadelphia, special education cuts would be ‘catastrophic,’ leaders say

As part of Tuesday’s nationwide protests, Philly educators, city officials, and district representatives rallied at Widener Memorial School – the only public school in Pennsylvania that exclusively serves students with disabilities and diverse learners.

Widener student Taisha Cruz, who uses a wheelchair, said her school and the funding it receives “gives us a sense of freedom you will never understand.”

At the rally, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers union described in detail what city students would lose if IDEA funds were cut.

Acting Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Carrie Rowe has said deep cuts to education programs “would be nothing short of catastrophic” and “would cause irreparable harm,” to all students, especially those students with disabilities.

According to the PFT, Philly schools receive $178 million in Title I funding, $56 million in special education funds, $7 million for career and technical education programs, and $86 million for school meal reimbursements in addition to federal grants for school facilities, prekindergarten programs, and more.

Funding cuts could threaten the very existence of Widener, which relies on federal funds to support small class sizes, paraprofessionals and teacher aides, physical and occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and activities including wheelchair basketball.

“All of this would not be possible without the funding that comes from IDEA,” said Widener principal Theresa Harrington.

A sign in the school’s lobby showed upcoming student trips to the zoo, the city’s flower show, and dress-up days for “superheroes vs villains” and “mismatch day.”

Several city and state officeholders warned funding cuts would cause a crisis in Philly schools likely to be felt for years.

“I never thought the day would come when we would look at the possibility of education being dismantled from the federal level,” said City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, chair of the education committee.“This will have an impact on generations to come.”

Taisha Cruz, a junior at Widener Memorial School, joined educators at her school during a rally to support federal funding for education.

Chicago teachers want contract to protect schools from federal ‘foolery’

Those messages were echoed in Chicago where Chicago Teachers Union leaders and members joined the AFT campaign while also rallying around its remaining contract demands. As McMahon moves to make drastic changes to the way the federal education department runs, the clock is ticking toward a possible strike in the country’s fourth largest school district.

Standing in the rain outside Minnie Miñoso Academy Tuesday morning, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said the union’s contract fight is aimed at “fortifying our school communities against the encroachment of the federal government and its foolery.”

“To sit here and say that special education services are not needed, that Title I is not needed, is an affront to all the sacrifice that’s been made to create this institution called public education,” said Jitu Brown, a recently-elected Chicago school board member and longtime activist who has organized marches in Washington, D.C. with the national Journey for Justice Alliance.

Chicago is shifting away from a school system under mayoral control to one governed by elected representatives. The current partially-elected, 21-member board is grappling with budget challenges now that federal COVID relief money has disappeared.

“Now is not the time to mourn. Now is the time to organize,” Brown said. “They may run D.C., but they don’t run Chicago.”

Dale Mezzacappa contributed to this story.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.

Catherine Carrera is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Newark. Contact Catherine at ccarrera@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia students blast district leaders over response to immigration enforcement fears

2025-02-27T23:34:01+00:00

Philadelphia students, educators, and community members blasted school district leaders Thursday about their response — or lack thereof — to President Trump’s immigration enforcement threats.

Superintendent Tony Watlington did offer some details Thursday about how the district has tried to prepare staff for how to handle immigration enforcement issues. But he did not engage directly with the criticism.

Local school leaders who have publicly criticized Trump administration efforts to remove restrictions on immigration enforcement related to schools have drawn the ire of the White House.

As a result, school superintendents and board members are now confronting a crucial decision: Do they speak up against policies with which they disagree and risk losing vital federal funding or becoming mired in expensive lawsuits? Or do they refrain from making public statements in the hopes of flying under the national radar, and still risk losing federal funding?

The latter has been Philly school leaders’ approach since Trump took office. But community members made clear on Thursday that this strategy has a cost.

“I am tired of my school district constantly making me and those around me feel unimportant,” said Luis Ojeda, an Academy at Palumbo student, who told district leaders that he was born in the U.S. and his parents are immigrants. “Kids are in class, worried for their parents and for themselves, and can’t focus. … We need to know what you will do to protect us.”

Dajana Qoshlli, a 14-year-old freshman at Central High School, tearfully told board members that they “had failed to do the bare minimum” and were not living up to their stated values. Fear and uncertainty about immigration arrests is “causing parents to not send their children to schools anymore” and is impacting student attendance rates, Qoshlli said.

It’s unclear from recent attendance data obtained by Chalkbeat the extent to which there is at least a correlation between recent changes in immigration enforcement and student absences district-wide. Board member Wanda Novales asked Watlington to report such attendance data to the board.

“By choosing to not take a side, you are still choosing a side,” Nina Chen, another Palumbo student, told board members.

Watlington did not offer a direct response to the student speakers but did give a cursory overview of the district’s school safety protocol.

School staff who encounter immigration enforcement agents are to immediately contact the district’s general counsel, “obtain documentation” if they have the necessary signed subpoena or warrant, and “await further direction.” Staff are then to convene a safety team meeting and complete an incident report, Watlington said.

“We are certainly committed to maintaining safe and welcoming schools,” Watlington said.

Watlington said the district has held training sessions for principals and assigned a mandatory online course for all school district employees. He added “schools that have a greater concentration of impacted students are getting additional touches,” but did not elaborate.

There have been no confirmed incidents of federal immigration enforcement at Philadelphia schools. However, rumors about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity have proliferated on social media, inciting fear in immigrant communities.

Pennsylvania Acting Education Secretary Carrie Rowe told lawmakers this week that she was aware of confirmed reports of ICE agents “not within the schools, but in their vicinity” in recent weeks.

In Chicago, charter school administrators said Thursday that an adult accompanying two students was detained by federal immigration enforcement officials during school dropoff.

The board also approved a resolution opposing the congressional GOP budget proposal, which district officials said would result in cuts of $82.2 million for the district if it’s enacted.

“The loss of these federal funds will have an enormous impact on all of our nation’s elementary and secondary school students, particularly those from low-income families, English language learners, and students with disabilities who attend high-poverty schools that have historically been underfunded,” the resolution states.

District releases toolkit for immigrants, refugees

After much public pressure, the school district released an immigrant and refugee toolkit earlier this month that lays out the state and federal laws protecting student data.

This toolkit also reiterates that “schools are prohibited from providing any outside agency, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD), with any information from a student’s school ﬁle unless required by a judicially issued subpoena or exigent circumstances exist.”

The toolkit also doubles down on the district’s support of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

A petition circulating among Philly educators calls on the district to hold “Know Your Rights” workshops for students and families to disseminate information, and to require “clear action plans” from school staff and administrators to “prepare for ICE interactions at school, and how to support students whose caregivers have been detained or deported.”

It also calls for more support for immigrant students, including a “more robust newcomer program,” additional bilingual counseling assistants, and the revival of the district’s Multilingual Assessment Center, which advocates say has been dismantled.

District teacher Kurt Ostrow said the district has required some schools to cancel some “Know Your Rights” training in recent weeks.

Ostrow said he was “troubled” to hear that: “I just can’t understand why in a democracy our public schools wouldn’t want students to know their rights.”

Here is the district’s response to frequently asked questions about its immigration response, according to the immigrant and refugee toolkit:

Can a school or staff person inquire or report a student’s immigration status to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)? No.

Does the District participate in immigration enforcement? No. The District does not conduct, participate, or enforce immigration actions.

What should I do if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents come to my school? Advise the agent that before proceeding with their request school personnel must ﬁrst notify and receive direction from the Oﬃce of General Counsel. DO NOT Provide any information about students, families, or staff unless directed by the Office of General Counsel. The Principal or designee must immediately contact the Office of General Counsel at (215) 400-4120 (It may ring up to 8 or more times depending on the time of day. Do not hang up, it will reach an attorney).

