Mayor Nutter Names Novelist Lorene Cary To School Reform Commission
Cary's novel, "The Price of a Child," was the first "One Book, One Philadelphia" pick in 2003, and she founded Art Sanctuary 13 years ago.
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Cary's novel, "The Price of a Child," was the first "One Book, One Philadelphia" pick in 2003, and she founded Art Sanctuary 13 years ago.
One of the missions this year, according to the mayor, is making further inroads into cutting Philadelphia's high school dropout rate.
"We commit as a commission to work in a transparent and efficient manner. That's going to be extremely important. We have to get the public's respect and trust in this process," Pritchett said.
The help comes in two forms: The mayor's Chief Education Officer Lori Shorr and former district Chief Academic Officer Ed Williams will each serve as executive advisers to acting superintendent Lee Nunery during the search for a permanent superintendent.
The head of Philadelphia's embattled School Reform Commission -- attorney Robert Archie -- has resigned, along with member Johnny Irizarry, and now it is up to Mayor Nutter to fill those seats.
After a tumultuous summer that saw the buyout of Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, a new school year begins today for Philadelphia public school students.
"The last six months have been a debacle of planning, financial mismanagement, a leadership vacuum and a human resource crisis," state senator Mike Stack says.
Now that she's officially unemployed, former Philadelphia schools superintendent Arlene Ackerman is on the offensive. In interviews, she's blaming her departure on politicians and some school district officials. The comments may be jeopardizing her generous buy-out.
The School Reform Commission issued a statement that Ackerman will be paid $905,000, the amount due on the remainder of her contract.
Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter is backing the decision to remove Arlene Ackerman as schools superintendent, and he is glad the taxpayers' portion of the buyout was limited to half a million dollars.
Meanwhile, a political watchdog group in Philadelphia says that private donations for a public sector bailout would be wrong.
It's a win for the teachers' union, who said all along that their contract called for layoffs by seniority and that no group of teachers should be bypassed.
The Pennsylvania Education Department is receiving responses from dozens of school districts across the Commonwealth, including the School District of Philadelphia, that were ordered to look into scoring irregularities on 2009 state standardized test scores.
Where was Superintendent Arlene Ackerman? She was not at Wednesday's School Reform Commission meeting, amid reports that the SRC wants her out.
Amid rumors swirling about the future of Philadelphia schools chief Arlene Ackerman, her administration has announced deep cuts in one of her signature programs.
A School District of Philadelphia educator offers some advice for parents who are already eyeing the "back to school" supply displays at local store.
Summer schools run by the Philadelphia School District are dismissing early on Thursday and closing altogether on Friday because of the heat.
The School District of Philadelphia says a draft document listing perks that were not approved for schools superintendent Arlene Ackerman should have remained under wraps.
The city has released a pile of internal documents the school district provided as part of their so-called "Education Accountability Agreement."
Word of a cheating scandal in Atlanta schools got Pennsylvania state rep Michael McGeehan thinking: what ever happened to a similar case in Philadelphia?
One step removed from the incredible shrinking School District state aid package, the mayor says the penny-wise approach to education funding is foolish.
Thursday was the Philadelphia School District's deadline for its unions to make concessions. But the district says it's going to let that deadline slip for now.
The leak of an internal document listing Philadelphia schools up for possible closing has district officials firing back.
Philadelphia schools superintendent Arlene Ackerman calls "false" reports that she is negotiating with the School Reform Commission to buy out the remaining three years of her contract.
The Philadelphia School District and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers have agreed to go to arbitration to settle their dispute over nearly 350 teachers listed for layoffs.
