Chalkbeat

What to know from Philadelphia’s review of its English language arts curriculum

2026-09-03T21:04:58+00:00

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Philadelphia school district officials have pledged that this will be the year students’ reading proficiency improves.

But as the district starts the third year of a $25 million reading curriculum overhaul, more evidence points to problems with the rollout.

According to a new district research report, educators reported serious concerns with the new K-8 English language arts curriculum during the first year, including its phonics instruction, a lack of time and resources for students to read full books, and little support for students who start or fall behind.

The researchers, who hosted focus groups with more than 100 K-8 Philly teachers, principals, and administrators, concluded that most principals believe the new curriculum, designed by EL Education, “is a step in the right direction.”

But “genuine teacher buy-in remains a challenge” due to insufficient training, mixed messages about how to comply with district mandates, problems locating and preparing lessons and materials, and little time to address students’ foundational learning before moving to something new.

The district has tweaked its approach to the curriculum since that first year of implementation, including adjusting pacing, adding “flex days” for teachers to go over material, increasing professional development, and reorganizing grade-specific materials to be more accessible, according to a statement from Chief Academic Officer Michael Farrell.

It has also added support specifically for K-2 teachers for teaching foundational literacy skills, he said.

State test scores released last year showed that K-8 students’ reading scores fell after the first year of the new curriculum’s implementation, with around one-third of students reading proficiently. That’s far from the Board of Education’s goal that more than half of students will be proficient in reading by 2030. Anticipation is high for state test scores from the curriculum’s second year of implementation, but those have not been released yet because of a delay at the state level, district leaders said.

Mary Jean Tecce DeCarlo, a clinical professor of literacy at Drexel University who helps train Philly teachers, said many of the concerns educators voiced in the report were predictable. Some problems, like sourcing materials and organizing lessons, get easier as teachers get used to the new content, she said.

However, Tecce DeCarlo echoed educators’ concerns about the curriculum’s phonics instruction in particular. Though she said EL Education is great at increasing students’ background knowledge, which is key for reading comprehension, its approach to phonics instruction is not systematic or direct enough.

“I think right now, the district is operating — as are a lot of people in this new ‘science of reading’ renaissance — that any phonics instruction is good phonics instruction,” Tecce DeCarlo said. “It turns out that’s not true.”

Here are three major findings from the report.

Teachers say phonics instruction is not effective

Nearly all teachers and principals for K-2 students reported problems with how the EL Education curriculum taught phonics, which experts say is essential for kids to learn how to read.

Many teachers said the phonics lessons included in the curriculum were not direct or explicit enough for the district’s youngest learners, leaving them worried that it does not effectively teach struggling readers how to sound out words.

EL Education states on its website that its K-8 curriculum is based on the science of reading and includes structured phonics instruction. The organization did not respond to Chalkbeat’s questions about concerns from Philadelphia teachers.

Several teachers said they believed the district’s previous phonics materials from programs like Saxon and Fundations were more effective. Some opted to return to using those programs, disobeying the district’s directive to stick to the new curriculum.

“When you know better, you do better,” one teacher reported. “I feel like this program is going against what we have learned and know to be better.”

Not enough reading for pleasure, educators report

Some teachers reported that the curriculum did not allow time for them to “foster a joy of reading,” the researchers found. Though the curriculum refers to books students can read to go along with lessons, teachers said they didn’t always have access to copies for their students. Most Philadelphia schools don’t have libraries, and teachers are sometimes on their own to get class materials.

One principal said that middle school students wanted to read more full chapter books, but didn’t get to do so. “They’re sick and tired of the gist of an excerpt or just reading excerpts,” the principal reported. “They’re begging their teachers. Can we just read a couple of chapters and read it straight through?”

Other principals reported similar concerns, saying they thought the curriculum could work well if it was adjusted to include more novel-based learning for students.

Students behind grade-level have few supports

Many teachers reported they had little time to teach students who aren’t yet at grade level. That kind of teaching, often called Tier 2 instruction, can be essential for students who may join a school partway through the year, which is common in Philadelphia.

But teachers reported that there were no lessons dedicated to this kind of teaching, and they worried about taking time away from other parts of the fast-paced curriculum.

Superintendent Tony Watlington has previously said he wants teachers to spend more classroom time on grade-level work rather than remedial instruction. But when students are missing foundational skills, they may not be able to complete the work the curriculum demands, teachers reported.

Specific interventions for students who are significantly behind “is not in this curriculum,” one teacher reported.

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.

‘We’re going to listen’: Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington sets sights on rebuilding trust

2026-08-26T16:53:35+00:00

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Philadelphia Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. has begun his fifth year on the job with his focus set on improving students’ academic performance.

But other pressing issues, including the 17 schools the district plans to close beginning next year, may command the attention of students, families, and staff.

The release of last year’s state test scores remains “delayed by the state,” Watlington said, but previous scores show that while students’ math performance has improved, reading performance has declined. The district’s graduation rate has risen, and the number of dropouts has declined.

“We’re going to keep putting our foot on the gas,” Watlington said, adding that he’s focused on improving communication with families and building stronger partnerships with parents and community members. That will include paying some family and community members a “modest stipend” to become ambassadors for the district.

Still, it’s unclear whether Watlington’s strategy will strengthen the district’s relationships and repair trust with the thousands of families facing school closures or whose children’s education has already been disrupted this year by asbestos concerns or the end of certain programs.

Chalkbeat spoke with Watlington Wednesday about his plans for the upcoming school year. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

We’re coming off a year with high tensions, largely about school closures. Some teachers and students said they lost trust in the district. How will you go about building trust this year?

Trust is the cumulative effect of small acts over time. It takes a long time to build it, and it takes a little time to erode it.

We’re going to be transparent, and we’re going to tell our families and communities the truth. Truth is kindness, I believe, and especially when we have to deal with really difficult issues.

One of our truths is, in the sixth-largest city in the United States of America, the district-operated schools have a 65% occupancy rate, and 35% of those seats are sitting vacant. It’s inefficient for the taxpayer’s dollar.

I understand people who have strong feelings about school closures, and we’re going to empathize. We’re going to stay at the table. We’re going to build transition committees with school communities. We’re going to listen. We’re going to do something with that feedback.

We’re going to continue to work as partners, and we’re not going to take personal when conversations get a bit strident. That’s when we need to stay in the fight, work together, and we can disagree without being disagreeable.

What do you plan to do in the coming year — be it around academics, curriculum, family support, staff support — that’s different from when you first started?

Number one, I’m going to focus on academic achievement. We had the right strategy in math. Three through eighth grade math, we’ve got nearly a 13-percentage-point increase (in proficiency rates over three years).

On the reading side, we expected there to be some implementation dip. We think we absolutely did the right thing to standardize the reading curriculum across the school district. A lesson learned is that we’ve got to double down on how we support and prepare teachers. We need the classroom teaching to change in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Superintendent gives his annual State of the Schools address on Wed., Jan 7, 2026 at Thomas Edison High School.

Half of the day, kids have to be exposed to grade-level standards, not remedial work, not just tutoring. Because we will never improve and fix this problem through tutoring and remediation. We will never remediate or tutor our way to excellence.

We see graduation rates going up, but we don’t necessarily see all high school academic scores going up. Do you worry at all that the standards to reach graduation have lowered?

I don’t think the standards to reach graduation have lowered. I do think that I want to challenge the notion that when school districts improve their graduation rates, there are people who automatically want to say, “Well, they’re lowering their standards.” Because I think there’s a bias against public education in this country. I really do, and the bias is strong, and that’s why I’m here in Philadelphia.

I’m going to stand tall and strong and tell people many public schools are doing better with the students that we serve than kids in other sectors. As third through eighth grade kids get (academically) stronger, and we continue to invest in those lower grades as they move up, we will do nothing but produce stronger high school students and graduates.

I think there’s a problem with grade inflation in higher education and K-12. I’ll admit that at the same time.

Some Philadelphia superintendents stay a long time. Some don’t. Why stay in the role?

This is personal to me. As a student who came out of poverty myself, I know that public schools are the way to get into the middle class and solidly in the middle class. I know that public schools are what can help to create wealth and generational wealth that far too many Americans don’t get.

I just think all the pieces are coming together at one time, despite all the challenges we have. I’m optimistic about the progress that has been made.

And then finally, I’d like to stay 10 years and one day — and beat (former Superintendent) Bill Hite’s record of 10 years.

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

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

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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.”

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

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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.

Pennsylvania still hasn’t passed a school cellphone ban. Some Philly principals aren’t waiting.

2026-08-20T15:03:47+00:00

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At West Philadelphia High School, kids are sometimes on their phones — but they’re not breaking any rules.

The school has a new cellphone policy, implemented last school year, that requires teachers to lock up student phones in a clear cabinet at the front of each classroom. During class, the phones are visible but out of reach. Then, when the bell rings, kids get them back.

That means students can scroll TikTok at lunch and text their parents between classes. During some lessons, teachers can unlock the phones, allowing students to use them for schoolwork.

“We want to be innovators,” said climate manager Eugene Lett Jr. “We want kids to have their phones. But not during instruction time.”

West Philly High’s approach differs from the so-called “bell-to-bell” cellphone bans taking off around the country. In states such as New York and New Jersey, lawmakers now require schools to prohibit student cellphone use throughout the school day, including lunch and transition times. These policies include some exceptions but are largely meant to prevent student cellphone use at school entirely.

In Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro has said he wants lawmakers to pass a similar ban. Proponents say bell-to-bell bans encourage social interaction and help kids focus on learning. But as Pennsylvania lawmakers continue negotiating school cellphone use regulations, some school leaders say they like their own approaches, which a statewide ban could disrupt.

The state Senate passed a bill in February to ban students’ use of cellphones during the school day, and the House passed an amended version in June. The bill includes exceptions for students who need devices for medical use, translation, or communication support. But lawmakers have yet to agree on a final version, as disagreements remain over which schools the ban should apply to and what exceptions it should include.

That means districts are largely on their own to determine how to manage student cellphone use. In Philadelphia, the district leaves cellphone policies and enforcement up to individual schools.

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers has supported Shapiro’s call for a statewide cellphone ban. But Superintendent Tony Watlington has previously said he believes decisions about student cellphone use are “best made at the school level.”

Philadelphia leaves cellphone policies up to schools

At West Philly High, Principal Marla Travis said the school used to require students to store their phones in locked pouches for the entire day. The goal was to limit distractions and keep students focused on learning. But in practice, she said, it was difficult to implement and made kids and families anxious.

Phones still buzzed even if they were stored away, and some kids found ways to unlock the pouches. The cost of buying new pouches and the staff time needed to unlock them for hundreds of kids at the end of each day also added to the challenge.

So Travis’s team met with students and staff during town halls to discuss what they could improve. Teachers wanted an easier way to manage the end-of-day phone unlocking rush. Students wanted to check their phones a few times throughout the day to communicate with their families.

Travis got the idea for the clear, locked cabinets from an airport charging station. They cost $35 each and are simple to use, she said. A handful of times, students have tried to turn in dummy phones to avoid handing over their real ones. But overall, she said, “they seem to like it, and they abide by the rules.”

West Philadelphia High School Principal Marla Travis says locked cabinets in each classroom help the school limit student cellphone use while still allowing students to use phones between class.

But a mile away, at James Rhoads Elementary School, storing student cellphones in locked pouches has worked well, said Principal Megan Wapner.

The school provides Yondr pouches to all students in grades 3-8. Students lock their phones inside before entering the building in the morning, and staff unlock them at the end of the day.

“We’ve seen engagement tremendously improve,” Wapner said. “We’ve seen our teachers’ ability to teach has completely changed.”

Wapner implemented the Yondr pouches at Rhoads shortly after the pandemic, when she said she saw students frequently distracted by their devices. Teachers struggled to compete with the endless entertainment of YouTube and Instagram. Students would sometimes get in fights based on texts or rumors.

In middle school, “big feelings are happening all the time,” said Rhoads English language arts teacher Rafael Schneider. Being without their phones gives students a kind of “cooldown time,” he said, and keeps them present in class.

James Rhoads Elementary School Climate Manager Lamond Muhammad displays the Yondr pouches the school uses to prevent students from using their phones.

Teachers and leaders at Rhoads say managing phones and unlocking pouches for their 400 students isn’t a strain. But they understand it could be trickier at schools with older kids or more students.

Still, Wapner said she supports a statewide ban. Families and students were initially skeptical of her school’s policy, but pushback is now rare, she said. She said she believes a statewide ban could help other schools get cellphone use under control.

“We have really seen a difference,” she said. “You won’t see them on their phones at all. You won’t see phones in the building, and you will also see kids talking, looking at each other, making new friends.”

Philadelphia’s school asbestos problem is already derailing back-to-school

2026-08-17T22:35:36+00:00

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After a $17 million HVAC renovation and nearly two years of construction, Kensington High students and staff were hoping this school year would get off to a smooth start.

Instead, they were hit with a familiar Philly school problem: asbestos, a toxic substance that can cause breathing problems and lung disease when it deteriorates and is inhaled.

During renovations at Kensington High School this summer, an asbestos inspector identified concerns about the demolition of the old HVAC system, Deputy Superintendent of Operations Oz Hill said in a letter sent to the school community last week. To remove asbestos and clean the building, the district will relocate students and staff to the unoccupied Austin Meehan Middle School building seven miles away for the remainder of 2026.

“We know this is disappointing news, but the health and safety of our students, staff, and workers is our first priority,” Hill said. He added that the district looked for buildings closer to Kensington, but none were suitable for the school’s more than 400 students and 90 staff members.

Kensington is one of many century-old district buildings where asbestos must be constantly monitored and occasionally remediated. That process is time-consuming and expensive, but failing to do so can create hazardous health conditions. In recent years, district leaders have pledged in public and in court to improve asbestos monitoring and ensure quick remediation. Still, asbestos remains a problem, raising concerns that the district isn’t doing enough to keep school buildings safe.

“This is a repeat of the playbook we’ve seen at other schools,” said Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg during a press conference Monday.

Over the past few years, district leaders have temporarily closed a handful of schools due to asbestos, including Ben Franklin High School and SLA Beeber. They’ve also shut down parts of other buildings to conduct asbestos remediation.

“Unfortunately for the staff and the kids in the community, it’s going to be a chaotic year,” Steinberg said.

Last year, the Department of Justice criminally charged the district in a first-of-its-kind case, finding that it failed to conduct proper asbestos monitoring between 2015 and 2023. To defer prosecution, the district agreed to inspect buildings every six months and regularly repair damage.

Superintendent Tony Watlington has separately said his facilities plan, which includes closing 17 schools and upgrading nearly 170 others, will ensure all students attend classes in high-quality buildings.

But the district does not yet have the funds to complete all the renovations Watlington is seeking. In the meantime, nearly 300 school buildings have asbestos that must be monitored.

District promises support for displaced Kensington High students

District spokesperson Naima DeBrest said in a statement Monday evening that the district suspects a third-party contractor improperly removed asbestos containing material during demolition work at Kensington High.

The district removed that contractor from the job, and the contractor is not working on any other district project. The district is on schedule with its regular asbestos inspections, DeBrest said.

Steinberg said district officials briefed him and other union personnel on the matter in July and allowed them to inspect the building.

Steinberg said district officials told him that a contractor who was not certified or trained in asbestos removal or remediation demolished an area containing asbestos. The contractor did not follow asbestos removal best practices, which means the materials could have contaminated several parts of the school.

“A lot was being done quickly,” said Jerry Roseman, the PFT’s director of environmental science, who inspected the damage. “It needed more careful management, knowing there’s asbestos throughout the building.”

The district will provide transportation for all Kensington students to Meehan, Kensington Principal José E. Lebrón told families in a letter over the weekend.

It will also transition the lab spaces for Kensington’s marketing, computer technology, and computer engineering programs to the new building. District officials also said they will create a school safety plan and share it with families ahead of the first day of school next week.

“Please rest assured that our dedicated team has been working around the clock to create a safe, vibrant, and welcoming space where our students can thrive from day one,” Lebrón said.

Families can access more information during upcoming meetings:

In-person information meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 5:00 p.m. at Kensington CAPA.
Virtual information meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 19 at 5:00 p.m. via Zoom.
Austin Meehan open house for Kensington High on Friday, Aug. 21 at 1 p.m.
Austin Meehan open house for Kensington High on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 10 a.m.

This story has been updated with additional information from the Philadelphia school district.

Philadelphia parents describe ‘devastating’ toll of preschool exclusion and suspensions

2026-08-06T20:36:38+00:00

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Philadelphia parent Hadria Leon was excited when her son started preschool in 2024, snapping a photo as Otto went off to his first day.

But when she went to pick him up, the preschool staff told her Otto could no longer attend. Otto has an autism diagnosis, and preschool leaders said they didn’t have the resources to support him, Leon said.

“I was devastated, I was crying,” Leon said. “I begged the director. The school refused my offers of support and my ideas for how to best support my child.”

Leon was one of several parents who testified during a City Council Education Committee hearing Thursday on young kids being suspended, expelled, and excluded from Philadelphia preschool programs.

The practice, often called “preschool pushout,” is difficult to quantify because many exclusions are never formally documented, and data collection is limited in Philadelphia and nationwide. But parents and advocates say excluding young kids from preschool programs in the city has taken a toll on their learning and development. They want the city to prohibit preschool exclusion and suspensions across the board and invest more in early childhood funding and training, especially to support kids with disabilities.

The city prohibits any prekindergarten program that receives city funding from excluding children from the classroom or sending children home early. But Sean Perkins, chief of early childhood education in the city’s Office of Children and Families, acknowledged that “in some cases, this commitment has been challenging for providers.”

The city funds around 5,000 preschool seats through its PHLpreK program, which all Philly families are eligible for. Perkins said the city has provided more coaching and paid professional training sessions meant to improve services for kids with disabilities.

The Philadelphia school district runs many of the publicly funded preschool programs in the city. Diane Castelbuono, the district’s assistant superintendent for early childhood education, said it also does not permit the expulsion of preschool students. She said there are limited circumstances during which a “temporary exclusion” may happen, like if a student presents a direct threat to themselves or others.

Still, families and advocates said exclusions persist across the city’s wide range of preschool programs, including those that are publicly funded, run by the school district, or privately operated. They called for a ban on preschool suspensions in all programs, as well as more funding and resources for preschool providers.

“Pushout occurs across the board in both public and private preschool programs in Philadelphia, and is not the result of any single provider’s actions,” said Rose Wehrman, an attorney with the Education Law Center-PA. “These exclusions are rooted in discrimination and are both harmful to children’s development and are developmentally inappropriate for all children.”

Council members appeared sympathetic to the concerns, though none at the hearing committed to pushing for specific policy or funding changes.

“What I think we need is a system that says, if we’re going to ask the providers to take the child, no matter what, then there should be resources available to address the needs of the child, no matter what,” said Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who chairs the Education Committee and called for the hearing.

Councilmember Nina Ahmad acknowledged the difficulty of understanding the scope of the problem.

“Pennsylvania has no system of tracking exclusion in early childhood settings, so most of it never happens in any record,” Ahmad said. “What we do not count, we cannot fix.”

Educators seek resources to support kids with disabilities

Several preschool providers testified during the hearing that they need more resources, including funding and training, to better support kids with disabilities.

“What is being asked of childcare providers is fair,” said Taneema Fannings, who runs Christ Like Childcare Center. “But no support or resources makes it impossible.”

Unlike K-12 public schools, most preschools don’t receive additional public funding when a student has a qualifying disability. Though Philadelphia families are supposed to get support services for infants and toddlers through publicly funded early intervention, they often wait weeks or months for those services. That can leave kids and preschool teachers without support when they need it.

Representatives from Elwyn, the nonprofit that runs the city’s early intervention program, did not attend the hearing.

“Educators need help with children with special needs,” said Natrice Johnson, who runs Candy’s Kids Learning Academy. “We don’t want to expel them. We don’t want to suspend them. But we need help, supports, so we can be able to maintain them in our classrooms.”

For parents, preschool pushout is ‘devastating’

Preschool pushout can take many forms, parents said, from being asked to pick up kids early to being told that a certain program can’t meet a child’s needs.

Chandell Craig-Cromwell said her son Romaine’s preschool told her the center was “no longer a good fit” for her child. Though she said she advocated for him to remain in the program, she was told the decision was final.

“I carried a lot of guilt,” she said. “It felt like our only option was to keep him home again.”

Another parent, Jennifer Garrison, who is Black, said she feared her son Terrell’s preschool discriminated against him because of his race and disability. Terrell is on the autism spectrum and requires support to eat and communicate.

When she picked Terrell up from preschool, he was routinely hungry and thirsty, she said. She feared he did not get the support he needed during the day, leaving him without food and water. As a result, she felt she had no option but to withdraw him.

“The impact on my son has been devastating,” she said. “As a Black parent of a child with disabilities, there is an added layer of concern that behaviors and needs associated with autism may be misunderstood or responded to differently.”

For Hadria Leon, a few months after Otto was excluded from his first preschool, she was able to find a new program that welcomed him. Teachers there supported her son, and he later went on to elementary school. He graduated from kindergarten in June.

“We are all so happy that he is improving,” Leon said. “What our family went through should not happen to anyone else.”

‘Nobody feels good, nobody’s learning’: How high temperatures disrupt Philadelphia’s school days

2026-08-04T14:11:07+00:00

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For nearly two years, teacher Isabelle Ouyang and her colleagues have dealt with the presence of construction workers, shuffling between classrooms, stress over schedules, and a host of disruptive renovations.

Ouyang has, essentially, pardoned all that dust, because Philadelphia’s Kensington High School now has air conditioning. With a $17 million estimated price tag, it hasn’t come cheap. And she’s still worried about disruptions continuing into the next school year.

“Having AC in our school, I feel really lucky,” said Ouyang, a special education teacher. “But it felt a little bit like things were being figured out on the fly.”

As climate change leads to more extreme weather and hotter summers, ensuring students can remain safe and comfortable in Philadelphia’s old schools has become a perennial challenge. Research shows that high temperatures take a toll on student learning, attendance, and behavior.

Around 50 Philadelphia schools — or nearly one quarter of district schools — still won’t have what the district considers to be adequate cooling when the school year begins later this month. That number has shrunk over the past few years after the district spent COVID relief dollars on upgrading HVAC systems and received a $200,000 donation from Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.

In the last four years, the number of Philly schools without air conditioning has fallen from 118 to 52. Still, the district seems unlikely to meet its previous goal of air conditioning all its buildings by 2027. The complicated and expensive process of adding cooling to old buildings like Kensington High, which was built over a century ago, illustrates why getting there can be so challenging.

The Philadelphia district has an official plan for extreme heat that includes sending students at schools without adequate cooling to learn remotely at home when outside temperatures are forecast to reach 85 degrees or above before 9 a.m. At the end of last school year, the district used that protocol twice, moving students to remote learning for approximately 50 schools without adequate air conditioning.

Superintendent Tony Watlington has said the district’s 10-year facilities plan is key to ensuring students go to school in buildings that have air conditioning and similar upgrades. It includes closing 17 schools, colocating several, and modernizing nearly 170 buildings.

“We want to get to a point where we don’t have to send kids home early” when it gets too hot out, he said during a tour of John M. Patterson Elementary School in Southwest Philadelphia earlier this summer.

Patterson doesn’t have adequate cooling, but is supposed to get a $45 million upgrade under the facilities plan to increase its capacity and add air conditioning to key parts of the buildings.

District spokesperson Naima DeBrest said in a statement that the district is “shifting from separate, immediate renovations to integrating cooling upgrades into the broader, long-term modernization projects planned over the next 10 years.”

The district, however, does not yet have all the funding to pay for the upgrades at schools slated for renovations under its 10-year plan.

Adding AC to old schools can take years

Kensington High School’s HVAC upgrades included replacing aging heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, along with updating ductwork.

Separately, the building also got new windows to replace ones that had become opaque with wear.

At other schools, the process of upgrading cooling systems has also become costly and drawn out.

John F. McCloskey Elementary School in Cedarbrook was one of the dozens of schools that had to send students home to learn remotely at the end of last school year due to high temperatures, because it does not have adequate cooling.

The local utility Philadelphia Gas Works has been studying whether installing a geothermal system, which would serve the school as well as a neighboring community center, could be a solution for the school. Geothermal systems don’t require burning fossil fuels, making them favored by climate advocates.

A PGW spokesperson said the utility expects that study to be released in the coming weeks, a year and a half after the utility first announced its plans. It estimates installing the system would cost around $19 million, without tax incentives, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Though that could save the district money on gas in the long run, there is no budget or timeline yet to install it.

That means for the upcoming school year, McCloskey still won’t have adequate cooling, and kids will once again learn remotely if temperatures get too hot.

Linnea Bond, environment and health education director at the advocacy group Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, has been following PGW’s work on its geothermal study for years. She said she’s glad it’s made progress, but that’s only one step.

“I don’t want them to leave these kids hanging,” she said.

High temperatures take a toll on students, staff

When temperatures climb, students do worse on tests and can have more disciplinary problems, research shows. Attendance also declines on high-heat days, studies have found.

School districts need robust heat plans to prepare for those challenges, said Allison Poulos, an associate professor in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. That can mean everything from ensuring staff and students have access to water to redoing schedules so school isn’t in session during the hottest times of the year.

It’s important that schools have “really thought through what resources they have, what they don’t have, and what decisions they will make,” said Poulos, who helps run the university’s HeatReady Schools initiative. “Because I think these are going to continue to persist and probably get more problematic as time goes on.”

One Philadelphia math teacher who asked not to be named because she was not authorized to speak by the district said the lack of air conditioning in her building frequently derails learning during the hottest months of the school year.

She’s rarely able to make significant curriculum progress on days when school goes remote due to heat, she said, because it happens with little warning. On days that are hot but don’t meet the district’s temperature threshold for closure, she notices absences spike in her classroom.

For students who do attend, the classroom heat is like an unavoidable, uncomfortable distraction.

“Nobody feels good,” she said. “Nobody’s learning.”

Philadelphia City Council members say they will ‘use every tool in our arsenal’ to stop school closures

2026-07-28T21:31:51+00:00

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Members of Philadelphia’s City Council say their fight to stop the district’s school closure plan is far from over, and they’re prepared to use several tactics to force changes before closures begin next year.

“We’re going to use every tool in our arsenal to make sure that we protect our children,” said Isaiah Thomas, chair of the City Council’s Education Committee, at a press briefing Tuesday.

The district plans to close 17 schools beginning in the 2027-28 school year and reshuffle those students elsewhere under a sweeping facilities plan approved by the Board of Education in April. The plan would also co-locate several schools and upgrade nearly 170 school buildings.

The facilities plan is meant to ensure students go to class in quality buildings and families can access more opportunities, such as prekindergarten and AP classes. It’s also supposed to help the district adapt to its declining enrollment, which has left hundreds of empty seats in several schools.

The City Council doesn’t have a direct say over the closures, but it does control some district funding. Last school year, several members vehemently opposed the plan, and Thomas called for board members’ resignations after they voted to approve it.

With the upcoming school year slated to be the last for several schools, council members say they plan to use their power to continue pushing for changes. Some said they were looking to keep Paul Robeson High School and Lankenau Environmental Science High School in particular off the closure list.

Thomas said he is still considering potential legal action over the closure plan. Councilmember Curtis Jones said he is considering requiring an independent audit of the district’s spending on services such as school lunches.

School Board President Reginald Streater said in a statement that the board “values City Council’s partnership and remains committed to engaging stakeholders throughout the plan’s implementation.” The board will continue to review community feedback about the plan, Streater added.

The district will work closely with students, families, and staff, as well as elected officials and community members, “to ensure every transition is thoughtful, transparent, and centered on student success,” school district spokesperson Monique Braxton said in a statement.

The district shared its facilities plan after dozens of community engagement sessions and surveys of residents across the city. The initial proposal included closing 20 schools, but following protests, the district removed three from the list the board approved in April.

“It is no secret the facilities plan is unpopular,” said Councilmember Nina Ahmad, who has opposed the district’s plan to close Lankenau Environmental Science High School in particular. “If three can be taken off, then more can be taken off.”

Thomas said he plans to mobilize Philadelphians to continue their fight against the closures.

“You’ve got to care more about these 17 schools closing than you do about LeBron James coming to Philadelphia,” Thomas said, referencing the recent NBA news that the famed basketball player will join the Philadelphia 76ers. “This matters more.”

As Philadelphia plans to close schools, board members call for more scrutiny of charter enrollment

2026-07-24T18:54:56+00:00

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As Philadelphia moves to close 17 district schools, some Board of Education members say it’s time to put additional scrutiny on charter schools as well.

During a Thursday meeting, Joyce Wilkerson called on the board to analyze the 16 charter schools that operate as part of the city’s Renaissance Initiative. The program turned district schools over to charter operators in an effort to improve them, but largely has not succeeded.

“The time has come for us to get a handle on what’s going on,” Wilkerson said. “We’ve just finished closing district neighborhood schools. I think that we ought to do a similar kind of analysis as we approach the future of the Renaissance charter school program.”

When district leaders launched the Renaissance Initiative in 2010, the schools were meant to operate like neighborhood schools, serving “the students in the surrounding neighborhood or catchment area,” according to district policy. At the time, the district was run by a state-appointed board that favored charter expansion. But as student enrollment shrinks citywide, many Renaissance schools rely on filling their seats with students from outside their neighborhood. That means enrolling kids who might otherwise attend their own neighborhood district-run school, increasing competition for students.

In fact, at half the city’s Renaissance schools, the majority of students came from outside the schools’ catchment, a Chalkbeat analysis of district data for last school year found. The schools must give priority access to students within their catchments, but can open up remaining seats to students anywhere in the city, just like at district neighborhood schools.

Out-of-catchment enrollment is highest at Universal Audenried Charter High School, whose charter the board voted to renew Thursday. Only 20% of students reside in the school’s catchment neighborhood.

“That’s not the reason this school was created,” said Wilkerson. “It’s not the parameters within which it’s supposed to operate.”

Board President Reginald Streater commended Universal Audenried for its improved academic scores in recent years. But he agreed with Wilkerson “that the Renaissance question is a question that the board needs to wrestle with,” adding that members must look into whether the initiative is accomplishing what it set out to do.

Penny Nixon, CEO of Universal Charter Schools, which operates Universal Audenried, said in a statement that the board’s discussion “presents an opportunity for meaningful dialogue about how we, together, can continue strengthening neighborhood enrollment.”

“While we cannot determine where families choose to enroll their children, we remain steadfast in ensuring that neighborhood families have access to our school and that every available seat is used to serve Philadelphia students when neighborhood demand does not fill our capacity,” Nixon said.

The board has tried to limit out-of-catchment enrollment at Renaissance charters by including conditions in their charter agreements that require the schools to enroll mostly students from within their catchments. But schools that don’t meet requirements continue to operate.

Universal Audendried’s previous charter agreement required the school to limit new students for the 2025-26 school year to those coming from its catchment area, or those who were siblings of current students. Though the school failed to meet that condition, the board still renewed it Thursday.

Renaissance charters are largely subject to the same accountability standards as other charters, which focus on schools’ academic and operational performance. The board can move not to renew a Renaissance charter if it does not meet some of those standards, which kicks off a process that can lead to closure. But it cannot close one of those schools unilaterally.

District’s school closure plan left out charter schools

Philadelphia’s district enrollment has shrunk by 13% from a decade ago, largely due to declining birth rates. Fewer kids means district, charter, and private schools are all competing for fewer students.

The district’s sweeping facilities plan, including closing 17 schools beginning next year, is largely meant to help the district adapt to its enrollment decline.

The board voted to approve that plan earlier this year, after months of protest from school communities. But though one-third of Philadelphia students attend charter schools, and the district owns the facilities of Renaissance charters, the district didn’t include an analysis of charter school enrollment or potential plans for Renaissance buildings in its facilities planning process.

District and board officials did not respond to questions about why charter schools were not included.

The district’s website states that “While the District and renaissance charter schools are an interconnected system, the primary recommendations in this plan will focus on District-operated school programs.”

Montessori Charter fights school board over nonrenewal decision

Separately on Thursday, the school board kicked off the process that could lead to closing Philadelphia Montessori Charter School, which is not a Renaissance charter.

The school, which enrolled around 250 students last year, had fewer than 20% of its students score proficient in the state math and reading test last year, both below the district average.

The “student academic growth has not kept pace with state expectations,” said Board of Education Vice President Sarah-Ashley Andrews Thursday. Seven of the nine board members voted in favor of issuing a notice of nonrenewal to the school.

The school appears ready to fight the decision. It filed a lawsuit in May in the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court against the district alleging its charter renewal process is unlawful. On Tuesday, the school’s president and two families filed a separate lawsuit against the district in federal court, alleging the district “administered the renewal process in a discriminatory and arbitrary manner” against the school.

Before the vote, Philadelphia Montessori Executive Director Amanda Wilson urged the board to pause their decision as the court cases play out.

“When decisions affect the future of a public school and hundreds of children, the process should inspire confidence that these decisions are being made thoughtfully,” said Wilson.

Philadelphia Montessori is one of several charter schools and charter advocacy groups fighting the district in court over its renewal process.

Pennsylvania’s largest cyber charter school expands real estate footprint in Philadelphia

2026-07-22T21:48:51+00:00

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Pennsylvania’s largest cyber charter school, Commonwealth Charter Academy, is expanding its real estate footprint into Philadelphia with a 32,000-square-foot site at the city’s Navy Yard.

Cyber charter students log onto class from home and complete assignments online, without ever having to attend class in-person. But officials with Commonwealth Charter Academy say the site will have offices for staff, as well as a service center for the school’s growing number of Philadelphia students.

The school’s enrollment has nearly doubled over the past five years, to 35,000 students. Last year, around 5,000 lived in Philadelphia, according to state data.

Philadelphia families have increasingly chosen to enroll kids in cyber schools, often as a way to keep kids safe from gun violence and bullying. But as cyber charter enrollment has grown, some officials and advocates have raised concerns about their academic outcomes and spending.

“With the number of families and students we have down there, we are eager to get back into Philadelphia so those students and families have a connection to their school,” said Timothy Eller, Commonwealth Charter Academy’s chief branding and government relations officer. Though the school previously leased office space in Philadelphia, it closed it a few years ago and had been looking for space to buy ever since, Eller said.

The Navy Yard building cost $6 million, according to documents from the school’s May board meeting obtained by the advocacy group Education Voters of Pennsylvania and shared with Chalkbeat.

Since 2022, the school has spent nearly $50 million purchasing real estate statewide that is currently under development, the documents show.

The Navy Yard building will enable students and parents to connect with teachers, complete state testing, attend tutoring, meet with counselors, and participate in field trips, Eller said. It’s part of the school’s goal to expand from 21 to 27 “family service centers” statewide in the next few years.

But to Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania, the real estate holdings “symbolize the excess funding that exists in the cyber charter sector that is not being used to actually educate kids.”

Students at cyber charter schools, including Commonwealth Charter Academy, graduate at a lower rate than the state average. Last year, around 16% of the school’s elementary and middle school students scored proficient on the state math test, lower than the averages for both the state and Philadelphia.

“How do these buildings and the investment in them really further the mission of the cyber charters to provide an online education?” said Spicka.

An audit from the Pennsylvania Auditor General released last year found that Commonwealth Charter Academy’s rapid real estate expansion “is unusual and outside the normal operating model of a cyber charter school.”

“Those dollars could be allocated to improving online educational opportunities and technological advancements rather than increased overhead and costs associated with physical facilities,” the audit stated.

In last year’s state budget, which followed that audit, state lawmakers lowered the amount each district pays cyber charters per student, saving Philadelphia nearly $50 million. This year’s state budget, which Gov. Josh Shapiro signed earlier this month, holds cyber charter funding steady.

Commonwealth Charter Academy’s real estate expansion comes as Philadelphia’s school district plans to close 17 schools beginning next year and works to eliminate a $300 million budget deficit.

Eller said the school does not aim to attract more families through expanding its family service centers, but rather to serve the students already enrolled.

Philly has more English learners than ever, but they often struggle to graduate. Here’s what could help.

2026-07-17T14:51:49+00:00

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English learners make up a growing share of Philadelphia’s district enrollment, with around 25,000 enrolled last year.

But they’re significantly less likely to make it to graduation than their peers — and that gap has only widened over the past decade.

English learners include a diverse range of students, from various different language and cultural backgrounds. Some students arrive in Philly from wholly different education systems, and some have received little previous education in English at all. Last year, they represented around 22% of the district’s enrollment, more than double the share from a decade prior.

Families and advocates say the district doesn’t provide families enough support or students enough flexibility, especially in high school. Even with English as a second language classes and newcomer programs, students often need more help, several English as a second language teachers told Chalkbeat.

Last year, only 70% of students identified as English learners at any point in high school graduated within four years, compared with 88% of students who were not identified as English learners, according to district data.

That data doesn’t include students who were identified as English learners in elementary or middle school and reached English proficiency before ninth grade. But advocates say the lower graduation rate among high school English learners underscores that older students need additional support to get their diplomas.

“The School District of Philadelphia is pretty far behind and out of touch with what it means to support high school age newcomers,” said one district English as a second language teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the district did not authorize her to speak publicly.

She and other teachers and advocates said the biggest issue is poor attendance. Many English learners have to balance school with work to support themselves or their families. Though the district has some flexible options, such as accelerated or virtual programs, they are rarely accessible to students just beginning to learn English or who have just started formal schooling.

As a result, students often cut class to go to their jobs, the teacher said. Those absences can lead to suspensions and truancy. “It winds up pushing them out of school,” she said.

In a statement, district spokesperson Monique Braxton said the district “remains deeply committed to ensuring each and every EL student has a clear, supported pathway to graduation.”

Braxton said the district ensures students can access high-quality curriculum and get support to meet graduation requirements. The district also provides training to teachers across subjects in how to work with English learners.

Advocates: High school English learners need more flexibility

Across the country, English learners are less likely to graduate than their peers, though some studies have found that those who attain English proficiency before high school outperform their peers who are native English speakers. Since 2022, English learners’ average scores on standardized math and reading tests have declined more sharply than those of other students, according to national assessment data.