What should I do if federal immigration agents request to enter the school to speak to a particular student? School staff would follow District policy on questioning of students by law enforcement or other lawful authorities. These guidelines include verification and documentation of the interviewer and parental notification efforts. The School administration should contact the Office of General Counsel at (215) 400-4120, to obtain necessary legal advice on how to proceed in compliance with state and federal law.

Are school Safety Officers required to enforce immigration laws or participate with ICE actions? School Safety Officers should not take action to assist or to impede immigration enforcement actions. If a School Safety Officer encounters an ICE agent on school grounds they should alert the school administrator.

This story has been updated to reflect the board’s vote to approve the resolution regarding the congressional GOP budget proposal.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philly students and families are stuck in a ‘decade of stalled progress,’ report says

2025-02-25T20:52:01+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia families and children are mired in an underresourced and bureaucratically complex system that is not meaningfully meeting their needs and hasn’t been for a decade, according to a far-reaching new report authored by education advocacy group Children First.

Children First researchers examined ten years of data from the city’s school district, early childhood sector, child health care field, juvenile justice space, and more, and determined Philly families have been stuck in a “decade of stalled progress.”

As of this year, the report found:

An estimated 47% or 152,000 children in the city came from families who were struggling financially to meet their needs.
Some 65% of students did not pass third grade reading assessments, while 3 in 5 eighth graders didn’t pass the state standardized math test.
The number of children starting school without the required vaccinations has increased fourfold.
More than 48% of young people report feeling sad or depressed, and over 67,700 children need access to mental health services.

“We were pretty shocked by what we found,” Donna Cooper, executive director of Children First, said at an event at the school district’s headquarters on Tuesday. “We were surprised when we looked back over the decade that the economic condition of families has worsened by and large.”

The report comes at a time when the Trump administration has threatened to withhold federal funding from school districts, considered deep cuts to Medicaid, and boosted Republican-led plans to gut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, among other government cost-cutting efforts.

“All of that will make the lives of children worse,” Cooper said. “As there’s a national conversation about ‘Is the federal government doing too much?’ Looking at the reality that children face in Philadelphia, the answer is a resounding no. It’s not doing enough.”

Parents like Regina Brown experience the reality of those data points every day. In January, one of Brown’s sons was sent to a juvenile detention center on a gun charge. She said she fought for years to get him services in the school district to help him deal with his learning disabilities and emotional challenges but was unsuccessful. Now, she said, she’s fighting to see him returned to her home safely.

“I felt like they were just tired of him and wanted him out of the school,” Brown said at Tuesday’s event. “I want him to understand that he made bad choices, but he’s not a bad person. That he can come back from it.”

Here are some of the takeaways from the report:

Student demographics are changing

There are fewer Black and white children living in the city now than in 2014 — though Black children still represent the largest child demographic — and the number of Hispanic and Asian American children has grown.

Hispanic children are the fastest growing group of newcomers to Philadelphia. The report determined there are nearly 10,500 more Hispanic children in Philadelphia since 2014 – an increase from 20% to 24% of the child population. The number of public school children whose first language is Spanish increased by 51% since the 2018 school year, according to district data.

That has meant the demand for district language resources, translation, and Spanish-speaking support staff has risen sharply while the supply has struggled to keep pace. Immigrant rights advocates are expected to bring these concerns to the school board meeting on Thursday as the Trump administration’s focus on deportations continues to cause fear and confusion in Philly communities.

Hundreds of thousands of Philly children live in poverty

Nearly half of the city’s children come from families who can’t afford to meet their needs without going into debt, the report found. An estimated 110,852 public school students, or 54% of the city’s student body, live in poverty — enough to nearly fill two of the city’s sports arenas, according to the report.

Despite an overall decrease in the percentage of students living in poverty in the last nine years, the number of children who rely on SNAP benefits has increased by 7,500 children since 2019. Similarly, the number of children benefitting from the federal government’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, reached a five-year high of 31,619 in 2024. Those benefit programs have been targeted by the Trump administration for cuts.

The number of children experiencing homelessness has nearly doubled, reaching a high of 5,799 in the 2024 school year, according to the report, though community groups say they identified more than 10,000 homeless students last year.

Philly students are struggling academically

Students are also still recovering academically from the school closures during the COVID pandemic. The report states 65% (8,044) of third graders in the city’s traditional public elementary schools cannot read proficiently. State test score results and national test data bear this out.

The schools with the fewest students who can pass the reading test overwhelmingly serve the city’s highest-poverty communities, the report found. Meanwhile, in the two traditional public elementary schools with the highest income rates, Greenfield and Meredith schools, nearly all third graders passed the standardized reading test.

But there were some small bright spots: Hispanic students surpassed their pre-pandemic math achievement levels, and fourth grade math scores improved — a trend Superintendent Tony Watlington has linked in part to the district’s investments in new curriculum.

Philly high schools’ career and technical education programs — which mostly serve students from low-income backgrounds and have bipartisan support from state lawmakers — are also struggling to meet community demand, according to the report’s findings.

The number of Philadelphia students in CTE programs fluctuated but “virtually saw no change” over the last decade, researchers found. Meanwhile, more than 200 of the state’s teacher vacancies are for CTE positions, and an estimated 27,000 students are on CTE waitlists, according to the report.

Students’ mental and physical health is a pressing issue

Among the most pressing issues affecting students in and out of the classroom is their physical and mental health.

One in five children experience a mental, emotional, or behavioral health disorder, the report states. City students who considered and attempted suicide in the past year continued to rise post-COVID, the researchers found.

Donna Fields, a school nurse at Franklin Learning Center, public school parent, and parent advocate with Children First, said she’s seen an increase in students having panic attacks, nosebleeds, and other anxiety-related issues exacerbated in part by school classrooms that are at times, stiflingly hot, overcrowded, and poorly ventilated.

“Physical alterations are just the norm at this point,” Fields said.

Cooper also raised a growing concern about children’s disease immunity and the impact that politics has had on children’s vaccination rates. From 2015 to 2024, the non-medical vaccine exemption rate of Philadelphia kindergarteners quadrupled, from 0.6% to 2.4%, according to the report.

“The appointment of RFK Jr. presents an entirely new challenge for the Philadelphia School District,” Cooper said. Robert Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic, was confirmed to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this month.

The early childhood field can’t meet families’ needs

Starting to address these systemic issues begins with the youngest learners, advocates and experts said at the Tuesday event. While Philly’s free preschool programs provide opportunities to thousands of children, many families have found them confusing and difficult to navigate, and chronic staffing shortages have limited the access and availability of high-quality prekindergarten.

According to the report, child care providers have had to close classrooms and turn away 3,855 children in 2024 because they don’t have enough staff. Tiffany Chavous, CEO of Somerset Academy Early Learning Center, said she’s been trying to open a new classroom to meet the demand but hasn’t been able to find enough educators and caregivers to staff it.

The report found infant care costs in Philadelphia increased by 22%, and toddler care rose 20% from 2013 to 2024. In 2024, the average family spent almost 24% of their household budget on infant care, more than three times the federal recommendation of 7%.

Recommendations: Spend more money on schools and social services

The Children First report calls for a wide-ranging combination of state and local investments as state lawmakers begin their budget negotiation process.

For the school district, the report recommends investing in teacher training programs, classroom supplies, high-impact tutoring, reducing class sizes, and reaching out to engage families.

Parents who spoke at the event called for the district to reduce bureaucracy, simplify the processes to find good schools and get students enrolled, improve its communication, and provide more direct services to meet young people where they are. Parents said Tuesday they want more case managers, social workers, translators, and school staff to support them and their children.

Parent Donna Fields said from her perspective as a nurse, the district needs new school facilities that are safe, comfortable, and free of environmental hazards.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Early childhood is ‘magic’ for this Philadelphia school leader

2025-02-18T20:30:08+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

There are days when Patricia Houston comes home exhausted and emotionally drained from her job as Director of Children’s Community School, a nonprofit preschool and early childhood education center in a racially diverse but rapidly gentrifying neighborhood of West Philadelphia.

Then, she’ll reach into her pocket and find … a random piece of cheese. And the stress melts away.

“Every day you go home with some weird stuff in your pocket,” Houston said. “There are so many rewards and so much magic in it.”

Houston has been working in the early childhood and early intervention field for some 27 years at different schools and in different roles. She’s been a babysitter, nanny, teacher, assistant director, and now a director. She approaches her job with a focus on nurturing children’s social-emotional development.

Paying attention to that social-emotional development has taken on a new urgency in recent weeks. Houston said her school community comprises many LGBTQ+ families who are watching the new Trump administration attempt to remake education to reflect conservative values and target anything under the umbrella of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

For Houston, maintaining her school as a safe haven for her students became paramount.

Post-COVID, Houston said a lot of her fellow educators and even the school’s leadership were burnt out and wanted to leave the field. Houston briefly considered stepping away herself but then she got asked to consider staying on as the new director.

“I didn’t say absolutely. I was hesitant,” Houston said.

If she had it her way, Houston would be an anthropologist, traveling around the world to study how different cultures nurture their children. But these days, she’s found there’s a lot to learn in her own backyard.

As a Black woman serving a mostly white student body, Houston said, “It’s actually felt somewhat empowering to be in a community where we could have these conversations,” about race and equity in a way that is productive and not “shame-y,” she said.

Patricia Houston is the director of Children's Community School in West Philly.

And she is endlessly inspired by the educators around her who are also working to build a stable home in a rapidly changing society.

“How invested the teachers are is something that is really rare, and it’s really special,” she said. “It’s really powerful to see that in action. That’s what kept me here.”

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What has your experience been like as a director of a school?

I never in my life thought about being a director of a school. I just love working with kids and being in the classroom and playing with them and engaging them.

The school was in a transitional phase following COVID. This has been pretty typical in [early childhood education], where a lot of a lot of veterans in the field said “Oh, I’m going to go explore somewhere else a little bit.” COVID was a big burnout for a lot of people. One thing that motivated me to stay during that turnover period was how important it is to keep quality preschools open, to build and empower educators to be inspired to fight for this basic right of children to have access to safe havens that offer quality care.

Part of what also motivated me to stay is that it was something familiar. I grew up in a very large family, and my parents died when I was younger, and so from the time I was a teen, I was co-raising my siblings with my other siblings. My siblings are doing so great now, so I know that there’s an outcome [for all kids], and it’s far away, but it’s not so far.

How is your school community doing? Especially in light of the Trump administration’s executive orders targeting “gender ideology” and any school subjects they deem “woke.”

I just have this really strong belief in this community. Everybody’s been working together, putting their resources together. I think it’s a really beautiful thing.

[The executive orders] are on our minds. We’ve talked about it loosely as far as what the next steps might be to protect the space for children and families. We’ve already begun making steps to plan to ensure everyone’s safety. I think it is something else that’s motivating each of us to push harder to make sure that our space is stabilized so that no matter what happens, we can keep coming together as a community.

Some things that we have done that are going to help with this are creating more clear channels of communication in the school, working together as a team to do a lot of reparative and [restorative] work, just making sure we’re mentally prepared, and we have plans in place. There’s only so much we can control.

The school’s neighborhood in West Philly is also rapidly gentrifying. What have conversations been like about how the community is changing?

The school is predominantly white, and we’re trying to diversify. It’s interesting because we have a school around the corner that’s predominantly Black, and they’re working on diversifying the opposite way.

Myself and their director, we’ve met and have tentatively planned some events where we’re sharing a yard together, or the kids from here are going on a field trip to their school and vice versa.

I’m not sure if this is specific to West Philly, but I think that it is something that has a West Philly vibe, is that some of the parenting styles are a little bit more permissive, free, and less structured, in a sense. The children are given more autonomy.

What’s been interesting about it, and how it links to social-emotional development, is that for some of these children, when they’re coming into school, I notice “Oh, this child is actually seeking some boundaries.” I’ve observed that many of the children need a bit more scaffolding to understand how to be in community with others. So we try to keep our classrooms more free and open and play-based, but also recognize we need to set a firm boundary there. That is why their behavior is escalating, because they need to know, this is where you can stop. There’s a balance of what each of those children need, and we try to keep both of those worlds available in the same classroom.

Have you noticed behavioral changes since COVID? We’ve heard many pandemic babies and toddlers are having a hard time adjusting to social settings.

Most of the children need a lot more social-emotional support than pre-COVID. There’s a lot more anxiety behaviors. Children are going to feed off of the energy of what’s around them.

We do work really hard to make sure we’re noticing how kids are internalizing the world around them and any events that are happening. We’ll send out information to the families saying, “So this event just happened, and this is how you can talk about this with your child.”

When Trump was elected, some people were not happy about that. And so some kids were like, “Now, a bad guy is running our country?” And so having conversations with the kids about, well, what is a bad guy? Explaining that nobody’s really a bad guy, but people can make decisions where they’re not thinking about others.

We say there’s a lot of people who are going to protest, and they’re going to say, “We don’t like that decision that you made. We have a different idea. Listen to our different idea.” And the person might listen or they might not. We just try to break things down to their level. We want to make sure that they don’t think that they’re living in an unsafe world.

During COVID, we talked about so many things with the kids about what was going on in the world, and helping them internalize it. It’s a lot that they’re taking in, and it is forming how they’re thinking about the world.

What brings you joy during turbulent times?

I’m an outdoor person. I love to be outdoors. I hike a lot. I go on hiking and camping trips quite often. I always spend time in nature. I hula hoop. And I reflect a lot. I always think it’s important to be aware of the emotional tolls of what you’re doing and to be able to name them and realize what the origin of some of the stress is and come up with a plan for how you’re going to navigate it. And really knowing what my values are and what I’m grounded in.

The work is so rewarding, and to me, it feels like the most important work in the world. I do focus on that. When you help a child through a very complex behavior or challenging behavior, you’re guiding a kid through something to get an outcome, and then seeing that outcome and the rewards that it has for the child and the family and a child’s social interactions with their peers. There’s just something so great about that because I know that that is going to help change their life forever. As an ECE teacher, you don’t see the kids when they’re grown up. You don’t always know the impact that you might have had on a child.

There’s so much magic in this field. If you’re taking little kids on walks, or you’re going outside with them as a grownup, you rediscover the world every day. You’re constantly reminded as you’re showing it to them, like, this is amazing. This is cool. That is awesome, how the clouds are doing that.

Is there anything you would change or improve about the early childhood space?

One thing in this field is that you don’t really get paid much, and that is a huge emotional toll. I remember a long time ago, having a workshop through school where somebody came in and said, “You don’t get paid a lot in this field, and here’s some ways that you can budget your money, and here’s some tips to help you.” And I think that’s something that would be helpful for early childhood educators to have a little bit more of.

There’s been times throughout the years where financially, I’m like, this is just not sustainable. But my heart is just in it. I just know it’s my purpose to be in this field.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

School calendar news: Philly schools could start before Labor Day for the next 2 years

2025-02-11T18:15:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia students could head back to classes before Labor Day for the next two years, according to proposed academic calendars the district released Tuesday.

The pre-Labor Day start for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 calendars will allow for longer spring and winter recesses as well as additional cultural and religious holidays throughout the year, district officials said this week.

Superintendent Tony Watlington also confirmed Tuesday that district schools and offices will be closed on Friday for the Philadelphia Eagles celebratory Super Bowl parade.