Some of that gap is expected because the category, by definition, includes students who are not yet proficient in English, said Michael J. Kieffer, a professor of literacy education at New York University.

“It’s a long-term narrative that English learners are struggling, and often they’re referred to as if they’re perpetually struggling,” Kieffer said. He said it’s important to remember that some English learners’ success isn’t captured in data focused solely on high school.

Philadelphia has expanded its newcomer academies to three schools in recent years, providing additional support and resources for students who are new to the country and learning English. It also offers English as a second language classes and support programs for English learners in several other neighborhood high schools.

Still, advocates say families and students constantly struggle to get information in a language they understand and to get help accessing the curriculum.

“We often get calls from families who realize that their children are not making progress in their neighborhood schools, not learning enough English, or getting enough support,” said Kristina Moon, a senior attorney in the Philadelphia office of the Education Law Center.

Moon’s group and others have advocated for the district to put more resources toward newcomer programs in high schools to help students reach English proficiency faster. Doing so would help students pass classes and connect with the greater school community through extracurricular activities and sports, Moon said.

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

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

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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.

Philadelphia teachers describe chaotic ‘fantasy football draft’ to get their school assignments

2026-07-08T20:23:59+00:00

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The Philadelphia school district is telling teachers to pick school placements from a list on the spot — or it will assign them one, creating what the teachers union called “confusion and exasperation” six weeks before the school year starts.

The district has more than 300 positions for next school year that it still needs to fill, according to a list in a district email sent last week to staff obtained by Chalkbeat. Teachers who do not yet have an assigned position for next year must attend Zoom meetings this week, send a proxy to select for them, or be assigned a school “based on the needs of the School District,” according to a second email the district sent to staff Monday.

“It’s like a fantasy football draft,” said one district teacher who attended his scheduled meeting on Tuesday. He and other teachers spoke to Chalkbeat on the condition of anonymity because the district did not authorize him to speak. “It’s an utter disorganized, chaotic mess,” he said.

The Zoom sessions are a culmination of what several teachers described as months of staffing uncertainty. In the spring, district officials had planned budget cuts for the 2025-26 school year that would eliminate 340 positions, and told principals to move forward with cutting roles. The district did not plan to layoff staff, but rather directed employees to find open positions elsewhere through a process called “forced transfers.”

A last-minute city budget deal last month restored those positions, but only after affected teachers had already begun applying for new positions. Schools also still have to move forward with eliminating other positions that resulted from enrollment shifts, which change schools’ budgets every year.

Teachers affected by the staffing reorganization describe chaos and uncertainty. Some say they still don’t know if they’ll be able to return to their positions that district officials previously planned to eliminate in the spring. Others have already taken jobs outside the district to avoid the frustration.

Experts say this kind of upheaval, though sometimes unavoidable, can lead to greater teacher turnover and make it harder to ensure students get the help they need.

District spokesperson Monique Braxton said in a statement that the district is moving forward with restoring positions, but that doing so “is separate from staffing those positions.”

She said the district is working with principals on staffing schools and making employee assignments in accordance with union agreements.

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg said in a statement Wednesday that the district’s Tuesday Zoom session for teachers to pick their schools was “a day-long debacle that left many PFT members frustrated and disenchanted.”

The union contract requires the district to inform force transferred staff of vacancies, and to assign them to the vacancies they request, based on seniority. But it does not dictate the details of the selection process.

Steinberg said the union applauded the city budget deal. But he called on the district to correct the “administrative issues” that have left teachers with no confirmation of where they’ll be working so close to the beginning of the next school year.

The district has around 220 schools, some located nearly an hour’s drive apart.

Schools’ budgets and staff positions shift regularly based on enrollment, and forced transfers are a common part of every school year transition. But this year’s last-minute budget deal appeared to delay the timeline for finalizing placements.

Superintendent Tony Watlington previously said figuring out a way to restore positions was a “great problem to have.” Recruiting and retaining effective teachers is a key pillar of his strategic plan.

But moving teachers between schools without much input from them can lead to increased turnover, said Edward Fuller, a professor in the College of Education at Penn State who has studied teacher retention.

“The fit between a teacher and a school is really important, and you don’t fit well at every school,” said Fuller. “If you go to another school and you don’t fit, now you’re like, why am I going to do this? Like, I can just pick my own school outside of the district, or go find another job.”

Fuller’s research has found that the number of newly certified teachers across Pennsylvania has plummeted over the past decade, with too few teachers to fill the demand. That takes a toll on students’ academic performance, he has found.

Still, he said, districts with declining enrollment like Philly will likely have to increasingly make these difficult decisions more often, in order to shuffle teachers to where they’re needed most.

“I don’t think there’s any easy answer, honestly,” said Fuller.

Effective schools build strong partnerships between students, families, and staff, said Scott Gaiber, deputy chief of talent initiatives at the Philly-based education group Elevate 215.

“When you have people shuffling out and shuffling in, it’s really challenging to create those partnerships,” he said.

Philadelphia audit finds school district owes former employees $2.8 million

2026-07-02T16:41:58+00:00

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The School District of Philadelphia owes $2.8 million in delayed termination payments to more than 700 former employees, according to an audit the city controller released Thursday.

The district owes the majority of that money to employees who retired or otherwise left the district in fiscal year 2024. But it owes more than $500,000 to employees who left the district in fiscal year 2023 or earlier.

“Every employee deserves to be paid accurately and on time for the work they performed,” City Controller Christy Brady said in a press release Thursday. “When former employees are still waiting years after leaving the school district to receive compensation they earned, it raises concerns about accountability and compliance.”

The audit found the district also could not locate several expensive pieces of equipment worth a total of nearly $300,000, including printers, Smart Boards, and a piano.

Brady’s office referred to these as “deficiencies in internal control.” “Now more than ever, resources must be managed responsibly and efficiently,” she said.

The audit comes after months of scrutiny and debate over the school district’s spending. During the city’s budget cycle this spring, several members of the City Council questioned why the district asked for more funding while simultaneously planning to close schools. And a recent poll found 86% of city voters supported auditing the district.

School district spokesperson Monique Braxton said in a statement that the district was pleased the audit identified no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies, “reflecting the District’s strong commitment to fiscal stewardship, transparency, and accountability.”

She added that the district has already developed corrective action plans to address the audit’s findings, including implementing improved asset-tracking procedures and centralized oversight for its inventory management.

“We will continue working to improve our processes, strengthen accountability, and make sure public dollars are managed wisely and responsibly,” Braxton said.

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers filed a grievance in May over the district’s delayed termination payments, as well as a grievance over delayed supplemental pay to current staff.

Half of Philadelphia’s high school graduates opt out of college. Can pre-apprenticeships help them find jobs?

2026-06-25T19:04:29+00:00

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In a rehabbed shipping container in West Philadelphia, Nakiah Walker leaned over her friend’s Chromebook to take a peek at logo ideas.

Walker, 20, was among a group of high school students and recent graduates trying to apply the tips and tricks they’d learned during a semester-long digital marketing program.

She joined the program because she was interested in learning more about marketing. But more than anything, she said she’s glad to have the opportunity to explore different career options.

“They don’t really offer that in school,” said Walker. “In school, they just tell you to get your work done, graduate, then go to college. They don’t really tell you there are other things to pursue, and you can have a career doing things that you actually want.”

The program, launched in 2023 by the Philadelphia nonprofit We Love Philly, is part of a recent statewide effort to expand what’s known as pre-apprenticeships, which provide job training to high school students and recent graduates in a variety of fields. Pre-apprenticeships must be connected to apprenticeships, which are often connected with employers. The idea is that that pipeline can help ensure programs actually connect young people to jobs. But there isn’t comprehensive data yet to show whether that’s working.

Last year in Pennsylvania, there were nearly 150 pre-apprenticeship programs with around 3,200 active participants, according to state data. That’s three times the number of participants compared with two years prior, and a large portion are concentrated in the Philadelphia area. Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed doubling the state’s investment in pre-apprenticeships and other career training programs for students to $7 million next fiscal year.

The investment comes as the number of students in Philly and statewide who opt out of going to college directly after high school has grown. In Philadelphia, around half of high school graduates in the Class of 2025 did not matriculate, according to district data. The rate was slightly higher for Black students like Walker. State officials are backing pre-apprenticeships as a way to help fill high-demand jobs and connect students to career pathways that don’t require a college degree. Still, those pathways remain rare, and college is still the surest bet for expanding economic opportunity. Experts and educators say students need more support for pre-apprenticeships to ultimately lead to real jobs.

“We talk a big game about, ‘You don’t have to go to college,’” said Taylor White, director of the Postsecondary Pathways for Youth program at New America, a think tank. “But there are very, very few other ways, and they’re really inaccessible and hard to find.”

Several other states have worked to expand apprenticeship opportunities for young people in recent years. And studies of some programs show they can help connect youth to careers, especially if students also take coursework in the same area. But the field is still fairly new in most states, said White.

Pennsylvania doesn’t publish any data on pre-apprenticeship participants’ outcomes. A spokesperson for the Department of Labor and Industry said in an email that the department has only recently begun collecting data on pre-apprenticeships “so the information we have at this stage is still somewhat incomplete and is not yet ready to share with confidence.”

Patricia Blumenauer, deputy secretary for workforce development at the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, said the pre-apprenticeships goal is broad: connect more young people with industries looking to fill jobs and help them get relevant skills. Even if a student doesn’t continue in their pre-apprenticeship field, she said she still sees it as a win if the experience gives a young person a better sense of what they want to do.

“Really getting that experience and making a decision either way for us feels like a success,” Blumenauer said. That’s partly why the state wants to keep expanding pre-apprenticeship opportunities and get more employers on board to work with young people, she said.

Officials push pre-apprenticeships as a college alternative

When Walker graduated high school in 2024, she felt stumped about what to do next.

She thought about going to college, but didn’t want to pay for it before she knew what she wanted to study. But coming up with another long-term plan for her future felt impossible, she said.

After graduation, she spent a year working a mix of jobs. Then she got a call from someone she considered to be a mentor, telling her about the pre-apprenticeship. She was skeptical at first, and felt that it was risky to leave her job to start the short-term program. But she agreed to check it out.

Soon, Walker was showing up four days a week and earning a stipend of $12 per hour. She built a portfolio and earned a certification from Google in digital marketing. The team at We Love Philly also helped her format a resume and update her LinkedIn profile.

“I was at a point in time when I was stuck, until I got recommended here,” said Walker.

Walker was one of thousands of Philly students in her year who did not go to college the following fall. Of those who matriculated, around one-quarter dropped out after a year.

Research shows going to college remains the surest way for young people to access economic opportunities and move out of poverty.

At the same time, members of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration have repeated that alternatives to college — like military training, apprenticeships, and trade school — are valuable options for Pennsylvania’s young people.

“We need to respect each and every pathway the same,” Shapiro said at a rally earlier this year as part of his reelection campaign.

Blumenauer said many Pennsylvania students are looking for options other than college, even if they understand the relative value of higher education. She hopes pre-apprenticeships will help those students and help fill jobs in the state.

“We are constantly hearing from businesses that they are concerned about the future and where their pipeline of workers going forward is going to come from,” said Blumenauer.

Participants in the cybersecurity pre-apprenticeship program at We Love Philly learn coding skills that could lead to a job after the program.

Still, it’s unclear if the approach is working. Many states, including Pennsylvania, have set their own definitions of what an apprenticeship for young people should look like and standards for what it should accomplish. Data on outcomes of students after they leave the programs is also hard to come by.

The tension between college and careers comes up frequently in Philadelphia. Even groups working on helping students access college say they see lots of value in expanding career-oriented opportunities.

But some worry the push for career-related opportunities has eclipsed support for kids looking to go to college. Farah Jimenez, CEO of the Philadelphia Education Fund, which works with Philly high schoolers to access college and career training, said it’s useful to expose young people to different careers. But she worries the emphasis on career-related paths perpetuates the belief that college is expensive, likely to result in debt, and out of reach for many.

The question kids hear all the time now, she said, is: “Why would you go to college?”

Pre-apprenticeships provide job training, but no job guarantee

After Walker finished her pre-apprenticeship in digital marketing, she said she was hopeful and excited about what might come next for her professionally. She felt her resume, experience, and credentials would help her get noticed by employers, and she’s been able to find work since the program ended.

But that work isn’t in digital marketing. These days, she’s working at a hospital and considering applying for college in a year or two. She still isn’t sure if she wants to go into marketing, but in her free time, she enjoys using some of the skills she learned to help friends design websites and is preparing to launch her own jewelry business.

“It’s not just like we’re learning a skill — it’s also like we’re learning other things that goes into being an adult, being a good worker and just having and maintaining a career,” she said.

Josiah Miller, another recent pre-apprentice at We Love Philly, participated in the organization’s cybersecurity training program. He learned about and got into a paid two-year program to train recent graduates for tech-related jobs. He now plans to go into tech, and he attributes that to his time in the pre-apprenticeship.

His pre-apprenticeship motivated him “to learn new skills, put myself out there more,” Miller said.

At We Love Philly, directing students to jobs isn’t the only goal. The organization dedicates a portion of each day to social-emotional learning to help students build trust and prepare for the professional world.

“We have to create an environment where they want to be and are comfortable enough to take risks without feeling embarrassed or angry because, you know, they messed up or didn’t do something right,” said Cory Zoblin, who runs the cybersecurity pre-apprenticeship.

As with schools, workforce training programs can’t provide all the answers, Zoblin said. “But they can make learning and curiosity more integral, so that kids want to keep going.”

School leaders say Philly’s charter school oversight is flawed. But fixing it is hard.

2026-06-11T16:24:24+00:00

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Pennsylvania has a vision for charter schools: Improve student learning, provide families with choices, and explore innovative approaches to teaching — all while being held to high standards by the local district.

But in Philly, where one-third of the city’s public school students attend charters, some education leaders say tensions between charter and district leaders have made that vision increasingly difficult to execute.

Many charter schools have operated successfully for decades, with students doing well academically and school communities thriving. But over the past five years, around two dozen have had academic, operational, or financial problems that could be grounds for closure, based on the district’s evaluation framework. Some have suspended students at high rates, struggled to boost low academic scores, or failed to meet state laws about school operations.

Yet only one of those charters will close as of next school year due to the Board of Education’s actions. A few other charters have closed on their own accord.

Still, charter leaders say Philly’s approach to charter oversight has caused other problems. At least five have sued the district and board in expensive and lengthy lawsuits to prevent closures. Charter leaders have alleged the board’s charter evaluations are inconsistent, biased, and political. Many say they don’t get enough support from district leaders. And several point to what an independent investigation in 2023 called a “conflict of interest” within the system, where the district funds and regulates charters and traditional public schools, which all “compete” for the same students.

The resulting discord has created frustration, left families in limbo, and sucked up money and resources for schools. To some, it also shows that Philly has strayed far from the promise that charter schools and the district could collaborate to improve all students’ experiences.

Charter and district leaders seem to agree on one thing: The charter renewal process isn’t working the way it’s supposed to, with an accountability system everyone agrees on and efficient ways to resolve conflicts.

“It’s sad,” said Natalie Wiltshire, CEO of KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools, which is part of a lawsuit against the board. “Because now I feel like we have this adversarial relationship that just does not need to exist.”

Peng Chao, who leads the school board’s Charter Schools Office, said his team has worked to create a communicative and transparent accountability system. But, he said, “ultimately, what I think might be happening here is this basic perspective that accountability is inherently difficult.”

Over 5 years, Philly’s school board closed 1 charter

The board evaluates charters every few years on whether they meet academic, operational, and financial standards it sets.

If a school doesn’t meet standards, the board can decide not to renew its charter, kicking off a process that can lead to the school closing.

Over the past five years, all of the city’s roughly 80 charter schools have gone through the renewal process. The majority received scores of meeting or approaching the required standards, according to the Charter Schools Office’s evaluations.

But the evaluations also show more than 20 others received scores of not meeting requirements, which can be grounds for nonrenewal. They include schools where all teachers don’t get background checks, students’ grades are worsening, or absenteeism and suspension rates are much higher than the district average.

Still, the board has started the nonrenewal process for just six charters since 2022, including two in May. For two other schools, it’s moved to revoke charters outside renewals.

Of all those cases, only one has resulted in a charter operator losing its school. Memphis Street Academy, which sued the board in 2022 to prevent its closure, recently lost its appeal. Though the school operator will lose its charter, the school itself will transition to become district-operated for next school year.

Philadelphia's Memphis Street Academy charter school will transition to become district-operated for next school year. It's the only charter school the Board of Education has closed in the last five years.

For two of the schools not renewed, the board later reversed its decision. Others have remained open as they battle the decision in court, or wait for hearings and appeals to play out.

Philadelphia Montessori Charter School recently sued the board after it started the nonrenewal process for the school. Executive Director Amanda Wilson said the school felt turning to the courts was their only option because “there is no room for conversation or negotiation” in the board’s renewal procedures.

Chao said the state’s charter law requires districts to hold hearings over nonrenewals, and schools can appeal decisions to the state’s Charter Appeal Board. That board’s members are appointed by the governor, and they have largely sided with districts.

“There is a process for schools to put forth evidence and their side of the story,” said Chao. Lawsuits, he said, delay that.

Charter school accountability has long been fraught

Charter nonrenewal decisions are controversial across the country. But the number and frequency of lawsuits over the process in Philly sets it apart, said David Greenberg, vice president of authorizer learning and development at the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

When authorizers and charter schools work together well, schools often do better, said Greenberg. When that’s not happening, students may pay the price.

“This kind of acrimony takes the focus away from teaching and learning,” said Greenberg.

Charter school leaders have a variety of problems with the renewal process, from how it compares schools to what some have called an “inconsistent” reaction to schools that don’t meet standards.

Some allege the board oversteps the law by requiring schools to agree to conditions, like raising students’ test scores by a certain amount. Others have alleged the entire process is discriminatory against schools that serve a disproportionate number of Black and brown students.

Philadelphia Charter Schools Office Director Peng Chao says charter lawsuits interrupt the Board of Education's process of holding charter schools accountable.

Chao said he could not comment on specific allegations. But he and the board are working to revise the renewal process.

Two years ago, the board launched a process called Project RiSE, meant to improve how it evaluates charter schools. It is expected to release the new framework in September, after delaying it from an initial release planned for this month.

“We know that accountability metrics must evolve over time,” said Board President Reginald Streater in a statement last year about the effort.

But Chao said he could not share details about how the new framework may differ from the current one.

Cassandra St. Vil, CEO of Philadelphia Charters for Excellence, a charter school advocacy organization, said she was initially hopeful the new framework could address concerns that evaluations are inconsistent and unfair. But as the district has pushed back its release date and failed to share any details about it, she no longer trusts that will happen.

Philadelphia Charters for Excellence recently sued the board to limit the requirements it can impose on schools in the renewal process.

“We are not trying to skirt accountability at all,” said St. Vil. “We’re actually trying to bring it to light and make sure that it’s mutual, across the authorizer as well as the (charter school) sector.”

340 Philadelphia school staff positions saved from cuts via last-minute city agreement

2026-06-10T22:36:41+00:00

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The Philadelphia school district has reached an agreement with the City Council and Mayor Cherelle Parker to stave off the 340 school-based position cuts it had planned for next school year.

But no additional recurring revenue source is coming under the deal, Parker said Wednesday.

Parker said the district will use $48 million in onetime funding City Council approved as part of its budget deal last week to pay for those positions next year. In the following years, Parker said she will continue to work with the City Council to find a way to generate new, recurring funds for the district. If that does not happen, the city will find the money through other budget cuts.

“There is no new predictable and recurring revenue source in the budget,” Parker said. But she said they made some tough decisions to ensure the district gets the funding to keep these positions over the next five years.

Parker did not share details about where that money would come from if there is no new recurring revenue source, but said there would be more information in the budget plan her team will release tomorrow.

The 340 positions the district planned to cut included climate staff, special education aides, counselors, and teachers. Though no staff would have been laid off under the plan, staff would have had to find new positions and their empty positions would not be filled.

Educators and public school advocates have spent the last few months warning district leaders that the cuts would upend schools, drive educators out of the city, and leave students with less support at a time when they desperately need it.

The deal announced Wednesday would not reverse the 220 building substitute position cuts or the 130 central office position cuts the district adopted.

Last week, Superintendent Tony Watlington told council members that the district could not restore the school-based positions without finding sources of recurrent multiyear funding, according to a memo Chalkbeat obtained.

He argued relying on onetime stopgap funding to cover annual costs such as salaries could negatively impact the district’s financial outlook.

But on Wednesday, standing beside Parker and Council President Kenyatta Johnson, he said he was grateful to accept the deal and called it “Christmas in June.”

Many school staff were told to find new positions months ago due to the budget cuts. Now, the district plans to work with principals as well as the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers to fill those positions again.

Figuring out how to fill the restored positions “is a great problem to have,” Watlington said.

52 Philadelphia schools will go virtual Friday due to high temperatures. Here’s the list.

2026-06-04T21:09:29+00:00

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The Philadelphia school district will close 52 schools Friday and move to virtual learning due to high temperatures, district officials announced Thursday afternoon.

Early childhood programs located at those schools will also be virtual, and all in person after-school programs in those buildings will be canceled.

The transition to virtual learning will hit around one-quarter of the district’s schools. Schools not on the list will continue to operate as normal. Students may also still participate in field trips.

In a letter announcing the change, Deputy Superintendent Oz Hill said the district recognizes “that unexpected shifts to virtual learning can create challenges for families.”

“While we know that in-person learning is the best environment for students, the safety and well-being of our students, staff, and families remains our top priority,” Hill said.

Temperatures are expected to hit 90 degrees on Friday in Philadelphia. Many schools lack air conditioning in all rooms.

The district also moved dozens of schools to virtual learning on May 20 due to high heat. That move came after the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers urged the district to keep students and staff safe amid soaring temperatures.

The 52 schools that will operate virtually on Friday are:

AMY Northwest
Bache-Martin*
Blaine, James*
Building 21
Catharine, Joseph*
Comegys, B.
Comly, Watson
Cooke, J.
Crossan, Kennedy
Disston, Hamilton
Dunbar, Paul
Emlen, Eleanor*
Fell, D Newlin
Fox Chase
Franklin, Ben HS
Girard, Stephen
Harding, Warren
Henry, Charles
Hill-Freedman
Hopkinson, Francis
Houston, Henry
Howe, Julia
Jenks, Abram
Jenks, John S
Lamberton*
Lingelbach, Anna
Loesche*
Ludlow, James
McCloskey, John
McClure, A.*
McMichael, M.*
Mitchell, Weir
Moore, J. Hampton
MYA
Olney Elementary
Overbrook ES
Parkway West
Patterson, John*
Rhawnhurst*
Rowen, William
Roxborough HS
Sayre, William
Sharswood, George*
Sheppard, Issac
South Phila. HS*
Spring Garden
Spruance, Gilbert*
Sullivan, James
Tilden, William
The U School
Wagner, Gen. Louis
Washington, Martha

An asterisk indicates the school has prekindergarten or Head Start on site.

Philly’s dropout rate is declining. Here’s how the district is keeping kids in class.

2026-06-01T20:30:12+00:00

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Shervon Thompson, principal of Philadelphia’s Murrell Dobbins High School, knows students are at risk of dropping out of her school for many reasons.

Some have pressure to work or have trouble finding transportation to school. Others are dealing with trauma from gun violence, a death in the family, or sickness.

Whatever the challenge, Thompson said her approach is consistent: make sure students feel like school is a place where they belong and are supported.

“The first thing is just to make sure that school is seen as a safe haven,” said Thompson. “And try to fill up as many of those resources that we can possibly do to fulfill those needs.”

Dropout rates nationally have declined steadily over the past decade. But in Philadelphia, the number of student dropouts has historically been much higher than the state average. After the pandemic pushed school online, dropout rates spiked still further.

To reverse that trend, Philly has doubled down on hiring staff and contracting with organizations to support and track down students at risk of dropping out. It also reminds families that they can opt to enroll in a district-operated virtual school if students want to stay at home.

So far, that effort appears to be working.

Last year, a record low of around 1,300 students dropped out, representing roughly 2.3% of students enrolled in grades 7-12, according to state data. That’s around half the dropout rate from a decade ago, when Philly had one of the highest dropout rates of any Pennsylvania school district. Though the district’s dropout rate remains higher than the state average, dozens of other districts are in worse shape.

This school year so far, district data shows around 1,275 students dropped out as of April.

At Dobbins, the improvement is especially pronounced: During the 2021-22 school year, 66 students dropped out, but last year, just 19 students did.

Melvin Marshall, the district’s assistant superintendent of student dropout prevention, attributes the success to the district’s increased efforts to reach kids and families before they’re absent from school too long.

“The old practice was that you would drop that student after a certain number of days (out of school),” said Marshall. But now, his team of five focuses on reaching out to those families or students who have been absent for multiple days in a row.

Some schools, including Dobbins, also employ staff to work with kids at risk of dropping out and check on them. And the district contracts with Concentric Educational Solutions, a Baltimore-based education company, to conduct home visits.

“A big part of it is just reaching out to families, finding out the core reasons why the student is not attending school,” Marshall said.

To prevent dropouts, district shares online alternatives

District officials say their success in reducing the number of dropouts is the result of several initiatives working well together.

The district’s 9th Grade Success Network operates in around 30 schools to help students during their first year of high school stay on-track to graduation. District leaders have also said they’re looking to expand a 10th grade support program to keep students on track to graduation.

That follows research from Chicago that found supporting students earlier in high school can significantly improve graduation rates.

“The sooner you can intervene or give support, so that students aren’t withdrawing, the more effective you can be,” said Elaine Allensworth, executive director of the UChicago Consortium on School Research who led the research on keeping students on-track in earlier grades.

Still, those programs don’t reach every student in the district. That’s why it’s important for schools to have good systems to monitor students who are absent and follow up with them to check in and provide support, Allensworth said.

Marshall said his team works to be sensitive and responsive to the pressures on many students and families that can lead to dropping out. Some are concerned about increased immigration enforcement. Others have to care for siblings or earn money to help their families stay afloat.

In some circumstances, Marshall said, getting a student back to their current school isn’t the best option. That’s when the district offers alternatives, like the Philadelphia Virtual Academy, a district-run online school.

When students transfer to other schools, be it within the district or outside of it, they’re not considered a dropout. Letting families know that there are other ways they can finish their degree can often make all the difference, Marshall said.

“Those are the calls that parents are appreciative of,” said Marshall. “We can assist them in pointing them in the right direction to get some of those resources our district can offer.”

57 Philadelphia schools will go remote Wednesday due to heat

2026-05-19T22:23:22+00:00

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School will go remote for students at 57 Philadelphia schools Wednesday due to soaring temperatures, district officials announced Tuesday evening.

That’s over a quarter of the 218 district-operated schools in the city.

All early childhood centers operating at those schools will also shift to virtual learning.

And all in-person after-school activities, including all athletic programs scheduled for Tuesday, are canceled as well.

The move comes after Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg urged the district to declare a heat emergency Monday.

Steinberg said in a statement that the district’s failure to do so on Monday, when temperatures reached above 90 degrees, put students and staff “in uncomfortable and dangerously hot conditions.” Some 53 Philadelphia schools have “insufficient cooling” according to a district spokesperson’s statement from April.

“District administration is directly responsible for mitigating dangerous conditions inside of school buildings,” said Steinberg. “They should declare Wednesday a virtual learning day so that families and staff can plan accordingly.”

Schools were closed Tuesday due to the primary election. Schools sent students home with their Chromebooks on Monday, according to the district’s announcement.

The 57 schools that will shift to remote learning on Wednesday are:

AMY Northwest
Bache-Martin*
Blaine, James*
Building 21
Catharine, Joseph*
Comegys, B.
Comly, Watson
Cooke, J.
Crossan, Kennedy
Disston, Hamilton
Dunbar, Paul
Emlen, Eleanor*
Fell, D Newlin
Fitzpatrick
Fox Chase
Franklin, Ben HS
Girard, Stephen
Harding, Warren
Henry, Charles
Hill-Freedman
Hopkinson, Francis
Houston, Henry
Howe, Julia
Jenks, Abram
Jenks, John S
Lamberton*
Lingelbach, Anna
Loesche*
Ludlow, James
McCloskey, John
McClure, A.*
McMichael, M.*
Mitchell, Weir
Moore, J. Hampton
Motivation
MYA
Olney Elementary
Overbrook ES
Parkway West
Patterson, John*
Powel
Rhawnhurst*
Rowen, William
Roxborough HS
Sayre, William
SLA Middle
Sharswood, George*
Sheppard, Issac
South Phila. HS*
Spring Garden
Spruance, Gilbert*
Sullivan, James
Tilden, William
The U School
Vaux
Wagner, Gen. Louis
Washington, Martha

An asterisk designates schools that have prekindergarten or Head Start on site.

Why the Philadelphia school district will phase out a special education program

2026-05-19T15:54:34+00:00

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The Philadelphia school district plans to wind down a special education program that separates some students with additional learning needs into their own classrooms.

The program, called Intensive Learning Support or ILS, is meant to boost students who are significantly academically behind their peers. Classes are generally small, with fewer than 20 students, and include special education interventions along with general curriculum instruction. The district declined to share how many students were in the program this school year.

But the district plans to end the program at the end of this school year in an effort to educate more special education students alongside their peers, said Nathalie Nérée, the district’s chief of special education and diverse learners. Many ILS students will be placed into general education classrooms, which can have more than 30 students, and will get additional services throughout the school day, she said.

“We look at student data, we look at their growth. For the growth of students in intensive learning support, it was minimal to none,” said Nérée. The district looks at students’ standardized test scores and progress on their Individualized Education Program goals to monitor growth.

The move, Nérée said, is part of her effort to end Philly’s practice of educating a large share of special education students separately from their peers. Including all students in mainstream classrooms is backed by a body of research that has found students with disabilities benefit socially and cognitively when they learn in a general education environment. But some experts contest those findings, and several Philly teachers said they feared the decision would leave students without necessary support and stretch teachers impossibly thin.

The change does not impact what services and how many hours of support students in ILS classes are supposed to receive. Rather, it would largely reorganize when and how students receive those interventions. Officials want special education teachers to “push in” support to general education classrooms and “pull out” students to receive additional services. The district would mostly reassign ILS teachers to learning support positions to provide these services.

The program supports students who are several grades behind in some academic skills, like literacy. But in some schools, ILS has “become a bit of a dumping ground” for students whose needs are not well understood, said one ILS teacher who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because she was not authorized by the district to speak publicly.

The teacher said she believed some of her students could thrive in a general education classroom too, so long as they got the additional support they needed. But she feared the district does not have enough resources or staff to guarantee that.

“There are certain kids who are just going to get lost, who do need more support,” she said.

Philly wants more students with disabilities in general education

Nérée said her commitment is to work with every school and family to ensure kids get the special education services they need while accessing high-quality curriculum. But she also said she worries about how much the district has historically relied on separating kids with disabilities and additional learning needs from their peers to educate them.

Federal law requires that students with disabilities learn alongside their general education peers, in what’s called the “least restrictive environment,” as much as possible.

But in Philadelphia last school year, fewer than 40% of the district’s 23,000 special education students spent the vast majority of their school time in general education classrooms, according to state data. That’s a far smaller proportion than the state average of 60%. It means Philly’s special education students spend more time secluded from their peers than in most other districts.

Since Nérée joined the district in 2023, she said she has been working to undo a system that frequently separates special education students.

Assigning students to ILS classes was meant to give students extra help to reach grade level academic skills, “not a forever sentence of being in a segregated classroom,” said Nérée. “Unfortunately, there are places where that’s what it resulted in.”

The wind down of the ILS program doesn’t put an end to all separate special education classrooms. There will still be other kinds, including autistic support, life skills, and emotional support classes. Some ILS students could attend these classes if their evaluation team determines it would be the best fit, Nérée said.

Margie Wakelin, senior attorney in the Philadelphia office of the Education Law Center, said she supports Nérée’s focus on including more students with disabilities in general education classes. But she said the district needs to provide more resources, like staff training and support teachers, for that effort to be successful.

“It’s not just an easy, ‘Oh, we’ll close out a program, and then these kids will be included,’’’ said Wakelin. “Time and time and time again, we’ve learned that inclusion works, but it takes thoughtfulness, it takes resources, it takes support for these kids to be successful.”

Views differ on best approach to special education

The change is part of a national conversation — still hotly debated — about how best to educate students with disabilities. Many experts and advocates have long urged schools to include special needs students alongside their general education peers, and studies have supported that strategy.

But other experts question that approach. Douglas Fuchs, a fellow at the American Institutes for Research and a research professor at Vanderbilt University, said there is no conclusive evidence that students with disabilities do better in general education classrooms. Fuchs’s review of research into inclusion, published last year, found the method of how schools teach those students can make a difference.

Research shows that intensive, systematic, and consistent instruction can help boost the achievement of students with disabilities. But that kind of instruction is often difficult to provide in crowded general education classrooms, he said.

Moving special needs students from an intensive environment like ILS to larger general education classes is “precisely the wrong strategy,” he said.

That’s the concern some Philly teachers have as well.

One ILS teacher said leaders at her school have told her to recommend all her students to general education classrooms for next year. But she disagrees with that directive. Some of her students, who are middle-school-aged, are still working on writing their names and addresses.

“My kids could never be successful in those rooms,” she said.

Philadelphia charter school group sues district over renewal process

2026-05-14T17:03:54+00:00

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A group that represents 70 Philadelphia charter schools alleges the Board of Education and district’s approach to charter renewals is “coercive and exploitative” and is asking the court to limit the district’s power over charters.

The lawsuit that Philadelphia Charters for Excellence filed Thursday demands that the district end its practice of including enrollment caps and legal waivers, known as surrender clauses, in charter agreements. Surrender clauses require schools to give up their charter if they don’t meet certain conditions.

The lawsuit asks the Court of Common Pleas to rule that any board decision to not renew a school based on its surrender clause is invalid.

It also asks the court to rule that schools do not need to sign new charter agreements as a condition of renewal. Some Philly charter schools have continued to operate on out-of-date charter agreements for years.

“Charter schools in Philadelphia have spent years navigating a renewal process that treats legal compliance like a negotiating chip,” said Cassandra St. Vil, CEO of Philadelphia Charters for Excellence, in a statement. “Schools are told to sign agreements they never agreed to, under conditions the law does not permit, or risk losing the authorization that tens of thousands of students and families depend on.”

In response to the lawsuit, board members said in a joint statement Thursday that they have “tried to use the tools that are available to us under the charter school law to authorize, evaluate, and hold charter schools accountable.”

“We have a duty to hold every charter school accountable for academic success, sound operations, and fiscal integrity in exchange for the high level of autonomy they have in operating schools,” they added.

A state audit of the district’s renewal process released in 2024 found it was in compliance with all relevant state laws.

The lawsuit comes just hours before the district’s Charter School Office is expected to present charter school renewal recommendations to the Board of Education. Of the 11 schools up for renewal this year, district documents show the office will recommend two for non-renewals, eight for five-year renewals with conditions, and one for a one-year renewal with conditions.

Not renewing a charter school kicks off a legal process that can lead to closing the school.

The renewal process has been tense in past years, with charter school students crowding into board meetings to protest recommendations of non-renewal. Last year, the board voted to move forward with not renewing charters for two schools. The schools, People for People Charter School and KIPP North Philadelphia Academy, then sued the board over the non-renewal decisions. A judge granted them an injunction prohibiting the board from moving forward with closures.

One of the schools recommended for non-renewal this year, Global Leadership Academy Charter School Southwest at Huey, did not meet several academic and financial standards set by the district. Over the past four years, fewer than 10% of students at the schools achieved proficient scores on state math tests, and fewer than 20% scored proficient on reading tests — both lower rates than the district average.

At the other school recommended for non renewal, Philadelphia Montessori Charter School, students have shown little to no growth on state math and reading tests over the past two years.

This story has been updated to include a statement from Board of Education members.

How can schools better prepare students after high school? Here’s what a few experts say.

2026-05-13T19:19:39+00:00

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Several states — including Pennsylvania — have recently overhauled graduation requirements in an effort to ensure students are better prepared for college and careers.

Many now encourage students to earn credentials, like workplace safety certifications, to meet graduation requirements. But with little oversight over which credentials students earn, many in Philadelphia and elsewhere get low-value ones just to check a box.

“Philly is really a microcosm of what’s happening across the country,” said Matt Giani, a research associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, during a Chalkbeat panel event Tuesday. His research has found that credentials vary widely in how valuable they are to students. Without good oversight, schools often find the most efficient ways to help students get credentials — which often means offering ones that are cheap and easy to pass.

Panelists Monica Hawk, CEO of Philadelphia’s One Bright Ray Community High School, and Sean Vereen, president and CEO of the nonprofit Heights Philadelphia, said they’ve seen this play out with Philly students. It’s a good thing, they said, that students know there are paths to success beyond college. But so far, those paths don’t have enough support or funding, they said.

“I think there is a real opportunity,” said Vereen. “But it puts more pressure on the thing we don’t provide kids enough of, which is advice and good counseling.”

Some states are addressing this issue head-on. Ohio has created a tiered system of credentials to encourage schools and students to pursue the ones that are most valuable. And overall, “schools and states are learning how to do this better,” said Giani.

Catch up on the full panel discussion here.

Philadelphia City Council will explore creating an elected school board

2026-05-07T17:43:10+00:00

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Members of Philadelphia’s City Council will examine creating an elected school board, escalating their campaign to have more control over the city’s schools.

Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas introduced a resolution on Thursday to authorize the committee to conduct hearings into the school board’s governance model. The resolution was privileged, meaning it was adopted by the City Council with Thomas’s support.

The move comes after weeks of explosive fights between Thomas and Board of Education President Reginald Streater over the district’s plan to close 17 schools. The board voted 6-3 to approve that plan last week following protests from Thomas and other councilmembers.

Elected school boards can give residents more say over who controls schools, but they can also politicize the school governance process. Researchers have found that no particular governance model is associated with improved academic outcomes for students. School governance conversations have intensified across the country as districts grapple with declining enrollment, school closures, and budget problems.