“We look forward to celebrating the Eagles’ victory as a community, and we hope that our students, staff and families will do so safely and responsibly,” Watlington said in a statement.

The question of whether to start before or after Labor Day has rankled families and district leaders in recent years, in part because many Philly schools do not have adequate air conditioning. That has forced some buildings to close or dismiss students early due to excessive heat in the first week back.

This school year, the first day back landed before Labor Day, and 63 schools without air conditioning dismissed students early, during the first week of classes. However, school started after Labor Day in 2023-24, and heat closures still impacted students’ learning time that first week.

Watlington said at his state of the schools address this year that over the past three school years, the number of schools without air conditioning has shrunk from 118 to 57 thanks in part to a donation from Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Shakeera Warthen-Canty, assistant superintendent of school operations and management at the district, said their academic calendar recommendations this year are built off of a survey and several in-person feedback sessions.

The majority of parents and caregivers who responded preferred a post-Labor Day start, the survey found. But students, teachers, school staff, and community members reported they overwhelmingly preferred starting the school year before Labor Day.

Some 16,400 parents, students, school staff, principals, and community members responded to the survey the district sent out last September, Warthen-Canty said.

Respondents also said they wanted more frequent breaks for longer durations to accommodate family vacations, as well as time to rest, support mental health, and prevent staff burnout.

State law says districts must have a minimum of 180 student days, or a minimum of 900 instructional hours for elementary school students and 990 hours for middle and high school students. The district’s collective bargaining agreement with the teachers union also requires 188 teacher work days, as well as a minimum of 28 professional development hours.

The district officials’ calendar recommendations will go to the school board for a vote before they are enacted.

If approved, winter recess would be seven days in 2025-26 and eight days in 2026-27, while spring break would be five days both years.

In addition to the five state and national holidays (Memorial Day, Independence Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s Day), Philadelphia school district school holidays in 2025-26 and 2026-27 would include:

Labor Day
Rosh Hashanah
Yom Kippur
Indigenous Peoples Day
Veterans Day
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Presidents Day
Lunar New Year
Eid al-Fitr
Good Friday
Eid al-Adha
Juneteenth

This school year, both Indigenous Peoples Day and Veterans Day were school days.

As for how the new calendar may interact with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s commitment to “extended-day, extended-year” school: Deputy Superintendent Jermaine Dawson said this week the district has ensured any expansion of that program will work “alongside our calendar of school days.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Pennsylvania governor proposes over $200 million more for Philly schools

2025-02-04T21:39:17+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed budget would provide over $200 million more to Philadelphia schools.

In his spending blueprint for 2025-26, Shapiro is also requesting millions more for school repairs, free school breakfast, special education, student-teacher stipends, and student mental health.

The bulk of the increase for Philadelphia comes from Shapiro’s proposal to send an additional $494 million to the state’s highest needs school districts — based on their tax base and per-student costs — in the wake of a 2023 ruling that declared the previous state school funding formula unconstitutional. Of that amount, Philadelphia would receive $137 million.

Shapiro is also proposing changes to how cyber charter schools are funded by re-introducing an $8,000 standard tuition rate for all cyber students, which would save the district another $50 million if enacted. Shapiro proposed the same flat rate in his budget plan last year, but the final budget did not include it.

In addition, Shapiro is proposing a $75 million increase to be distributed to all school districts through the Basic Education Funding formula, the biggest single source of state school aid. City schools would get a $12.5 million increase through that funding stream, bringing their total to $1.6 billion out of $8.2 billion for schools statewide.

The final portion of the roughly $200 million increase for Philly schools would come from an additional $5.6 million for special education.

Even with those increases, Philadelphia would still need an additional $975 million to meet all the educational needs of its nearly 200,000 students in district and charter schools, according to a state analysis.

Shapiro included no money for private school vouchers in his budget. The governor backed the creation of vouchers in 2023, but ultimately signed a budget last year that didn’t include them.

“What we’re doing for education is working now – let’s continue to build on this foundation we’ve laid,” Shapiro said in a Tuesday speech in Harrisburg about his spending plan.

Shapiro’s remarks came shortly after several executive orders from President Donald Trump that expressed very different priorities for funding and other education issues. In his second term, Trump has issued directives to withhold funding for schools that teach “discriminatory equity ideology” and affirm the rights of transgender students. He also issued orders to send more federal funding to private school voucher programs and cleared the way for immigration arrests at schools, among other things.

“This nation saw significant political change in the last election,” said Shapiro, who was once rumored to be a frontrunner for vice president on the 2024 Democratic ticket. “Despite all that change in D.C., the voters here in Pennsylvania returned a Republican-controlled state Senate and a Democratic-controlled state House — with the exact same margins — to continue working with me to get stuff done.”

In his budget, districts would get $40 million more for special education and $5.5 million more for career and technical education. The state’s strained student-teacher stipend program would see a boost of $20 million, while the Pre-K Counts program would get a $17 million increase.

There would also be $23.5 million more for student transportation, $14.5 million additional for early intervention programs, and $10.8 million more for school food services, among other additions for education.

Shapiro’s budget proposal will now go through the legislative process over the next few months.

Shapiro doesn’t push for vouchers

Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington told Chalkbeat last week he is focused on proving to conservative lawmakers that the district is a good steward of state funding.

Despite challenges for the district related to aging infrastructure, budgets, and long-term academic goals, he’s also touting more positive signs: Student attendance is up, as is the four-year graduation rate, Watlington said. The dropout rate is down by more than a thousand students and fourth grade math scores are improving. More funding will allow that progress to continue, he said.

“This proposed investment from the state would allow the District to continue accelerating academic achievement as the District works to become the fastest improving, large urban school district in the nation,” Watlington said in a statement Tuesday in response to Shapiro’s budget.

The negotiations over education spending must abide by a ruling from Commonwealth Court Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer, who found in February 2023 that the way the state funded schools was unconstitutional because aid was both inadequate and inequitably distributed. The system shortchanged students with greater needs, Jubelirer said.

“Last year, we made a commitment to not only invest a record amount of money in public education but create a brand-new formula that drives that money out to the schools that need it most,” Shapiro said. “You voted for that, I signed it into law, and we agreed to keep doing it until we meet our obligation.”

But public education advocates and policy analysts say even with Shapiro’s increases, the state should be doing more to fund struggling districts.

Donna Cooper, executive director of advocacy group Children First, praised Shapiro’s budget — but said the increases need to ramp up faster. Cooper said the $494 million dedicated to sending more money to the poorest districts is “history-making ... important and a needed departure from past policy.”

At the same time, she said, it is not enough if the remaining $3.5 billion state funding “adequacy gap” must be closed in three years, per a legislative Basic Education Funding Commission commitment after the judge’s 2023 decision. This amount won’t do it, she said. What Shapiro is proposing “will close the gap in seven years. We really believe that needs to be faster,” Cooper said.

Advocates at the Education Law Center PA and Public Interest Law Center, who represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led to the 2023 ruling from Jubelirer, said in a statement that “the current timeline for reaching adequacy remains too slow and means that today’s kindergartners will be nearing high school before schools have the funds the state admits they need to succeed.”

In addition to leaving out his proposal from last year to establish vouchers, which he called Pennsylvania Award for Student Success Scholarship and are also sometimes known as Lifeline Scholarships, Shapiro’s budget book does not show any increase for the state’s tax-credit scholarship programs that support private school tuition. Those programs would be flat-funded at the same rate as last year, according to Shapiro’s plan.

All of that displeased school choice advocates, like the conservative Commonwealth Foundation, which has pressured Shapiro to adopt a state-funded private school voucher program.

The budget proposal “notably lacked funding for [Shapiro’s] distant bipartisan campaign promises like educational choice—neither through Lifeline Scholarships nor tax credits,” said Andrew Lewis, president and CEO of the foundation, in a statement.

Correction: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect figure for the remaining adequacy gap for Philadelphia schools.

Dale Mezzacappa is a senior writer for Chalkbeat Philadelphia, where she covers K-12 schools and early childhood education in Philadelphia. Contact Dale at dmezzacappa@chalkbeat.org.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia school officials urged to add more teacher training amid ICE raid fears

2025-01-31T00:09:38+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Parents, students, and community members urged Philadelphia’s Board of Education and school district officials to share more information and resources regarding the Trump administration’s threat of immigration raids and its policies targeting transgender people.

“Your required teacher training for how to engage with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is useless,” former teacher Alisha Davis told board members at its monthly meeting Thursday evening. Davis said she participated in the district’s training in 2022 but has forgotten most of the training. She said all the district’s teachers need a refresher.

In the wake of the president’s order clearing the way for immigration arrests at schools, rumors about ICE agents being spotted near various city schools have run rampant on social media and in Philadelphia parent groups.

District spokespeople said all of those reports were false. A few educators granted anonymity because of the sensitive nature of their comments told Chalkbeat they are receiving messages from some of their students who say they are afraid to come to school and are asking if their absences would be excused.

On Thursday, Watlington reiterated the district’s policy that it will adhere to the 2021 sanctuary schools resolution enacted to protect students and families from arrests by ICE agents on or near school property.

Superintendent Tony Watlington reiterated the district's support for immigrant students at Thursday's school board meeting.

“The district will comply with required laws, and school leaders have been provided guidance about how to protect our immigrant students’ rights,” Watlington said.

He said all school staff are instructed to immediately contact the district’s general counsel office, obtain the necessary subpoena or warrant documentation from ICE agents, and “await further direction.”

“DO NOT Provide any information about students, families or staff unless directed by the Office of General Counsel,” district protocol says.

Families are encouraged to update all emergency contact information for their students.

“The federal government has promised to deport some of our students and deny the humanity of others. So our schools really need to do more in their defense,” Central High School teacher Tom Quinn told board members. He was also referring to Trump administration orders targeting the rights of transgender people in schools. “The district needs to immediately retrain all employees on these policies and to give our students and families the assurance they need to send their kids into our care.”

Vaux Big Picture High School student Matias Merino told board members that students also need more mental health resources to deal with the onslaught of uncertainty. Students and teachers “want to be prepared for the worst situations in the coming years,” Merino said.

Charter school owes the district $30 million

Representatives from West Philadelphia Achievement Charter Elementary’s school community spoke at Thursday’s meeting in defense of their school.

According to a December order from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, WPACES owes the district some $30 million for enrolling hundreds of students more than its agreed-upon cap of 400 students as written in its charter, which remains unsigned by the school. According to the latest available data, WPACES currently has 653 students enrolled.

Stacy Gill Phillips, founder and CEO of WPACES, testified Thursday that “we formally requested the additional students” and kept the district informed of their enrollment trends for years but struggled to get a meeting with district officials.

“The district ignored the request. We asked for a meeting to resolve the issue. No response,” Phillips said. “Taxpayers should not be forced to pay the school district $30 million for students it did not educate. WPACES spent those funds on the children’s education, and that should not be an issue of litigation.”

Board President Reginald Streater said Thursday that “we recognize the significance of this matter for both the charter school and the school district and remain open to discussions through the proper mechanisms in consideration of all issues at hand.”

A dangerous and unsafe field at Olney High School

Dozens of students, school staff, and parents at the meeting advocated for much-needed improvements to Olney high school’s football field and athletic complex. Student athletes told board members that the fields are riddled with holes, are unsafe, and students don’t have access to bathrooms or fresh water.

“We run on dirt instead of an actual track,” Olney student Anthony Pugh said.

Brandon Holub, football and track coach at Olney, said the lack of security around the fields has meant students are unsafe when practicing in the evenings and have had their equipment stolen.

This past football season, Holub said, he was holding a practice session when “eight grown men” approached them on the field.

“They were looking for one of my athletes. I asked them why they were there. They said they were there to beat up the student,” Holub said. “There was nothing stopping these individuals from harming our athletes and staff. No fences, no cameras.”

Drones for student safety

One of the more controversial contracts the board approved Thursday night was for $38,000 to Influential Drones LLC to purchase drones to monitor students at dismissal and special events.

The district’s Drone Patrol Program started in January 2023 at John Bartram High School. Since then, five students have become certified and received paid internships with the district’s school safety office to monitor football games, according to district reports.

According to the contract, the district’s school safety office will measure success by reporting the number of schools using the drones and any year-over-year change in “serious incidents at schools, and athletics and special events supported by the program.”

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia’s schools are 'turning the corner,' superintendent says

2025-01-30T14:30:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia schools Superintendent Tony Watlington is remaining optimistic in the face of an uncertain and chaotic national education landscape.

Watlington delivered his second annual “State of the Schools” address today as the dust still stirs from Trump administration actions that have cleared the way for immigration arrests at schools, attempted to freeze all federal grants, withhold federal funding from K-12 schools that teach “critical race theory” or “radical gender ideology,” and sought to use presidential power to target transgender people and restrict their rights to health care.

His address hewed close to familiar talking points Watlington has repeated at school board meetings and press conferences since he took office.

Student attendance is marginally up. The four-year graduation rate is up. The dropout rate is down by more than a thousand students. Fourth grade math scores are improving thanks in part to a curriculum overhaul. District officials are relaunching Parent University. They’re working on improving their customer service via a new platform they say has already received tens of thousands of responses. They’re in lockstep with Mayor Cherelle Parker on her commitment to extended day, extended year school.

In his speech to district, city and state officials gathered in the auditorium at School of the Future, Watlington posed the question: “Are the children well?” His answer: “I am here to tell you all of our children are not well yet, but …. more of our children are well.”

In brief remarks before he spoke, Mayor Cherelle Parker said she was “proud” of the progress that the city’s students and Watlington were making. “I am here to confirm the commitment to keep public education at the center of all work being done by the Parker administration,” she said.

Watlington made no mention of President Trump or the potential impact of his second administration on education — even as rumors circulated in the room about ICE agents being spotted near two city schools. A district spokesperson told Chalkbeat those rumors were false.

As some educators, lawmakers, and families press the school district to do more — such as make bold political statements, take firm stances, and declare itself present on the national stage — Watlington is remaining focused on his strategic plan.

“We’re turning the corner. We’re making some significant progress,” Watlington said in a recent interview with Chalkbeat ahead of his address. “We believe that the progress to date positions us to be one of the fastest improving large urban school districts in the country.”

Watlington is no stranger to navigating politically fraught worlds. In his previous positions as a veteran educator and school leader in North Carolina, he told Chalkbeat, he had to learn how to work with a divided legislature in the American South. His secret? Focus on the data.

“What conservative legislators always said to me is, ‘Look, what we care about most is the bottom line. What’s the return on investment for every penny we spend?’” Watlington said.

In his address and in conversations with lawmakers in Harrisburg, Watlington said he would “make the case that we’ve made good investments” with the federal, state, and city money they’ve been allocated, politics aside.

“Some of it came from President Trump. The lion’s share came from President Biden. Regardless of where it came from, we made good use of those dollars,” Watlington said. “The district is accelerating. We’re getting better.”

On specific issues such as the threat of immigration raids at schools and explicit orders to eradicate programs that promote diversity, equity, or inclusion or adhere to policies Trump deems “woke,” Watlington has stood firm but stuck to his talking points.

“We’ve prepared our school leaders to comply with the laws of the land, even those that change from time to time … and to do it with respect to protecting the rights of our immigrant students,” he said. “We are not going to gin up extra levels of anxiety. In a very professional and strategic and appropriate manner, we will address those issues” when and if they arise.