Philadelphia law states that school board members serve “at the pleasure” of the mayor, unless they are elected. All members of the current board were nominated by Mayor Cherelle Parker. Most were also confirmed by City Council through a vote, except member Joyce Wilkerson. Wilkerson’s presence on the school board has created tension between the City Council, Parker, and the board.

Thomas’s resolution directs the Education Committee to explore options for an elected school board or a hybrid of elected and appointed members.

In response to questions from Chalkbeat, Streater said in a Thursday statement the board voted to approve school closures “grounded and guided by our commitment to increasing access and opportunities for all students.”

“As a Board, we will continue to call on our city and state partners to work alongside us to ensure that every student receives the investment and support they deserve,” he added.

The resolution calls out the board’s approach to school closures — including initially scheduling a vote on the closures with only 72 hours notice — as a reason for why the governance model should change.

“These actions and the context of these decisions should remind Philadelphians that the governance model of the Philadelphia Board of Education is unique among municipalities in Pennsylvania,” the resolution states. “Considering a more traditional elected or hybrid model of governance may compel the Board to be more responsive to students and families’ concerns than the Board has proven to be.”

In every Pennsylvania district except for Philadelphia, the state’s largest district, school board members are elected. Those elections are partisan. Boards have key powers over districts, including hiring a superintendent, various policies, and the budget.

Seven other members of the City Council cosponsored the resolution from Thomas. It does not state when the Education Committee’s hearings over school governance would begin.

Philadelphia has a $3 billion school closure and modernization plan. Paying for it could be a problem.

2026-05-06T22:00:56+00:00

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The Philadelphia school district’s plan to close schools and modernize others has a $3 billion price tag. Right now, the district can’t pay for it. And its plan to raise that money might end up being wishful thinking.

Last week, members of the Board of Education voted to approve the plan to close 17 schools, and modernize nearly 10 times that number. But they had serious questions about the district’s plan to fund it. Even Superintendent Tony Watlington, who pushed the board to approve the closures and upgrades, has acknowledged the funding hole.

Watlington has said he wants to raise $2 billion from local, state, and federal government as well as philanthropic grants to pay for school upgrades over 10 years to ensure buildings are well equipped to receive more students. The remaining $1 billion would come from the district’s capital borrowing cycle.

But major questions loom over how the district would ever raise that much money. The district already has a $300 million budget deficit. The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, the district’s nonprofit fundraising partner, has raised $70 million since 2015 — or less than 3% of the plan’s total cost. The City Council has blasted the school closures and its relationship with the district has broken down. And Pennsylvania Senate Republicans, who control their chamber, have opposed sending significantly more money to the state’s largest district.

“We’ve never raised money at this level,” said board member Crystal Cubbage, who voted against the plan, at the board’s meeting last week.

All those difficulties could lead to the district to consider a watered-down version of the plan that leaves out many of the improvements Watlington wants. And they could pile further financial pressure on the district, which in addition to its fiscal problems has been losing students for years and is planning to cut hundreds of school-based jobs.

Watlington has stressed that the aim of the facilities plan is to ensure all students have better access to academic opportunities and go to school in high quality buildings.

Under his proposal, some buildings would get bathroom renovations and updated classrooms. Others would get electrical upgrades and new heating and cooling systems. In some buildings, the district has promised accessibility improvements, elevator replacements, new gyms, and fixed roofs.

The plan’s high cost is a departure from school closures elsewhere that are often meant to save districts money. Watlington has said cost-cutting is not a major aim of the facilities plan, but rather the goal is to shuffle enrollment so that the district can spend money more efficiently.

School leaders have said the facilities plan could still change even after the board’s vote to approve it. No schools are scheduled to be closed until the beginning of the 2027-28 school year.

State, city officials could reject additional facilities funding

When Watlington initially presented the facilities plan earlier this year, he said there was an alternative version that would cost significantly less, take longer, and leave more students in low-quality school buildings.

That plan would cost $1.85 billion over the course of 16 years, and the district could pay for it through its own borrowing. However, it would only reduce the number of school buildings rated unsatisfactory or poor from 85 to 45. And it’s unclear if the district’s list of schools to close and colocate would change under this cheaper version of the plan.

That alternative plan also did not include additional investments that Watlington has recently pledged in certain areas where members of City Council have opposed the plan.

It’s unclear if district officials have tweaked the alternative plan in recent months. District officials did not respond to Chalkbeat’s questions about it, and board members did not ask about it ahead of the April 30 vote to proceed with the facilities plan.

But regardless of which plan district officials turn to, closing schools while asking for more funding is already deeply unpopular with some members of City Council.

Last week, City Council Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas and several other elected officials interrupted the school board’s meeting and called for the resignation of those who voted for the closure plan. And many have questioned the district’s stated need for more funding while it plans to close schools.

Without significant improvement in average academic performance, Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. said during a city budget town hall in Southwest Philadelphia Tuesday, “why would we continue to put that money in the district?”

The district has also historically been underfunded by the state. Though Gov. Josh Shapiro has approved budgets increasing funding for Philly schools each year since taking office, his budget proposal for next year still leaves the district underfunded by more than $3 billion, according to a formula adopted by a bipartisan state commission. The district will likely need the support of Republican lawmakers to get more state money.

So far, the school closure plan has brought goodwill from at least one key Republican state lawmaker.

After the closure vote, Sen. Kim Ward, a Republican and the president pro tempore of the state senate, posted on social media that she was glad Philly’s schools “recognize the need for reform” and that she was “optimistic” about working with officials to “ensure Philadelphia students are set up for success.”

Philadelphia Board of Education approves 17 school closures

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

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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.

Philadelphia Education Committee chair says he’s ‘prepared to sue’ to stop school closures

2026-04-30T15:06:29+00:00

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Philadelphia Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas says members of City Council are “prepared to sue” if the Board of Education approves the district’s school closure plan — and that they’ve got several state representatives on their side.

“We’re prepared as a legislative body, working with our members in Harrisburg, to do everything in our power to make sure that this plan is not implemented,” Thomas said at a press conference outside of Paul Robeson High School Thursday morning. “We’re not going to let this go.”

The escalation comes just hours before the school board is set to vote on the district’s proposal to close 17 schools beginning in 2027, including Robeson. Superintendent Tony Watlington has said that the plan is necessary to better distribute resources, improve the quality of school buildings, and provide more educational opportunities.

The City Council does not get a vote on the plan. But the 10 members of the City Council and two state representatives outside of Robeson on Thursday said they will fight the closure plan in every way possible.

“We’re prepared to shut that meeting down,” Thomas said. “This is civil disobedience today.”

Thomas said he would work to ensure any board member who votes for the closures is not confirmed to serve another term on the Board of Education. Board members are nominated by the mayor and are supposed to be confirmed by City Council, although one current member, Joyce Wilkerson, was never confirmed by members.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who initially appeared to support the district’s recent changes to the closure proposal that would funnel more resources to her district, said she strongly opposed the plan to close Robeson and repurpose it for community use.

“We’ve made some progress since this fight began,” said Gauthier, who represents parts of West and Southwest Philly. “But the fact that the district secured the land, the funding, and is even exploring building a new school here, but won’t call it Robeson, is a slap in the face to this community.”

Several City Councilmembers said they also were strongly against the proposal to close Lankenau Environmental Science High School. The district has said it would keep the school’s building for student use, but it would not remain a school. Instead, Lankenau would become an honors program at Saul High School.

Councilmember Curtis Jones said he planned to introduce legislation Thursday related to investigating the school district’s spending.

“You want to talk about savings? We have the savings,” Jones said. “It’s in the house, but they won’t let us come in and audit.”

Rep. Rick Krajewski, a Democrat who represents part of Philadelphia, said he understood some of the district’s money challenges come from years of under-funding from the state. But he said that does not mean closures are the answer. “The call from our students, our neighbors and our teachers is to stand tall and fight back,” Krajewski said.

Board members have not indicated how they will vote on the proposal, but President Reginald Streater has previously said that the district must address its facilities problems. They were initially scheduled to vote last week, but postponed it after intense criticism from the City Council.

Vote on Philadelphia school closures canceled by Board of Education

2026-04-23T18:15:02+00:00

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The Philadelphia Board of Education will not vote on the district’s sweeping school closure proposal Thursday as previously planned, the board announced.

Board Chief of Staff Sithi Bucciarelli said in a statement Thursday afternoon the board will now meet April 30 to consider the resolution that includes the closures.

The board will still meet on Thursday at 4 p.m., as scheduled, to consider other business not related to the closures, Bucciarelli said.

On Monday, the board announced the plan to close 17 schools beginning in 2027 would be on Thursday’s school board meeting agenda. The reversal comes roughly two hours before that meeting was set to begin.

The resolution included changes to the facilities plan that the district had not shared previously, including removing one school from the closure list. It also included modernizing nearly 170 other schools.

In the last few days, members of the City Council have pushed Superintendent Tony Watlington and Board President Reginald Streater to delay the vote. During two days of tense hearings on education spending, elected officials told school leaders the facilities plan as written has major flaws.

Councilmembers and educators also said the plan’s timeline has been rushed, which meant many people did not have time to review the plan or reschedule their weeks to attend the meeting.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who represents parts of West and Southwest Philadelphia, told Watlington and Streater during a Wednesday hearing that delaying the vote would show they were working in “true partnership towards the benefit of our kids.”

On several occasions during the hearing, Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas asked Streater directly if he would delay the vote. But Streater said he could not make that decision unilaterally and would have to consult with other board members.

All 17 councilmembers signed a letter dated Thursday requesting that the board postpone the vote until its May 28 meeting, at the earliest.

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers also harshly critiqued the district’s quick timeline for the scheduled vote.

On April 30, the board will only consider the facilities plan vote and a resolution related to issuing bonds.

“We recognize that the future of our school facilities is a matter of significant interest that requires the highest level of collaboration,” said Board President Reginald Streater in a Thursday statement. “In the spirit of partnership, we are taking this time to ensure our stakeholders understand the proposal” before the Board votes.

This story has been updated to reflect that the Board of Education still plans to meet April 23.

Chalkbeat Philadelphia Bureau Chief Carly Sitrin contributed to this story.

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

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

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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

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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

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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.

Philly mayor now says proposed Uber tax could save all school-based jobs on the chopping block

2026-04-15T20:02:18+00:00

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Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and Superintendent Tony Watlington say they’ve found a way to save all the school-based staff the district is planning to cut.

But the district’s proposal to preserve those jobs hinges on Parker’s proposed $1 per ride tax on rideshare companies like Uber that the tech company is already fighting to stop. And the City Council must still approve the proposed tax hike.

Parker and Watlington’s announcement Wednesday doesn’t change how much the tax would generate for the district. But Parker said the district “was able to make adjustments” to their budget that would save all school-based positions from elimination if the tax goes through.

In the meantime, without a guarantee of more funding, schools are telling some teachers their positions are likely to be eliminated.

Watlington’s draft budget for next fiscal year that he shared last month slashed school spending by $225 million. The proposal included cutting 340 school-based staff, 130 central office staff and 220 building substitute positions, as well as some contracts.

Watlington said the aim was to eliminate the district’s $300 million budget deficit by 2030, and close the funding hole left from pandemic relief dollars drying up.

But Parker later said she opposed the sweeping cuts and proposed a $1 rideshare tax to funnel $48 million annually to the district. At the time, school officials said the tax increase would save 240 school-based positions from elimination, but 100 positions would still be cut.

Without providing more details, Parker and Watlington now say they’ve found the money to prevent all of the proposed cuts to school-based positions.

“That is something for us to be proud of,” Parker said Wednesday. “That’s if we can actually make it a reality.”

Since Parker proposed the rideshare tax, Uber has mounted a hefty ad campaign against it.

In a statement, Uber spokesperson Jazmin Kay pushed back on Parker’s assertion that rideshare companies have the option of absorbing the cost for their customers.

“This is a tax on the rider’s transaction, not a fee on the business, despite the administration’s attempt to frame it otherwise,” Kay said.

Watlington said if the City Council approves the tax, the district would reverse the budget cuts that would result in schools losing climate staff, teachers, counselors, and other school-based staff. The district would still eliminate building substitutes and central office staff.

Wednesday’s announcement was also Parker’s attempt to signal to state lawmakers that the city is doing its part to fund its schools. “We’re not just going hat in hand to Harrisburg,” she said.

How dubious high school credentials like ladder safety are boosting Pennsylvania’s graduation rate

2026-04-09T18:39:08+00:00

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When Pennsylvania introduced new graduation requirements four years ago, lawmakers said there would be options for students who struggled with standardized tests to show they were ready for college or careers.

Monica Hawk, CEO of Philadelphia’s One Bright Ray Community High School, understood the aim. But in her role running six accelerated high schools, she also had concerns. Some of her students were months or years behind in school before returning to get their diplomas. Few could pass state tests.

In addition, the new requirements would mean a new bureaucratic headache. And she wouldn’t have more money, staff, or resources earmarked to help.

So Hawk focused her team on a graduation pathway established by the requirements that she called her school’s “fail-safe plan.” Students still have to pass their main classes. But the pathway’s additional requirements have nothing to do with academic achievement.

Instead, it hinges on students presenting three pieces of “evidence” that they’re ready to graduate from a state-approved list. In practice, it means a student can take a couple of quick online courses to earn a few industry-recognized credentials, count those as evidence, and then be dubbed graduation-ready. This pathway has quickly become the most common way Philadelphia students are graduating.

Since the state introduced the “evidence-based” pathway as part of its graduation overhaul, starting with the Class of 2023, graduation rates have improved. But at the same time, high school students’ scores on state math and reading tests have declined. And educators who spoke with Chalkbeat said they’re seeing a troubling trend: Students are getting low-value credentials just to check off requirements, especially in schools with large shares of high-needs students and resource-poor districts.

“Credentials are often the tail that wags the dog,” said Adriana Harrington, managing director of policy at ExcelinEd, a nonprofit that has compiled nationwide data on credentials. “Folks will decide what (career and technical education) programs they want to offer by which credential they think they can get a student to pass.”

Educators did say they appreciated that students who may be poor test takers have another path to graduation, unlike other states where passing state tests is required. And they were glad more students were graduating. A high school diploma means more opportunities and better pay on average.

Still, they worry that schools are incentivized to push students to earn these credentials by state and district officials who want to see graduation rates continue to rise. Many of those credentials — like a popular one in ladder safety — have little value or relevance to students after graduation.

One Bright Ray Community High School's Elmwood campus on April 8, 2026. All but one of the school's 29 graduates last year used the "evidence-based" pathway to fulfill requirements.

It’s unclear whether students are any better off after they graduate because of these changes. Today, no one at the state or district level is analyzing which credentials students submit to meet graduation requirements. Many of the lawmakers who championed the requirements under a state law called Act 158, including former Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, are no longer in office.

Erin James, press secretary at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said the state works to ensure all graduation pathways are “equally rigorous.” She said students graduating via the evidence-based pathway can use credentials to “step directly into the workforce.”

“A ladder safety credential is not ‘low value’ if the student wants to be a firefighter or is doing an internship with a roofer. It may actually be required for that student’s job,” James said.

Philadelphia district leaders said they were not focused on analyzing credentials students use to fulfill requirements.

Adam Zeiser, principal of One Bright Ray’s Elmwood campus in Southwest Philadelphia, was blunt about the typical value of many of the credentials students use to fill the evidence-based pathway’s requirements.

“The short answer is, no, I don’t think they help prepare them for much,” he said. “But I think that we help prepare them, as much as we can.”

Pushing Philadelphia students towards credentials now routine

Since the state’s graduation overhaul, graduation rates have improved every year. Last school year, nearly 90% of Pennsylvania students graduated within four years, up two percentage points over three years.

The evidence-based pathway is one of five options students can use to fulfill graduation requirements. It’s quickly become the most popular one in many Pennsylvania districts.

Statewide, around 20,000 students met the requirements through the evidence-based pathway last school year, equal to around one-fifth of all students in districts where data was available. At some schools, more than three-quarters of students used this pathway to graduate, including at several cyber charter schools.

In Philadelphia, around 40% of all graduates fulfilled requirements via this pathway. At One Bright Ray’s Elmwood campus, all but one of last year’s 29 graduates used the evidence-based pathway, according to district data.

The other pathways largely require students to earn certain scores on standardized tests, or to be enrolled in a specific career and technical education program or pre-apprencticeship.

Several Philadelphia high school educators said that creates a simple problem: Many seniors can’t earn those high scores or access those career and technical education programs. But it’s a virtual guarantee students can pass the evidence-based pathway by submitting easy-to-earn credentials.

Many options for “evidence” can count towards the requirements, including a full-time job offer, a dual-enrollment credit, and an AP or IB score. But by far, the most common kind are industry-recognized credentials. Last year, in districts where data was available, 85% of students statewide who graduated via this pathway submitted at least one credential. Some met the requirements solely by submitting credentials.

Researchers have found some credentials do lead to better paying jobs, but they’re often the ones that are more expensive and difficult to get.

At One Bright Ray, Hawk said schools offer credentials in CPR, workplace safety, mandated-reporter training on how to spot and report suspected child abuse, and ladder-safety training. “If we had a really dedicated student, and they absolutely wanted (something else), we would find a way,” she said.

But for the most part, students don’t know of other options. And even if the school helped out a single persistent student access more costly options, doing so for all students is an expense that One Bright Ray can’t afford, she added.

Teachers at several Philadelphia high schools who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak about the issue publicly described similar challenges with the lack of funding and time.

One district teacher said the pathway system created “a host of work arounds that schools have to go through to get kids to graduate.”

Unlike dedicated career-and-technical education programs, for example, standard high schools don’t get money specifically to spend on credentials.

That’s part of why the ladder safety credential — a free, two-hour online course — is so popular, teachers said.

But even though many students take the ladder-safety course, teachers said they’ve had trouble persuading students that the course is truly worthwhile. How do you convince a teen who wants to be a cosmetologist, for example, that ladder safety will be a key step towards that goal?

Pennsylvania does not appear to be studying whether the new pathways have benefitted students, or if more credentials mean better outcomes for graduates. Philadelphia school district officials said they’re not tracking long-term data about the credentials students use to fill graduation requirements.

“I couldn’t answer why a certain school would give them ladder safety, if it’s not linked (to their interests),” said Michelle Armstrong, the district’s director of career and technical education. “But our advice has always been: the certification that you offer young people, try to align to their interest.”

Armstrong said the Philadelphia district consults with industry experts to determine which credentials to offer. For students in career and technical education programs, the district has spent decades ensuring students get credentials that are useful and pays for all of them.

But for students not in those programs, Armstrong said she’s not focused on monitoring which credentials students get. The district leaves that responsibility up to individual schools.

Graduation requirements create unequal burden for Pennsylvania schools

While thousands of Philadelphia students earned credentials to meet graduation requirements last year, they’re not dispersed evenly across the city.

At the city’s most-selective high schools, like Central and Masterman, nearly every student does well enough on state tests to use their scores to meet graduation requirements through test-related pathways.

But for schools where most students do not pass the tests, the alternative graduation requirements require hours of staff time to manage, explain to students, and track.

District data shows that at schools like Strawberry Mansion and Vaux Big Picture, more than three-quarters of students used the evidence-based pathway to fill graduation requirements last year.

State data obtained by Chalkbeat shows a similar trend. In some of the state’s highest poverty districts, like Chester-Upland and York City, the vast majority of students graduated last year via the evidence-based pathway. The majority of those students counted credentials towards the requirements.

But in some districts in Philadelphia’s wealthy suburbs, like Radnor Township and Upper St. Clair, almost no students graduate via the pathway.

Philadelphia teachers at non-selective high schools said the new requirements amount to an additional burden on schools and teachers who are already spread thin.

Some Philadelphia teachers said students get credentials in CPR to meet graduation requirements.

One charter school teacher said many students at his school make up failed courses through quick online credit-recovery programs that experts say are often suspect. Then, those students fulfill Act 158 requirements through additional and easy online modules.

It troubled him that students could get their diploma without meeting any academic standards the school set for them.

“I feel like we’re kind of just saying, you don’t have to learn anything to graduate,” he said.

But others said they saw some value in the new graduation requirements.

One district high school teacher said the requirements meant teachers at least had conversations with students about their plans. And he’s seen that earning credentials can boost students’ confidence.

He wished his school could offer students more mentorship programs and pre-apprenticeship opportunities.

“The idea of some of this is useful,” he said. “But they don’t always set a student up for their own pathway.”

Pressure is acute on high school students close to graduation

It’s not just Pennsylvania dealing with this issue, experts say. Across the country, the number of students earning credentials during high school has shot up as local and federal legislation supports training students for careers.

Studies of workplace credentials have found that many don’t result in more opportunities for those who earn them.

In one recent study of Texas students who earned credentials between 2017-2022, the most popular ones, by far, were credentials in Microsoft Word and “floral skills.”

Matt Giani, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin and the study’s lead researcher, said in an email that the findings show that “the way we’ve designed accountability systems has allowed schools to game the system and pump out short-term, online, open book, low-hanging-fruit certifications.”

Adam Zeiser, principal of One Bright Ray’s Elmwood campus, and Monica Hawk, One Bright Ray Community High School's CEO, say they support students in ways outside the state's graduation pathways to help them access college and careers.

Because Pennsylvania’s requirements are relatively new, it’s likely to be years before school leaders have any sense of whether Act 158 has meant students are more prepared or successful after graduation.

At One Bright Ray, a poster in the hallway of the Elmwood campus explains the different pathways. Staff check in regularly with students about how they’re progressing with the requirements.

But none of that eliminates the pressure to take the easiest route to a diploma.

“There are some students who are right up against graduation, they need one more piece of evidence,” Hawk said. “And they’re like, ‘let me just do ladder safety.’”

As Philadelphia advances $225 million cut to school spending, teachers worry learning will suffer

2026-04-07T21:07:11+00:00

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Larger class sizes. Less support for students with disabilities. Fewer school climate staff to help kids in need.

Philadelphia teachers say this is the future they’re preparing for as school leaders move forward with their plan to reduce spending by $225 million next fiscal year. The budget proposal — which the board gave preliminary approval to last month — would eliminate 220 building substitute positions and cut another 340 school-based positions, including climate staff, special education aides, and teachers.

The Board of Education has yet to adopt the budget, which will be subject to a hearing at City Council later this month. But Superintendent Tony Watlington has directed principals to move forward with drafting budgets that cut spending. His goal, he recently told the board, is to plug the district’s $300 million budget deficit while providing essential services to support student achievement.

But more than a dozen educators Chalkbeat spoke with said the plan threatens to upend their schools, leaving students and staff with less help during a time when many are already struggling. They said the plan has decimated morale inside their buildings and resulted in deep anxiety for which positions would ultimately be eliminated.

“They’re taking away all the care from outside the classroom and putting more problems in the classroom,” said one middle school teacher, who like other educators asked not to be named because she was not authorized to speak on the matter

District leaders have said no teachers would lose their jobs due to the cuts, and instead those in positions that get cut could move to other open ones.

The city’s teacher shortage means that the district generally begins the school year with many openings. But teachers said it remains unclear who would ultimately need to find a new position, and where they would be.

“We understand the district is facing significant budget cuts, but staff have been asking for clarification on placements for several weeks without updates from our principal,” said one elementary school teacher. “It’s a mess all around.”

The proposal comes as the district seeks approval from the Board of Education to close 18 schools beginning in 2027. District officials have said the closures are not meant to be a cost-saving measure, and that schools slated for closure will not be impacted by next fiscal year’s budget cuts.

But at a board meeting last month, Board President Reginald Streater acknowledged the combined strain both proposals could cause.

“It’s been less than 30 days and we are being given another presentation that could require us to make potential, tough decisions,” Streater said. He said he knew the cuts could be painful, but that something must be done to address the budget deficit.

District officials did not respond to questions about the impact of the cuts, saying that the proposal is now in the hands of the Board of Education.

Teachers worry about cuts to building substitutes, climate staff

Along with cuts to school-based staff, Watlington’s budget proposal includes eliminating 130 vacant central office positions. The plan would also cut some contracts that Watlington said aren’t directly improving students’ educational outcomes, though he has not elaborated on which contracts those may be.

Still, teachers and advocates say the cuts would inevitably impact student learning.

Many teachers said they were concerned district leaders may not understand the value of some of the positions they plan to cut. Building substitutes, for example, are full-time staff at schools that provide consistent support to kids who may have their main teacher out for days or weeks. And climate staff step in to keep hallways calm and students focused on learning.

One teacher said in her middle school classroom, a student has a meltdown nearly every day. When that happens, the climate staff at her school step in to take the student out of the classroom to calm down.

By cutting the number of climate staff at her school — she’s still not sure how many would be left after the budgets are finalized — she worries she and other teachers would have to choose between continuing their lessons and supporting a child having an outburst.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker has said she does not want the school cuts to go through. She has proposed a $1 per ride tax on Ubers and Lyfts to funnel more money to the school district in order to prevent many of them.

The tax would save 240 school-based positions from elimination, but it’s unclear if members of City Council will support the new tax.

In the meantime, Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said teachers are bracing for a challenging year ahead.

“The district itself is fond of saying that the most important variable in how kids achieve and grow is the teacher in the classroom,” said Steinberg. “So any reduction in services to kids is going to slow down the learning and really be an obstacle to further growth.”

Meet the Philly kids fighting to keep their schools from closing

2026-04-03T17:11:20+00:00

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Eighth graders Alexis Rodriguez and Dominic Wolbert spent the week before a recent Philadelphia Board of Education meeting getting ready.

They had taken hours to write their speeches and get feedback on them from their teachers at Stetson Middle School. They had overcome some nerves and discomfort.

When their names were called to speak at the March meeting, they looked directly at the school board members and told them: Don’t close our school.

“Stetson for me was a place where I could learn, and grow, and befriend people who I hold very close to me,” said Rodriguez, 14. “Phasing out our school is to crush the feeling of safety and belonging.”

With their testimony complete, the two middle schoolers ducked out of the board meeting around the two-hour mark to grab chips and soda from the vending machine. It was still a long night ahead, with dozens of other students, teachers, and parents signed up to speak out against the closures.

Stetson Middle School students Dominic Wolbert (left) and Alexis Rodriguez practiced their speeches to the Board of Education before giving their public testimony at a recent town hall meeting.

In the months since Superintendent Tony Watlington released his proposal to close 18 schools, students have been front and center in the fight against the plan. Kids as young as 6 have testified at school board meetings. High schoolers have planned walkouts, analyzed district data, and built relationships with members of the City Council to try to push change. Some students spent part of spring break attending a training on how to organize against the closures.

Watlington has said the plan will mean all students go to class in quality buildings and have more access to desirable programming, like AP classes. The $2.8 billion proposal also includes modernizing more than 100 schools.

Students Chalkbeat spoke with said they didn’t regularly attend school board meetings or keep up to date with local political decisions. But the school closure debate was one that mattered to them and mobilized them. Some said working together to fight the school closures has forged new deep bonds within the schools. Others said it made them question why it seems students and families have so little say in school decisions.

Qeni Corinaldi, a senior at Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice, said the proposal to close his school got him wondering about who has power over schools in the first place.

“It went from, ‘Oh, my school’s being shut down’ to ‘I’m going to learn more about it,’” Corinaldi said.

After he spoke to teachers and friends, attended a school board meeting, and did some research, he had questions. Why did the mayor get to decide who was on the school board? How did Watlington get his position? Why did it seem that Watlington and the school board were in sync, if they were supposed to be separate entities?

When he realized how much power was concentrated in the hands of just a few people, he was shocked. “The power structure is not what democracy is all about,” Corinaldi said.

Students overcome nerves to publicly criticize school closures

The board will make the ultimate decision about which schools close, but they have not yet said when they will vote. In the meantime, students are pulling every lever they can to try to push the board to make changes.

At Lankenau Environmental Science High School, students have helped organize an event showcasing the school’s programs and ties to the 400-acres of natural land surrounding the campus. At Parkway Northwest, students led a roundtable discussion with Councilmember Cindy Bass to share their perspective on the closure process.

Parents and teachers have helped younger kids get involved too.

Students at John Moffet School in Philadelphia rally on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, to oppose the district's plan to change their school from an elementary school to a middle school.

At a rally outside John Moffet Elementary School, which the district wants to turn into a middle school, 9-year-old Morgan Chism had a simple question about the plan: “Why do I have to walk a mile just to get to school?”

Chism’s grandmother, Brenda Riggins, said he had been raising questions about who makes decisions about education ever since Moffet parents started organizing people against the facilities plan.

Riggins said Chism has always been a civically engaged kid — he would prefer to watch cable news and not cartoons, she said — but this moment has gotten him to ask questions about the deeper issues of inequality that plague the city. Even if he doesn’t fully understand the depth of them yet.

Another Moffet parent, Lina Ahmad, said her son Yahya was really sad about the change planned for the school. But speaking up to try and spare the school has given him new energy, she said.

At the rally, Yahya was too small to see over the podium but spoke confidently about his love for his school. “I don’t want to move,” he told the crowd of parents and teachers. “The school is actually one of the best schools. I don’t want to leave.”

Fitler Academic Plus 8th grader Ana Urena testified at a recent school board meeting to urge the Board of Education not to close her school.

Ana Urena, an eighth grader at Fitler Academics Plus who testified at the board’s recent town hall meeting, said she was nervous about speaking in front of the crowd. But she realized that the decision at stake was one that could lead to thousands of students losing their schools. “That’s what really motivated me to do it,” she said.

She said she hopes that by sharing her perspective, the board will put student voices front and center.

“When I’ve heard the board speak, when I hear the adults that have the power to fix this, all I hear is money. Billions of dollars, millions of dollars. It doesn’t matter,” Urena said. “I don’t hear the students.”

Chalkbeat Philadelphia Bureau Chief Carly Sitrin contributed to this story.

Plan to slash Philadelphia school budget by $225 million moves forward

2026-03-27T00:06:02+00:00

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The Philadelphia Board of Education adopted a preliminary plan Thursday to cut district spending by $225 million next fiscal year.

The plan follows the budget cuts Superintendent Tony Watlington proposed earlier this month. Watlington said the cuts are necessary to plug the district’s $300 million deficit and to prepare for the projected rising costs of salaries, charter school payments, and health care.

“It is not because of waste,” Watlington told the school board Thursday. “It is not because somehow we’re not managing the public’s tax dollars wisely. It is because over the next five years, our expenditures will grow faster than revenues.”

He also said the district’s funding challenges are largely a result of underfunding from the state and the end of post-pandemic federal aid.

The preliminary $4.5 billion spending plan, called the “lump sum” budget statement, isn’t finalized. It will be presented to Mayor Cherelle Parker and City Council, and there will be public hearings before the board’s final vote in May.

If the plan passes, the district will eliminate all of its approximately 220 building substitute positions, reassign another 340 school-based positions, and cut 130 vacant central office roles. The district would also cancel some contracts that Watlington said aren’t increasing attendance or student performance in reading or math.

Those cuts, along with additional spending reductions over the next few years, would enable the district to eliminate its structural budget deficit by 2030, Watlington said.

Board President Reginald Streater acknowledged that the budget cuts could be painful for the city’s schools. “It is clear that [students] are worth the investment,” Streater said. But he added that the board must consider what needs to be done to address the budget deficit.

There’s a chance the cuts could be much lower. Earlier this week, Mayor Cherelle Parker proposed a $1-per-ride tax on Ubers and Lyfts to generate $48 million annually for schools, which would save 240 school-based positions from elimination. But it’s unclear if members of the City Council will support that plan.

In the meantime, Watlington said the district is advising schools to plan budgets that would not include that extra funding.

The school board also approved the following contracts:

$84.5 million for preschool programming at three dozen providers for income-eligible children.
$390,000 for a pre-K marketing campaign to promote enrollment.
$18.8 million in payments to other educational institutions, including hospitals, private schools, and other districts where students are placed by the Department of Human Services, Community Behavioral Health, or the courts.
An additional $175,000 with David Geppert Recycling for asbestos disposal services on top of an initial $150,000 contract.

The Philly City Council can’t stop school closures directly. Here’s what 2 members are trying instead.

2026-03-26T15:17:19+00:00

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A second member of Philadelphia’s City Council wants to introduce zoning changes that could influence the school district’s school closure plans and what would happen after closures.

Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr., whose district includes parts of North Philadelphia where the school district wants to close three schools, told Chalkbeat he is looking into proposing legislation that would limit how their respective properties could be redeveloped.

The proposal “would be very similar” to a bill that Councilmember Jamie Gauthier introduced last week to restrict the zoning for four West Philadelphia schools, Young said. That bill would rezone the school parcels to civic, educational, or medical use, which would mean any developer looking to build commercial or residential property would have to go through the lengthy process of getting a zoning variance.

“Rezoning the parcels gives the community more say in what will happen,” Young said. He added that he has not finalized his plan yet because he is in discussions with other members of the City Council whose districts send students to schools in his.

In theory, Young’s proposal could complicate the district’s plan to close certain schools, because it could be harder for the district to sell or offload those buildings if the schools do close.

The City Council has no direct say over which schools close — that decision is ultimately up to the Board of Education. But they do largely get to determine changes to how land can be used in their districts, following a Philadelphia government tradition.

Gauthier’s zoning proposal has not yet passed, but is likely to. The legislation is under review by the Committee on Rules.

District leaders have said the list of schools to close is based on data about building quality, enrollment, and the programs they can offer. Many of the buildings slated for closure are over a century old and require costly repairs. District enrollment has also shrunk over the past decade, leaving many schools with more than 100 empty seats.

But some school communities worry they’re being targeted for closure because their buildings sit on valuable land. Young and Gauthier say rezoning school buildings would ensure the district isn’t motivated to close schools based on their resale value, and that neighborhoods have a say over what happens to the land if their schools close.

“Look around you, several new buildings are going up as we speak,” Gauthier said Monday at a rally outside of Paul Robeson High School in West Philadelphia, one of four schools that would be closed or repurposed in her district. “What does it say that we’re making space for all of these uses, but the district won’t even try to find something for our kids?”

But urban planning advocates say restricting zoning doesn’t guarantee benefits for the neighborhood. Instead, it could cause greater strain on the cash-strapped school district by limiting who would want to buy old school buildings, they say.

“Trying to take real estate out of the equation by trying to limit the upside that somebody might pay to do a residential conversion of a school is really just hurting the school district,” said Jon Geeting, policy and advocacy director for Build Philly Now, a local economic development think tank. “I just don’t really think we’re helping anything by making it harder to redevelop.”

City Council wants more say on school closures

In addition to Robeson, the schools in Gauthier’s district that the district plans to close or relocate are Blankenburg Elementary, Martha Washington School, and Parkway West High School. Her bills would designate all of them as “Special Purpose” zoning, along with Motivation High School, which the district removed from the closure list last month.

That designation would zone the land for uses like schools and libraries. To build something else, developers would have to receive a zoning adjustment. Receiving that adjustment can be a political and time consuming process, with no guarantees.

Geeting and some other advocates say they worry zoning restrictions could lead to vacant school buildings sitting empty — a problem the district is already dealing with from the last round of school closures. It has around 20 school properties that have been vacant for years. Last year, a woman’s body was found behind one of them.

Gauthier “supports finding productive use for vacant school buildings,” Harrison Feinman, Gauthier’s director of communications, said in a statement. “But it is inappropriate to plan the redevelopment of schools while students are still in them.”

Superintendent Tony Watlington has said this round of proposed closures would not lead to any vacant buildings. Of the 18 schools slated for closure, the district plans to repurpose 10 for district use. The district wants to convey the other eight to the city or sell them.

Mayor Cherelle Parker has said she supports the plan, and has indicated she wants to turn some closed schools into housing. But none of that is a done deal. The Board of Education still needs to approve Watlington’s plan.

In the meantime, Young said he’s been looking into introducing a rezoning proposal to ensure his constituents’ perspectives are considered in school decisions, but he did not release further details. The district plans to repurpose two schools slated for closure in his district, Robert Morris and Laura W. Waring. But it wants to convey James R. Ludlow School to the city for redevelopment.

Young said his district has plenty of other vacant land that could be redeveloped for housing.

Young has flexed his power with respect to the school district in other ways. On Tuesday, he held his own town hall about some proposed closures in his district, which district officials attended. And earlier this year, he introduced legislation that would enable the City Council to remove members of the school board. Currently, only the mayor has power to do so.

His aim, he said, is to ensure school decisions serve the local communities he represents.

“The people in those communities directly hold me as their council member accountable for the local issues,” Young said. “Education is a local issue. I’m the only person that they can directly take their frustration out on.”

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

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

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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.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker proposes new tax on Ubers to help fund schools

2026-03-12T18:26:59+00:00

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Mayor Cherelle Parker wants to introduce a new Philadelphia tax on rideshares like Uber and Lyft to boost public school funding as part of her nearly $7 billion budget proposal.

In her budget address Thursday, Parker said the new rideshare fees and other tax changes would result in $12 million more for the School District of Philadelphia next fiscal year. That would be on top of the city’s 2024 increase to the percentage of property taxes that goes towards the district. Parker has promised a further increase in 2030.

But the new funding does little to plug the district’s $300 million budget deficit. And even with the relatively small boost, the district still doesn’t have a way to pay for the $2.8 billion price tag of its proposed facilities plan, which includes closing 18 schools and modernizing more than 150 others.

“We are all aware that the school district is facing a financial crisis,” Parker said Thursday. She said she is committed to ensuring Philadelphia schools are adequately funded, but wants the state to contribute more.

The state has increased funding to Philly’s schools in recent years, and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro recently proposed an increase of $151 million. But that would still leave the district with more than $1 billion less than what a state commission has determined it would need to adequately educate its students.

“It’s the state’s constitutional responsibility to deliver a thorough and efficient public education,” Parker said. But she added that the city will continue to raise local revenue to support schools.

Her remarks underscore the district’s difficult predicament as it makes the case for more funding. Philadelphia is the only district in the state that does not have the authority to raise its own revenue through taxes. Instead, it relies on support from local and state officials.

Parker and some members of City Council have said they believe the district’s funding challenge is largely up to the state to solve. But the Republican majority in the state Senate has previously opposed boosting the city’s education funds.

Parker’s budget proposal kicks off a months-long negotiation process with the City Council, which will hold several hearings about the budget. A hearing specifically about school district funding is scheduled for April 22.