“While the mayor and [school] board lead advocacy, my job is to make the case about the data,” he said. “We’re absolutely committed to doing all that we can to ensure safe and welcoming schools.”

And though Philly students’ standardized test scores on average are still well below their peers’ in Pennsylvania and across the country, Watlington said he is confident they’ll make up that ground.

“It takes time to pull all those systems together,” he said. “You’re going to make some progress. Then you’re going to ebb and flow and back slide a little bit.”

He’s planning a trip to Finland in the coming months to study their education system — one that has garnered endless fascination in the U.S. But he’s not naive about the challenges Philly students face. Watlington said Finland does not suffer from the same stark wealth disparities that we have in the U.S., and Finnish people have more reliable access to better health care.

“When I look at the bigger context, it’s not just the school district’s responsibility to improve academic performance,” he said. “It requires us to address wealth attainment and health care in tandem with us in the school district during our job to teach kids to do reading, writing, and arithmetic.”

Nevertheless, he said he believes the state of Philadelphia’s schools is strong.

“We are absolutely where we should be at this time,” he said. “Maybe a bit ahead.”

Chalkbeat Philadelphia Senior Writer Dale Mezzacappa contributed reporting.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Pennsylvania denies AI cyber charter school application

2025-01-29T20:42:40+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Education issued a scathing denial on Wednesday for a controversial cyber charter school built around artificial intelligence.

The department determined the application for Unbound Academy “provided no evidence of sustainable support” for the school and said it “lacks the capability, in terms of both support and planning, to provide comprehensive learning experiences to students” and “fails to substantiate that it will serve as a model for other public schools,” among other concerns.

“There is no compelling evidence that Unbound Academic’s proposed programs will enable students to meet academic standards,” the denial reads. The application “failed to provide even a list of courses that would be offered to students.”

The founders behind Unbound Academy promised the school would educate students twice as fast by giving them two hours of individually crafted lesson plans and academic work designed by AI tutoring software. In their model, teachers would shift from their traditional roles to instead become guides tasked with motivating and supporting students rather than doing the instructional work of teaching.

Founder MacKenzie Price told Chalkbeat she believes the model will revolutionize education.

Pennsylvania’s Interim Acting Secretary of Education Angela Fitterer determined this week that Unbound’s promises were largely without sufficient proof and did not provide adequate plans to serve students with disabilities or other vulnerable student populations.

“The artificial intelligence instructional model being proposed by this school is untested and fails to demonstrate how the tools, methods, and providers would ensure alignment to Pennsylvania academic standards,” the denial letter reads.

The denial letter further assails Unbound Academy’s application as failing to “reflect an understanding of cyber charter school finances.”

The state also said the school demonstrated little interest from Pennsylvania families and submitted no petitions or letters of support from parents, students, or educators.

Pennsylvania teachers’ unions celebrated the denial on Wednesday.

“There is no way that two hours of AI-guided learning in core subjects could replace direct instruction from a certified teacher or meet state academic standards,” Pennsylvania State Education Association President Aaron Chapin said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Price, Unbound Academy, and its affiliated private schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Unbound can appeal the state’s decision within 30 days.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia NAEP scores rise in fourth grade math but stay flat in other subjects

2025-01-29T05:07:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia students’ fourth grade math scores are on the rise, according to newly released test results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as NAEP.

However, city students’ scores in math and reading are still well below their peers’ scores in Pennsylvania, below the average for all large cities, and below national averages.

In the other subjects that NAEP tests — fourth grade reading and eighth grade math and reading — Philly students scored about the same as they did in 2022. Black and Hispanic students in Philly continue to score far below their white and Asian American peers, highlighting the persistent equity gaps that exist for these students.

According to a Chalkbeat analysis, Philly students’ NAEP scores — and scores nationwide — were rising in both math and reading from 2009 to 2013. But since then, students’ scores have dropped precipitously, especially in eighth grade math.

Superintendent Tony Watlington told Chalkbeat the new scores “absolutely validate” that “there is some real progress occurring in this school district.” He added he was not surprised to see fourth grade math performance improve because he’s seeing similar trends in the district’s internal and state test data for third and fourth grade. Watlington said it’s all “part of the strategy to concentrate resources in those early grades.”

Watlington says he is particularly proud of Philly students’ post-pandemic performance. He frequently cites a Stanford University “recovery scorecard” that showed Philly students demonstrated the fastest 2022-23 post-pandemic recovery in math for grades 3-8, and the second-fastest recovery for reading in grades 3-8, among large urban school districts. (The study is based on a weighted comparison of student performance on state tests.) The district has also invested millions in updated curriculum and resources which Watlington says will only compound Philly’s gains in the years to come.

“We’re seeing some immediate improvement” due to the new math curriculum, Watlington said, which he thinks will also be the case for English Language Arts as classrooms continue to adopt new resources for that subject. “I fully expect, in two years, when we give the NAEP assessment again, to begin to see some movement in fourth grade reading,” he said.

NAEP is administered to a representative sample of fourth and eighth graders in reading and math, unlike the state PSSA test, which is given to all students. City students also show low proficiency rates on the PSSA compared to the rest of Pennsylvania. Because only some students take the exams, NAEP results come with some uncertainty in the form of a margin of error.

“One of the reasons why our city has underperformed the Commonwealth average is because our kids have significantly lower attendance in school,” Watlington said. At the same time he pointed to district data showing student attendance has been increasing in Philly recently and the number of students dropping out has been decreasing.

NAEP scores show Philly students gained in math

In fourth grade math, Philadelphia saw a seven-point increase in the average scores from 209 in 2022 to 216 in 2024, which is a higher rate of improvement than Pennsylvania overall. Average scores statewide held steady at 238 — the same as in 2022. NAEP results are reported as average scores on a 0-500 scale.

The percentage of Philadelphia students at or above NAEP proficiency also increased to 19% from 13% in 2022. Philly still falls well below the state however: In Pennsylvania, 41% of students scored at or above proficiency, about the same as in 2022.

In eighth grade math, Philly performed about on par with 2022, with 15% of Philly students at or above NAEP proficiency, compared to 13% in 2022. The average score in eighth grade math was 252 — the same as in 2022. Philly is still below Pennsylvania’s overall average score of 276, which rose from 274 in 2022.

In fourth-grade reading, Philadelphia students scored 195 on average — the same as in 2022. Pennsylvania students overall scored 216, a slight decrease from an average score of 219 in 2022 but not a change NAEP officials deemed statistically significant. In relation to their peers from all large cities, Philly students came up short. In 2024, 17% of students in Philly scored proficient or better, while 26% of their peers in large cities as a whole scored proficient or above. Nationwide, 30% of students scored proficient or better — down from 32% in 2022.

In eighth grade reading, Philly and Pennsylvania students maintained their scores from 2022. Philly students scored on average 242, the same as in 2022. Statewide, students scored on average 259, the same as two years ago. Philly students remain well below their statewide and national peers in the percent of students who scored proficient or better: In Philly, 18% of students scored proficient or better, compared with 31% of students in Pennsylvania, 26% in large cities, and 29% nationally.

Philadelphia, which has the highest poverty rate among all big cities, outperformed just a handful of urban districts. For instance, in fourth grade math, Philadelphia scored lower than 21 districts and higher than four districts — Cleveland, Milwaukee, Detroit and Baltimore City — among the 26 that are included in the Trial Urban District Assessment. In eighth grade math, it did a little better, performing lower than 17 districts, on a par with six, and higher than two, Cleveland and Detroit.

The last time the federal government released NAEP scores over two years ago, they were used as a barometer for how well students had recovered from the pandemic, a period marked by school closures. Philadelphia’s schools closed for in-person learning in March 2020 and did not reopen until the beginning of the 2021-22 school year.

Philadelphia’s 2022 NAEP scores were well below the national and Pennsylvania averages, but scores for city students did not decline as much as they did for students in some other big cities. Fourth grade math scores dropped, but the other scores — in fourth grade reading and eighth grade reading and math — were statistically unchanged.

Even so, Watlington saw hope in the 2022 results. “Given the many challenges that all school districts have experienced these past three years is encouraging news that we intend to build on going forward,” he said at the time.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Dale Mezzacappa is a senior writer for Chalkbeat Philadelphia, where she covers K-12 schools and early childhood education in Philadelphia. Contact Dale at dmezzacappa@chalkbeat.org.

Two AI-powered charter schools could soon open in Pennsylvania

2025-01-24T18:44:53+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Student lesson plans built and personalized by artificial intelligence. Just two hours of classes daily. Frog dissections, defusing bombs, and ascents of Mount Everest — all in virtual reality. And teachers who transform from traditional instructors into “guides.”

That’s the vision MacKenzie Price has for a new cyber charter school in Pennsylvania. In Price’s telling, her AI-powered model turbo-charges students’ academic performance so much that they — and their guides — are free to spurn traditional classes for several hours of the school day and pursue other enriching activities instead. The tech entrepreneur says her program will revolutionize education, and she says she has the numbers to back it up.

But several other states have reviewed her pitch and rejected it. She’s already had to clarify perhaps her most startling claim about whether her schools really employ traditional teachers; in Pennsylvania at least, they would. Critics say what she’s selling is based on selective data from expensive private schools. And they’re deeply skeptical that the core teaching method holds up to scrutiny.

While schools nationwide are trying to incorporate AI-powered instruction into the classic teacher-in-front-of-the-classroom format, Price wants to blow that format up and put AI in the lesson-planning driver’s seat. It’s perhaps no surprise she’s zeroed in on Pennsylvania — it’s become the cyber charter capital of the nation, with 60,000 students enrolled full time in cyber charters in 2023-24. Yet the schools’ often lackluster academic track record and other concerns have led to calls for more accountability and pressure on Gov. Josh Shapiro to place a moratorium on new cybers.

Price told Chalkbeat she’s determined to expand, and she thinks Pennsylvania could be the key. “I want this to impact millions of students,” she said.

The backbone of Price’s schools is 2 Hour Learning — a model she co-founded that relies on a mix of proprietary AI tutoring software and third-party apps like Khan Academy, IXL, and Amplify. She also co-founded the Alpha School in 2014, a group of affiliated private schools which are built around 2 Hour Learning. The platform is also used at several other specialized schools Price is associated with that serve gifted and talented students, students pursuing sports, and refugees.

In fact, Price has sought to start not one but two charter schools in Pennsylvania. By the end of the month, the Pennsylvania Department of Education is slated to decide on whether to give Price’s plan for a cyber charter, Unbound Academy, the green light.

Recent news might not augur well for that application: On Tuesday evening, the Lancaster school district administration advised their school board to reject a proposal to open a brick-and-mortar charter school called Valenta Academy that would use 2 Hour Learning.

The school board is scheduled to vote on the school’s application “at a later date” according to a spokesperson. (Valenta Academy is also operating as a private microschool in Bastrop, Texas.)

Can AI-powered learning ‘help everybody’?

Both Unbound and Valenta would run on the 2 Hour Learning model, although it’s Price’s cyber charter school that’s drawing a lot of the attention.

According to the school’s Pennsylvania application, Unbound Academy would launch in the fall of 2025 with 500 students in grades 4-8 and only four teachers. By its fifth year, Unbound plans to enroll 2,500 students and 76 teachers. And the application projects a 90% student retention rate each year — much higher than other cyber charters have projected in their applications.

In year two, Unbound Academy projects it’ll be ranked in the top half of all Pennsylvania schools, according to the application.

Price said with AI driving each student’s learning, all lessons will fit individual needs. A fifth grader who struggles with reading but excels in math may receive AI instruction for reading at a fourth grade level but 25 minutes later may be doing pre-algebra work. That’s something traditional grade-level schools aren’t set up to do for every student, she said.

“I really believe that this method of educating people is something that can help everybody,” Price said.

As her model has drawn national attention, Price has changed her tune when it comes to perhaps her most dramatic claim.

“We have removed the teacher from the front of the classroom. No one has ever dared to do this before,” reads a promotional booklet on 2 Hour Learning. “Imagine starting a school and declaring, ‘We won’t have any academic teachers.’ We did exactly that!”

But Price acknowledged that what the school does is not quite “exactly that.”

“We have teachers. Teachers are critical to any education system,” Price said. “What we are doing is transforming that role of teachers so that we can allow them to focus on doing what they really do best, which is being able to positively impact students and build connections with them and provide motivation.”

Indeed, the application for Unbound Academy says candidates for the “guide” role must have a bachelor’s degree and hold a valid Pennsylvania teaching certificate to adhere to state teacher certification requirements.

Nevertheless, Price’s model is getting an icy reception in some quarters.

“Just as we do not accept students using AI software to write their essays or complete homework assignments for them, we will not accept districts using AI to supplant the critical role of teachers, specialists, and support staff in the classroom,” said Arthur Steinberg, who’s president of both the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers’ Pennsylvania affiliate. “There are far too many examples of AI products failing badly for states to do anything less than exercise extreme prudence when considering new AI-based models and schemes.”

AI-powered school makes big test score claims

Unbound’s application repeatedly cites results from the Alpha private schools showing their students not only learn content “twice as fast” as their peers, but can also rapidly learn any grade-level content they may be behind on.

To support this claim, Price points to scores from MAP, a suite of standardized assessments from NWEA. She said that on average, students in the 2 Hour Learning model “experience 2.4 times the academic growth compared to their peers in traditional education settings.”

Alpha schools also promote remarkable numbers, saying for example that its students rank in the 99th percentile of academic performance. Alpha’s website notes that it relies on the Pomodoro technique for time management, a reference to using a kitchen timer to increase productivity.

“The results that I’ve been able to get from our schools have been absolutely phenomenal,” Price said.

Her work doesn’t stop with American students. The 2 Hour Learning Model has been used in a virtual setting by Ukrainian refugees, Price said, and those students are also demonstrating accelerated learning. But those results are not public.

Reactions by other states to Price’s educational model have been mixed.

Late last year, Arizona — where the policy landscape is very receptive to disparate schooling models — approved an application from Unbound Academy. But Arkansas, North Carolina, and Utah have rejected it. Price said she also has an Unbound application pending in South Carolina.

Officials from the North Carolina Charter School Review Board shared several questions and concerns about the school, according to the meeting minutes from their review of Unbound’s application last September.

One official, Alex Quigley, said that Price had made a “compelling” case, and that Unbound’s model could be piloted in schools before scaling up. Yet he also noted that at least one of the Alpha Schools charges $40,000 a year for tuition. While Alpha schools in Texas and Miami do charge thousands for tuition, Price said many of the students at Alpha’s Brownsville, Texas location come from challenging socioeconomic backgrounds and attend on scholarship.

Another North Carolina official, Bruce Friend, said he “wasn’t clear about the role of the teacher compared to the role of AI and the parent.” Board officials also expressed worries about whether the school could meet the mandated academic calendar, student accessibility, and whether it was appropriate for young students to do a “massive” amount of learning online.

Then there’s skepticism about using in-person private school test results to project success with a cyber charter school.

Cyber charter operators in Pennsylvania have told Chalkbeat their students’ test scores “can’t and shouldn’t be compared to brick-and-mortar school scores.” Cyber charter students frequently move in and out of virtual learning environments. Many may be dealing with bullying, mental health issues, family instability, or physical health constraints. In short: They’re different from typical tuition-paying private school students.