The city’s deadline to pass a budget is June 30. The district is expected to release its own budget summary for the upcoming fiscal year later this month.

Rideshare tax for schools would start in 2027

Parker’s proposed additional funding for the school district would come from two changes to tax laws.

A $0.20 tax per rideshare ride, like Ubers and Lyfts, would bring in $9.6 million annually, city officials estimate. That would begin in July 2027.

A modification to tax calculations for cell towers would bring in an additional $2.4 million annually.

Along with the boost to district funding, Parker’s budget proposal includes $6.5 million more for the city’s free pre-K program, known as PHLpreK. That would expand the program by 100 seats to 5,350.

The budget would also expand Parker’s signature “extended-day, extended-year” program, which provides programming to students during the summer and after school, to two additional charter schools. The mayor’s proposed expansion would increase the number of participating schools from 40 to 47 schools. Parker did not say which new schools would get the program.

The proposal would also allocate $250,000 annually for high school students to earn credits at the Community College of Philadelphia through a dual-enrollment program.

This year’s budget comes amid rising fiscal challenges, Parker said. Though the city is projecting to have a larger “rainy day” fund than ever before, its costs are projected to climb while inflation and slow job growth are expected to add strain. Federal relief funding from the pandemic has also run out.

That’s part of why Parker said the focus of this year’s budget is increasing economic mobility — something that education is essential for, she said.

“All our work in the field of education is the foundation to ensure we increase economic mobility,” Parker said. “Every day, we have to be focused on increasing pathways for our children.”

Long-term enrollment decline is fueling Philly’s school closure plan. It’ll likely continue.

2026-03-11T19:33:10+00:00

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Philadelphia families and educators have been fighting for months against the district’s proposal to close 18 schools. They worry about taking resources away from struggling neighborhoods and limiting the choices that families have long been promised.

But there’s a basic problem driving the closures that isn’t up for debate: There aren’t enough students to fill the city’s schools. And the situation is only expected to get worse.

Over the past decade, enrollment in Philadelphia’s public schools has declined by more than 17,000 students. That’s largely a result of declining birth rates and a sharp increase in the number of students attending cyber charter schools.

At the same time, some neighborhoods’ population has skyrocketed, driven largely by arriving immigrants. That means even as the number of empty seats in some schools has grown into the hundreds, others have become overcrowded. While the district’s overall enrollment has shrunk nearly every year, the portion of English language learners has climbed.

This school year, around 117,000 students attend Philadelphia’s district and alternative schools — a 13% decline from a decade ago. Over the next decade, the state projects enrollment will likely fall by another 10%.

The Board of Education has yet to approve the school closure proposal. It plans to host a town hall on Thursday to hear more feedback.

No board member has indicated support for the proposal yet. But board members have acknowledged that the city’s declining school enrollment must be addressed.

The district already doesn’t have enough funding to meet what the state has determined it would require to adequately educate its students. Keeping buildings open with fewer and fewer kids is a cost it may not be able to bear.

“We cannot ignore enrollment shifts,” Board President Reginald Streater wrote in an op-ed last week. “We cannot wait until financial instability forces decisions upon us. But we also cannot allow financial pressure to take priority over our mission.”

School enrollment decline unlikely to reverse

Philadelphia is far from the only district in this position. Birthrates are declining nationwide, and researchers predict nationwide public school enrollment will fall by 5% between 2022 and 2031.

In Philly, that decline is made more severe due to the rising popularity of cyber charters. In 2014, only around 550 students attended cyber charters. Last school year, more than 14,000 students did, despite concerns from some officials and education groups about the quality of education they provide.

State officials predict the Philadelphia district won’t be able to recover the thousands of children it has lost over the past decade. Instead, the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s enrollment projection model, which factors in trends in birth rates and student progression through grades, predicts Philly’s enrollment will decline by another roughly 10,000 students by 2034-35.

Superintendent Tony Watlington has said he does not want to close schools. But he’s forging ahead because the proposal would improve opportunities for the students who remain in district schools, he told the Board of Education last month. The plan would also mean no students go to class in buildings rated as poor or unsatisfactory, according to Watlington.

Watlington has said he is committed to keeping and attracting students to the district. But if enrollment continues to decline, he indicated the district could be staring down even more school closures down the line.

“You just can’t lose your student population — and for whatever reason, people leave — and then expect to maintain the same level of building footprint,” Watlington said.

As school closures loom, Philadelphia district and union officials jointly call for more state funding

2026-03-04T21:32:27+00:00

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Teacher union leaders and city officials have vehemently fought the Philadelphia school district for weeks over its proposal to close 18 schools.

But on Wednesday, union, city, and school district officials stood side by side to call for more state funding for Pennsylvania’s largest school district. Together, they urged state lawmakers to pass Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal, released last month, which would boost funding for Philadelphia schools by $151 million.

With more state funding, “we can move beyond difficult conversations about scarcity,” said Deputy Superintendent Jermaine Dawson at the union-sponsored event at Lankenau Environmental Science High School, which is on the list of proposed closures. “And then we can focus squarely on accelerating academic achievement.”

Superintendent Tony Watlington has said he does not want to close schools. But he has said the proposed closures, which the Board of Education has not yet approved, are necessary to ensure students no longer attend class in dilapidated buildings and have more access to academic opportunities.

The district’s funding problems seem to be the one thing everyone can agree on throughout closure debates. Repairing the district’s aging buildings would cost millions the district does not have. Already, the district is projecting a $300 million budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year.

In addition to opposing the closure plan, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers has called for more transparency about the data the district used to determine which schools to shutter. But on Wednesday, President Arthur Steinberg had a separate priority.

“We will pick up the debate over the facilities plan another day,” said Steinberg, “Today, we are unified in saying to the General Assembly they are constitutionally obligated to fund our schools fairly and equitably.”

The Philadelphia school district is the only district in the state that cannot raise its own revenue through taxes. It has endured decades of underfunding under a state funding formula that a judge ruled was unconstitutional in 2023.

Though the legislature has boosted school funding every year since then, districts still get millions fewer dollars than what a state commission determined is needed to adequately meet all students’ needs. Last year, a months-long state budget delay also required the Philadelphia district to take out loans to stay afloat, costing it thousands in interest.

In recent years, the city has slightly increased district funding, and Mayor Cherelle Parker has promised an additional increase in 2030. But in the meantime, the cost of maintaining and fixing old buildings — many of which have had flaking asbestos and lead paint — is mounting.

Even members of the City Council, who grilled school district officials last month about the closure plan, acknowledged that the state’s history of underfunding the Philadelphia school district has contributed to the building problems officials are now trying to solve.

Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas opposes the district’s closure plan. District officials recently removed one school he’s strongly supported, Conwell Middle School, from its closure list. Thomas is an alumnus of Conwell, although Watlington has denied playing favorites.

On Wednesday, Thomas said he stood with the Lankenau community in fighting to keep their school open. But he also pointed out that the state’s long-term disinvestment in Philly’s schools has strained both the district’s and the city’s finances.

“It’s not right, it’s not fair,” said Thomas. “It has put us in a position for well over a decade to be constantly in the red as it relates to public education.”

Rep. Morgan Cephas, who chairs the Philadelphia House delegation in the state legislature, said at Wednesday’s event she would urge her colleagues to pass a state budget that boosts funding for the city’s schools, although the issue could come down to Senate Republicans.

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify the state of Philly school buildings.

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

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

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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.

Philadelphia district removes 2 schools from proposed school closure list

2026-02-26T22:00:00+00:00

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The Philadelphia school district no longer plans to close Russell Conwell Middle School and Motivation High School, Superintendent Tony Watlington announced Thursday.

The decision to spare the two schools from proposed closures comes after nearly a month of intense community pushback against the district’s sweeping facilities plan. Watlington has said the plan would help the district provide more resources and opportunities to all students, and would also include investments in schools that remain open.

The changes also follow concerns of some prominent city officials who have so far opposed the plan. The district has also altered the plan to switch the schools some students would relocate to.

But 18 schools — most of which have mounted strong protests against the closure plan — would still close beginning in 2027.

Watlington presented the updated plan to the Board of Education Thursday afternoon. The board will ultimately decide whether that plan goes through, but it’s unclear when members will vote on it.

Watlington said at a press briefing before the board meeting that the changes represent the district’s commitment to listening to community feedback.

“Our community, quite frankly, made some suggestions that had merit,” Watlington said. “The fact that we can’t make all the changes that people across this great city recommended should never mean that we can’t make some of the changes.”

In addition, under the revised plan, Lankenau Environmental Science High School would merge into Walter B. Saul High School as a career and technical education program. That’s a shift from the initial proposal to merge Lankenau into Roxborough High School as an honors program as officials initially proposed. However, the Lankenau building would still close.

Meanwhile, students from Paul Robeson High School would relocate to Motivation, rather than Sayre High School. That means rather than joining a neighborhood high school, current Robeson students would remain at a small, criteria-based school.

Lastly, Lewis Elkin Elementary School would no longer add grades to become a K-8 school. Instead, it would remain a K-4 school and students would attend Conwell after graduating. Conwell would have an honors program that students could apply for through the district’s school selection process.

In total, more than 4,500 Philadelphia students would still have their schools closed in the coming years. The plan has the same price tag of $2.8 billion, which the district says would require extra philanthropic and public funding on top of district funds.

Philadelphia City Council seeks leverage over school closures

Members of Philadelphia’s City Council don’t have any direct say over the closure plan. But that hasn’t stopped them from speaking out about it.

Last week, council members grilled school leaders over the plan. President Kenyatta Johnson said members would not “rubber stamp” the plan, and some members indicated they could withhold funding from the district in the city budget process to back up their views.

Several prominent members rallied in particular support of Conwell Middle School in Kensington. City Council Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas previously said he would “never support” a plan that included closing Conwell, a school he attended. Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, whose district includes Kensington, said Conwell “should not be on that list.”

When asked about political influence over the plan, Watlington said his team listened to all Philadelphians and “took all that feedback together.”

Watlington said his team heard from Conwell alumni and accounted for feedback that the district should invest more in Kensington, which the district categorizes as socially vulnerable. But he denied that the district played favorites.

“We landed on these recommended changes not reflecting any one voice or sector more than the others,” he added.

Fewer students would switch to neighborhood high schools

When he announced the school closure plan last month, Watlington said one of its major goals was to reinvest in neighborhood high schools. The initial proposal would have closed five criteria-based magnet high schools or citywide admissions high schools with low enrollment. Students at four of those schools would instead attend neighborhood high schools.

But at crowded community meetings, many high school families said they chose small schools for a reason. Some said they would leave the district entirely rather than send their children to larger neighborhood high schools.

Many neighborhood high schools have been in a tough position in Philadelphia, juggling hundreds of students with few resources. Some have a reputation for chaos and violence. School leaders said funneling more students into those schools would enable them to create more opportunities. But now, they seem to be walking back that strategy.

Only one closing school — Parkway Northwest — would still merge into a neighborhood high school. It would become an honors program at Martin Luther King High School, even though many families have said they would not want to send their children there.

“All children in all of our schools are important, and we think they all deserve the very best,” Watlington said. “We also won’t hide from the fact that we heard some feedback from individuals who said that they prefer the smaller, boutique high school experience.”

Philadelphia has universal free school meals, but many students who could benefit still don’t participate

2026-02-25T17:40:19+00:00

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The research is clear: Universal free school meal programs help more families access food. They also may be beneficial for student learning and health outcomes.

But many Philly students who could benefit from the meals still opt out, according to a new Temple University study.

Universal meal programs, funded by millions in federal and state dollars, are meant to ensure that every student can access food during the school day, regardless of their families’ incomes. But the findings show the programs don’t completely eliminate barriers to food access in schools.

Even some students who have grown up with universal meal access still say free meals are perceived as worse quality than an alternative they could buy.

That kind of stigma, along with staffing pressures, the perception of low-quality food, and school kitchen limitations, drive students away from participating in school meal programs, according to the study’s analysis of interviews with nearly 200 students, staff, and parents connected with eight Philadelphia schools.

By analyzing meal participation and helping schools usher in some changes, the team found that small tweaks to school meal programs could encourage participation, said lead researcher Gabriella Maria McLoughlin, assistant professor at Temple’s College of Public Health.

Now her team is helping to implement some of those changes at four district schools through a pilot program. That could be key for the district, where more families have reported going hungry in recent years, according to a recent district report.

Stigma and few choices drive students away from school meals

McLoughlin said several students told her team they didn’t participate in free school meals because they didn’t like the options. Some said the food didn’t represent their cultural backgrounds or what they would eat at home, and that it wasn’t tasty.

Schools are limited in what they can serve due to federal regulations, which require federally-funded food served in schools to meet specific nutrition requirements. That means students must be served beans and whole grains — a hard sell for kids who often prefer candy and Takis, McLoughlin said.

But a small change of helping schools add herb and spice racks in their cafeterias can help address that problem.

“We constantly hear from students, ‘It’s not salty enough, it’s not palatable,’” said McLoughlin. “As a way to compromise, how can we still meet the [federal] guidelines while also giving students a bit more flavor, a bit more spice, more seasoning, and just a chance to have control over what they eat?”

School staff also deal with the problem of trying to operate school meal programs with limited resources. Many district schools don’t have on-site kitchens or robust cafeterias. That makes it difficult to make pre-packaged meals look enticing for students. Some staff also said managing meal times is difficult, with limited time and space for students to eat.

At a few schools, McLoughlin and her team have designed menus that schools share with families ahead of time so they can know what will be served and whether their kid may want a different option. At one school, teachers also serve as “meal ambassadors,” eating with students to get feedback and promote the meals.

Ultimately, McLoughlin said the research shows there are ways to improve participation in school meal programs. But the answer is often school-specific, and requires giving schools resources and support to come up with their own creative solutions.

“One of the biggest takeaways we want to share with the world is that schools should have more autonomy in how they operate, and how they operate their own school meals,” said McLoughlin. “And we can do this in a way that also meets regulations federally.”

Philadelphia district students will have a remote learning day Tuesday

2026-02-24T00:56:29+00:00

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All Philadelphia district schools will be remote Tuesday as the city continues to shovel out from a historic winter storm, officials announced Monday evening.

All after-school activities for Tuesday are also canceled. The district’s central office and early childhood centers will operate remotely as well.

The district closed school buildings Monday after parts of the city received more than a foot of snow on Sunday night into Monday morning. Though the intensity of the storm has subsided, a snow emergency remained in effect as of Monday evening.

Tuesday will mark the fifth day this school year the district has closed schools due to snow. A storm last month led to one full snow day with no schooling and two remote learning days. The district allotted one extra day in its calendar that allowed for the full snow day.

Families and staff can stay up to date about the district’s weather-related closures on its website.

Philadelphia wants to entice students back to neighborhood high schools. Will it work?

2026-02-13T18:43:51+00:00

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For Philadelphia parent Samatha Bromfield, the choice to send her kids to Paul Robeson High School was deeply thought-out.

Bromfield said she spoke to her children and saw what they needed: “They needed something small. They needed a family.” That’s what she found at Robeson, which has around 300 students and where the teachers all know her children’s names.

But now, the school’s future is in doubt. Robeson is one of the 20 schools the district wants to shutter in an effort to address declining enrollment and move students out of dilapidated buildings. Five are criteria-based magnet high schools or citywide admissions high schools with low enrollment.

Many of those schools would be absorbed into neighborhood high schools as honors programs. But their buildings would fully close in 2027, and the district has not made clear exactly what options current students will have then. Students who recently accepted an offer to schools on the chopping block have been told their only other option is their neighborhood school.

All together, those moves amount to a shrinking number of choices for some students and families, who have come to count on the idea that they have a real say in where they go to high school in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia’s high school selection process is a rigorous and often confusing one. It requires middle school-aged students to explore dozens of options and rank their top picks for a lottery system.

The choices are meant to help students find schools that “nurture their passions,” Superintendent Tony Watlington has previously said. For decades, the district has promoted these options to attract families.

Now as the district moves to close some of those schools and reduce the number of choices, families say they feel betrayed. If the plan moves forward, officials will be faced with the challenge of enticing families back to neighborhood schools.

Already, many say they will not go.

“I choose to decide where my children go,” Bromfield said. “If you decide — you, as in the board members — decide to close Paul Robeson, I have a choice to pull my children out of the public school system.”

Why attracting families to neighborhood high schools is so difficult

Watlington will present the plan to the Board of Education, which will ultimately decide which schools close, later this month.

Until then, district officials have told students at closing schools and those who recently accepted offers to attend them that they should stay enrolled. If they want to switch schools, their only option is attending their neighborhood school.

Watlington has stressed that the district plans to create a transition team to support all families impacted by the closure plan. The district’s goal, he has said, is to keep all students within district schools.

“We are laser focused on doing everything we can to not contribute to more out-migration of students,” he said during a recent radio interview.

The plan would provide students more access to desirable opportunities, like AP classes and career and technical education programs. It includes investments in some neighborhood high school buildings.

But attracting families to neighborhood high schools will likely be a tall order. For decades, school leaders have pushed small high schools as an answer to parents’ concerns about neighborhood high schools, which often have a reputation for being more chaotic and violent than smaller magnets.

In the meantime, these small schools are also trying to convince incoming families to stay enrolled, even with the threat of closures looming.

Successive district leaders in Philadelphia have championed different versions of specialized schools. In the early 2000s, for example, then-chief of schools Paul Vallas opened two dozen new small high schools. He divided some schools in half and turned others over to charter organizations under the promise that students’ experiences and outcomes would improve.

The idea was that at small schools, there would be more opportunities and better academic achievement. Increasing the number of available schools would also reduce overcrowding and give families the sense of choice. And magnet programs could offer the promise of a more intimate and often more rigorous education than a neighborhood high school.

In some cases, it works. Several longstanding magnet schools, like Julia R. Masterman and Central High School, are top-ranked in the state with families desperate to get in.

But not every small school is equally desirable. Over the past decade, the district has lost around 17,000 students, largely because of declining birth rates and more students attending cyber charter schools. Some magnet and citywide admissions schools now have hundreds of empty seats.

In the meantime, some neighborhood high schools have also struggled. Several have low academic achievement and, in some cases, reputations for in-school violence. Many are also in old buildings that families say would not represent an improvement for their children.

Watlington and other officials have promised to boost those schools. But so far, families say they’re not convinced.

“The neighborhood schools are unacceptable for me as a parent,” said Janae Crawley, a parent of a student at Parkway Northwest, during a meeting at the school about the closures. The district wants to close Parkway Northwest and turn it into an honors program at Martin Luther King High School, which has around 600 students — more than double the size of Parkway Northwest.

Crawley, like other parents, said the high school selection process was lengthy. After a “very important and very big conversation” with her child, they decided on Parkway Northwest.

Closing the school would be “almost catastrophic,” she said.

District plan would expand capacity at some popular magnets

The district’s proposal isn’t just about funneling more resources to neighborhood high schools. District officials acknowledge that many families want choices in high school selection, and are frustrated that many of the city’s top magnets are exceedingly hard to get into.

By closing some schools and colocating and relocating others, the district would be able to increase capacity at five top magnet schools, Watlington has said. That includes expanding enrollment at Central and Masterman and adding selective middle schools at the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush and Palumbo Middle School.

Watlington also wants to open a new, specialized year-round high school that any family could apply to. It’s unclear how students would be chosen for admission or when the school would open.

Still, enrolling more students at neighborhood high schools remains a core promise of the plan. Many students at the schools slated for closure say that’s exactly what they don’t want.

“If I wanted to go to a neighborhood school, I would have applied there,” said Leille Lane, an 11th grader at Motivation High School, which the district wants to turn into an honors program at Bartram High School. Bartram is nearly four times the size of Motivation, and has a much lower graduation and attendance rate.

“If I wanted to attend Bartram or any other school, I would have put that school on my list,” Lane said.

Carly Sitrin and Sammy Caiola contributed to this story.

Philadelphia families at small schools like Parkway Northwest fight school closure plan

2026-02-09T23:21:26+00:00

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Philadelphia students and families have packed community meetings over the past week, urging district officials not to close their schools.

At Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice, parents and students said they valued the school’s small community. At Lankenau Environmental High School, educators said the campus had a unique location near a nature center. And at Paul Robeson High School, families worried the school’s land has been targeted for redevelopment.

But district officials have remained steadfast in their pitch: They want to close 20 schools beginning in 2027 in an effort to address declining enrollment and deteriorating buildings.

“It feels like we are grieving,” said Logan, a sophomore at Parkway Northwest, at one of the more than a dozen community meetings the district has hosted since the start of the month at schools it plans to close. He declined to give his last name.

The district’s proposal, which also includes upgrading nearly 160 school facilities, would result in nearly 5,000 students having their schools closed. Superintendent Tony Watlington has said the closures are necessary to address declining enrollment and deteriorating buildings, and will lead to more opportunities for all students.

But families and educators at the community meetings Chalkbeat attended said they worried the plan would harm students at closing schools. Many were concerned about safety issues combining students from different areas, and urged the district not to take school resources away from their neighborhoods.

Students at the meetings made an urgent case to keep their schools open, highlighting principals and teachers they loved and opportunities that made their schools special and helped them thrive. A journalism club. An agriculture internship. A sense of community and connectedness that, they said, they worried the district had not taken into consideration.

Whether their advocacy will lead to any change is yet to be seen. Key members of City Council, including President Kenyatta Johnson and Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas have said they are concerned about parts of the plan.

But so far, Mayor Cherelle Parker is standing alongside Watlington in her support of the closures. Watlington plans to present the proposal to the Board of Education on Feb. 26. The board will ultimately decide which schools close.

The district will host dozens more meetings in the coming weeks. As they face angry parents and spirited staff and students, district leaders have repeated that the plan is meant to benefit all students.

“If we accept the status quo, we will get what we’ve always gotten,” Deputy Superintendent Oz Hill told families during a virtual meeting about the proposed closure of Conwell Middle School last week. “What this plan proposes to do is to raise the bar — to raise the educational experience across the board for every student, regardless of ZIP code or neighborhood.”

Parkway Northwest students say they want to preserve small school environment

Tensions flared between community members and district staff at Parkway Northwest as district officials explained their plan to merge the school into Martin Luther King High School during a community meeting last week. Parkway Northwest would become an honors program housed on that campus.

Many of the more than 200 students and family members who showed up to defend Parkway Northwest said they intentionally chose the school for its special, small environment. The two buildings are just around the corner from each other, but Martin Luther King is more than double the size of Parkway Northwest, which has fewer than 250 students.

“If you take away this environment, you aren’t just changing everything,” said sophomore Melody Jenkins. “You’re disrupting my ability to succeed.”

Parkway Northwest High School enrolls around 250 students.

The proposal is part of the district’s promise to reinvest in neighborhood high schools, like Martin Luther King. But students pushing back against the district’s proposal said the plan felt like it didn’t consider the value of a small school.

“Parkway is more than just a school,” said sophomore Jorvan Kelley. “I feel safe coming here.”

Lankenau’s campus is essential, students and teachers say

District officials also want to close Lankenau Environmental Science High School as part of their effort to funnel more resources to neighborhood high schools. Lankenau would merge into Roxborough High School and become an honors program within the school.

Philadelphia Schools Deputy Superintendent Oz Hill, center, tells families at Lankenau Environmental Science High School that the district's closure plan is meant to benefit all students.

But that proposal “diminishes the program,” said agriculture teacher Tiffany Turrentine. She said Lankenau’s location across the street from a nature center and next to a community farm provides countless educational opportunities that students wouldn’t be able to access at Roxborough.

So many Lankenau students showed up to defend their school last week that they had to filter into the school’s auditorium in shifts. Some had to leave before they had a chance to speak because their parents had come to pick them up. Those who did address the district officials said the school’s environmental programs and staff were invaluable. Many were distraught that it could be closed.

“I’ve got to start thinking about the worst case scenario, but I feel like a lot of people are backing the school,” said freshman Aidan Frishman. “So I’m just kind of hoping that the school doesn’t get shut down.”

Conwell Middle School families say district has disinvested in Kensington

District officials have started each community meeting by explaining the closure plan and the motivation behind it to improve opportunities for all students. But at Conwell Middle School last week, families shouted down Hill, the deputy superintendent, as he presented the plan to merge Conwell students into AMY at James Martin.

Families said they were frustrated to hear the same information repeated and wanted district officials to listen to the dozens of students and parents who had gathered.

“Parents need to speak,” Principal Erica Green told Hill and other officials.

Conwell Middle School sits in a 100-year-old building just a few blocks from the intersection of Kensington and Allegheny Avenues, which is a hotspot for drug use. Many families and community members said they worried closing the school would be akin to the district deserting the neighborhood.

“Our children and our families come through all the craziness that is happening outside to get here,” said Councilmember Quetcy Lozada. She said she is urging district officials not to close the school.

Tilden Middle School principal says she is hopeful students will thrive after closure

Just a dozen or so Tilden Middle School employees and area residents attended the district’s community meeting at the school Saturday. Some attendees blamed the small turnout on the weekend timing and the frigid weather.

Tilden itself is a small community, just 266 students in a building meant for 2,000, said Principal Timeka Ford-Smith. Under the new proposal the school will stop inducting new classes in 2027. Once current students have graduated, the district plans to turn Tilden into a sports complex for neighboring Bartram High School.

On Saturday, Ford-Smith struggled to impart a sense of hope to the room. She shared her faith in the principals of the other three middle schools where neighborhood children would be placed in the future.

“I believe in my heart … that our students will be in a very, very good position to learn, to grow, and to be prepared for high school,” Ford-Smith said.

Claire Landau and Donna Ragsdale with the School District of Philadelphia take questions about proposed school closures from community members at Tilden Middle School on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026.

Still, community members were frustrated with the choice to invest in Bartram High but not Tilden, especially given that the district ranks the Tilden community as highly vulnerable due to social factors and past school closures in the area. They brought up community resources anchored at the school, such as a food pantry and a suite of housing, transportation, and health services offered by partner Methodist Services.

“It’s almost like somebody is dying and life support is their last option, and you’re choosing to withhold it or take them off,” said Najmah Ryans, the school secretary.

District representatives said they would spend the time before the closure considering how to continue offering those resources without disruption.

Robeson families worry school has been targeted because it sits on valuable land

District officials have said closed school buildings would be repurposed for district use, conveyed to the city, or sold. They have promised none will sit empty. But it’s unclear whether the city or other developers will want to take over all the buildings the district doesn’t repurpose.

Families and community members connected to the Paul Robeson High School said during a community meeting Saturday that they worried their building was targeted for closure because it’s in an area of the city where real estate is increasingly valuable. The neighborhood, which sits between the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University campuses, is full of new rental housing buildings and university developments.

The nearby University City High School, which closed in 2013, is now a parking garage connected to Drexel.

“How many more buildings do Penn and Drexel need in this community?” asked Antoine Mapp, director of the community group West Powelton Steppers, which has run programs with Robeson students since the 1990s.

Families and students at the meeting said that they did not want to send their students to William L. Sayre High School, which the district plans to merge Robeson into as an honors program. Sayre is nearly two miles away.

“The education of Black and brown students such as myself are not being taken seriously,” said ninth grader Ahrianna Deloach. “We’re watching buildings around our school get torn down and rebuilt in every direction. And somehow, our education keeps getting pushed to the side.”

Paul Robeson High School students and families said during a community meeting on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, that the school's small size and tight-knit community make it special.

Carly Sitrin contributed to this story.

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

These Philadelphia schools avoided closure in 2013. Now they’re on the chopping block again.

2026-02-04T17:17:39+00:00

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When Danielle Edwards, 19, heard her alma mater, Paul Robeson High School, is on the list of schools the School District of Philadelphia wants to close, she messaged former classmates she’s still in touch with.

“That was my first school that I actually loved,” she said.

The district released plans last month to close 20 schools, including Robeson, as part of an effort to address problems with school facilities and declining enrollment. It wants to move students from Robeson into William L. Sayre High School as an honors program.

It’s a familiar and painful challenge for Robeson.

In 2013, a state-appointed board closed 24 schools in a contentious decision that drew months of protests. Robeson was initially on the list of schools to be closed, but it narrowly escaped that fate after intense pushback from the community.

Back in 2013, the fight to keep schools open was fierce. Teachers, students, advocates, and political leaders formed human chains, phone banked, shut down Broad Street, and swamped public meetings demanding their schools be left alone. Mayor Cherelle Parker, then a state representative, called on the City Council to keep one school in her district from closing.

The outside of West Philadelphia University City High School in 2013.

For some schools, it worked. More than a dozen schools originally on the closure list ended up staying open and continued educating students for more than a decade.

But now, four schools or buildings that the district initially planned to close 13 years ago are back on the closure list: Robeson, Robert Morris School, Overbrook Elementary, and Lankenau High School. Mayor Parker has come out in support of the plan.

Without the same level of community pushback so far, advocates say they’re worried they may not be able to muster the support to save them again. And this time around, they have to convince members of a school board who have different aims and political influences from the several state-appointed board members of 2013.

District officials say they’ve learned key lessons from the 2013 closures when it comes to tradeoffs and consequences, and that the plan will ultimately benefit students when it comes to learning and early learning.

The outside of West Philadelphia University City High School in 2013.

The district plans to present its plan to the board, which will determine which schools to close, on Feb. 26. A vote will come sometime afterwards.

Longtime Robeson teacher Andrew Saltz, who protested the last round of school closures, said he plans to try to save Robeson once again.

A lot in his life has changed since the last protests. He’s older, and has children. Still, he said, he’s finding the energy to fight the closure plan again; he’s said he’s heard from freshmen who are scared about where they’ll go to school if Robeson closes.

“This is the right thing to do,” said Saltz. “So, OK, let’s get it going.”

School leaders say different forces are driving school closures

Just like for Saltz, a lot has changed for the city and its schools since 2013.

The mayor and city council now determine who sits on the school board, rather than some members being appointed by the state. Superintendent Tony Watlington, who joined the district in 2022, has stressed that the perspectives of teachers, families, and community members will help shape a new facilities plan.

Still, there’s an expensive and persistent challenge: repairing old school buildings and operating schools with fewer students. District enrollment has declined, leaving some schools — including two of the four on the closure list for the second time — more than half empty. Old buildings have further deteriorated. During this winter’s cold snap, the heat in several classrooms did not work properly.

A view of the demolition zone of University City High School in 2013.

In 2013, the School Reform Commission that controlled the city’s schools cared largely about saving money. The district was cash-strapped and laid off nearly 4,000 employees before the first day of school.

District enrollment was also rapidly declining at the time — though for different reasons than it is today. In the years before the closures, the School Reform Commission had ceded district schools to charter organizers and approved other charter schools to open in the city.

But since control of Philly schools returned to the city at the end of 2017, district enrollment has declined largely because of falling birth rates. More Philadelphia students also now attend cyber charters.

Researchers found that some students’ academic performance took a hit after the 2013 closures, and absences increased for students who were displaced. Several school buildings were also left empty and deteriorating. And communities’ trust with school leaders was fractured for years.

“It was not worth the cost,” Deputy Superintendent Oz Hill told families in late 2024.

School leaders say the new proposal to close 20 schools and co-locate and relocate others is meant to provide more opportunities for students and families, like increased access to pre-kindergarten and AP classes. It also would result in students no longer attending school in buildings the district deems unsatisfactory.

But many say they’re worried the same harms stemming from the 2013 closures could happen again. The plan would move hundreds of students to lower-performing schools and disproportionately affect Black students.

Protests against some of the proposals have already begun. Some members of the City Council have spoken out against the plan, calling on the district to change which schools it plans to close.

Viery Ricketts-Thomas, a block captain in Overbrook, said she feels shocked the neighborhood’s elementary school could be closed.

Since 2013, the school has gotten a new principal, Kenneth Glover, who has launched initiatives to partner with community groups to build a new schoolyard and attract more Black teachers who reflect the student body.

Though Overbook’s building is rated as poor, the school is enrolled at nearly 80% capacity, according to district data. Its students’ math and reading scores on state tests have also improved over the past three years.

“Right now the school is thriving,” said Ricketts-Thomas. “These are kids you’re displacing.”

Teachers, students and advocates with Stand Up Philly Schools protest planned facilities closures on Thurs., Jan. 29, 2026 outside the School District of Philadelphia headquarters.

Why fighting school closures might be harder now

Philadelphia teacher Jon Hoffmeier has fond memories of his two years teaching at University City High School. It was his first full teaching job in the city, and he loved how students had space for soccer practice and football practice.

The school closed in 2013. When Hoffmeier drives by the school’s old address, he now sees a parking garage. “It’s an absolute shame,” he said.

Hoffmeier was one of hundreds of teachers who had to move schools after the last round of closure. Now at Lankenau High School, he and other teachers are already fighting to keep the school open. They’ve launched a petition, made posters, and organized a rally at their school.

But not all schools are mounting the same response. Julia McWilliams, co-director of the urban studies program at the University of Pennsylvania, said the energy ahead of the 2013 closures felt different.

Advocates had been rallying for years against the School Reform Commission, and some were already organized across neighborhoods, she said. Schools bussed dozens of students to commission meetings and some groups threatened lawsuits.

Civil action intensified. Students at the now-closed Carroll High School in Port Richmond formed a “human chain” around their school in protest. The night the School Reform Commission read the final list of closing schools, a group of protestors blocked the entrance to the meeting and 19 were arrested.

Lankenau High School juniors Tyrone Ware (right) and Niyasia Bounds say they don't know what they would do if their school closes, as the district has proposed.

Today, McWilliams said she worries there are fewer groups ready to call for changes, and many people may not have time or energy to put toward the cause. Some are busy with other issues, like organizing for immigrants’ rights. And many people may feel less passionate about protecting public education.

“What I’m seeing is just people don’t have a lot of confidence in public schools, because of what algorithms are telling them, because of what happened during COVID, because of the ways the teachers unions didn’t want to go back in-person,” said McWilliams. “People pulled their kids out and just never sent them back.”

Still, for some who plan to fight the closures, the new environment could fuel their motivation. With the city in control of its own schools, they say it’s vital for school leaders to keep many of the schools proposed for closure open to avoid repeating the mistakes of 2013.

Saltz, the Robeson teacher, remembers that ahead of the 2013 closures, it felt like “everyone already hated” the state-controlled School Reform Commission that oversaw city schools.

This time, he said it feels like the city is turning on its own schools.

“I think that made it more depressing,” said Saltz of the current closure plan. “Because you thought this school board would be different.”

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

Appeals court: Philadelphia magnet school admissions policies may be discriminatory

2026-02-03T21:35:38+00:00

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A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the Philadelphia school district’s admissions policy for selective high schools could have had the “purpose and effect of discriminating on the basis of race.”

The ruling revives Sargent v. School District of Philadelphia, a lawsuit that alleges the district’s controversial selective admissions policy is unconstitutional because it favored some races over others. A district court judge had previously dismissed the case. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision cites the Students for Fair Admissions Supreme Court case that ended the use of race-based preferences in college admissions to send the case back to the district court for a trial.

The decision reopens questions about what methods, if any, Philadelphia school leaders can use to create more diversity in the district’s elite high schools, which historically have been disproportionately white and Asian American.

It also bolsters a long-running campaign by conservative legal activists to end the use of race-neutral factors in K-12 admissions policies. School districts have been barred from using race as a factor in school admissions and enrollment decisions for nearly two decades, but courts have generally held that using race-neutral factors, such as geography or income, to promote diversity are allowed. The Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to take up cases that could upset that status quo, but conservative legal groups continue to bring challenges, such as the Philadelphia lawsuit.

In 2021, the Philadelphia school district overhauled its admissions process for magnet high schools, which are widely considered to be the city’s most desirable public high schools. Unlike neighborhood high schools, students must apply to magnet schools and not all are accepted. Before the admissions process changed, principals of magnet schools had discretion over which students they admitted.

The new policy created a lottery system that prioritized students from certain ZIP codes and also required students to meet higher academic and attendance standards. School leaders at the time said the changes were part of an effort to make the school district an “antiracist institution.”

In its ruling, the federal appeals court said the new policy increased Black and Hispanic students’ chances of admission to some of the city’s top magnet schools, including Palumbo, Carver, Central, and Masterman, while decreasing Asian American and white students’ chances.

A school district spokesperson said Tuesday that the district does not comment on pending litigation.

Before the change, white students had long been overrepresented at Central and Masterman high schools, two of the city’s top schools. More recently, so had Asian American students. In 2020, some Black students at Central urged the district to overhaul its admissions policies to address the declining percentage of Black students admitted to the school.

Some parents and students immediately pushed back against the new system, which they said prevented some high-achieving students from accessing top schools.

Three parents whose children did not get into their top-choice school under the new policy sued with support from America First Legal Foundation, a conservative nonprofit law firm. The parents have children who are Black, white, and biracial. They alleged that because students from predominantly Black and Hispanic ZIP codes who met admissions criteria had an automatic in, the policy had a discriminatory effect.

In sending the case back to the lower court, the appeals court justices noted that top district officials, including then-Superintendent William Hite, had openly discussed wanting to address racial disparities, especially in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. That did not necessarily mean the policy was discriminatory, but it requires the lower court to more fully consider those arguments, the justices wrote.

America First Legal was founded by Stephen Miller, a top advisor to President Donald Trump. Trump has used executive orders to ban analyses that examine disproportionate impacts in considering whether policies violate civil rights, and his Education Department has used a similar legal theory to pressure school districts to end diversity policies that rely on race-neutral factors.

Since Sargent was originally filed, the district has made some changes to the admissions process, including allowing students to rank multiple choices and giving students who attended middle schools attached to selective high schools priority access to those schools as well. It has kept priority ZIP codes, but has made some changes to which ones are included.

Magnet school admissions policies contested across the country

Many school districts don’t have a network of selective admissions high schools like Philadelphia or New York do. However, the districts that do have garnered legal scrutiny. As school districts have tried different tactics to diversify these schools, conservative legal groups, often working with Asian American parents, have challenged changes to admissions policies they see as proxies for race in Boston, New York, and Fairfax County, Virginia.

Justin Driver, a professor of constitutional law with Yale Law School, said the Supreme Court may not necessarily get involved in this case, with the “ball in the Philadelphia School District’s court.” The district could change its policies rather than appeal an unfavorable ruling, and even if it did, the Supreme Court might not agree to take the case.

“They could decline to do so because of what lawyers refer to as percolation,” he said. “We want to see how other courts are going to wrestle with these issues. But I do think that from a preliminary view, the facts of this case are similar to other cases.”

As in the case of other admissions policies challenged, “George Floyd’s death was sort of the cataclysmic event that made them rethink the policy here,” Driver said.

Erin Wilcox, a senior attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, has represented plaintiffs in similar cases, including Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board. In that case, Pacific Legal argued against an admissions process that awarded additional points to students from underrepresented schools or from low-income families.

The Supreme Court declined to hear that case in 2024. But Wilcox said she believes that “eventually the court will grapple with this issue,” now with a split of opinion between circuit courts on this issue.

Wilcox said Supreme Court justices dissenting on these cases have written some “pretty fiery” dissenting opinions.

For example, Justice Samuel Alito wrote of the Fairfax case: “The Court’s willingness to swallow the aberrant decision below is hard to understand. We should wipe the decision off the books.”

“Maybe ... some justices putting that out there so forcefully, which is not something they do all that often, might be having an impact on some of the appellate court judges across the country,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox said the plaintiffs she’s represented have fought to get into magnet schools in pursuit of a rigorous education.

“In a lot of cases, students have been preparing or trying to go to these schools for years,” she said.

Derek Black, a constitutional law expert with the University of South Carolina, said he believes just because administrators may have had a goal of increasing racial parity in enrollment doesn’t mean the resulting admissions policy is discriminatory. Nor, he said, should that goal alone trigger the heightened judicial standard that’s applied to policies that consider race.

“As I read the facts, no, not a single student was admitted based upon his or her race,” he said. “That means it’s race-neutral.”

Lily Altavena is a national reporter at Chalkbeat. Contact Lily at laltavena@chalkbeat.org.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro proposes $151 million funding boost for Philadelphia schools

2026-02-03T20:59:56+00:00

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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.

Here’s how to give feedback on Philadelphia’s school closure proposal

2026-01-30T21:32:20+00:00

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Do you have thoughts on the Philadelphia school district’s proposal to close 20 schools? School leaders say they want to hear from you.

The district’s school closure plan, which officials released last week, would result in nearly 5,000 students having their schools closed and several others schools being relocated or co-located to other buildings.

Superintendent Tony Watlington has said the plan will result in better educational opportunities for students, including more access to AP classes, more pre-kindergarten seats, and more capacity in some of the district’s most-desirable schools. It would also help move students out of deteriorating buildings.

But Watlington has not yet officially presented that plan — which has quickly become controversial — to the Board of Education, which will ultimately decide which schools close. Before he does so, district leaders have said they want to meet with students, educators, families, and community members connected with each school they want to close.

The district plans to host virtual and in-person community meetings with each school it proposes closing. Meetings will begin on Feb. 2 and go until Feb. 21.

Two district-wide town halls are planned for President’s Day, Feb. 16.

Watlington has said he will formally share the plan with the board on Feb. 26.

Several board members said during their meeting Thursday that they plan to attend some of the meetings and hope others do as well. “The community has a right to speak out,” said board member Cheryl Harper.

Anyone can register for the community meetings, including virtual options, on the district’s website.

Here’s where and when they’ll be:

Week 1 — Monday, Feb. 2 to Saturday, Feb. 7

Feb. 2: Russell Conwell Middle School, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m, Virtual

Feb. 2: Warren G. Harding Middle School, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 2: Robert Morris Middle School, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 2: Paul Robeson High School, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 3: General Louis Wagner Elementary, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 3: John Welsh Elementary, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 3: Penn Treaty High School, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 3 Lankenau High School, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 4: Parkway NW High School, 6200 Crittenden St., 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 4: Lankenau High School, 201 Spring Lane, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 5: Russell Conwell Middle, 1849 E. Clearfield St., 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 5: AMY at Northwest, 6000 Ridge Ave., 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 6: Laura Waring Elementary, 8:30 to 10:00 a.m., Virtual

Feb. 6: Overbrook Elementary School, 8:30 to 10:00 a.m., Virtual

Feb. 7: Blankenburg Elementary, 4600 W. Girard Ave., 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., In-Person

Feb. 7: William T. Tilden Middle School, 6601 Elmwood Ave., 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., In-Person

Feb. 7: Paul Robeson High School, 4125 Ludlow St., 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 7: Parkway West High School, 4725 Fairmont Ave #2, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., In-Person

Week 2 — Monday, Feb. 9 to Thursday, Feb. 12

Feb. 9: Blankenburg Elementary School, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 9: Fitler Academics Plus Elementary School, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 9: James R. Ludlow Elementary, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 9: Motivation High School, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 10: John B. Stetson Middle, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 10: William T. Tilden Middle, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 10: Parkway West High School, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 10: Parkway NW High School, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 11: Pennypacker Elementary School, 1858 Washington Lane, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 11: Motivation High School, 5900 Baltimore Ave., 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 12: Penn Treaty High School, 600 E. Thompson St., 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 12: John B. Stetson Middle, 3200 B St., 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., In-Person

Week 3 — Monday, Feb. 16 (President’s Day) to Saturday, Feb. 21

Feb. 16: Community-wide Town Hall, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Location TBD

Feb. 16: Community-wide Town Hall, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m., Virtual

Feb. 18: General Louis Wagner Elementary, 1701 W. Chelten Ave., 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 18: John Welsh Elementary, 2331 N. 4th St., 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 19: Overbrook Elementary School, 2032 N. 62nd St., 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 19: James R. Ludlow Elementary School, 550 Master St., 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 20: Pennypacker Elementary, 8:30 to 10:00 a.m., Virtual

Feb. 20: Academy for the Middle Years at NW, 8:30 to 10:00 a.m., Virtual

Feb. 21: Laura Waring Elementary School, 1801 Green St., 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., In-Person

Feb. 21: Fitler Academics Plus Elementary, 140 W Seymour St., 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., In-Person

Feb. 21: Warren G. Harding Middle School, 2000 Wakeling St., 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., In-Person

Feb. 21: Robert Morris Middle School, 2600 W Thompson St., 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., In-Person

Philadelphia teachers, students call for changes to school closure proposal

2026-01-30T00:53:42+00:00

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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.

Philadelphia school closure plan would move hundreds of students to lower-performing schools

2026-01-29T15:58:56+00:00

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Philadelphia school leaders say the aim of their plan to close 20 schools is clear: give all students better opportunities and support school communities.

By restructuring how the district uses its facilities, Superintendent Tony Watlington has said the district could provide all students with better buildings, more rigorous academic offerings, and more access to arts, music, and physical education.

“Part of the problem here is that there’s so much disparity in the school district of Philadelphia,” Watlington said last week when announcing the plan.

But some members of the City Council say they’re already worried that the proposal would leave students and families in some neighborhoods of the city worse off, and that areas affected by school closures previously are being targeted again.

Nearly half of the schools the district wants to close are in areas the district has identified as vulnerable, based on neighborhood social factors and prior school closures.

Some students at closing schools are also getting a tougher deal than others, because they would move to worse-performing schools, according to Chalkbeat’s analysis of the plan. That can hurt the performance of students at the lower-performing schools for years, researchers have found.

School leaders say they’re listening to communities and heeding the research about how to best go about closing schools and restructuring enrollment.

The district’s plan would mean no students would attend school in buildings rated poor or unsatisfactory, based on their cost of upkeep. And more students would have access to some highly desirable schools and programs, like career and technical education and selective admissions schools.

But as reactions to the district’s school-closure plan roll in, several officials have said they worry the proposal has left their neighborhoods shortchanged.

Several schools in Kensington and surrounding neighborhoods, for example, have a high social vulnerability rating as determined by the district based on several factors. The city also closed the area’s Sheridan West Middle School in 2013.

Still, the district has proposed closing several schools around Kensington. Students at one of those schools — John Welsh Elementary in Norris Square — would move to a school with lower performance, based on state test scores.

“Moving students out of their neighborhoods adds stress, disrupts learning, and pulls them away from the community ecosystems that support them,” said Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, who represents Kensington, in a statement. “Equity cannot mean asking the same neighborhoods to carry the heaviest burden, again and again.”

Closures would move hundreds to lower-performing schools

District officials have previously said that they would not focus on school performance in their decisions about which schools to close. Instead, their decisions hinged on factors like how much unused capacity a school building has, whether it has spaces for programming like gym classes and prekindergarten, and social factors in its neighborhood.

That’s unlike the city’s last round of school closures in 2013, when officials scrutinized schools’ test scores when making closure decisions.

Under the new plan, around 90% of the 5,000 students at schools the district plans to close would be reassigned to better-performing schools, based on last year’s test scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or PSSA.

But that still means around 400 students at two schools — John Welsh and Overbrook Elementary — would be reassigned to worse-performing schools.

That could create looming challenges for those students, past research has found.

In studies of past school closures in Chicago, researchers found that one year after their schools closed, students who switched to high-achieving schools made gains in math and reading after the closures.

By contrast, students who were moved to the lowest-performing schools lost more than a month’s worth of learning in reading, and a month and a half’s worth of learning in math.

A study of Philadelphia’s school closures in 2013 also found that the achievement of students reassigned to high-performing schools improved after the closures, even though other factors, like school absences, increased for displaced students.

“We know that if the students go to really high performing schools, they did slightly better,” said Marisa de la Torre, managing director of the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, who conducted the Chicago study.

But she added that school performance is often not what matters most to families, who may care more about keeping their children close to home or in an area they trust. That means districts must balance how they prioritize school performance with other community interests in their decision making process.

The district did not respond to specific questions about the decision to move some students to lower-performing schools. District spokesperson Monique Braxton said the district plans to create a transition team to support school communities through the closures.

Will some neighborhoods go through repeated school closures?

One issue Philadelphia residents have said they care a lot about is reducing harm to neighborhoods where the city previously closed schools.

At community engagement events the district hosted over the summer to get input for its plan, several residents said they worried neighborhoods still reeling from school closures in 2013 would be affected again. That year, a state-appointed board closed 24 city schools. Empty school buildings from those closures still sit unused in some neighborhoods, slowly deteriorating.

School officials said they would factor in information about which neighborhoods were hit by closures in 2013 through a “neighborhood vulnerability” score. The district did not share exactly how it calculated the scores, but said they were based on social vulnerability data from the Centers for Disease Control and whether the school community had experienced school closures in the past.

Still, in the final list of recommendations of which schools to close, nine of the 20 closures are of schools with neighborhood vulnerability ratings of “very high risk” or “high risk.”

That has frustrated several city leaders.

“It seems like we’re headed towards the same people being disadvantaged by this process who are always disadvantaged by this process,” said Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who represents part of West and Southwest Philadelphia.

Still, Gauthier said the district’s approach does feel like an improvement from the school closures of 2013. She said she appreciated the district’s willingness to hear feedback and host community engagement sessions.

She just hopes that leads to changes to the proposal.

“We still have the opportunity to make sure that there’s equity,” Gauthier said.

Chalkbeat senior data editor Thomas Wilburn contributed to this story.

Philadelphia will have another remote learning day Wednesday

2026-01-27T22:07:07+00:00

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Philadelphia district students will have another remote learning day Wednesday, district officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

The district’s early childhood centers and central office will also operate remotely. All after-school programs and professional development sessions scheduled for Wednesday are also canceled.

Wednesday will be the third school day where students don’t attend class in their school buildings following a severe snowstorm over the weekend. Students had a full snow day Monday and a remote learning day Tuesday due to the storm.

Philly students are scheduled to be dismissed three hours early on Thursday and Friday this week for report card conferences.

Some other cities pummeled by the storm have already re-opened schools. New York City’s schools were open Tuesday following a remote learning day Monday.

But other districts are opting to keep class remote. Pittsburgh will also have a remote learning day Wednesday, as will Baltimore.

City officials said Tuesday that they are working to plow streets and clean up from the storm, which dropped more than nine inches of snow on the city. The city lifted its snow emergency status on Tuesday morning.

Philadelphia district schools will go remote Tuesday

2026-01-26T22:15:45+00:00

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All Philadelphia district schools will operate remotely Tuesday as the city continues to dig out from a weekend snowstorm, district officials announced Monday afternoon.

The decision came “out of an abundance of caution” and to “ensure the safety of our entire school community,” including staff who commute into the city, district officials said in a statement.

The district’s early childhood centers and its central office will also operate remotely Tuesday, and all after-school programming is cancelled.

The remote learning day comes after a district-wide snow day on Monday. School leaders said they could give students and staff the day off because they had allotted an extra instructional day for the 2025-26 school year calendar beyond the state’s requirement for 180 instructional days.

Philadelphia received more than nine inches of snow on Sunday, followed by freezing rain and dangerously cold temperatures, according to the National Weather Service.

Philadelphia district schools will have a snow day Monday

2026-01-23T20:54:18+00:00

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Philadelphia’s district schools and many charter schools will have a snow day Monday in anticipation of a major snowstorm hitting the city, school officials announced Friday.

If weather requires schools to remain closed after Monday, district students will participate in remote learning and employees will work remotely, officials said in a statement.

The district’s early childhood centers and central office will also be closed Monday. Some charter schools have also announced they will close, including all Mastery network schools and YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School.

All parochial schools under the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will be closed and will use “flexible instruction” on Monday.

The district allotted one extra day in the 2025-26 school year calendar beyond the state’s requirement for 180 instructional days, which is why the district is able to give students the day off, district officials said.

“While we work to the greatest extent possible to keep schools open for in-person learning to accelerate student achievement, we also consider the staff members who are commuting from across the region and keep the safety of students and staff as our top priority,” Superintendent Tony Watlington said in a statement. “We encourage our families and staff members to safely enjoy this day off.”

The National Weather Service is predicting the area will get eight to 12 inches of snow from Saturday night through Monday morning.

Find updates about snow-related closures at the district’s website and on the district’s Facebook page.

‘I pray it doesn’t happen’: Philadelphia reacts to plan to close 20 schools

2026-01-22T22:55:38+00:00

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The head of the Philadelphia City Council Education Committee says he disagrees with parts of the school district’s plan to close 20 schools, kicking off what may become a fraught conflict over which schools are ultimately shuttered.

The district said Thursday that nearly 5,000 students will have their schools closed in the coming years. Along with closures, the plan includes co-locating and relocating several schools and modernizing some school buildings, shuffling where many students go to school across the city.

But Councilmember Isaiah Thomas said he would “never support” closing one of the schools on the district’s list — Conwell Middle School — and has major questions about the district’s plan for several others.

Other officials urged the district to be transparent with schools and make sure students and families are supported. A spokesperson for Mayor Cherelle Parker said she was not available to comment. And union leaders said they needed more time and more information to determine whether or not they support it.

The reactions that began to trickle out Thursday will set the stage for what will likely become months of tense discussions and negotiations over what could be a jarring transformation for Philadelphia schools. District leaders say the plan would improve academics and use resources more efficiently as enrollment has declined and buildings have fallen into disrepair.

Members of the Board of Education, who were nominated by Parker, will review the plan at next month’s board meeting. The plan must be approved by the board, although Thomas and other city officials could use their political influence to complicate the plan’s path forward, or change it.

Though school leaders have said for months that closures were coming, the timing of the news still shocked many educators and families. Whispers of a list of schools the district plans to close began to spread Tuesday and Wednesday. Meetings and protests about the plan are likely to happen early and often.

Outside of Motivation High School in West Philadelphia Thursday afternoon, students said they had learned their school was closing during a meeting in the school’s auditorium earlier in the day.

“I pray it doesn’t happen,” said Journee Tucker, 16.

The district wants Motivation to merge into Bartram High School as an honors program beginning in the 2027-28 school year. The Motivation building is slated to be repurposed as district swing space.

But Tucker said she worried that Bartram is “too chaotic.” This year, it has nearly 600 students enrolled — four times the size of Motivation.

If the plan goes through, she said her mom has already said she would attend a different high school than Bartram.

“It’s going to be a mess,” Tucker said. “I just don’t see the point.”

Councilmember wants to protect Conwell Middle School from closure

Thomas’ reaction stood out Thursday, in part because several elected officials did not say if they were for or against the plan, or comment on specifics. Others weren’t available for comment.

Thomas is an influential voice in the city’s education system, and has been a proponent of several charter schools.

Thomas said he immediately disagreed with parts of the plan — especially the district’s plan to close Russell Conwell Middle School, which he attended.

“If you’re a Philly person, you understand,” he said, adding that the school’s strong alumni network and culture is a huge benefit to the community.

The school, which is in a 100-year-old building in the city’s Kensington neighborhood, is one of several middle schools the district plans to close.

Thomas said he also disagreed with the district’s plan to merge students from Parkway Northwest High School into Martin Luther King High School, and turn Parkway Northwest into an honors program in the school.

Thomas said he also did not understand how the district expects to expand Ellwood from a K-5 school to a K-8 school while the school is already nearing capacity.

“I’m not looking to completely blow anything up or anything like that,” Thomas said of the plan. “There are some things that I agree with, there are some things I have a few more questions about, and then there are a few things that I disagree with.”

Union leadership says school closures would be ‘devastating’

District leadership has said no teachers will lose their jobs as a result of the closures, and teachers at schools that close will help fill vacancies elsewhere.

Still, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg said Thursday the news has been “devastating and disheartening” for staff.

Steinberg said he could not comment on whether he supported the plan until the district shares more information on how they arrived at their decision. During community engagement events last year, the district shared the information it was factoring into the plan. But it did not explain how those factors would influence decisions.

“It’s like they took all these ingredients, threw them into a blender, and came out with a finished product,” Steinberg said.

Ultimately, Steinberg said he is never an advocate for closing a school. But he said he understood that the district has had years of “chronic disinvestment” and needs to address its aging buildings.

Robin Cooper, president of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators which represents principals and other school staff, said she appreciated the district’s efforts to survey staff and families for feedback about facilities before announcing the plan.

But she said she still worries closures will be problematic for school communities and create uncertainty for many school staff.

“I understand the superintendent has a job to do, and I don’t think that he did it lightly,” Cooper said. “I just think it’s a no-good situation all the way around.”

Families, teachers worry school closures will be damaging

In West Philadelphia, Rhemar Pouncey is worried about what will happen to her grandson if Overbrook Elementary School closes.

In the district’s proposal, Overbrook students will be reassigned to four other neighborhood schools, and the building will be repurposed as district network offices.

Pouncey called the school “a family and a community in itself,” referencing staff who know students by name, as well as food and gift drives organized by the neighbors.

“I do not concern myself with sending my grandson to Overbrook Elementary, because I know he’ll be safe,” Pouncey said. “I know when he gets dropped off that he has an extended group of aunties and uncles.”

The district has said it will create a transportation plan for students whose schools change, but has not released more details.

Pouncey said she worries about her son walking through “danger zones” in the neighborhood to get to another school.

About two dozen schools have a Safe Path program that hires adults to patrol school perimeters and sometimes walk children home after school. Separately the City of Philadelphia runs a Safe Corridors program to escort students before and after the school day.

“What’s going to happen if one of our kids gets shot or gets killed because you close down the closest school to them, for them to have to go all the way to John Barry, or all the way to Bluford?” Pouncey said.

Several teachers said the district had forbidden them from talking to the press about the plan.

One teacher at Lankenau Environmental Science High School, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said the entire school was taken aback to hear the school would be closed and turned into a magnet program at Roxborough High School.

Much of the school’s programming, she said, relies on its location. It organizes a beekeeping and honey collection event with a community partner, for example, that can only happen at the site. And it has other programming connected to a neighboring environmental education center.

“If you’re just talking about buildings, and you’re looking at children as numbers, then, yeah, this is what you do,” the teacher said. “But when you look at the actual educational programming and closing a site like Lankenau, it doesn’t work. You won’t be able to pick the program up and put it into Roxborough.”

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

Philadelphia school district wants to close 20 schools starting in 2027, affecting dozens of others

2026-01-22T16:17:45+00:00

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The Philadelphia school district wants to close 20 schools starting in 2027 as part of a reorganization plan that will affect 1 in 3 traditional district schools and reshape the city’s public education landscape.

Nearly 5,000 students would have their schools closed in the coming years, based on this year’s enrollment counts. Another 2,800 students would have their schools moved to a new location following the district’s plan to co-locate and relocate eight current schools to different facilities.

The changes will mean major shifts for school enrollment across the city. More than 20 schools would add seats or grades to accommodate students from closed schools, and some catchment boundaries in the Northeast would shift. The district would also open four new schools in existing buildings and upgrade infrastructure at nearly 160 school facilities.

In total, the plan would affect roughly 30,000 students, or a quarter of current district enrollment. That includes students at schools that would be new co-location sites and those at schools that would add one or more grades.

The proposal would have a particularly large impact on middle schools, with more than a dozen elementary schools turning into K-8 schools to absorb students from six closing middle schools.

The plan represents the district’s effort to address some fundamental challenges facing Philadelphia’s schools. Many schools are below capacity by hundreds of students after a long-term decline in district enrollment. Over the past decade, district enrollment has declined by around 17,000 students, reflecting a citywide population decline and a jump in the number of students enrolled in cyber charter schools.

Crumbling asbestos, broken sinks, and poor ventilation plague the city’s school buildings, which are on average more than 70 years old. Fixing those problems would cost billions that the district doesn’t have.

Yet the proposal — which the Board of Education must approve — will likely ignite fierce opposition. Some have been warning the district for months about the downsides of fracturing school communities. Bitter memories from the last round of school closures could be a factor: After the district closed 24 schools in 2013 largely to save money, some students’ academic performance and attendance took a hit, and the district’s financial problems persisted.

Superintendent Tony Watlington said during a press briefing this week that the plan would improve the quality of education the city’s schools can offer.

“We must find ways to more efficiently use our resources, so we can push higher quality programming into all our schools, while at the same time addressing under and over enrolled schools,” Watlington said.

The district has begun sharing its plan with affected schools this week and will present its recommendations to the Board of Education at its February meeting. The board ultimately must approve the changes and could reshape them before any closures begin.

Teachers and staff at schools that will close will keep their jobs to help fill the district’s vacancies, Watlington said. Principals “in good standing” will remain employed by the district.

Philadelphia school closure plan likely to trigger protests

Students and staff will begin to be affected by the changes at the start of the 2027-28 school year. The exact timeline for closing individual schools remains unclear. Some closing schools will gradually phase out grades over several years, while others will close at once and students will merge into a different school.

For neighborhoods where schools are slated to close, empty buildings will likely become a looming concern. After the last round of closures, several buildings were left deteriorating for more than a decade. The district now owns more than 20 buildings considered persistently vacant, meaning they haven’t been used in several years.

Under the proposed changes, the district would close 20 school buildings over the next 10 years. It has specific plans to repurpose 12 for district use, including opening a year-round high school in one.

But the future of the other eight closed buildings is unclear. The district wants to turn many over to the city to create housing or other public infrastructure. Though Mayor Cherelle Parker has broadly supported turning empty schools into housing, those changes would require specific action from the city.

District officials say they are aware of how challenging these changes can be — and how worried many Philadelphians are after the last round of closures. Over the past year, they hosted dozens of community engagement events and sent out several surveys to solicit feedback.

Watlington said the responses helped guide the recommendations. But many educators and community members said it was difficult to give feedback without yet knowing which schools would see changes. The new list will likely result in pushback and protest as teachers and neighborhoods hope to keep their schools from closing, as some successfully did ahead of the 2013 closures.

Watlington promised students and families will be supported through the transition. He said 90% of students who will change schools will be reassigned to schools with comparable or better academic outcomes.

Watlington pledged the plan would also result in specific improvements for district students. No district students will go to a school with a building rated as poor or unsatisfactory, he said. Other improvements include:

Doubling the percentage of kindergarten students who have access to district-operated pre-kindergarten from 25% to 50%.
Increasing the number of high schools that offer five or more AP classes by 12%.
Increasing the percentage of schools that offer “robust” music, art, and physical education programming from 57% to 70%.
Increasing the number of middle schools that offer Algebra 1 from 53% to 100%.

The plan addresses some of Philadelphia families’ common concerns, like limited space at some of the most desirable magnet high schools and severe overcrowding in the Northeast. It also expands career and technical education program offerings and access to other sought-after programming, like pre-K.

Under the proposal, the district would increase the number of seats at five criteria-based schools, including Central and Masterman, which are consistently two of the top-ranked schools in the city. It would also open a new middle school to feed into Palumbo High School, another top-ranked magnet school.

In the crowded Northeast, the district would modernize several schools to expand capacity, including by creating a new building for Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush and turning its old building into a new catchment high school.

The district is also planning for some high schools that would close to live on in a different form. Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School, Motivation High School, Parkway Northwest High School, and Paul Robeson High School will each close and become honors programs integrated into other schools.

Still, these changes will mean huge disruptions for students and families across the city. After the last round of closures, researchers found school absences for students whose schools closed increased, and they missed more days of school and received more suspensions the farther they traveled to their new school building.

The district originally planned to release its proposal for school closures last November, but then delayed it. Now, school leaders say they’re waiting on the support of the Board of Education, Parker, and funders to move forward.

The district doesn’t have enough money on its own to fund the plan’s price tag. The school changes and upgrades would cost $2.8 billion, which the district wants to pay for with $1 billion in district funds and $1.8 billion in new public and philanthropic dollars.

Without that funding, Watlington said the district would have to “scale down” the plan and keep students at dozens of schools rated as poor or unsatisfactory.

Watlington acknowledged that many people do not want their schools to close. He pledged the district would create a designated team to help families with any transition and give them the “gold standard red carpet treatment directly from the Superintendent’s office.”

“We have one shot at this to get this right,” Watlington said.

Sammy Caiola contributed reporting.

Correction: Jan. 22, 2026: The table in a previous version of this story inaccurately stated that Laura H. Carnell School will absorb students from William T. Tilden Middle School. Students from William T. Tilden Middle School will be absorbed by Thomas G. Morton, John M. Patterson, and Joseph W. Catharine schools.

After a $45 million math curriculum overhaul, Philadelphia sees results

2026-01-15T22:55:32+00:00

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Philadelphia students’ average scores on state math tests have reached their highest rate in nine years, marking a significant recovery from pandemic-era learning loss.

Students from almost every racial group made gains along with students who are English learners, district officials said Thursday at a non-voting Board of Education meeting.

“I’m giddy with excitement,” said Board of Education President Reginald Streater. He added that he remembered a time where these kinds of scores seemed “so far away.”

Still, only around one-quarter of students in grades 3-8 achieved proficient scores on last year’s math state test, called the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or PSSA. That’s far from the district’s goal of more than half of the students in those grades achieving proficient scores in math by August 2030.

The gains come as the district struggles with declining scores in reading.

Philly schools began implementing a new math curriculum from Imagine Learning Illustrative Mathematics during the 2023-24 school year, following a $45 million overhaul. The district also recently expanded its high-impact math tutoring program for middle school students.

Deputy Superintendent of Academic Services Jermaine Dawson said scores in third grade math were particularly promising, with more than one third of those students achieving proficient scores last year. That indicates that both teachers and students are becoming more familiar with the new curriculum, Dawson said.

Superintendent Tony Watlington attributed the success to the district’s increased investment in coaching and supporting teachers as they implement the curriculum.

“Giving people more technology, more artificial intelligence, more Chromebooks, more stuff, more tutors, more mentoring — we’ve done all that for decades,” Watlington said. He said that having highly qualified, well-supported and stable teachers is what “moves the needle.”

Philadelphia’s success in math echoes a statewide trend of math scores increasing since the pandemic. But reading scores in Philly and statewide have gone in the opposite direction, and it’s unclear what’s fueling the decline.

Last year, Philadelphia implemented a new reading curriculum and rolled out more reading supports. Still, third grade reading scores remain below where they were a decade ago.

District data also shows a clear correlation between student attendance and achievement. Dawson said his team is focusing on working more with partner organizations and families to reduce the number of students who frequently miss class.

More Philadelphia students are graduating without passing state exams, new data shows

2026-01-12T19:37:10+00:00

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In the three years since Pennsylvania overhauled its high school graduation requirements, Philadelphia students have increasingly graduated without passing state exams.

Instead, students last year were most likely to graduate by fulfilling alternate requirements, according to new district data.

All students still must earn a certain number of course credits. But they can meet additional graduation requirements by being accepted into a four-year college, earning a certain score on career and technical education exams or SATs, and showing “evidence” that they’re prepared for college or jobs, among other options.

The change has been fast. The Class of 2023 was the first to graduate via the new system. Since then, the portion of Philly students who graduated by meeting certain score thresholds for their state exams dropped from more than 50% to around a third.

Tell us about your experience with Pennsylvania's graduation requirements

But lawmakers and state officials have published little follow-up that examines whether the shift has left young Pennsylvanians more or less prepared for their futures.

Pennsylvania Department of Education spokesperson Erin James said in a statement that it is “difficult to correlate graduation pathways with other postsecondary metrics” because it is hard to track students after high school. Researchers partnering with the district in Philadelphia say understanding the impact of the new system in the city will likely take years.

Since the switch, one alternative pathway to graduation has ballooned in popularity: submitting industry-recognized credentials. That’s a broad term used to describe certifications that are sought after by certain sectors, like medical assistant credentials, emergency first aid certifications, and auto mechanic qualifications.

Last school year, more than 3,400 Philly students — around 40% of those who had completed enough credits that made them eligible to graduate — submitted at least one industry-recognized credential to graduate. Some submitted them exclusively.

Neither the district nor the state publish a list of which credentials students are using to fulfill this requirement.

When then-Gov. Tom Wolf signed the new graduation requirements into law in 2018, he said in a statement that the aim was to give students “several options to demonstrate what they’ve learned and that they’re ready to graduate from high school to start a career or continue their education.”

The move permanently did away with the legislature’s previous plan to make passing the Keystones a requirement to graduate.

“How a student does on high stakes tests is not a useful way to decide if someone is ready to graduate from high school,” Wolf said at the time.

Yet amid the booming number of students earning industry-recognized credentials in Philadelphia and nationwide, some researchers worry that there isn’t enough evidence that they’re all useful.

“It’s great to have an alternative option, because there just are going to be some kids who aren’t going to go to college,” said Jay Plasman, a professor at The Ohio State University who has studied how earning credentials affects student outcomes. “The problem is not all credentials are created equally.”

Earning credentials is part of what’s called the “evidence-based” pathway to graduation. It requires students to submit three pieces of “evidence” from a pre-approved state list. Credentials count as evidence, as does being accepted into a two-year college; attaining a guarantee of full-time employment; earning a college-level course credit; achieving certain AP, IB, or SAT scores; and other options.

There are a total of 12 evidence options. Submitting credentials is the most popular one by far.

The state’s list of recommended credentials includes everything from certifications for barbers and child care workers to credentials related to Microsoft Office and ladder safety. Experts warn it’s important that states carefully review credentials to ensure they’re valuable to students and can lead to good jobs.

Philadelphia offers credentials from a subset of the state’s list, along with additional options based on student interest and industry recommendations for students graduating via the “evidence-based” pathway, according to district Executive Director of Career and Technical Education Michelle Armstrong.

It’s unclear which credentials are most popular among students, given the lack of public data about them.

The district’s graduation rate has risen in recent years, with more than 77% of students graduating within four years in the 2023-24 school year, the most recent year of data available.

Obtaining a high school diploma is valuable, and researchers have found that those who graduate high school are likely to earn more and live longer than those without.

But the increase comes as Philly students’ achievement on some state exams has fallen or remained largely unchanged. Last year, only around a third of Philly students achieved proficient scores on the state literature Keystone. Even fewer achieved proficient scores in algebra and biology.

Alyn Turner, co-director of the Philadelphia Education Research Consortium, which partners with the district, said her team is working to analyze which pathways students are accessing and what evidence they’re using to fulfill requirements. But she said the larger question of whether students are more prepared for jobs or college is still unknown.

“The extent to which this policy is supportive of that, or adding additional barriers to that, we just don’t know,” Turner said.

As more students in Philadelphia and statewide graduate without passing state tests, instead earning credentials or fulfilling alternate graduation requirements, Chalkbeat wants to hear from you: tell us about your experience with the state’s new approach to graduation.

We need your help reporting on how students, families, and teachers have experienced the new graduation requirements. And we want to understand how students graduating by earning credentials or fulfilling alternate requirements are faring during their final years of high school and after they leave.

Help us by filling out this survey.

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How this Philadelphia teacher is training the next generation of educators

2026-01-12T18:06:10+00:00

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Philadelphia wants to help fill the city’s severe teacher shortage by training some students to become educators before they leave high school.

Gina Dukes champions that effort. She runs the district’s first career and technical education program meant to train future K-12 educators, which launched in 2023 at Science Leadership Academy at Beeber. The district also offers a similar program at Olney High School and an early childhood education program at Parkway West High School.

Students in the program at SLA Beeber learn the fundamentals of teaching, serve as teaching assistants, and have the opportunity to earn up to a year’s worth of college credit. The Center for Black Educator Development supports the program by providing curriculum and learning experiences.

Dukes, who has been teaching for nearly a decade, said the program isn’t just for students who are certain they want to become teachers. Her aim is to inspire any young person to look beyond what they think they’re capable of and plan for a career that can make a difference.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you decide to become a teacher? What led you to want to teach the education career training program?

It was the first job I got out of college. I was always interested in education — I’m from Philadelphia, and I’m someone who had really awesome teachers. I felt in a lot of ways, I got really lucky. I felt like I was kind of plucked out of some environments and put on a different path that a lot of my peers and even family members didn’t have access to.

I was at Daroff Elementary, which has now closed. A counselor told me to apply to Andrew Hamilton, where they have an academic track for middle school. There, I had Ms. Abbott as a teacher, who inspired the TV show Abbott Elementary.

Ms. Abbott was amazing, but she also demanded a level of excellence. She was like, “You’re going to work; you’re going to do public speaking.” That was like the first real challenge I had, and I thrived in her class. Then I went to Science Leadership Academy, where I had a really awesome teacher, Matthew Kay. He made learning so much fun.

I always wanted to be someone like Mr. Kay or someone like Ms. Abbott, who helps students to see themselves beyond what they saw themselves as. I knew that I wanted to change the education system because I felt like I got lucky.

My faith sustains me and reminds me I don’t have to have all the answers or do it on my own strength. I am still growing as a teacher. I realized teaching is not about having it all figured out — it’s about having the courage to keep becoming.

How do you approach teaching and inspiring your students?

Not everyone wants to teach, obviously, and teaching is not for everybody. So my program is for future teachers, but also future leaders. I tell them, regardless of if you want to go into education, you’re going to learn tangible, practical skills that can improve your college application, that can improve your resume, that can take you far in the world professionally.

Teachers are making lesson plans, they’re managing the classroom, they’ve got social emotional skills. That planning, time management, creativity — whatever job they want to do, it’s relevant.

Public speaking is also a big part of my program, college exposure, and leadership. I give students the platform to figure out what they want for themselves. Who do they want to be? What does success look like for you? How can you use the stuff in this program to take you there?

How do you discuss challenges in the education system with your students?

We start with a foundational understanding of the history of education in the U.S., including when schools first started and who were allowed to attend. Students learn about the education reform movements, and we look at current policy.

Every year we go to the state Capitol for student advocacy day, and we meet with lawmakers. Last year, the push was for stipends for student teachers. That really helps students see that they’re not just learning this stuff — this is real. They can actually get involved in these things.

My students see the challenges. I think they see the shortage of teachers who look like them. I think sometimes talking about the challenges makes them get fired up, and I definitely have a lot of kids who are activists in my program.

Philly and many other cities have a severe teacher shortage. What do you think your students need most to continue down the path to become educators and thrive?

One of the biggest things I see is support with going to college. If there could be more scholarships available to students who are committed to teaching in Philadelphia, in schools where there’s a high need, I think that would relieve a burden.

Often for my students, the biggest thing that makes them not want to get into teaching is they think about the money. They think, “Oh, you can’t make a living.” I try to tell them, I’m doing alright. I have been able to do things above what my family has been able to do because of the salary, the stability, the benefits of teaching that I don’t think people often hear about.

I think they also need to see that teaching can be fun. So many people when I tell them I’m a teacher, they say, “Oh, thank you for your service.” Or they’re sad for me, like they pity me. We need to reframe that.

It should be like, “Wow, you’re doing something that’s amazing! You’re changing the future. You’re creating better opportunities.” Not that it’s something to be looked on as a burden, but like a beautiful gift.

Philly will launch 2 schools in new Promise Zone program even as school closures loom

2026-01-07T20:59:06+00:00

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Philadelphia will open two new schools as part of the new North Philadelphia Promise Zone, which is meant to boost student achievement and provide additional support to families in one of the city’s poorest areas, Superintendent Tony Watlington said.

The program will be modeled on the Harlem Children’s Zone, a high-profile education program launched in New York City in the 1990s.

In his annual State of Schools address Wednesday, Watlington said the district plans to open the new schools in existing facilities. He did not say when the schools would open. But his announcement coincides with a facilities planning process that will lead to school closures across the city.

Watlington also said Wednesday the district will release that facilities plan — including recommendations for which schools to close, colocate, modernize, and repurpose — “this winter.”

The facilities plan is meant to better allocate building space and resources, since some schools have hundreds of empty seats and others are overcrowded, especially in the city’s Northeast. Watlington and other school officials say the aim is to provide more access to pre-K, AP classes, and extracurriculars.

Watlington did not say how the Promise Zone program will factor into the facilities plan.

The Harlem Children’s Zone organization provides charter schools and social services to families in one of New York City’s poorest neighborhoods. Researchers found it helped boost student achievement and shrunk the gap between Black and white children’ achievement. However, some experts have warned that efforts to replicate the program elsewhere have had mixed results.

Watlington said Philadelphia’s version has the support of Geoffrey Canada, president of Harlem Children’s Zone, which now runs several charter schools, community centers, childcare programs, and after-school programs in Central Harlem.

“This will be the first big city to replicate the success of the Harlem Children’s Zone,” Watlington said. “We are going to set these schools up to demonstrate to all the rest of us how to not only get better, but get there faster than our district average.”

Watlington said the schools will be staffed by the “very best, most effective” principals and teachers, and they will be “choice schools” that parents will be able to choose. Aliya Catanch-Bradley, principal of Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School, will lead the “conceptualizing” of the zone, he added.