Yet Price said she’s undaunted by the differences between students at Alpha schools and those who may enroll in a cyber charter school in Pennsylvania. She believes her 2 Hour Learning technique can work for anyone and can work in traditional public schools too.

“The great news about public charters is we’ve got to report our results. We’ve got to be able to show how we do on standardized tests compared to other students in Pennsylvania,” Price said. “So the proof is going to be in the pudding.”

Many cyber charter teachers ‘struggle to help students’

But supporters of traditional public schools say there’s too much uncertainty embedded in Price’s proposals.

Unbound’s cyber model is unproven and “does not have a track record,” said Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education, a group that is critical of charter schools.

Burris also said she was struck by the large number of Unbound cyber charter applications despite the group only having experience with brick-and-mortar private schools.

“I have never seen this phenomenon before,” Burris said of a group pursuing so many different types of schools at the same time.

Susan Spicka, executive director of the Education Voters PA advocacy group, said she rejected Price’s idea that the day-to-day work of being a classroom teacher is something that can be minimized by or subordinated to AI.

“There are a lot of very highly qualified, excellent teachers in Pennsylvania who teach at cyber charter schools, and they struggle to help students succeed when they are sitting at home on a computer in the online environment,” Spicka said. “It’s hard for kids to learn at home. The level of frustration my kids felt with stuff like that when they were forced to do it [during COVID] was off the charts. They hated it.”

Spicka also questioned how Price’s model serves students with disabilities if there’s no classroom teacher assigned to monitor them while they learn.

Unbound’s application says the school will adhere to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and “will offer a variety of special education programs and related services, delivered both directly by specialized staff and through contracts with external providers” via “in-person visits” or online teletherapy sessions.

For English language learners, “adaptive online programs like Duolingo” will be incorporated into their lessons and parents will have access to translated documents and “real-time interpretations during virtual sessions.”

Regardless, Spicka and others are lobbying for more scrutiny on cyber charters.

For example, they’re looking for lawmakers and Shapiro to add more funding and staff to the state education department so it can increase Pennsylvania’s monitoring of cyber charter schools.

State Sen. Lindsey Williams, a Democrat, has promised to introduce legislation for a moratorium on all new cyber charters until the state is better able to monitor the ones currently in operation.

In a December memo to her colleagues in the state Senate, Williams pointed to research showing the schools “consistently under-perform both brick and mortar charters and district schools,” and “every one of Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools has been identified as needing some level of support and improvement under the state’s accountability system.”

Williams wrote that it’s not surprising that private operators like Price “perceive our state as ripe for profiteering off of Pennsylvania’s children and taxpayers and apply to open new cyber charter schools.”

As for Price, she’s already thinking bigger than Pennsylvania.

She said if the Trump administration “called me up and said, ‘what would you do if you were in charge of K-12 education’?” she’d tell them to embrace “personalized learning technology” — like 2 Hour Learning.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Philadelphia school leaders say they have protocols for immigration enforcement in Trump era

2025-01-22T22:12:44+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with news on the city’s public school system.

Philadelphia school officials reiterated their support for immigrant students after the Trump administration rescinded protections that kept federal immigration enforcement agents from targeting schools and other “sensitive” locations.

According to Nathalie Nérée, the district’s chief of special education and diverse learners who spoke at a City Council “Trump preparedness” hearing Wednesday, officials are leaning on the school district’s 2021 sanctuary schools resolution that’s designed to protect students and families from immigration arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on or near school property.

Nérée said protocol for school staff is to immediately contact the district’s general counsel, “obtain documentation” from ICE agents if they have the necessary subpoena or warrant, and “await further direction.”

The district has also “developed a comprehensive immigrant and refugee toolkit to guide staff on handling immigration related concerns,” she said. It is also providing ongoing professional development for teachers, administrators, and other school personnel about how to respond to ICE agents, Nérée said, who added that the district is still analyzing the orders from President Donald Trump.

Shortly after taking office Monday, Trump issued an executive order declaring that sensitive spaces like schools, churches and hospitals were no longer protected from immigration enforcement actions except in cases of imminent public danger. As a result, advocates are urging school officials nationwide to clarify what they plan to do if ICE agents try to operate in or near school buildings.

Further details about the district’s plans had not been shared by spokespeople as of Wednesday. But questions about the city’s preparedness for stepped-up immigration enforcement only intensified after Mayor Cherelle Parker announced Wednesday that Amy Eusebio had resigned from her job as the head of Philadelphia’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

On Wednesday, City Council members pressed the district, noting immigration raids could begin imminently.

“How will the school district of Philadelphia respond to people knocking on school doors and trying to take children?” Councilmember Anthony Phillips asked district representatives. “How soon do you think the school district will have an adequate response to something of that nature?”

Concerns about Philadelphia schools’ response to immigration enforcement have persisted for some time. In 2021, the immigrant rights group Juntos released a survey showing that 75% of Philly educators “had no training” in how to respond if ICE came to schools.

The 2021 Philadelphia Board of Education’s sanctuary schools resolution also directed the superintendent to develop a plan within 100 days to inform and train teachers, administrators and staff how to respond to ICE, should they ask about students or enter school property.

“We have created a detailed emergency response plan to safeguard the emotional, physical and well-being of our students who may be affected by federal immigration enforcement actions,” Nérée told the City Council.

Strawberry Mansion High School Principal Jeannine Payne said that the issue of ICE agents came up last week at the district principals’ regular January meeting, where Nérée “made it clear you are not to let them in the school” without specific warrants.

But Payne said she would feel more assured if she had more information on “what is my script, what recourse do I have” to effectively deal with someone who presents themselves as a government official. “I hope there’s a plan to better equip us,” Payne said.

Erika Guadalupe Núñez, executive director of Juntos, told the City Council on Wednesday that the district has failed to follow its own policies and protect its immigrant families as called for under its 2021 sanctuary resolution.

“I’m here to address the district’s failure to fully implement sanctuary schools and the serious consequences this has for our community,” she told City Council members. “To this day, none of these proposed measures [from 2021] have been fully implemented, leaving our community even more vulnerable than we were five years ago.”

Since 2016, Philadelphia has designated itself as a sanctuary city. That means the Philadelphia Police Department does not collaborate with ICE agents in sharing information, arresting, or detaining undocumented immigrants.

At the same time, Philadelphia schools have not been totally immune from federal immigration enforcement.

In 2020, ICE agents arrested a mother outside of her child’s South Philly school. And in 2023 a school principal threatened to have a student and his family deported. The school district ultimately entered into a settlement regarding the principal’s actions and promised to provide more staff training.

Philly families have not necessarily been assuaged by the district’s protocols.

“There are immigrant families that have called and made [us] aware they are scared to take their children to school,” said Rosanna Matos, early learning program engagement specialist for the early childhood education advocacy group First Up.

Matos urged council members to consider protections for prekindergarten providers and child care centers which are also losing their sensitive status due to Trump’s executive order.

Sim Loh, public policy specialist with the early education group First Up, also raised concerns about how the Trump administration’s policies could exacerbate early childhood staffing challenges.

“We have educators from mixed-status families who say they might want to leave the field,” Loh told council members.

Kristina Moon, a senior attorney with the Education Law Center PA, told council members that all traditional public and charter schools “must commit to comprehensive training” about immigration policies.

“We are hearing from immigrant and LGBTQ+ students that they fear for their safety and worry their schools will not protect them,” Moon said.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

Dale Mezzacappa is a senior writer for Chalkbeat Philadelphia, where she covers K-12 schools and early childhood education in Philadelphia. Contact Dale at dmezzacappa@chalkbeat.org.