Mayor seeks solution for ‘persistently vacant’ school buildings

Even as the district plans to open new schools, its old facilities remain a burden.

The average school building is more than 70 years old, which has led to expensive upkeep costs along with outdated — as well as sometimes unsafe — learning environments.

The district also owns more than 20 buildings considered persistently vacant, meaning they haven’t been used in several years. One such building, Ada Lewis Middle School in East Germantown, became a crime scene last year after police found the body of 23-year-old Kada Scott buried behind the building.

Mayor Cherelle Parker said Wednesday at the State of Schools event that she is working with the district and school board to create a plan for vacant buildings, including using some to create more housing, one of Parker’s main campaign promises.

The buildings “have been red ink on the school districts’ budget,” Parker said. “We are going to find a way to do something that has never been done in the city of Philadelphia before: develop a plan for those buildings that have been persistently vacant.”

Philadelphia opens new Thomas Holme School, adding seats in the overcrowded Northeast

2025-12-16T22:19:07+00:00

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Philadelphia school officials unveiled a new building for Thomas Holme School Tuesday, creating more space for Northeast Philly’s growing student population as the district plans for school closures and other big facilities changes.

The new building has one of the largest capacities of all district elementary and middle schools, with space for more than 1,000 students from pre-K to eighth grade. It replaces the previous Holme school, which was built in the 1950s and had a capacity of 795 students, according to district data.

Holme’s enrollment, which is now at just over 800 students, has crept up steadily over the past several years as the population in the city’s Northeast neighborhoods has ballooned. Elsewhere in the city, enrollment has fallen over the past decade.

The nearly $90 million project, built on the previous building’s footprint, is meant to provide more space and better facilities to Holme students, who have spent the past two and a half years learning in a temporary swing space at Austin Meehan School, a 10-minute drive away. Along with updated classrooms and learning spaces, the 130,000-square-foot building includes music rooms, a dance studio, a new gym, and a cafeteria.

“This building represents our commitment to delivering the learning environments our students deserve: safe, modern, healthy, and inspiring,” said Board of Education President Reginald Streater at the Tuesday ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The building — one of several new or updated schools unveiled this year — will open as the district pursues a facilities planning process that officials say will lead to closing and colocating some schools, along with modernizing and repurposing others.

The new Thomas Holme School includes a dance studio and several music rooms.

But district officials have not yet shared which schools will be closed, colocated, or otherwise affected, and they have delayed the timeline for the process.

Dozens of Philadelphia schools have hundreds of empty seats, while others, especially in the Northeast, are overcrowded. Families and teachers in the Northeast have complained that overcrowding has stretched educators thin and left students without support. The new building may help alleviate some of those concerns.

“They definitely took into consideration the fact that this is a growing community,” said April Tomarelli, an educational facilities planner for the district. “Right now, this will definitely meet the needs of the community.”

Though Holme students gave feedback on the building’s design plans, they have yet to see inside the new building. The school expects to move into the new space in January.

Holme Principal Micah Winterstein said he looks forward to seeing students’ faces when they experience their first day at the new school.

“The space they walk into will say how much we value them,” said Winterstein. “I think every kid deserves a space like this, but I’m so excited for our kids to walk in and know that this is theirs.”

Philadelphia eyes providing more help for 10th graders to boost graduation rates

2025-12-12T20:55:32+00:00

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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.

Judge’s ruling in charter case casts doubt on Philadelphia school board member’s legal standing

2025-12-10T23:09:38+00:00

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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.

Philadelphia’s tutoring program shows promise but faces familiar obstacle: expanding it effectively

2025-12-09T22:02:16+00:00

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In a third floor classroom at Russell Conwell Middle School in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood, brightly colored math posters hang from the walls and a lengthy description of equivalent ratios covers the white board.

This is what Principal Erica Green calls the HIT classroom — short for high-impact tutoring — where students go for extra help multiple times a week. Around a quarter of the school’s sixth, seventh, and eighth graders participate, Green said.

“They’re getting what they need right here at school to boost their learning and math confidence,” said Green. “We’re seeing more student discourse in the classroom, conversations, them challenging and debating with one another.”

Building students’ math comfort and skills is a major aim of the district’s high-impact tutoring program, which provides support to select students integrated into the school day. The district has hired 65 part-time tutors and plans to spend $6.4 million on tutoring programs from two providers, Saga and Littera, over three years to make a real difference for Philadelphia students, who for decades have lagged far behind average statewide scores on annual tests.

At one point, high-impact tutoring, also known as high-dosage tutoring, looked like one of the most effective academic interventions. One analysis of nearly 100 studies on tutoring programs from 2020 found tutoring programs had “consistent and substantial positive impacts.” The Biden administration subsequently urged schools to invest in high-dosage tutoring, and many did.

But in recent months, confidence in tutoring’s promise has deflated somewhat. A recent University of Chicago study of large-scale tutoring programs found that on average, tutoring programs during the 2023-24 school year only resulted in one or two months of extra learning for students. The researchers found that at many schools, logistical hurdles led to students receiving far less tutoring than what they would need to reap the full benefits.

“We see actually in the data that tutoring is effective,” said John Wolf, associate director for the University of Chicago Education Lab, which conducted the recent study. “It’s just that you need enough time to get at it.”

These are the lessons Philadelphia is trying to heed as it invests more in tutoring and tries to overcome the barriers that other districts have confronted: scheduling, tutoring training, and aligning tutoring content with curriculum.

Philadelphia officials say they’re following the research, scheduling at least 90 minutes of tutoring per week, and tracking participation through its tutoring providers.

“We’re looking for results,” said Nyshawana Francis-Thompson, the district’s chief of curriculum and instruction. “We are really looking for this to make a significant impact on student achievement.”

Posters decorate the tutoring classroom at Russell Conwell Middle School.

So far, the district has seen some promising outcomes. Last school year, nearly half of students that received high-impact tutoring showed a faster rate of progress on district benchmark tests compared with the previous year. That aligns with Superintendent Tony Watlington’s goal of making the district the “fastest-improving large, urban school district in the country.”

But still, only around 600 students at 20 schools get high-impact tutoring — a drop in the bucket for the 120,000-student district. And at some schools with tutoring programs, like Conwell, state test scores continue to decline even though teachers and students say the program is useful.

Francis-Thompson said she wants the district to expand high-impact tutoring to more schools and students. But to do so, it’ll have to train up enough tutors, pay for larger contracts with tutoring program providers, and overcome other challenges.

“There’s a need for additional funding to support this type of work and any type of expansion,” said Francis-Thompson.

Teachers say tutoring boosts learning, but test scores lag

Conwell Middle School selects students for tutoring based largely on their teachers’ recommendations and test scores. It also considers whether a parent or a student displays interest in the program, said Green, the principal.

The school’s tutoring setup largely follows the research, scheduling kids for a total of around 120 minutes of math tutoring each week. Most days except Fridays, students go to tutoring for the last 30 minutes of their daily math block, after instructional time is over.

Tutors aren’t solely focused on helping kids with homework or redoing class assignments. Instead, in small groups of three or four students, they teach content that builds on what the students have already learned in class. They’re also in touch with the school’s math teachers to make sure the tutoring curriculum follows what’s happening in class.

Tutor Rebecca Resch said she has heard from tutors at other schools that communication between tutors, teachers, and administrators within some buildings can be tricky. But at Conwell, Resch said, “they want us here, they want us to help out.”

Conwell math teacher Audrey Golub has seen the positive impact in class. At times, students have told her they’re familiar with a concept she’s teaching because they’ve learned about it already in tutoring.

“That’s the most amazing thing,” she said. “Because if they’re recognizing the work we do in [class], because they’re being supported by tutoring, then we are working together, hand in hand, to make and reach that achievement.”

Teachers at Conwell Middle School say the school's high-impact tutoring program has made students more confident in math class.

Still, tutoring is no magic bullet. Data that Green shared from the school’s progress screeners that take place during the year, called Star Assessments, show that over the course of last school year, the first full year of the tutoring program, Conwell students’ math scores improved.

But over the last two years, the percentage of Conwell students scoring proficient on state tests has declined. Last year, only 8% of students achieved proficient scores on the state math test. Around a quarter of the district’s students in grades K-8 achieved proficient scores.

Beyond test scores, Conwell teachers said they’ve witnessed other benefits of the program.

“I’m seeing that they seem more enthusiastic, especially some of them that I could tell already had fears about math,” said math teacher Hytolia Branch. “They’re starting to become more comfortable.”

Philadelphia teachers want school staff protected amid U.S. House probe into alleged antisemitism

2025-12-05T21:02:06+00:00

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Several Philadelphia teachers urged the Board of Education Thursday to protect staff and students amid a congressional investigation into alleged antisemitism in the district.

U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Rep. Tim Walberg, a Michigan Republican, launched the investigation last month, alleging that the School District of Philadelphia “employs numerous educators who allegedly promote antisemitic content in their classrooms.”

In a letter to the Superintendent Tony Watlington, Walberg said the committee has gotten allegations that the Philadelphia school district “is rife with antisemitic incidents” and targeted certain district educators who it alleges “promote antisemitic content.”

The House committee’s investigation follows a separate U.S. Department of Education civil rights investigation into antisemitism in the district that concluded last year. The department found that the district did not adequately address incidents of antisemitism. In response, the district agreed to review and revise its anti-harassment policies and provide appropriate training on racial and ethnic discrimination to all students and staff, among other commitments.

Walberg’s letter states that the term “potential antisemitic incidents” includes any incidents involving the targeting of “Jews, Judaism, Israel, Israelis, Zionism, or Zionists.” Several civil rights groups have previously urged House lawmakers not to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

The committee’s requests include asking the district to provide all communication since Oct. 7, 2023, “referring or relating to Jews, Judaism, Israel, Palestine, Zionism, or antisemitism.”

The committee also launched similar investigations into the school districts in Berkeley, California, and Fairfax County, Virginia.

The Board of Education did not address the investigation at its meeting Thursday, and a school district spokesperson said the district does not comment on ongoing investigations.

However, several teachers and community members testified at the meeting, calling on school leaders to refuse to share additional information with investigators that could put staff at risk.

“This new investigation is political theater and government overreach,” said district educator Alexandra Volin Avelin. “It is not about protecting students. It’s about intimidating and silencing teachers.”

Volin Avelin, who is Jewish, said she also opposed how the House committee defined antisemitism. “Sharing accurate information about events in Israel and Palestine is not antisemitism,” said Volin Avelin. “The district must clearly reject this attempt to weaponize antisemitism and silence dissent.”

Neither the Department of Education’s investigation nor the House committee’s investigation addressed a separate civil rights complaint alleging discrimination against Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students at a district middle school. The Trump administration closed the department’s civil rights office in Philadelphia in March, leaving cases in limbo.

District teacher Freda Anderson, who is Jewish, said she worries about rising antisemitism and reports of threats to Jewish religious schools in Philadelphia.

“Yet none of this is what the feds have chosen to investigate,” Anderson said. “It’s a witch hunt, and it will target Black, brown and Muslim students and staff, while doing nothing to protect Jewish people.”

If the House investigators target those student and staff groups, Anderson said the board has a clear duty: “It will be your job to protect these people.”

Philadelphia school board ratifies new principals union contract

2025-12-05T00:21:57+00:00

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The Philadelphia Board of Education voted to ratify a new union contract Thursday for the 1,000-member Commonwealth Association of School Administrators Teamsters Local 502, or CASA, which represents school principals and other school staff.

The contract includes 3% annual across-the-board raises for the next four years and introduces five weeks of paid parental leave along with other bonuses and stipends. It also adjusts salary levels for several district positions, which CASA president Robin Cooper previously said is meant to create more equitable pay for staff with years of experience.

“We didn’t get everything we wanted, but we are leaving feeling heard,” Cooper told the board Thursday. “We are leaving with what we believe is a fair contract.”

CASA members had been working without a contract since the union’s previous agreement expired in August. Members showed up with posters at last month’s board meeting urging the board to finalize a new agreement.

Cooper said negotiations had “come a long way from two weeks ago” and it was “clear from actions over the weekend that we were heard loud and clear.” More than half of the union’s membership voted on the new contract Wednesday, she said, and ratified it with 97% of the vote.

Several board members said they welcomed the new contract and thanked union leaders and CASA members for their work.

But some board members noted that negotiations came during a difficult financial moment. The district had to borrow around $585 million to make up for delayed state funding during a four-month-long state budget impasse that ended last month.

“This year’s negotiations [were] in a very tough time,” said Board President Reginald Streater. “Late budgets, a lack of adequate funding, individuals who say that our babies don’t deserve to be invested in.”

The new contract also includes a $1,500 bonus for each member this year and again in 2028, expanded health benefits, and incentives for principals at “hard-to-staff” schools. It is retroactive to September and valid through August 2029.

The school board Thursday also voted to reelect Streater as president and to reelect board member Sarah-Ashley Andrews as vice president. Streater has been board president since December 2022. Andrews was first elected as board vice president last year.

The board of education voted Thursday to approve several other contracts. Those include:

A $3.7 million contract with Apple for computers and other devices for computer labs, staff, and administrative staff.
$2.5 million in contracts with other companies for technology hardware, software, and other supplies for the Office of Information Technology.
A $230,000 contract with the consulting firm AKRF to develop a plan for how Philadelphia’s schools could be more resilient to climate change, including how schools may prepare for extreme heat, flooding, poor air quality, and severe storms.
An additional $250,000 in the school district’s contract with Motorola Inc. for radios and other school safety communication equipment.

The board also approved a $43,390 contract with Mothers in Charge, a community group that works with Dobbins High School to respond to safety concerns and other school issues.

Last year, the first year the group was involved with school safety at Dobbins, the number of overall assaults at the school dropped by 46%, and the number of assaults resulting in injury dropped by 80%, according to board meeting documents.

Philadelphia district enrollment drops by more than 1,000 students

2025-12-02T22:32:11+00:00

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More than 1,050 fewer students are enrolled in Philadelphia’s district and alternative schools this year compared with last year, according to recent district data.

That marks a sharp contrast from last school year, when the district logged its first enrollment increase in a decade. Superintendent Tony Watlington later said increasing enrollment was one of his proudest achievements.

But since last school year, the district has returned to its previous trend of losing students each year. Over the same period, the city’s charter and cyber charter school enrollment grew by around 500 students each.

District spokesperson Naima DeBrest said in a statement that public school enrollment has been decreasing nationally due to declining birth rates “as well as families exploring alternative education options.”

The district now has nearly 20,000 fewer students than it did a decade ago and is planning to close schools in part to address the decline. Dozens of district schools have hundreds of empty seats, while some in the city’s Northeast are overcrowded.

District officials have said that early next year, they plan to release a list of schools to close and colocate, along with ones to modernize and repurpose.

The district’s enrollment decline doesn’t fully match citywide population trends. Census data shows that Philly’s population steadily grew in the 2010s and peaked in 2020. It then began to decline, only increasing again last year. The city’s population count now looks similar to what it was in 2015.

Still, some citywide demographic shifts are reflected in Philadelphia’s schools. With more immigrants in Philadelphia, around 1 in 5 district students are now English language learners. That’s more than double the share from a decade ago.

The district has three “newcomer” academies meant to support migrant students, but advocates have previously said students and families regularly run into problems accessing translation services and other supports.

The number of Hispanic students has also steadily increased over the past decade, while the number of Black students has steadily declined, which reflects the changing demographics of the city. The number of white students has remained fairly stable.

Philadelphia wants more continuity for kids with autism. It also plans to close schools.

2025-12-02T15:44:19+00:00

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Many Philadelphia school district families with children in autistic support classes have had the same frustrating experience: As their kids have grown up, they’ve had to switch schools at least once to access support services.

That’s because Philly has a limited number of autistic support classes, which provide additional educational services for some students with autism and other disabilities. Though the school district distributes those classes across its more than 200 schools, many only have autistic support for certain grades.

That can mean, for example, that a student is assigned to their neighborhood school for grades K-2, but then has to switch to a different school to access autistic support for third grade. District officials, advocates, and families all agree: Those transitions can be particularly difficult for those with autism and other disabilities.

“They get used to the teachers, they get adjusted to the room, they get adjusted to the school,” said Jen Fischer, program coordinator at Vision for Equality, a Pennsylvania-based advocacy organization for people with disabilities. “For some people, just when that happens, they’ve got to move.”

Since Chief of Special Education and Diverse Learners Nathalie Nérée joined the district two years ago, reducing such transitions for students with disabilities has been one of her priorities, she said.

“My goal — and it has been very clear to my team, to all schools — is that we build a continuum of programs within all of our schools,” said Nérée. Nérée said students at only one or two schools last year had to change schools for this school year to access autism support.

But creating continuity is no easy task. The district is expanding autistic support offerings. It’s also planning to close schools — and the autistic support classes in them — as part of its facilities planning process. District officials have not yet announced which schools may be closed or colocated. Yet some worry such changes could force students with autism and other disabilities to change schools once again and further disrupt their education.

In a city where families of students with disabilities often feel that there are few desirable schools, “it’s a battle of your life for each transition,” said Luisa Velasquez-Maher, a mother of a student with autism in the district and an education advocate. Ultimately, “less transition means less stress,” she said.

Nérée said she is not part of the team creating the facilities plan. However, she said she has met with them extensively to share the vision “that all of our students will have the opportunity to attend any school that they want across the city.”

But, she added, the breadth of services the district can provide is sometimes limited by cost and coordination challenges.

To build out more programs for students with disabilities, Nérée said, “it’s going to take time.”

Number of autistic support classes limited but growing

A decade ago, families sued the district over its policy of automatically transferring students with autism to new schools without significant parent involvement. The district settled and agreed to notify parents in advance of any transfer and provide them with an opportunity to discuss the decision.

Since then, the number of students with autism in the district has more than doubled, according to state data. Last school year, there were around 5,000 students with autism in Philly schools.

Not all of those students participate in autistic support classes. Some may instead participate in general education classes or receive other forms of assistance, like a one-on-one aide.

Last school year, around 4,000 students enrolled in one of the district’s more than 500 autistic support classes, according to district data. That number continues to grow, Nérée said. The district added about 33 new classes in August to meet the increased need.

The classes provide specialized instruction to help students build skills in communication and behavior along with math and reading. The state limits the number of students that can be assigned per autistic support teacher, and how many grade bands can be mixed in each classroom. (In high schools, autistic support classes include a mix of students in all grades.)

However, neither state nor federal law dictates how support classes must be distributed throughout a school district. That means those decisions are largely up to Nérée and her team.

Nérée said that each winter, her team examines where students may need autistic support classes the following school year and which grade bands they fall into, including coordinating with the city’s early intervention provider to determine how many kindergartners may qualify. The district then opens new classes or changes the grade bands a school serves based on that information.

But it’s tricky to track exactly where students will have autistic support needs by the beginning of the school year. Some families move around, or join the district over the summer. Some students also move from autistic support to general education, while others are found to be eligible for the program as they age.

That can mean regular changes in how many students the district needs to find available autistic support spots for, said Nérée. “We’re trying to put things in place so that our students can go to any school they desire, and that they feel welcome and they’re supported, and that their needs are met.”

Several advocates Chalkbeat spoke with said they’ve noticed improved continuity for students since Nérée joined the district.

Still, more than 30 of the district’s 164 elementary and middle schools do not have any autistic support classes, according to a list of school programs the district shared with Chalkbeat. That includes several elementary schools considered highly desirable, like William M. Meredith and Penn Alexander.

As well, around 25 elementary schools only have autistic support for students in grades K-2, even though most of them enroll students up to at least fifth grade, and many go to eighth grade. Other schools only have autistic support classes for higher grades.

Schools without autistic support still have other offerings, like a special education teacher or aide, Nérée said.

Jamiel Owens, an advocate who works with parents of students with autism in the Philadelphia area, said he appreciates the ways the district has worked to provide more consistency and support for families.

But fully addressing the challenges of transitions would mean providing more resources for families, better trained teachers, and more options for students with disabilities, he said.

He said he feels the district is still trying to fit students with autism into a school system not primarily focused on serving their needs, “instead of looking at how we can actually reshape the school system.”

Why school closures can harm kids with autism

School closures have been found to be disruptive for all students in various ways. Researchers recommend creating robust support systems for students who must change schools.

Many advocates say that kind of support is even more urgent for students with autism or other disabilities. Changing schools, or having a flood of new students join their schools, may be even more destabilizing for them than other children.

“A lot of people think transition is only when a young adult goes into adulthood right after high school, into the new world,” said Owens, who has a son with autism who graduated from the district. “But every year — every grade achieved and going to the next one — is a transition stage. How are you preparing for that?”

District officials say the point of the district facilities plan, which will lead to closing schools, is to better distribute district resources to provide more opportunities for all students.

Though district officials have not yet shared details about which schools could close, Superintendent Tony Watlington has said repeatedly that the final plan will reduce the number of grade bands to limit school transitions.

But the proposal to close schools is ringing alarm bells for some parents of students with autism. Some say the harm of closures — which would inevitably affect students with autism and other disabilities — is not worth the risk.

“When you move kids that have issues with flexibility, [who] need patterns and routines — which is a very classic need of an autistic child — you change their whole world,” said Marissa Post, a parent of a child with autism in the school district.

“They have to learn new routines. They have to learn new settings. They have to redo skills that they already mastered in whatever setting they were in previously,” said Post, who’s also an advocate who works with families.

Post said she also worries that schools with many autistic support classes may appear underenrolled because of how the state limits the number of students assigned to each autistic support teacher.

The district has not shared how it is factoring autistic support classes into the facilities plan. District officials said they reviewed building utilization data with principals before publishing the data they say will inform school closures.

Spokesperson Christina Clark said that as the district implements the facilities plan, it will continue to open classrooms as needed “to make sure that students’ needs are met.”

Luisa Velasquez-Maher, the parent of a student with autism, said she hopes the facilities planning process takes the needs of each community into account and considers the needs of families with students with autism and other disabilities.

So far, she said she’s worried that hasn’t been the case. She’s gone to community meetings where she said information has been limited, and she has found the data the district is using to inform its decisions difficult to parse.

But she said she also understands the district’s need to address underutilized school buildings and better distribute its limited resources.

She hopes officials ask questions sincerely, listen to community members, and craft a plan that preserves strong support for students with autism. “If that’s their response, I will help,” she said.

Carly Sitrin contributed reporting.

Philadelphia City Council turns up heat on school district over charters, principals’ contract

2025-11-18T22:45:38+00:00

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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 schools’ math scores rise but reading scores fall slightly on latest state tests

2025-11-14T19:12:00+00:00

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Superintendent Tony Watlington says it repeatedly: He wants Philadelphia to be the “fastest improving large, urban school district in the country.”

But state test scores from the 2024-25 school year, released Thursday, show the district still has a lot of work to do.

Around a quarter of students in grades 3-8 achieved proficient scores in math on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or PSSA, last school year. That marks a slight improvement from the prior school year.

But elementary and middle school students’ reading scores dipped slightly, with around one-third of students achieving proficient scores.

The new data also shows big disparities in student achievement. Black and Hispanic students scored significantly lower than their white and Asian peers. Students who are economically disadvantaged also scored lower than the district average.

Scores remained particularly low for students with disabilities, even though district officials said last year they had a “robust plan” to boost those students’ achievement.

Around 8% of students with disabilities scored proficient in reading last school year, which is nearly identical to the year before. Around 6% scored proficient in math, a slight increase.

The state received a federal waiver for the science PSSA and did not report scores from the last school year because the state was in the process of adopting and implementing new science standards. Students still took a form of the science PSSA last year and the state reported participation rates.

In high school, when students take Keystone exams rather than PSSAs, nearly half of all students passed the literature Keystone test by 11th grade. Around one-third passed the biology Keystone and one-fourth passed the algebra Keystone. (Most students must demonstrate proficiency in Keystone subjects to graduate, but they can do so by meeting other requirements, like passing related classes.)

Preliminary data the district shared in October showed that last school year, student and teacher attendance rose several percentage points. The district also had more than 800 fewer students drop out than the previous year.

Test scores show statewide dip in reading achievement

Philadelphia students’ scores still remain far below the state average.

But the district’s struggle to boost reading scores isn’t unique. Statewide, reading scores of students in grades 3-8 fell by four percentage points last year — a larger drop than in Philly.

As part of the state budget, which passed Wednesday, Pennsylvania committed $10 million to literacy initiatives. The budget also included new requirements that all school districts must use evidence-based reading curriculum beginning with the 2027-28 school year.

Philadelphia implemented a new reading curriculum last year as part of its $100 million curriculum overhaul. The school year before that, it implemented a new math curriculum, and this year it rolled out a new science curriculum.

District officials previously said the new reading scores exposed weak points in how they implemented the new curriculum, and that they planned to provide more support for students and training for staff.

Pennsylvania will require schools to use evidence-based reading curriculum

2025-11-13T16:57:55+00:00

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Pennsylvania will require schools to adopt evidence-based reading curriculum by the 2027-28 school year and institute new literacy instruction training for teachers.

The new requirements come as part of the state’s 2025-26 budget, which Gov. Josh Shapiro signed into law Wednesday, four months past the budget deadline. Literacy instruction and initiatives will get $10 million in the budget. The $50.1 billion budget deal puts $665 million total towards public schools.

Moments before signing the bill, Shapiro said the budget invests in “something known as structured literacy,” referring to an approach to reading instruction that includes teaching students phonics and phonemic awareness, which research supports as effective.

The approach “puts a renewed emphasis on teaching [kids] to read well and training our teachers to teach reading effectively,” Shapiro said.

Last year, national test scores showed only about 1 in 3 Pennsylvania fourth graders could read at a proficient level.

Some Pennsylvania school districts previously used reading curriculums that did not follow research-backed methods. In Philadelphia, the school district implemented an evidence-based curriculum last school year. But the rollout has been rocky. Students’ reading scores dipped after the first year.

The curriculum mandate brings Pennsylvania up to speed with several other states that have passed laws that require literacy instruction to follow the science of reading, a body of research that has found young children need phonics instruction to learn how to read well.

Under the new legislation, districts can choose their own literacy curriculum as long as it follows research-backed best practices. Districts will have to report which curriculum they use beginning this school year.

It also requires schools to provide all teachers with professional development in literacy instruction from an approved state list beginning in the 2027-28 school year.

Schools also will have to screen students in kindergarten through third grade for reading competency three times each year. If schools find students to be behind in certain reading skills, they’ll be required to provide a reading intervention plan with additional support.

Pennsylvania will require schools to report on literacy progress

Along with instructional requirements, the budget bill also creates new accountability measures.

Districts will be required to report on how many teachers have participated in literacy professional development as well as provide annual data on the percentage of students identified as having a reading deficiency. The bill requires the Department of Education to share some of this information publicly.

“These accountability measures are essential,” said Rachael Garnick, manager of the Pennsylvania Literacy Coalition, which supports the new literacy requirements in the budget. “They ensure that every district moves forward on a clear timeline and that the state can monitor progress toward the goal of ensuring every child receives effective reading instruction.”

It’s unclear how districts will interpret the evidence-based curriculum requirement.

Legislation passed last year required the Department of Education to create a state Reading Leadership Council that would publish a list of recommended reading curriculum by June of this year.

But almost immediately after the council published that list, it received swift pushback from advocates, including the Pennsylvania Literacy Coalition, which said in a statement that “it was not high quality, not user-friendly, and not fully aligned with either the letter or spirit of the law.”

Hours later, the Department of Education removed the list of recommended curriculum from its website. It has not shared an updated timeline of when a new list will be available. The Department of Education did not respond to Chalkbeat’s request for comment.

Garnick said she and others involved in the Pennsylvania Literacy Coalition, which includes dozens of local education groups, have been pushing the Department of Education to publish a recommended curriculum list that aligns with state standards on evidence-based reading instruction.

But she said even without the updated list, the new requirements are a major step forward for improving literacy instruction in the state.

The language in the budget bill largely mirrors previous legislation that had bipartisan support in the state legislature but hadn’t passed.

What Pennsylvania’s budget deal means for education

2025-11-12T20:52:34+00:00

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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.

‘We have set money on fire’: Pennsylvania budget impasse costs Philadelphia school district millions

2025-11-11T19:02:24+00:00

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Pennsylvania lawmakers say a state budget could be near — potentially with more funding for districts like Philadelphia’s.

But the budget is already over four months late. And that’s caused significant financial harm to districts across the state.

In Philadelphia, the state’s largest district, the school board authorized the district to borrow $1.55 billion in September to make up for missed state payments that would have come through if lawmakers had adopted a budget by the July 1 deadline.

If the district ends up drawing down the entire loan, interest payments will cost the cash-strapped district around $30 million, according to district officials. That’s equivalent to roughly 200 teacher salaries in a district with ongoing teacher shortages.

Some smaller districts are delaying payments to charter schools and pausing after school programming. Others have said they will have to shut down if there is no budget deal soon.

At a Philadelphia Board of Education hearing last week, Board President Reginald Streater said the district had to continue to borrow funds to “keep the lights on and continue making the payments we have to make under the law.”

So far, it has drawn down $585.5 million of the loan to make up for the missing state funding, according to district spokesperson Naima DeBrest. The loan agreement requires the district to pay that money back within the same fiscal year.

The strain on districts’ budgets comes as lawmakers argue over what the future of education funding should look like in the state. How the state divides money between districts is one of the key issues in this year’s budget negotiations, following a 2023 court ruling that found the state’s school funding formula to be unconstitutional because it left poor districts underfunded.

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal, backed by Democratic lawmakers, would include $200 million more for Philadelphia schools as part of a boost to school funding for districts with lower tax bases and higher costs per student.

But some Senate Republicans, who are in the majority, have opposed that proposal. Republican Majority Leader Sen. Joe Pittman has previously indicated that he opposes the funding formula Shapiro is using to determine how much money districts get. (Pittman’s office declined to respond to Chalkbeat’s request for comment.)

Sen. Vincent Hughes, a Democrat who represents part of Philadelphia, said he and other Democratic senators are “holding firm” on supporting Shapiro’s education funding proposal.

“It has been a lot of lifting to make sure that we protect that,” said Hughes. “And it’s not done, so we’ve got to keep fighting for it.”

Lawmakers say Pennsylvania budget deal could be close

Hughes said he could not estimate when a budget deal may be finalized, but that there had been “an increased level” of negotiations over the last several weeks. He said he hoped that recent election results, in which Democrats made gains in several states, “would have sent a message to our Republican colleagues that their way of governing … the people don’t like it.”

Sen. Lynda Culver, a Republican who chairs the Senate education committee, said she is not part of the negotiation team, but she is hopeful a budget deal could be reached this week. The House plans to return to a voting session on Wednesday, and Culver said the Senate also expected to return to session later this week, though no date has been publicized.

Culver said she wants Shapiro’s education spending proposal to be “tweaked” so that rural districts get more funding.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing,” said Culver of Shapiro’s budget blueprint. “I’m just saying it needs consideration for rural Pennsylvania.” She added that education spending is one of many issues she would consider in any budget proposal.

It’s encouraging that lawmakers have fought for more education funding for poor districts, said Dan Urevick-Ackelsber, a senior attorney at the Public Interest Law Center, a legal advocacy group. Still, he said, Shapiro’s proposal still does not adequately fund higher-needs districts.

“Our schools need every dollar that we give them,” said Urevick-Ackelsber, who was involved in the legal case challenging the state’s funding formula that culminated in the 2023 court ruling. “And we have set money on fire.”

Philadelphia district officials have urged lawmakers to pass a budget that follows the governor’s proposal.

Without adequate funding, students ultimately suffer, Streater said at the recent Philadelphia board hearing.

“We have been put into a situation where … our children have yet to get the fundamental rights that they have been granted under our state constitution.”

How should Philadelphia handle school closures? Here’s what parents, educators, and others say.

2025-11-05T21:43:45+00:00

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Philadelphia school officials say they want more feedback before they announce which schools will close in the coming years — and educators, families, and other city residents hope they plan to listen.

At an event Chalkbeat hosted in partnership with Germantown Info Hub on Saturday, people reflected on the last mass school closures in 2013, when the district shuttered 23 schools despite community protests. Many said those closures left deep scars across neighborhoods, fractured trust between residents and the district, and left neighborhoods without key community spaces.

In Germantown specifically, the district closed the nearly 100-year-old Germantown High School. That experience shows what could go wrong — and what could be improved — this time around, residents said.

School officials have promised this upcoming round of closures will be different from what happened in 2013 — in large part, they say, because robust community engagement will inform the process.

Already, the district has assembled advisory groups and hosted community engagement sessions that school leaders say will inform the facilities planning process. On Tuesday, district officials said they were delaying a long-awaited facilities plan announcement to conduct a districtwide survey to gather more feedback.

Still, some residents of Germantown and other Philly neighborhoods said on Saturday they remain skeptical about how the district will factor community feedback into its ultimate recommendations.

But, they said, if the district genuinely intends to listen, they have lots of feedback to share. Here’s what some of the more than 20 people who attended Chalkbeat and Germantown Info Hub’s event said the district should keep in mind.

Philadelphians urge district to continue meaningful community engagement

Several Germantown residents said that even though the district has made efforts to solicit feedback, it must do much more to ensure families feel like their perspectives are considered in the process.

Janice Tosto, who moved to Germantown seven years ago, said families at the schools the district wants to close “have to be front and center in all of this.” That’s why, she said, it’s essential that the district stay in touch with families at schools affected by closures.

“They need to be prepared to have conversations with people,” said Tosto. “And to check in with people to see how they can be supportive of people who are really dealing with that trauma.”

Some people said it seems like many Philadelphians still don’t know closures are coming — or if their schools will be affected.

“People need to ask, ‘Which schools are you closing in my neighborhood?” said Cecelia Thompson, a former member of the Board of Education. “Stop being sketchy with it.”

Philadelphia residents said they want district leaders to give serious weight to community feedback in their school closure plan.

Advocates worry that even language the district is using to describe what’s happening, like the term “facilities planning process,” does not make it clear that school closures are coming.

“Nobody knows what it is,” said Ilene Poses, a member of the advocacy group Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, which opposes the closures. “They all think it’s going to be about making the schools environmentally better, less toxic.”

Fate of closed schools concerns many Philadelphia residents

District officials have said the aim of the process is to create better educational environments for students, with more access to programming like AP classes and extracurriculars. Superintendent Tony Watlington has said that to do so, the district needs to reduce the number of empty seats and close some schools.

But Watlington and other school officials have shared very little information about what would happen to schools after they close.

Longtime Germantown resident Jill Saull was involved in community pushback against the closure of Germantown High School in 2013. As part of the Philadelphia School Closings Photo Collective, she documented that school and Fulton Elementary to capture what the schools looked like before they shut down.

She said after the school board voted to shutter Germantown High School, she and other neighborhood residents organized to propose alternatives for what the building could become.

One idea, she said, was to turn part of the building into a small career and technical education program for hospitality and restaurant management. Another part of the building would be turned into a boutique hotel that students would help run and attract more visitors to Germantown.

At first, Saull said she remembers the school board and the developers who ultimately bought the building seemed interested in the community’s feedback and ideas. At one community meeting about the future of the school property, she said, more than 400 people showed up.

But ultimately, the developers nixed each idea from local residents. The building is now largely market-rate apartments.

“There was a moment where we did feel we came together … we were able to communicate,” said Saull. “But as the process went on, things kind of fell apart.”

At community engagement meetings over the summer, district officials said all options remain on the table for closed school buildings. But some worry the district will prioritize selling the facilities for top dollar instead of what local neighborhoods want.

Facilities planning process seems rushed, some say

Some advocates have welcomed the district’s delay for announcing the facilities plan. To them, it indicates the district is taking more time to consider what Philadelphians want from schools.

But others want the district to release a draft list of schools to close, so that Philadelphians can know what’s at stake and provide feedback that could make a difference before it’s finalized.

In 2013, the district held hearings about schools initially slated for closures and had time to come up with alternative plans. Officials ended up closing many fewer schools than the district initially proposed.

But this time around, officials appear to be front-loading community engagement, said Adam Blyweiss, a district parent and teacher who has been involved with the Stand Up for Philly Schools group, which opposes school closures. He worries the district may rush the process after it eventually releases the list of recommended schools to close.

Separately, the district needs better partnerships with external groups to make sure students who must change schools are supported, said Justin Ennis, executive director of Philadelphia Outward Bound School.

Ultimately, Ennis said the lessons from what happened in 2013 could help shape a much better process this time around — just as long as the district makes genuine progress building trust with communities and partner organizations.

“There is an opportunity to harness all of the folks in a community,” said Ennis. “So it’s not like 2013, which felt like a cold and sterile financial decision.”

Germantown Info Hub’s Rasheed Ajamu and Pryce Jamison contributed to this story, along with Sara Shahriari from Resolve Philly.

Sign up for Germantown Info Hub’s community texting project here.

Philadelphia school closure plan delayed, won’t be announced in November, district says

2025-11-04T21:07:12+00:00

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The Philadelphia school district will not announce its recommendations this month for which schools will close, pushing back a long-awaited deadline, the district said Tuesday.

Instead, the district will launch a survey to get further community feedback about its facilities planning process and shape its recommendations. The district will share results from its survey in December, and “will go through a comprehensive public feedback period before [submitting] final recommendations to the Board of Education” according to a statement from district spokesperson Monique Braxton.

District officials have said the final facilities plan will include a list of schools to close, as well as ones to modernize, repurpose, and colocate.

Superintendent Tony Watlington has said repeatedly in recent months that the district’s goal for that plan is to increase access to high-quality academic and extracurricular programming across the city.

To accomplish that, he and other school leaders have also said they aim to “rightsize” the district by addressing underenrollment in some schools and overcrowding in others. It is unclear when school closures would begin, but officials have said the process will likely play out over a number of years.

The looming school closures have drawn scrutiny and concern from Philadelphia families, educators, and education advocates. Many have called for more details about which schools could be slated for closure, as well as more information about how the district is weighing different factors in its decision-making process.

The district has missed other deadlines it set for itself throughout the process that will lead to school closures. School leaders initially said they would share data about school facilities in April, but did not publicize a data repository until September.

When the district finally released that data, including scores for schools on their building condition and utilization, officials said the ratings themselves did not dictate whether individual schools would close.

At a protest last month organized by Stand Up For Philly Schools, community members, educators, and city leaders urged the district not to close schools.

“When schools close, communities pay the price,” said Councilmember Kendra Brooks. “The communities who paid a price are communities like mine, Black and brown communities that have already suffered decades of disinvestment.”

Melanie Silva, a parent of a student at Rhawnhurst Elementary, said at the rally that the district has lost the trust of families as it misses its own deadlines and fails to share information that people are desperate to see.

“After months of delays and missing data, it’s clear why so many families don’t trust this process,” Silva said.

What makes a Philadelphia student want to become a teacher?

2025-10-30T22:14:01+00:00

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Why does Philadelphia have a teacher shortage? Monika Shealey hears one answer a lot.

People often tell Shealey, the dean of the College of Education and Human Development at Temple University, that young Philadelphians — particularly young Black and brown people — simply don’t want to become educators.

But on Thursday, Shealey told more than 200 Philadelphia high schoolers visiting Temple’s campus to learn about teaching careers that she believes otherwise.

“You are throwing that narrative out the window,” Shealey said at the Youth in Education Summit. “Let that be the story of the day.”

As Philadelphia struggles to retain and recruit teachers, education groups and leaders are doubling down on initiatives to inspire Philly teens to embark on careers in education.

In recent years, the district has begun the school year with hundreds of vacancies, and the number of graduates from teacher training programs in the state has plummeted.

There’s a particular shortage of Black male educators, who make up less than 10% of district teachers.

“The idea is that we want to increase the number of students and programs in what we call the ‘early pipeline’ space,” said Scott Gaiber, deputy chief of talent initiatives at Elevate 215, a local education advocacy group that helped organize the Thursday event.

The organization is part of a coalition of groups across the city to try to improve teacher recruitment. That coalition, the Philadelphia Citywide Talent Coalition, championed the district’s first career and technical education program for K-12 teaching, which launched in 2023. Since then, the coalition has also supported other initiatives at Philadelphia schools meant to increase students’ interest in teaching, like Thursday’s conference.

The students at the event are involved in different teacher training programs. Students from nine high schools participated, joining workshops on issues like how to apply for college teaching programs and what it’s like to be a Black or brown educator.

To Gaiber, the challenge is clear: even when young people say they’re interested in becoming teachers, several obstacles can derail them from ultimately becoming certified. For one thing, schooling is expensive. And getting a certification often requires overcoming bureaucratic hurdles.

The hope, he said, is that extra programming and “creating a supportive ecosystem” can lower those barriers and ultimately lead to a better-trained and more representative teacher workforce, even if the results won’t be evident for years.

For Elizabeth Melendez, a junior at Esperanza Academy Charter School who attended the event and helped lead a workshop for her peers, working with kids helped her confirm her interest in teaching.

Every week, she helps out with a class of first graders through an internship program at Esperanza.

“I know what I want to do now,” said Melendez. She said she plans to study child psychology and become a school psychologist.

Students learn about teaching through hands-on opportunities

Parkway West High School Principal William Brown said he knows many students are skeptical of becoming educators. Maybe they’ve heard that they could make more money doing something else, or they’re not sure if it interests them.

But he said he’s seen through the school’s early childhood career and technical education program that students often develop an interest in education once they’re exposed to it.

“It’s so important that the students get that hands-on experience,” said Brown.

Last school year, Brown worked with Philadelphia Academies Inc. to launch a program at his school meant to increase the number of Black and Brown male educators.

Students in the program first learn about the history of education in the U.S. and pedagogical best practices. Then they become student-teachers in the middle school that shares the building with Parkway West, earning a stipend for their work.

He said he believes the program has made a difference for his students. “A lot of our boys, especially, are taking their futures more seriously,” said Brown.

Amyha Watson, 16, left, and Meli Jimenes-Jaques, 17, said learning about teaching jobs made them more interested in careers in education.

Thursday’s Temple event wasn’t a magic wand. By the end of the morning, some students in the halls said they still didn’t feel convinced that working in education was for them.

But others said the sessions had a real effect on how they pictured their future.

Meli Jimenes-Jaques, 17, said that as a senior at Olney High School, she knew she would soon have to decide what she would do after she graduated. She was interested in working with kids but she didn’t know if she should look into teaching or something else. But after hearing more about the career path of a teacher, she said she felt excited about applying for education programs.

“Before I wasn’t as sure,” said Jimenes-Jaques. “But after seeing all these people and hearing all their voices and their thoughts as well, it really just, like, cemented the fact this is really what I want to do.”

Philadelphia councilmembers express skepticism of beverage tax that funds free pre-K

2025-10-27T20:54:59+00:00

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Eight years into Philadelphia’s free prekindergarten program, city officials seem to agree on one point: The city needs more funding to make early education affordable and accessible.

But some members of the City Council want Philadelphia to reconsider the city tax that has paid for a large part of the program, known as PHLpreK, since its inception in 2017.

That tax, the Philadelphia beverage tax, adds 1.5 cents per ounce of soda sold in the city. Last year, it brought in $68 million, which the city used to pay for PHLpreK, as well as a few other programs.

But Councilmember Jim Harrity, who has led the charge to reexamine the beverage tax, and some of his colleagues say the beverage tax does more harm to the city than good, because it adds strain to grocery stores that provide employment and food in the city. They also say it imposes costs on low-income families by increasing their grocery bills.

“I want to find a way to pay for this program and expand” PHLpreK, Harrity said during a City Council hearing on Monday. “Right now, we can’t expand [anything].”

Harrity stopped short of calling to repeal the tax, but said he wanted to explore alternate ways to fund the pre-K program.

He also pointed out that the amount of money the tax has brought in each year has slightly declined since it was enacted, leaving the programs it was supposed to fund relying increasingly on the city’s other streams of funding.

“This was a mistake from the get-go,” said Councilmember Brian O’Neill, adding that he worried the tax has led to closed grocery stores and lost union jobs. “It’s a job-killer. It’s regressive.”

But pre-K advocates and preschool owners, who crowded into the City Council hearing with groups of preschoolers Monday morning, said the beverage tax revenue is vital to ensuring families can access child care and providers can keep their doors open.

“Without stable education, without an opportunity for families to go to work, this city is not going to thrive,” said Rosanna Matos, a public policy specialist with the local advocacy organization FirstUp. “If we lose PHLpreK, we risk losing the infrastructure that supports our children, our families, and our workforce.”

Early education desperately needs more funding, advocates say

Since the city launched its free pre-K program, it has served more than 30,000 children, according to city data. This school year, it’s offered 5,250 slots for families in the city. Any family, regardless of income, is eligible to apply.

The program has had some challenges since its launch, including providers struggling to find staff and more than 100 preschools closing in the city after the pandemic. Over the past five years, around 90% of PHLpreK spots have been filled each year, according to data from the city’s Office of Children and Families, meaning that a few hundred seats have been left empty each year.

Still, officials and advocates say current funding only fills a fraction of the need of the around 40,000 3- and 4-year-olds in the city.

The federal government pays for an additional 6,000 free pre-K slots in the city through Head Start, and the state’s Pre-K Counts program pays for around 5,000 more. But not all families can use those programs due to income restrictions.

The beverage tax does not cover the full price tag of the city’s free pre-K program, which officials estimate will cost around $73 million this fiscal year, but helps offset a large portion of the cost. The tax also helps fund the city’s community school initiative and the city’s “rebuild” program, which has been used to build and update playgrounds and recreational centers.

No councilmember has proposed repealing the beverage tax, and it was unclear after the hearing Monday whether Harrity or other critics of the tax plan to do so soon. Harrity did say he may propose launching a working group to study the beverage tax and whether a combination of taxes and philanthropic efforts could be used to fund pre-K.

Other councilmembers who participated in the hearing, including Councilmember Kendra Brooks, defended the tax.

Zakiyyah Boone, CEO of Wonderspring Early Education, which operates preschools in Philadelphia and the surrounding area, said she’s open to working with officials and other industries to improve the funding system.

But she emphasized that investing in early education is essential for Philadelphia, especially as many other pre-K funding streams become increasingly uncertain.

The Trump administration has threatened to cut funding for Head Start and has barred undocumented children from enrolling. State-funded pre-K programs are under strain, and some owners say they may have to close their programs as a state budget impasse stretches nearly four months long.

To Boone and other providers, those funding problems have underscored the need for consistency at the city level.

“Repealing or even reducing the tax risks destabilizing the funding stream at a time when … so much is unstable,” said Boone.

After a $25 million curriculum overhaul, Philly’s reading scores have fallen

2025-10-23T01:35:15+00:00

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When Philadelphia school officials announced preliminary new achievement data earlier this month, one trend was especially concerning: Philadelphia third graders are less likely to be proficient readers than they were a year ago.

The district — like many across the country — has spent millions to try to improve literacy instruction and reading scores. If kids can’t read by the end of third grade, research shows they’ll have an increasingly difficult time catching up.

The initial data is especially notable because during the 2024-25 school year, Philadelphia began implementing a new reading curriculum based on the science of reading at a cost of $25 million. State lawmakers have also pushed for legislation meant to ensure reading instruction follows research-backed methods.

Still, crucial third grade reading rates remain low, with fewer than 1 in 3 third graders able to read proficiently last school year, according to the district’s preliminary data from the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test. That’s lower than scores the year before, when the district hadn’t yet adopted the new curriculum.

At a school board meeting earlier this month, Superintendent Tony Watlington said that he expected that progress would not be linear. District officials said they plan to continue to invest in training teachers on how to use the new curriculum and provide tutoring to struggling students.

But literacy instruction experts and advocates say the declining scores mean it’s urgent for Philadelphia to improve preparing teachers to teach the new curriculum and support students who fall behind.

“Just looking at the outright percentage of students who are reading proficiently, it’s extremely troubling,” said Laura Boyce, Pennsylvania executive director of the advocacy organization Teach Plus. “It just doesn’t bode well for our future workforce or our city as a whole if we aren’t able to accelerate things.”

New reading curriculum exposed weak points, officials say

At the school board meeting earlier this month, district officials said the low English language arts scores from last school year revealed crucial information.

Along with a dip of nearly three percentage points in the number of third graders scoring proficient or advanced on the state reading tests compared with the year before, the share of students in grades 3-8 with proficient scores also fell slightly. (Officials said further breakdowns of the data will be released in November.)

In addition, the preliminary data shows that the percentage of Philadelphia third graders who read proficiently is lower than it was a decade ago.

“What this curriculum has exposed for us is that many of these students did not have the foundational skills that were provided and what was expected of them on the state assessment,” said Jermaine Dawson, the district’s deputy superintendent of academic services, at the meeting.

Dawson added that to address some of the challenges, the district aims to “make sure that comprehension is more amplified” in English language arts instruction and grow its high-impact tutoring program.

District officials did not respond to Chalkbeat’s requests for information about how the district will address low reading scores. During a discussion of the curriculum at a board meeting last year, Watlington said, “When you try something new, outcomes get worse before they get better. It’s very common in education.”

When Chalkbeat spoke with Philadelphia teachers implementing the new curriculum last year, many shared concerns that they weren’t adequately trained on the new materials. Though teachers said they were glad the new curriculum followed research-backed methods, some said there was not enough support for struggling readers in the program.

Kymyona Burk, senior policy fellow at ExcelinEd, an education policy advocacy organization, said training teachers to implement new curriculum and providing support is essential to achieving results.

“There’s nothing that’s going to be this kind of magic pill,” said Burk, who previously served as the state literacy director at the Mississippi Department of Education, where she led implementation of Mississippi’s landmark literacy law. “It’s the preparation that goes into it.”

Burk and other literacy experts said Philadelphia’s new curriculum, from the curriculum company EL Education, is well regarded.

But to be effective, the curriculum overhaul must include in-depth teacher training, coaching, professional development, parent engagement, and screening of kids to understand what’s working, Burk said. She estimated it takes teachers at least a year to get acquainted with new curriculum materials, even with support.

Though Philadelphia school officials have provided training to teachers on the new curriculum, the low scores indicate more is needed, said Julia Cadwallender, managing director of the local advocacy organization Read by 4th.

As teachers get used to the curriculum, she said she’s hopeful the district’s reading scores will begin to improve, just as the district’s math scores have risen two years after it implemented a new math curriculum.

“We have to recognize the ups and downs that exist in actually creating any lasting change,” Cadwallender said.

Philadelphia’s youngest learners aren’t getting support services they’re legally entitled to

2025-10-20T16:57:47+00:00

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When Kimberly Halevy’s son Joshua was 3, she started hearing from his preschool that he was acting out. He rarely participated in circle time and had trouble playing with other kids.

Halevy’s friend had recently opened the preschool, and she liked that someone she knew took care of her son. But eventually, the preschool said it would only allow him back if he had a 1-to-1 aide to address his “disruptive” behavior, Halevy said.

At first, Halevy thought getting him that aide would be straightforward. But she now describes the effort to get her kid support through Philadelphia’s federally mandated, publicly funded early intervention system as exhausting.

Kimberly Halevy, 41, plays with her son, Joshua, 4, at their home in Philadelphia, PA. on Sunday, September 28, 2025.

Though state evaluators found Joshua should receive multiple forms of therapy each week, it took months for any services to begin, Halevy said. Then, once providers contacted her, she said it became a “guessing game” whether her son would receive the home-based occupational therapy and specialized instruction he qualified for every week.

“I kept being mad at myself for not pushing,” Halevy said. “But now I realize that it’s just the program.”

Across Philadelphia, young kids like Joshua are waiting months and sometimes years for early intervention services that they are legally entitled to, according to families, therapy providers, and advocates Chalkbeat spoke with.

Federal law states a child must receive services as soon as possible after an evaluation team completes their Individualized Education Program, or IEP. Pennsylvania has interpreted that to mean 14 days. But one provider said the list she can access of children waiting for speech therapy — one of several early intervention services — is sometimes more than 2,000 families long.

Early intervention providers are under strain nationwide, with not enough funding or staffing to meet the need. But in Philadelphia — home to 16% of the state’s early intervention population — one player is largely responsible for the system: a 170-year-old nonprofit called Elwyn that the state pays to manage the publicly funded program.

As Philly’s early intervention system struggles to meet the needs of all kids, some providers and advocates say neither Elwyn nor the state officials who oversee the program are doing enough to ensure kids get services on time.

In response to Chalkbeat’s questions, Elwyn President and CEO Charles McLister said Elwyn does not comment on specific cases, but the organization works quickly to assess children and provide them with services. “For the vast majority of cases, services are provided within the defined window,” said McLister.

But McLister acknowledged that there can be delays due to family communication, transportation, scheduling, provider availability, and severe staffing shortages across the sector.

Erin James, press secretary at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said in a statement that the department stays in close contact with Elwyn throughout the year “to remind them of their legal obligations.”

James did not respond to questions about service delays for Philadelphia families. But she said that early intervention programs often lack resources. “Current funding levels for EI [early intervention] services are not sufficient because the population of students who qualify for EI services has been increasing for years,” James said.

Elwyn in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In Philadelphia, the program’s delays are a key reason many of the city’s most vulnerable kids fall behind before they even start kindergarten, advocates say. Data from early intervention program reports the state publishes shows Philly children in early intervention programs lag behind their peers elsewhere in key growth areas, like developing social emotional skills.

“The whole idea of having to wait more than the required time is really putting kids at a disadvantage,” said Inella Ray, director of parent advocacy and engagement at the advocacy organization Children First. “Because when kids don’t have the support that they need, in today’s current education or environment, they get pushed out.”

Parents face delays accessing early intervention services

Early intervention is part of the landmark Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which dictates that all children with disabilities must have access to a free and appropriate public education. Though each state creates and manages its own program, all kids through age 5 who are identified as having a developmental delay or disability are eligible.

In Pennsylvania, the Department of Education oversees local early intervention programs for preschool-age kids. In almost every county, families get connected with services through an intermediary unit, a kind of regional education service agency.

But in Philadelphia, things work differently. The state pays Elwyn a combination of state and federal dollars to administer the city’s preschool early intervention program, along with a much smaller program in Chester. Last fiscal year, its contract was worth around $90 million. Elwyn is in charge of assessing children, developing their IEPs, and subcontracting with a network of providers for services they qualify for.

When Halevy’s kids’ preschool said her son needed an aide, the preschool owner gave Halevy advice: phone Elwyn. So she did, and she was relieved when the organization told her they could fit Joshua in to begin his evaluation later that week.

That was July 2024. She hoped Joshua would have services in time to be back at preschool by the following September. But soon, Halevy said she began hitting roadblocks.

In August, she said she didn’t hear much from Elwyn. Like other early intervention programs statewide, Elwyn often takes a two-week service break at the end of summer — one of many scheduled break periods during the year.

But then when she did hear back that September, she learned Elwyn wouldn’t consider providing a 1-to-1 aide without observing Joshua in his educational environment. But the preschool said he couldn’t return to class unless he had someone there to specifically support him.

At the end of September, when evaluators wrote Joshua’s initial IEP, they documented that they discussed adding an aide to assist Joshua at preschool. But they wrote that because they could not observe Joshua in his educational environment, they did not have enough information to support that recommendation. “[T]he family is in a difficult position,” the team wrote on the IEP, which Chalkbeat has reviewed.

Joshua’s IEP states that he should receive occupational therapy and specialized instruction each week. The law requires services to begin within 14 days. But more than a month after, Joshua still wasn’t receiving services, Halevy said.

Siblings Maya, 3, and Joshua, 4, play at their home in Philadelphia, PA. on Sunday, September 28, 2025.

At the time, Halevy was stretched thin. She was also working to get services for her 2-year-old daughter, who struggled with speech, through the separate early intervention program that serves children up to age 3 run by the city.

For Halevy, sorting out her daughter’s services in the birth to 3 program was simple. Service providers quickly began contacting her and therapists started showing up for sessions. But for her son, nothing.

“One day, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s going on with Josh?’ and I start calling every number I had at Elwyn,” said Halevy.

It wasn’t until two more months later, in November, when he finally began to receive occupational therapy, she said recently after reviewing text messages. In December, she said his special instruction began.

Early intervention IEPs not always followed

Elwyn’s Philadelphia program is the largest in the state, serving around 11,000 preschool-age children, according to the most recent data from the 2023-24 school year. The organization first won its contract for early intervention services in Philadelphia in 1998.

But its outcomes for kids are behind the rest of Pennsylvania.

The state requires early intervention programs to report data on how kids progress in certain areas, like social emotional learning and acquiring new skills. State program reports show that for the last five years of data, children in Elwyn’s Philadelphia program have been less likely to progress in all three growth categories compared with the state average.

Margie Wakelin, a senior attorney at the Pennsylvania-based Education Law Center, said her team has assisted more than 80 Philadelphia families in the last year whose kids’ education was disrupted at least in part because they couldn’t access appropriate services from Elwyn. The vast majority of those children, she said, were Black and Brown kids affected by poverty.

Some families hire attorneys to help them access the services they’re entitled to, or get pro bono representation from organizations like the Education Law Center. Many who win their cases get compensatory education, often in the form of money the family can use to pay for services after the case is over.

But that doesn’t make up for lost time as children quickly age out of early intervention. Research shows that children’s brains develop more rapidly between birth to 5 than any other time of their life. Many families, Wakelin said, have also had their children suspended from preschool or made to only attend partial days because of their disabilities.

“It’s such a critical period for kids to have access to high quality education,” said Wakelin. A system that identifies children as needing services but doesn’t follow through, she added, is “really failing our kids.”’

McLister, Elwyn’s CEO, said the organization has learned that, in some cases, children are suspended from their preschool programs because of learning or behavioral needs. “Elwyn is not part of this decision making and often learns about it after the fact,” he said. He added that the organization is developing tools “that will help us understand the frequency in which this happens” and is creating additional resource materials for families.

State reports show that Elwyn’s program is successful in some areas, like evaluating 97% of kids within 60 days, the state-required timeline. But that’s just the first step in what advocates say often becomes a month-long process to get services.

Kimberly Halevy, right, and her son Joshua enjoy treats from an ice cream truck after a recent session with a special instructor.

Though the law is clear that kids should receive services within 14 days of their IEP being written, the state does not publish information on how long kids wait for services after an evaluation, or how many service interruptions they’ll experience when providers are no longer available.

When it comes to Elwyn’s performance, CEO McLister said that students’ growth data does not account for the unique challenges of providing services in Philadelphia. The children Elwyn serves have higher needs than the state average, he said, with higher incidences of developmental delays and a greater prevalence of multiple other challenges, such as limited English proficiency, economic disadvantages, and other social risk factors.

“For younger children, these factors produce more modest gains,” said McLister.

McLister emphasized that Elwyn has been successful in evaluating the vast majority of children on-time, and said the most common reason an evaluation falls outside the 60-day window is a parent cancelling an initial evaluation appointment and needing it to be rescheduled.

He said delays in getting kids services are often the result of scheduling challenges and staffing shortages — 95% of service issues related to speech and language services, he said, are due to a lack of staff. He said other delays occur when families move or change their child’s preschool enrollment, and when providers return kids to the “needs list,” meaning they stop service for that child, which happens “for a variety of reasons.”

For Joshua, getting a consistent special instructor, a position meant to support Joshua’s learning, has been impossible, Halevy said. Her text history, which she reviewed recently, documents the challenges: The first special instructor who contacted her never visited and stopped responding to texts, she said. The next person was more helpful and saw Joshua a few times, but then abruptly quit. Now, after more than a month of no special instruction, a new provider comes mostly regularly, Halevy said.

Access to occupational therapy has been slightly better, Halevy said. For the first several months of service, Joshua’s occupational therapist showed up inconsistently and seemed rushed, Halevy said. Now, after working out a schedule, she consistently comes around once a week.

Early childhood intervention needs more funding, some say

These and other challenges aren’t unique to Philadelphia families. But preschool operators and early intervention providers say there are particular and longstanding problems in Philly.

Two years ago, Sharon Neilson, former director of the Woodland Academy Child Development Center in West Philadelphia, was part of a group pushing to bring attention to problems in the city’s early intervention program. Council members held a hearing about parents’ challenges accessing services, and Neilson and other providers met with Elwyn.

At the time, Neilson said, she was hopeful that things would improve. But since then, she said, “we’ve actually seen it get worse.”

Neilson, who now works as support staff at Woodland Academy, said of the 22 children enrolled at the preschool, about four currently receive services from Elwyn, and three more are going through the process of getting evaluated.

The preschool helps families navigate the process, in part because submitting required paperwork and scheduling evaluations can create additional barriers, she said. But even with additional help, in her experience it still usually takes months for kids to be evaluated and services to begin, she said.

“I think that’s the saddest thing for me,” Neilson said. “The families are very frustrated because they don’t know what to do — they just know that they need help for their child, but it’s just very hard to navigate.”

Officials say a lack of resources is largely to blame. Over the past decade, the number of preschool-age children in Pennsylvania receiving early intervention services has grown by a third, and funding hasn’t kept up.

Pennsylvania Department of Education spokesperson Erin James said that is why Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed increasing funding for preschool early intervention by $14.5 million in the state budget. However, months past the budget deadline, lawmakers remain at an impasse over the budget and early education providers are further strained.

One provider who contracts with Elwyn said concerning inequities exist in Elwyn’s program. (Chalkbeat is not naming the provider due to her fears of retaliation from Elwyn.) It’s an accepted norm, the provider said, that kids in nicer neighborhoods get picked up for service much faster than those in poorer neighborhoods.

“There’s an access and equity issue across the board,” said the provider. “And that’s exacerbated by the shortage of providers.”

Asked about those access and equity concerns, McLister said that to address some related challenges, this year Elwyn is implementing more targeted training for staff and plans to develop a family resource center. He said the organization has also employed internal speech language pathologists to assign to high-priority cases.

Dotan Halevy, left, plays his guitar with his daughter, Maya, 3, at their home in Philadelphia, PA. on Sunday, September 28, 2025.

When families reach out to Elwyn, McLister said staff provide them with documentation and verbal explanations of how the process works to ensure families understand their rights, next steps, and how to give consent for evaluations.

The organization also periodically notifies providers of historically underserved ZIP codes to encourage providers to serve kids equitably across the city, and includes provisions in its contracts meant to “promote fairness and accountability.” McLister said Elwyn places subcontractors on corrective action plans if the organization “detects patterns of non-acceptance that disproportionately impacts underserved areas.”

As for Halevy, she says her family has gotten relatively lucky. They were able to get Joshua started on an evaluation quickly. And she’s been able to get new therapists when others stop showing up.

But her family’s biggest piece of luck, she said, is that her husband recently got a new job with better health insurance. She plans to use that to get some of the services her kids need. That means she no longer will completely rely on Elwyn.

She just wishes she could erase the months of waiting and worrying about why Joshua’s services took so long to start.

“Basically, what happened is we fell through the cracks,” she said.

Some Philly preschools say they’ll have to close classrooms if lawmakers don’t pass a budget soon

2025-10-10T20:08:03+00:00

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For more than three months, Lisa Smith has operated several state-funded pre-K classrooms at Amazing Kidz Academy early learning centers in Philadelphia without being paid for those services.

More than 100 children at Smith’s preschool rely on the state’s Pre-K Counts program, which is meant to provide free early learning to lower-income families and children who may be English language learners or have special needs.

But as the state budget impasse stretches beyond 100 days, Smith and dozens of other Philadelphia providers who participate directly in the program are still waiting for funding, pushing some to consider furloughing staff and shuttering classrooms, according to advocates. Around 150 Philadelphia preschools provided Pre-K Counts seats last fiscal year, serving 5,000 students.

For Smith, the budget impasse has meant draining thousands from her personal savings and taking more out from a line of credit to keep the preschools afloat. As of this month, she said the state owes her business more than $300,000 for her Pre-K Counts program.

“Who can carry a program for months with no money?” said Smith. “To not pass a budget that is funding these programs and expect us to cover it this long — it is disgraceful.”

In Philadelphia, some Pre-K Counts slots are managed by the school district, which is already having to borrow up to $1.5 billion to make up for state budget funding.

Tyrone Scott, director of government and external affairs at the Philadelphia-based advocacy organization First Up, said that providers contracting with the district are getting help with costs and are in a more stable financial spot right now.

But for the dozens of preschools who contract directly with the state, providers and advocates say the budget impasse has pushed an already tight business model to the brink — and not even a new public loan program is offering full relief.

Lawmakers propose waiving interest for Pre-K Counts loan program

In the state Capitol, lawmakers appear to be at a standstill on key budget issues, such as funding for schools and Medicaid. Pennsylvania has become the only state in the nation without a finalized state budget for the fiscal year.

Though the Democratic-controlled House passed a new budget Wednesday evening that includes a 5% spending increase, the Republican-controlled Senate has rejected increasing spending and has not voted on the proposal.

State officials have recently offered some support measures, including a new public loan program for Pre-K Counts providers. That program, called the bridge loan, allows providers to take out funds to cover operating expenses as long as they agree to pay the loan back with 4.5% interest within 15 days of state funds being released.

But Scott said the interest rate and tight deadline to pay back the loan has some providers concerned.

“That’s still something that people are kind of wary of,” said Scott. “They want to help kids, they want to serve the families, but they just need the money.”

The Senate Wednesday passed a bill that would enable the treasury to waive interest for early education providers and some other programs that would be eligible for bridge loans. Republican lawmakers have presented it as a solution to the funding crisis that they blame on Democrats.

But some Democratic lawmakers have pushed back against the legislation, saying the treasury does not have authority to create the loan program. The House has not yet voted on the legislation.

In the meantime, some providers say they’re running out of back–up funds.

Earlier this week, Mercedes Fleet, who operates Bright Little Scholars early learning center in Northeast Philadelphia, sent a letter informing parents that if the state budget doesn’t pass by the end of the month, the preschool will have to close its Pre-K Counts classroom until funding is released.

“I can’t go to my landlord and say, ‘Hey, the budget didn’t pass, I can’t pay you money.’” said Fleet. “Can’t expect people to show up and work and not know when they’re going to get paid.”

As for Smith, she said she applied to the bridge loan program on Monday and has not yet heard if she’s been approved. She hopes to get the money to help keep her preschool afloat.

“I do not want to close these classrooms,” said Smith. “I don’t want to do it to the families. The parents depend on us. They need us.”

Nearly every day, she calls lawmakers to ask them to pass the budget and get her and her industry out of this funding mess.

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.

Preliminary data shows Philadelphia students have higher math scores, better attendance

2025-10-09T22:50:12+00:00

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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.

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

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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.

From housing aid to help after ICE raids: How a Philly charter school became a neighborhood lifeline

2025-09-23T14:23:47+00:00

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Colorful star-shaped balloons hung on a kindergarten classroom’s walls at Philadelphia’s Esperanza Academy Charter School on a recent September morning. They marked something special.

“What are the stars for?” Esperanza Academy CEO Evelyn Nuñez asked the excited kindergarteners.

The class had just finished their Star Assessments, a screening tool the city school district uses to monitor student performance. That meant Esperanza broke out the appropriately shaped decorations.

One small child raised his hand to answer, and Nuñez called on him. But the child stayed silent. Beside him, a classmate whispered, “He speaks Spanish.”

Nuñez translated the question, but the child remained quiet. His young classmate added: “Well, he speaks Spanish and English actually.” But on this day, it seemed, the youngster was too nervous to talk.

Making kids comfortable in whatever language they speak, and whatever culture they come from, is key to Esperanza Academy’s approach. On the walls of this kindergarten classroom, the teacher has hung the flags of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to represent the students with connections to those places. Staff spend time exploring the surrounding community as part of teacher training.

For decades, Esperanza Academy has served Philadelphia’s majority-Latino Hunting Park neighborhood. It’s grown from a small charter high school to a K-12 institution that serves more than 2,000 kids across three nearby buildings. Though any family in Philadelphia can apply to attend, the majority of students live within three miles of the school and around 90% of students are Hispanic or Latino, according to Nuñez and district data.

As Philadelphia’s Latino population grows and many Latino families say they feel left out of the district, Esperanza Academy has been in an unusually advantageous position to support those communities. Though it manages its own finances and operations, it’s part of the larger Esperanza organization, a 40-year-old faith-based organization that provides housing assistance, workforce development programming, legal services, and more in Hunting Park.

That approach, according to school officials, has made it much easier for the school to build trust and respond quickly to students’ and community needs.

Star-shaped balloons hang on the wall of a kindergarten classroom at Esperanza Academy Charter School in Philadelphia’s Hunting Park neighborhood.

When families need help with housing, Esperanza has resources for them. When a parent loses a job, Esperanza can help them train for a new one.

And in January, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided a car wash a few blocks away from the school right at dismissal time, arresting several workers, Esperanza made legal resources quickly available.

“It’s a full service situation,” said Jeana Davis, the school’s elementary school principal. “Families, community — you’re all in.”’

As the district grapples with how to serve immigrant families and Spanish-speaking students, Esperanza’s model is one example of how schools can support a community in difficult moments as well as celebratory ones.

Esperanza aims to build an ‘opportunity community’

The area around Esperanza Academy includes the second-poorest ZIP code in Philadelphia, with more than 40% of families there living in poverty, according to census data.

The aim of Esperanza, the school’s Evangelical parent organization, is to build an “opportunity community,” according to the organization’s founder, Rev. Luis Cortés Jr. That means showing residents that “you don’t have to be wealthy to have a good life,” he said.

Its academic programs are integrated into its network of resources, said Cortés. Along with Esperanza Academy, the organization runs a cyber charter school and a Christian college program.

There are other schools in the city attempting to provide similar wraparound support for families. The city’s community schools initiative, begun under former Mayor Jim Kenney, has some similarities. But at Esperanza, this approach has been crucial to the school since its founding in 2000.

“We’re far ahead, because we’ve been able to figure out how to integrate and still keep the walls,” Cortés said.

The other branches of Esperanza table at back-to-school nights and sometimes give presentations at the school’s regular family engagement nights. The school also trains neighborhood residents to work in the cafeteria and manage operations at its campuses.

Esperanza officials say these community connections contribute to strong student achievement. During the 2023-2024 school year, the most recent year of available data, 92% of Esperanza Academy’s high school seniors graduated, and nearly half attended college — significantly higher rates than at the traditional public school just a block away, Thomas A. Edison High School. Student achievement on state tests was fairly similar for both schools.

Researchers have examined similar models in studies on community schools, a broad term that typically refers to schools that partner with families and community organizations to provide resources beyond the classroom.

Anna Maier, a researcher at the Learning Policy Institute, said those studies show the approach is linked to better attendance and higher test scores, and could help improve achievement for students who might need it the most.

“We’re seeing that historically underserved student groups are benefiting the most,” said Maier.

As Esperanza has expanded, it’s unclear whether that growth has directly affected enrollment at nearby schools.

This year, as part of the opening of its new elementary school building, it enrolled 750 more students, as approved by its charter agreement with the district, said Nuñez. Meanwhile, Edison operates in a half-empty building, and enrollment at the nearby Alexander K. McClure Elementary has declined 20% in the past three years.

But there are still 4,000 families on Esperanza’s waitlist, Nuñez added.

Esperanza Academy Charter School's new elementary school building opened in August, enabling the school to enroll 750 more students.

For those families who send their children to Esperanza, the ICE raid at the start of 2025 tested the school and the people who work there.

“Families were calling, so we had to respond very quickly,” said Nuñez.

The school’s reaction was swift. School officials contacted their counterparts at Esperanza Immigration Legal Services and created resources for families to know their rights and to do if ICE agents came to the door.

Esperanza also printed thousands of special editions of Impacto, the newspaper it runs, to distribute with information about immigrant rights.

The raid shook many families and staff at the school, said Davis, the elementary school principal. Administrators referred families to Esperanza Immigration Legal Services, where they could get more help. The school also hosted training for teachers and spoke to students about what their rights are as well.

“The goal is to always keep the barriers away from the teacher so that you can just do the job,” said Davis, the elementary school principal. “That was really important to communicate: that we would carry that stress for them, that they did not need to carry that.”

To Nuñez, who spent decades working at the Philadelphia school district before joining Esperanza last year, the longstanding partnership the school has with Esperanza’s other programs has been invaluable.

But she said she also understands why it may not work for other schools to adopt a similar model. In many ways, the decades Esperanza has spent in Hunting Park building trust and community connection have equipped the organization — and through it the school — to meet this moment, she said.

“Principals in other traditional schools and charters that I’ve worked with, they have to be extra intentional to go out and develop these partnerships,” said Nuñez. “But we don’t have to do that here — it already exists.”

Correction: Sept. 23, 2025: A previous version of this story misstated which group runs the cyber charter school and college program. Esperanza runs those programs separately from Esperanza Academy.

How bad are Pennsylvania’s school building problems? State officials say they don’t know.

2025-09-22T19:52:29+00:00

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As Philadelphia school officials move closer to closing schools in part to address urgent facilities needs, not even state officials know the depth of the state’s school building problem.

Now, several state Democratic lawmakers are pushing to pass a bill that would require the state to create an inventory of school facilities data to document building conditions.

“We need to identify the problem,” said Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler at a hearing about the proposed legislation Monday in South Philadelphia. “The current state of school facilities presents both a crisis of education and a public health crisis.”

Though individual districts, including Philadelphia, have gathered some data about their schools’ facilities needs, statewide information about which schools are in greatest need of repairs because of broken infrastructure, environmental hazards, and outdated technology remains severely lacking.

Jessica Sites, director of the bureau of financial operations at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said it’s obvious to the department that there are severe building problems in districts across Pennsylvania.

During several hearings over the state’s school funding formula, which a judge ruled in 2023 was unconstitutional, Pennsylvanians raised grave concerns about schools with mold, asbestos, and crumbling walls. Concerns about asbestos exposure have closed several Philly schools in recent years, and the district’s approach to the issue recently drew the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice.

But the state does not have information on each school’s square footage, let alone comprehensive information on the costs of maintenance or repairs.

“We can’t quantify it well enough — I think that’s the problem,” said Sites. “What we are being is reactive to some of these issues. We are not being proactive.”

Small and inexpensive building issues, like a small leak, can transform into a severe and expensive problem without proactive maintenance, said Jerry Roseman, director of environmental science at the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

He urged officials at Monday’s hearing to support districts in collecting better building data so they can make small repairs before they become costly, full-building issues.

The legislation would require school districts to submit detailed information about their facilities to the department every three years, including building square footage, age, and brief descriptions of any major renovations. It would also require districts to provide plans on how they would modernize school buildings.

The legislation states the department would provide technical assistance to districts to repair infrastructure when funding is available. It would also support schools in securing additional federal, state, and local funding for repairs.

LeShawna Coleman, chief of staff at the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said the union supports the legislation as long as it’s accompanied by state funding.

“Without a dedicated and recurring appropriation in the state budget, this initiative will result in an unfunded mandate,” said Coleman.

Philadelphia school district releases data that will inform school closures

2025-09-10T19:42:22+00:00

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The Philadelphia school district released a long-awaited data repository Wednesday that officials say will help guide decisions about which schools it will close and which ones it will invest in.

But for those waiting for concrete information on how school data will inform the district’s facilities plan — and which schools it will shutter — details remain scant.

The data website includes information on school enrollment and capacity, and gives schools utilization scores from “severely underutilized” to “severely overcrowded.” It also scores schools on a 100-point scale for building condition, neighborhood vulnerability, and whether a school’s space meets the needs of students. Schools receive ratings per category between “unsatisfactory” and “excellent” based on those scores.

However, the calculations behind those scores are unclear. If a school’s building quality is rated as “poor,” that means a building requires “moderate repairs,” according to the district’s data FAQ. But that could be because of a lack of adequate air conditioning, or the presence of toxic materials like friable asbestos or lead. Or it could mean the building’s electrical system is outdated.

The data shows the scope of many schools’ problems. Forty buildings are rated as having an “unsatisfactory” building condition. Fifty-five are enrolled at less than 50% capacity.

District officials say an “unsatisfactory” score does not mean a school will close, but that instead it will help officials understand different needs.

“This is the first time that we have one repository with all of our data that informs what the needs are,” said Deputy Superintendent Oz Hill. “It really paints a very broad and comprehensive picture, or mosaic, of what the school’s needs are, where we’ve been making investments, and how we move forward with this process.”

On mobile devices, the dashboard was difficult to view when it launched; graphics often overlapped, for example.

Throughout the facilities planning process, which began in 2022, Superintendent Tony Watlington has repeated that the aim of the facilities plan is to provide more resources and better opportunities to all public school students. The data, he said, will help ensure the district spends its limited resources well. He also said he can’t provide further details about how the district weighs different factors.

“We’ve got to better utilize our budgets, our people, our buildings, all of our resources in service of providing more high quality academic and extracurricular programming across all the neighborhoods of Philadelphia,” Watlington told reporters in a briefing before the data release. “That’s what this is about.”

The district began sharing initial data during more than a dozen community engagement meetings over the summer at schools across the city. Many educators and families Chalkbeat spoke with said they appreciated learning more about the process. But some voiced concerns that the district’s data did not accurately reflect their schools.

District officials said they met with principals over the summer and walked through dozens of schools to ensure the data is accurate. Some updates are now apparent.

At a community meeting over the summer, for example, the district’s handouts showed that Feltonville Arts & Science middle school was at 62% utilization, with 542 students enrolled in a building meant for 874. But many educators connected with the school said that did not seem accurate. In the new data release, Feltonville Arts & Science’s capacity is listed as 756, and its utilization score is 72%.

District officials say they plan to host more engagement sessions this fall, and have met with principals to explain how they can share information with families.

Time is limited. Watlington said the district still plans to share recommendations for which schools to close, colocate, repurpose, and modernize to the Board of Education this fall. They plan for the board to vote on the recommendations by the end of the year and roll out changes starting next school year. Some recommendations, he said, will be phased in over a longer term.

Still, Watlington said, “there are no fixed decisions at this point.”

Philadelphia teachers union ratifies new contract that gives teachers raises, parental leave

2025-08-29T01:28:27+00:00

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Members of the Philadelphia teachers union voted to ratify the union’s new contract with the school district Thursday that includes annual 3% raises for three years and a $1,400 bonus for all members.

The vote, which comes days before the union’s current contract expires, puts an end to concerns that a teachers strike could disrupt the beginning of the school year. The union’s nearly 14,000 members include teachers, paraprofessionals, counselors, school nurses, and other school staff.

“Our goal for this collective bargaining agreement was really to set a floor for the future and build on the educational program for our members and for the children of the city of Philadelphia going forward,” said Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

Steinberg said Thursday that about 4,500 members voted to ratify the three-year contract, or about 70% of all votes.

Along with raises, the contract ends the district’s controversial leave policy, often referred to as 3-5-7-9, that penalized teachers for taking sick leave. The new contract will include a new set of absence guidelines that “significantly improves” that policy, Steinberg said. A copy of the contract, along with the absence policy, was not made available to the press Thursday evening.

“The number one request from them was, I want to be able to use my 10 sick days without any consequence of discipline,” said Steinberg. “Now they can.”

The contract also introduces five weeks of paid parental leave for all new parents. Previously, teachers planning to take parental leave had to use sick time or take unpaid leave.

Teachers in Philadelphia’s public schools earned on average $85,719 last school year, according to state data. But some other school staff made considerably less, with paraprofessionals’ salary starting at $24,618 and secretaries’ starting at $27,669 for a 10-month school year, according to the union’s previous salary bands.

The new contract provides additional benefits to many members in those positions, including additional raises for some paraprofessionals and secretaries. It also creates limits on the hours paraprofessionals can work.

School district officials welcomed the contract when they announced the tentative agreement Sunday.

“We are pleased that we have reached a tentative three year agreement that both honors the hard work of our educators and maintains our record of strong financial stewardship,” Superintendent Tony Watlington said in a statement.

The school district will have to pay for teachers’ raises and other benefits while its own funding remains in limbo. State lawmakers have not yet finalized a state budget, which was due two months ago, leaving districts across the state uncertain about how much funding they will receive.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed a budget that would include more money for Philadelphia’s schools, partially in response to a 2023 court decision that the state’s school funding system was unconstitutional because it left poorer districts underfunded. But some Republican lawmakers have resisted providing additional funding to the state’s largest district.

The delayed budget also means that school districts have not received expected payments from the state. The Philadelphia school district is waiting on around $465 million in expected payments, according to an analysis by the Pennsylvania State Education Association, a statewide education union.

Philadelphia says SEPTA will restore some transit service for students

2025-08-28T22:29:03+00:00

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The city of Philadelphia and the regional public transit system SEPTA plan to restore certain bus lines that serve schools after they were eliminated as part of sweeping transit cuts implemented earlier this week.

In a press release Thursday, the city said that SEPTA agreed “in concept” to dedicate a portion of the $135 million transit subsidy the city pays the transit authority to restore priority bus lines for students by mid-September.

The city did not provide further details about the nature of the agreement.

The move comes after an outcry from transit advocates and educators across the city, who worried SEPTA’s 20% service cuts would make it impossible for students and teachers to get to school on time.

On the first day of school Monday, Superintendent Tony Watlington said he had heard from one principal that attendance was lower than expected following the transit cuts.

Watlington said in a Thursday statement he was “elated” about the deal between SEPTA and Mayor Cherelle Parker’s office. After looking at school attendance figures for the first three days back compared with last year, Watlington said he found that 63% of district schools showed an increase in late arrivals and 54% reported an increase in student absences.

“We’re optimistic that the restoration of priority routes will enable more students to attend school and accelerate academic achievement,” Watlington said.

“We are proud that our City teams moved quickly with SEPTA to find a way to restore transit services in the areas where students are most affected by the cutbacks that started on the first day of school this week,” Parker said in a statement. “Making sure that all of our city’s children and youth can get to school on time and safely is one of our top priorities.”

The restored services are:

Bus 84.
Bus 88.
Bus 452.
Bus 461.
Bus 462.
Bus 476.
Bus 478.
Bus 484.
Bus 31 – service will be restored from Overbrook Park to 63rd and Market St.

The city announced service will also be “augmented” on Sept. 2 on other routes that serve students, but did not elaborate. Those routes are:

Bus 14.
Bus 20.
Bus 23.
Bus 26.
Bus 47.
Bus 63.
Bus 67.
Bus 70.
Bus 82.
Trolley T2.
Trolley T5.

The city said schedules for the restored routes will be published “later in the month.”

This story has been updated to include attendance figures and comment from Superintendent Tony Watlington.

Correction: Aug. 29, 2025: Due to inaccurate information provided by Mayor Cherelle Parker’s office, an earlier version of this story misstated when some bus routes would be restored.

Amid legal battle to stay open, Memphis Street Academy charter school welcomes back students

2025-08-26T21:29:12+00:00

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The leaders of Memphis Street Academy at J.P. Jones, the Philadelphia charter school that a federal judge ordered to close last month, want one thing to be clear: The school is open.

The school formally appealed a court ruling last week that the school must surrender its charter for failing to meet certain academic standards. Days later, it welcomed students and families back to campus to hand out backpacks before the first day of school.

“We keep on surviving, because that’s what we do,” said Memphis Street Principal Steven Bilski as students lined up for free pizza and water ice at last week’s back-to-school event. “Our kids need it.”

Bilski and other leaders at the American Paradigm School charter network, which runs the school, have been fighting to keep it open since 2022, when district leaders kicked off a process to close the school.

In court, district lawyers have argued the school must close because it failed to meet certain academic standards, even after it had pledged to do so. Those conditions included requiring the school’s state test results to exceed those from similar schools in some subjects, and to raise its math proficiency rate to above 10% — a score it still has not achieved.

But the school alleges the framework the district used to evaluate its performance discriminates against schools that educate a high proportion of Black and Hispanic students.

The school’s appeal in its federal case likely means there will be no answer soon about what happens to the future of Memphis Street Academy.

In the meantime, school leaders and supporters say that the drawn out legal process has created challenges of its own — like trying to retain staff and reminding families that the school is open, even though they may have seen reports that a judge ordered the school to close.

“It starts a whole myriad of other problems,” said Councilmember Jim Harrity, who lives close to the Port Richmond neighborhood where Memphis Street Academy is based and has been a vocal supporter of the school. “And we don’t need any other problems for these kids.”

Memphis Street Academy was meant to excel academically

The school’s building was built in the 1920s and used to be home to John Paul Jones Junior High School. But the district turned it over to American Paradigm Schools in 2012 as part of its “Renaissance” initiative, which was meant to turn around failing schools.

“Nobody else wanted Memphis Street at that time,” said Ashley Redfearn, the charter network’s CEO. “It’s not like everyone was like knocking each other down to come here.”

That may have been because of the building’s dilapidated state. Annette Thomas, who runs a janitorial and maintenance company that contracted with Memphis Street Academy, said it took three months of “constant hard work” to clean up the building from the condition the district had left it in. She remembers there were rat droppings on window sills and urine on the bathroom floors.

Now, the school appears clean and well-maintained. It enrolls nearly 500 middle school students in grades 5-8, 90% of whom come from the surrounding neighborhoods.

But academically, the school has struggled. During the most recent round of state tests from this spring, 15% of students achieved proficiency in English language arts and 4% did so in math, Bilski said during a recent board meeting.

Those scores are significantly lower than the district’s most recent numbers, and lower than Memphis Street Academy’s results when the district moved to close it in 2022. The school’s test scores are also lower than nearby Richmond Elementary School, which funnels many students to Memphis Street Academy.

Bilski and other school leaders said the test results don’t capture students’ full experiences or the value the school provides outside of the classroom, including health and wellness services and a recently opened food pantry for the surrounding community.

Though Bilski said he is focused on improving the school’s academic performance, he said he is also conscious that many students have difficult home lives and need more than just academic support to thrive.

“They come through a pretty rough neighborhood, they come across a lot of trauma,” Bilski said. “They take that stuff into school, and it makes learning that much more difficult, so we do have to meet those needs.”

Memphis Street leaders want ‘stable’ environment for students

In court, the school alleges the framework the district’s Charter School Office uses to evaluate charter school performance is biased because it is “heavily weighted” by academic performance measures “for which Hispanic and African American students materially underperform other student groups.”

But last month, U.S. District Judge Chad Kenney of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania opposed that claim.

“Instead of uplifting its students, MSA blames their demographic backgrounds for its own shortcomings,” Kenney wrote in his decision ordering the school to close. “These excuses deprive MSA’s students of the education they deserve.”

By appealing that ruling, the school aims to continue to be “a stable force” for the neighborhood, said Redfearn.

Redfearn said she was not expecting the ruling in the case to come down last month, just as school leaders were preparing for the new school year and finalizing hiring new staff. The court order complicated that process.

“We went into mode of just, let’s get things ready for the kids,” said Redfearn. “Because at the end of the day, they’re going to come here.”

Last week, just days before school started, a large sign declaring “MSA is Growing!” hung on the sidewalk fence outside the school. Pop music blasted as kids danced around. A gym teacher dressed up in a wildcat costume waved to new and old students.

Some parents at the back-to-school event said they hadn’t heard of the legal case. But others said the reports they had seen that the school was ordered to close had been unsettling.

“Is it really closing though?” asked Tanya Griffin, who lives down the street from Memphis Street Academy and takes care of her niece and nephew, who both attended the school. Her niece graduated, and her nephew is entering eighth grade.

She said her nephew likes his teachers and his classes. The food is good, she said, and the health services it provides are useful. She added that Memphis Street Academy has been a resource for the entire neighborhood, many of whom were students in the same building before it became a charter school.

“I don’t want it to close,” said Griffin. “A lot of neighborhood kids go here, a lot of parents enjoy it.”

On Philly’s first day of school, students and educators feel the strain of SEPTA cuts

2025-08-25T18:06:33+00:00

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Philadelphia high school seniors Aster Chau and Joey Zhou stuck to a routine for the last year to make their more than an hour-long commute to school on SEPTA more bearable.

Each morning, they would find each other on board the train that goes from near their homes far northeast from the city center to Academy at Palumbo nearly 17 miles away in South Philly. “That’s how our friendship bloomed and blossomed,” Chau said.

But in the early morning hours of the first day of school this year, they each braced for a commute that had, overnight, gotten trickier. Their train was about to come less frequently. Their bus would be overcrowded. And the whole commute was about to be less reliable.

“If you’re going to be late, you’re like two hours late, and then there’s just nothing you can do about it,” Zhou said Monday.

Aster Chau walks through a regional rail train on the first day of school in Philadelphia. It usually takes her a little more than an hour to get to school.

This year’s first day of school for Chau, Zhou, and Philadelphia’s nearly 118,000 district students came one day after the region’s public transit system began implementing 20% service cuts due to a funding crisis that state lawmakers have not addressed.

Transit officials have said for weeks that they expected the cuts to leave students and educators who rely on SEPTA with longer and more crowded commutes.

But the school district has not stepped in with an alternative or a plan. Though the district provides bus transportation to elementary school students and students with disabilities, most middle and high school students are expected to take SEPTA if they need to commute to school.

By the end of the school day Monday, Superintendent Tony Watlington said he had already heard from at least one principal that attendance was lower than expected on the first day of school.

At a school board meeting last week, Watlington told parents and students to “Google SEPTA cuts” to find information about routes and to call their principal with any concerns. He also recommended parents apply for the district’s program that could reimburse them for driving eligible children to and from school, although that is mostly reserved for elementary school students.

Deputy Superintendent Oz Hill later sent a message to parents saying that the district understands that the service cuts could present a hardship to staff and families.

“Thousands of students and hundreds of employees ride SEPTA to school and work every day,” Hill said. “As a District, we are hoping that SEPTA receives adequate funding to restore full service.”

A student stands on the platform of the Philmont rail station on the first day of school. Thousands of Philadelphia students rely on SEPTA to get to school.

But for Philly students and educators, that hope provides little relief. Chau and Zhou said along with college applications and getting through AP classes, they’re preparing to shoulder more transit stress this year too.

“It’s just very frustrating at times,” said Chau. “There’s already a lot going on in our lives, and to have to worry about getting to school on top of that is, like, pushing it.”

Families fear transit cuts will make students late

Chalkbeat asked students and educators across the city about how the SEPTA cuts were affecting them, and heard from dozens of students and parents who shared concerns about missing class, losing extracurricular opportunities, and disincentivizing kids from going to school in the first place.

“I’m honestly worried about how I’m going to be able to get to school,” said Nevaeh Martin, 17, a senior at Central High School.

Usually, Martin’s commute from North Philadelphia takes around 45 minutes — as long as the 54 bus that comes near her house arrives on time. But even before the cuts, the bus was unpredictable. Sometimes, she would have to walk for 30 minutes to get to the train station.

Now, like most bus routes in the city, the 54’s service has been reduced by 20%. Martin said that makes her worried that the 6:50 a.m. bus she usually catches might not show up at all.

“If that bus doesn’t come, or a bus earlier doesn’t come, then basically I’ll be late to school,” she said.

Aster Chau and Joey Zhou walk past a school bus during their commute.

Northeast Philadelphia, where there is limited public transportation to begin with, has been hit hardest by the transit cuts. Many students in those neighborhoods who take SEPTA to school will have to walk further, wait longer, or find an alternative way to get to school.

Ella Nguyen, 17, who attends Northeast High School, said she usually takes the bus that goes near her house to school. But now, she’s working on getting her driver’s license so she can borrow one of her family member’s cars to get to school.

“I really didn’t want to drive, because I didn’t see a purpose to it since I relied on SEPTA,” Nguyen said. “But now it’s like, I really hate taking crowded buses. I’m like, wow, I should really learn how to drive for this.”

Still, for many students, there’s no alternative available.

Standing on the platform at Philmont regional rail stop on Monday morning, Chau waved hello to other students readying for their commute to the first day of school. Though many, including Chau, get a ride to the station, they must make their own way into the city for school.

Philadelphia high school senior Aster Chau relies on SEPTA to get to school each day. She says she worries delays will make her late this year.

When the train pulled into the station just before 7 a.m., it was already packed with commuters. Students found empty seats in the quiet car, where their chatter was quickly shushed by adults riding the train to work.

Zhou got on at the next stop and slid in next to Chau. They whispered and used their phones for the rest of the 30-minute ride to the Jefferson train station. There, they tried to catch the 45 bus, but it pulled away right as they got out onto the street. That meant they had to walk the final mile to school.

“We dread it,” said Zhou, adding that she got dinged for being late countless times last year because the bus would pass them.

But Chau said she doesn’t mind the walk, especially compared with trying to squeeze onto a crowded bus. And this way, the teenagers get to hang out a bit longer before the school day begins.

Joey Zhou stops to tie her shoe during her commute to school.

Teachers say the district has not provided guidance

Though the SEPTA cuts have loomed for weeks, several teachers Chalkbeat spoke with said they worried the district had no thorough plan in place to support students and educators navigate transportation delays on the first day of school.

“I received no communication as a teacher from the district about the potential of SEPTA cuts and how that can affect attendance and tardiness,” said Cady Zuvich, a second grade teacher at Ziegler Elementary School.

Zuvich said she worried for students she knew who had graduated and were starting middle school this year, many of whom would have to consistently take SEPTA to school for the first time. Some of those students may expect a bus to show up that was part of the cuts, leaving them waiting and confused, she said.

Zuvich said she had concerns about her own commute too. Like many Philadelphia teachers, she takes SEPTA to get to work. But delays have already made her late in the past. She said the further cuts would likely make those problems even more frequent.

Commuters wait on a platform at Jefferson Station, while a regional rail train runs 39 minutes behind schedule.

Thomas Quinn, who teaches civics at Central High School, said he worries the transit cuts will exacerbate inequities in the city, and make it even more difficult for families who live in underserved neighborhoods to get to school.

He said he plans to use SEPTA’s transit funding crisis as a teaching moment, to explain to students how government action — and inaction — affects their everyday lives.

“It’s something we just need to make sure we’re speaking up about, helping students understand the stakes and how this came to be,” said Quinn. “And then make sure they vote in November.”

Christina Puntel, a Spanish teacher at Walter B. Saul High School, said she wished school officials had been more proactive in providing resources and alternatives to families who rely on SEPTA.

“I think if the district spent a minute listening to parents and children, then we would have at least some tenable way through this,” Puntel said.

As for Chau and Zhou, the students hope their teachers will be understanding this year when SEPTA makes them late. But more than that, they hope the transit system will improve and get the funding it needs to reverse the cuts.

Joey Zhou and Aster Chau walk the final mile to school from the regional rail station in Center City Philadelphia.

Next week, when the full extent of the first round of SEPTA cuts kick in and regional rail schedules change, the only train that will get them to school on time will leave at 6:24 a.m. — half an hour earlier than their already-early morning commute.

“I just feel like SEPTA is so important to everybody in Philly, but especially for students,” said Zhou. “It’s just going to make everything harder.”

This story has been updated with additional information from Superintendent Tony Watlington.

Philadelphia’s Frankford High School reopens after $30 million asbestos remediation project

2025-08-18T22:08:17+00:00

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The Philadelphia school district reopened Frankford High School on Monday after completing a nearly $30 million renovation to remediate asbestos that had posed a health risk to staff and students.

The renovations, which included adding air conditioning and new lighting, kept the school closed for more than two years. The building’s reopening marks a big step for the district’s aim to modernize its aging infrastructure — and shows the great cost of maintaining buildings built more than a century ago.

The district has closed several schools in recent years due to concerns over exposure to asbestos. In June, the U.S. Department of Justice announced criminal charges against the district for failing to follow laws that require timely asbestos inspections between 2015 and 2023. The district reached an agreement with the Justice Department to avoid prosecution.

“We are reopening possibilities and opportunities for our students and our educators,” Board of Education President Reginald Streater told an audience of Frankford educators in the school’s refurbished auditorium on Monday. “When we open the doors this fall, our students return to a school that is safe, welcoming and healthy.”

In April 2023, inspectors found that asbestos had been flaking from the walls and ceiling of the 115-year-old Frankford High School building, posing a health risk to staff and students. Exposure to asbestos is associated with many health concerns, including lung cancer.

After the discovery, students attended class virtually through the end of the school year. For the following two school years, ninth graders attended class at nearby Roberto Clemente Middle School. Older students were restricted to part of the school called the “annex,” which was built in the 1950s.

“It was very stressful, and it was a little sad, just to see that we were closed because of the asbestos,” said physical education teacher Terry Ward. “But now to see it opening is amazing.”

Ward, who graduated from Frankford in the 1980s, said the school feels transformed from when she was a student. The building has freshly painted walls, new windows, refurbished floors, and new LED lighting. The district also installed more than 80 new air conditioning units and dozens of new Smartboards. Some rooms, like the cafeteria, have gotten new furniture as well.

Still, pieces of the school’s history remain. Stained glass windows circle the school’s auditorium, and old paintings line part of the first floor hallway.

When classes start next week, Ward will be teaching in the school’s third-floor gym. She said she remembers how hot the room would get during basketball practice when she was a student, with no cooling and windows that wouldn’t open. But with the new air conditioning, she said she looks forward to spending the school year teaching in the space.

“The kids’ eyes are going to be bright,” said Ward. “It brightens the community.”

District agrees to asbestos inspections every 6 months

The reopening of Frankford High School required the installation of wall and ceiling paneling throughout the building to protect the plaster beneath. In some areas, that plaster contains asbestos, which is only safe when it’s contained.

The district’s agreement with the Justice Department includes the district’s commitment to inspect buildings every six months and regularly repair any damage.

Adam Anderson, who teaches media and television classes at Frankford, has worked for the school since 2009. He said he’s aware that means he may have been exposed to asbestos particles during the years before the school closed, and has even talked to his doctor about it. But for now, he said, he’s not scared.

“Is it something that I’m gonna monitor for the rest of my life? Sure,” said Anderson. “Is it something that I’m thinking about at this moment? No, because I’m kind of just excited to be back in the building.”

To Anderson, the asbestos remediation has brought other benefits too. He used to worry about the creaky floorboards in his classroom, which would often disrupt students during recording sessions. But with refurbished floors, the classroom stays quiet.

The new space, he said, “actually represents what our students can do.”

After school officials cut a ribbon in front of the school’s main doors Monday, Frankford staff returned to their work of readying the school to welcome students on the first day of class Aug. 25. In an office upstairs, Yanelle Boyd, a student climate support staffer at the school, said one of her aims for the school year is to help infuse the school’s spirit into the renovated building.

Boyd graduated from Frankford in 2017, and remembers the hallways covered in student murals and trophies. Though the district says those items have mostly been preserved, they are no longer on prominent display.

“We have to make new memories — and I’m excited to make those new memories,” Boyd said.

Will SEPTA cuts derail your school commute? Tell us about it.

2025-08-15T15:51:45+00:00

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Thousands of Philadelphia students and educators will experience longer and more crowded commutes on the first day of school as SEPTA, the local transit agency, says it plans to move forward with cutting service by 20%.

Those cuts include the cancellation of several bus lines in the transit authority’s 400-series, which specifically serves schools at the beginning and end of the school day. Many students who rely on standard buses or subway lines will also need to walk farther or wait longer for transit, according to SEPTA officials.

The transit authority had been banking on more funding from the state to forestall the service cuts. But with legislators weeks late on a budget, transit officials have said that cuts are unavoidable and will begin on Aug. 24, the day before school starts.

District officials have said they are monitoring SEPTA’s budget, but have not announced any additional transit options for students who take public transit to school.

The district provides yellow school bus transportation for elementary school students and some students with disabilities. But it expects most middle and high school students who live at least 1.5 miles from their schools to take SEPTA. The district provides free fare cards to eligible students.

Chalkbeat has spoken to some educators and students who say they’re worried about how the cuts could make getting to school on time much more challenging, especially for families travelling a long distance or for students who drop off their siblings before class.

We want to understand how these cuts will affect students and educators across the city. Let us know how your commute is changing, and anything you’re worried about when it comes to getting to school on time.

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More Philadelphia high schoolers who plan to go to college don’t matriculate

2025-08-12T16:24:02+00:00

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At the end of each school year, school officials in Philadelphia ask graduating seniors what they plan to do after high school.

Thousands report that they plan to go to college.

But when the fall rolls around, hundreds of those students do not end up matriculating in a postsecondary program, according to a new report from the School District of Philadelphia.

District data shows that the phenomenon, called “summer melt,” has increased in recent years. In the Class of 2024, 40% of students who initially planned to go to college did not follow through on their plans, according to the district’s research, marking an increase of 10 percentage points from 2016.

In the report, district researchers say that’s important information for guidance counselors, school leaders, and college readiness partners to be aware of as they support students in completing tasks required for college matriculation.

But a major challenge, according to some advocates, is that the requirements and costs of matriculation can overwhelm students over the summer when they lose many of their school-based supports.

“There’s just so many young people that say, ‘This is way too much work,’ and it is … it’s an absurd amount of work,” said Bryan DeFoney, vice president of programs at the Philadelphia Education Fund. “If you have never navigated this, it feels like a Herculean task for a young person to complete.”

Around 44% of Philadelphia high school seniors in the Class of 2024 matriculated at a postsecondary institution last fall, according to district data.

DeFoney oversees federally funded programs in several public Philadelphia high schools that help support students to graduate and access postsecondary education. In his work with teens, he said he’s seen students who are initially interested in attaining a degree after high school get frustrated by the bureaucratic hoops they must jump through over the summer, or choose instead to work fulltime.

Problems with the financial aid system during the past two years have added to those challenges, DeFoney said. Since the pandemic, he said he has also noticed fewer students are interested in going to college.

“The entire tone around the college-going culture has just shifted, because school became optional for a lot of young people,” DeFoney said. “Part of our work is we try to help families and students understand why that investment is still worth it.”

The Philadelphia district’s analysis found that students who were male, English learners, or receiving special education services were more likely not to go to college after graduation even though they said they intended to.

Students who intended to matriculate at a four-year college were consistently more likely to matriculate than those intending to attend community colleges or other two-year institutions.

Nationally, between 10% and 40% of students who aim to enroll in college do not immediately do so after graduation, according to research from the Harvard Center for Education Policy Research.

Looming SEPTA cuts could mean many Philly kids miss class as lawmakers bicker over funding

2025-08-11T19:42:36+00:00

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Major transit cuts are poised to derail Philadelphia’s start of the school year as state lawmakers squabble over funding for SEPTA, which more than 21,000 Philadelphia students use to get to school.

On Monday, the House passed a bill that included funding for the transit system, as well as new money for roads and bridges. But Senate Republicans have rejected the past four versions of the funding package that would include investments in SEPTA.

If the transit authority does not secure more funding by Thursday, massive system-wide cuts at the beginning of the school year are unavoidable, SEPTA officials have said.

“When things are down to the wire, I’m just so concerned about how this will affect our students and our families,” said Bianca Gillis, principal of Baldi Middle School in Northeast Philadelphia.

Baldi is one of the schools slated to be most affected by the potential cuts, with four bus lines that serve the 1,500-student middle school scheduled to be discontinued in the coming months unless lawmakers strike a funding deal. Three of them are part of the SEPTA’s 400-series lines, which specifically serve schools at the beginning and end of the school day.

Gillis said she worries that losing those buses could lead to students being late for class and increased absenteeism.

“It would just create unreasonable demands on children with those kind of necessary pivots that families would have to make,” Gillis said. “So I hope they come to a decision before the first day of school.

Students in Northeast Philadelphia will be affected most by the cuts. They will have to wait longer for transportation and change buses more frequently to get to school, SEPTA officials have said.

But no part of the city will be immune, according to SEPTA officials, with longer wait times and more crowding expected throughout the transit system that provides key transportation services for students.

Though the district provides school buses to elementary school students and some students with disabilities, most students in grades six and up are expected to walk or use public transportation to get to school. The school district provides students who live at least 1.5 miles from their school with free SEPTA cards to pay for the transportation.

A district spokesperson said district officials are monitoring the budget negotiations and SEPTA’s plans. In documents shared before a June school board meeting, district officials acknowledged that transit cuts could affect on-time school attendance and limit access to after-school programs.

During a virtual information session organized by the school district in late July, SEPTA Chief Planning and Strategy Officer Jodie Holton told educators that the transit authority is working with lawmakers to secure more funding.

“We have hope that the state will pass a budget, and I know the school district is anxiously awaiting that as well,” Holton said. “We have hope that funding for transit will be included.”

The transit authority has been planning for two separate scenarios. In one, it does not receive more state funding and begins a 20% service cut across the system. In another, it can continue its service without changes. SEPTA is also raising fare costs by around 20% on Sept. 1.

The service cuts are scheduled to begin on Aug. 24, but for planning purposes, SEPTA officials have said they need confirmation of funding by Aug. 14. Without additional money, the transit authority will have to start service cuts that could take months to reverse even if funding does eventually come in.

Over the weekend, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro called on lawmakers to pass the transit budget immediately.

“Every day, hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians rely on SEPTA to get to work, take their kids to school, and keep their lives moving,” Shapiro said in a statement. “We need long-term, recurring funding for SEPTA and for every transit agency in our Commonwealth — and the time to act is right now.”

The district is still hiring bus drivers for school bus transportation for elementary school students. Families eligible for school bus services may apply to the district’s parent flat rate program that pays eligible families $300 per month to drive their children to school.

However, the majority of middle and high school students who commute to school will still be expected to take SEPTA on Aug. 25, the district’s first day of school.

Pennsylvania families struggle to feed kids due to SUN Bucks benefit delay

2025-07-31T20:28:39+00:00

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Families across Pennsylvania are still waiting on money meant to help pay for kids’ meals while school is out as the state says it is experiencing “technical difficulties” distributing the funds.

The federally funded SUN Bucks program provides eligible families with $40 per summer month for each child, beginning in June and ending in August. An announcement last week from Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration said 1.3 million children are expected to qualify for the benefit this summer.

The program website initially said that the state would begin issuing the benefit in mid-July, and that families could expect to receive the funds by the end of the month.

But with the new school year just weeks away, families have yet to receive those dollars.

The delay has left some parents scrambling to find money and resources to feed their kids, many of whom would usually get meals at school during the school year.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Human Services said the delay was caused by technical difficulties processing student data, which is necessary to determine whether families are automatically eligible for the benefit. The department discovered the problem when testing the system ahead of its planned benefit rollout in July.

The spokesperson said staff have worked to resolve the issue and are now aiming to begin payments starting the week of Aug. 4. As of Thursday, the DHS website said families should expect to receive their funds in mid-August.

Shaquana Sutton, a mom of four who lives in North Philadelphia, said she has had to rely on help from family while she waits for the SUN Bucks.

“I was counting on mid-July, and it never came,” said Sutton. “The kids go back to school August the 25th. You know, they’ll be back in school by time the SUN Bucks come.”

The SUN Bucks program launched last summer with many delays nationwide, including in Pennsylvania. But at the time, Pennsylvania officials told Chalkbeat funds would be distributed sooner the following year.

This year, several states continue to experience delays, according to Kelsey Boone, senior child nutrition policy analyst at the national nonprofit Food Research & Action Center.

But Boone said the more concerning development is that some states opted out of the federal funding for the program altogether this summer. In Tennessee, for example, the program ended this year after Gov. Bill Lee declined to continue the state’s participation.

“While Pennsylvania’s rollout is delayed, the important takeaway is that the state opted in and is working to get those benefits out,” said Boone.

Pennsylvania children who already receive free and reduced-price school meals or other federal food benefits are automatically enrolled in SUN Bucks. Other households that need to apply can do so here by Aug. 31.

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

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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.

Judge orders Philadelphia’s Memphis Street Academy charter school to close

2025-07-14T23:10:10+00:00

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A federal judge ruled Monday that a Philadelphia charter school that sued the school district to allow it to stay open despite poor academic performance must shut down.

However, officials representing Memphis Street Academy Charter School at J.P. Jones, operated by the American Paradigm Schools charter network, say the school plans to continue to operate in the coming school year.

The school has operated on an expired charter agreement since 2022, when the Philadelphia school board first moved not to renew the school after years of low standardized test scores and climbing absenteeism rates.

In June 2022, the school board found the school did not meet academic standards and invoked its charter’s surrender clause, which requires the school to surrender its charter if certain conditions are not met.

Less than a month later, Memphis Street Academy sued the district to prevent it from revoking the school’s charter.

“The conditions MSA agreed to be held to—and failed to meet—were guardrails to provide adequate education for its students,” Judge Chad Kenney of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania wrote in his Monday decision. “MSA must surrender its charter and close.”

However, American Paradigm Schools CEO Ashley Redfearn told Chalkbeat Monday the school plans to continue to operate.

“I do believe that we will be in operation in the fall, and if there is transition, that it will be done responsibly and ethically in the best interest of the kids and the students and the teachers of Memphis street Academy,” said Redfearn.

Redfearn said the judge’s decision deemed the surrender clause enforceable, but does not mean that the school has to immediately surrender its charter.

“Today is not, by any stretch of the imagination, an order that the school close,” said Redfearn.

Redfearn said she and other American Paradigm Schools officials are reviewing the judge’s decision.

Philadelphia school district officials did not respond to questions about what will happen to students enrolled at Memphis Street Academy in the upcoming school year. Last school year, nearly 500 students in grades 5-8 attended the school.

In its lawsuit, Memphis Street Academy charged the district with subjecting the school to “unfair and unrealistic” charter conditions. The school also alleged that the district’s framework of measuring charter schools was racially discriminatory because it disproportionately harmed schools that served higher than average rates of Black and Hispanic students.

In his decision, Kenney wrote that the school board had held the school accountable by revoking its charter.

He pointed out that for a school that began as part of the city’s “Renaissance” initiative, which was meant to turn around failing schools and improve student achievement, its performance had been “bleak.”

During the 2018-2019 school year, the last one with standardized testing before the non-renewal order, only 5% of Memphis Street Academy students achieved proficient scores in math, well below the district average.

For several years before the non-renewal, more than a third of the school’s students were chronically absent, meaning they missed more than 10 days of school.

“Instead of uplifting its students, MSA blames their demographic backgrounds for its own shortcomings,” wrote Kenney in the decision. “These excuses deprive MSA’s students of the education they deserve.”

Planned SEPTA service cuts will mean slower, less reliable commutes for Philly students

2025-07-10T22:33:44+00:00

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More than 55,000 students across Philadelphia could have a harder time getting to class when the school year begins next month because of planned cuts to the region’s public transit system.

Students in Northeast Philadelphia could be particularly hard hit by the proposed 20% reduction in SEPTA service, scheduled to begin on August 24, the day before school starts.

The expected cuts will impact bus and rail lines that directly serve more than 25 district schools, according to a SEPTA analysis. Several bus lines that specifically serve schools at the beginning and end of school days, called the 400 series, are part of the planned cuts.

SEPTA officials have said the reductions are necessary to address a severe funding shortfall and reduce its deficit.

For a school district that relies on SEPTA to transport middle and high school students, those changes could mean major challenges.

Teachers, school staff, and parents who use SEPTA to get to school will also likely experience longer commutes, according to Jody Holton, chief planning and strategy officer at SEPTA.

“Across the whole system, there is going to be crowding, there’s going to be reliability issues,” Holton said. “Even if your service isn’t being eliminated, there will be ramifications.”

As lawmakers continue to negotiate the state budget, which was due on June 30, there is a chance more funding could forestall the cuts. But SEPTA officials say they’re planning for the worst.

For the first time, the transportation authority is creating two different schedules to release next month. One will reflect the planned cuts, while the other will show what’s possible if SEPTA gets more money from the state.

A school district spokesperson said it is too early to comment on the potential impacts of route eliminations.

Philadelphia middle and high school students rely on SEPTA for school transportation

In Philadelphia, students in grades 7 through 12 who live at least 1.5 miles from their school are eligible for free SEPTA cards through the school district. The district generally expects those students to use SEPTA to get to school, and does not permit them to ride on yellow school buses, which are mostly reserved for elementary school students. Students with disabilities may get access to buses or other transportation services as well.

At last month’s board meeting, the school board approved a $34 million contract with SEPTA covering 63,000 fare cards for students from public, charter, and non-public schools for the coming school year. The state reimburses the district for the cost of the passes through a transportation subsidy program.

From 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., 1 in 3 SEPTA riders are students, according to Stephen Bronskill, the coalition manager of Transit Forward Philadelphia, a coalition advocating for better public transportation. The proposed cuts will make those students’ commutes much less efficient, he said.

“Tons of students won’t have access to reliable transit on a daily basis,” said Bronskill in an email. “Others will have to deal with serious delays.”

The changes include eliminating 10 of SEPTA’s 400 series bus lines, which act as a kind of extension to other lines to reduce crowding and make students’ commutes more efficient at the beginning and end of the school day.

Without those lines, students will have to either walk to a different bus stop or make more transfers, according to Melissa Silverman, SEPTA’s director of schedules and support services.

Students in the Northeast will be hit particularly hard

Though the planned SEPTA service cuts will be felt across the Philadelphia region, the worst effects are expected to hit Philadelphia’s Northeast neighborhoods, according to Holton, SEPTA’s chief planning strategy officer.

The area, Holton said, is lower density and therefore more difficult to serve with public transit. But Northeast Philadelphia is also where SEPTA has a high proportion of school ridership on buses, meaning that students will weather the impact of the cuts.

Already, students in the Northeast generally experience longer school commutes, according to research from 2020. That study, which analysed data from the 2017-2018 school year, found that the average high school student in the Philadelphia school district had a public transit commute of just under 30 minutes.

But students in the Northeast and Northwest spent longer getting to and from school, the researchers found, which likely reflected the more limited transit options in those regions of the city. Students attending citywide schools also had longer commutes than those at neighborhood schools.

“Based on the extent of the proposed service reductions, the time and complexity of high school students’ commutes are sure to increase,” Molly Pileggi, one of the study’s researchers, told Chalkbeat in an email. She added that students who traverse farther across the city will likely need to find different connection options and wait longer.

In the meantime, several Philadelphia lawmakers continue to advocate for more state funding for SEPTA to avert the cuts.

“For many families in Philadelphia, SEPTA isn’t optional, it’s how kids get to school and parents get to work,” said state Sen. Christine Tartaglione, who represents part of Northeast Philadelphia, in a statement. “Cutting service or raising fares would hurt families who are already doing everything they can to stay afloat.”