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64-567: The School District of Philadelphia ( SDP ) is the school district that includes all school district-operated public schools in Philadelphia . Established in 1818, it is largest school district in Pennsylvania and the eighth-largest school district in the nation, serving over 197,000 students as of 2022. The school board was created in 1850 to oversee the schools of Philadelphia. The Act of Assembly of April 5, 1867, designated that

128-454: A school board ) may be elected, appointed by a political office holder, serve ex officio , or a combination of any of these. An independent school district is a legally separate body corporate and political . Most school districts operate as independent local governmental units with exclusive authority over K–12 public educational operations and policies. The extent of their control is set by state-level law. Litigation against school districts

192-481: A "board of trustees," "board of education," "school committee," etc.. This body usually appoints or hires an experienced public school administrator to function as the district's superintendent of schools – a district's chief executive . The superintendent oversees daily operations, decisions and implements the policies of the board. The school board may also exercise a quasi-judicial function in serious employee or student discipline matters. School districts in

256-537: A "link" and all on the same street. The public school is one of the smallest in Pennsylvania but usually has good scores. Jenkintown is a very small district that is located in between the Abington and Cheltenham school districts. The link between the schools contains the administrator offices, community room, cafeteria, and band room. The Jenkintown School District has an annual event known as Color Day on

320-618: A "thorough and efficient" education; it was dismissed outright by the state court. The second case, a civil rights suit filed in Federal District Court, by the district, the city, and other interested parties, contended that the state's funding practices discriminated against school districts with large numbers of non-white students; the School District of Philadelphia was a key complainant in this case. The city agreed to put this case on hold when Mayor Street negotiated

384-618: A Parent to Work Day, and Superintendent's Home Visits. Parent Assistance Desks (PADs) offered a way for parents to feel welcomed upon entering schools by having a parent from the community sit in an office or at a desk at the front door to provide needed resources and information. The Title I Parents 'R' Equal Partners (PREP) Program helped PREPare parents for effective partnerships with principals and administrators by conducting monthly workshops and training. In 2009, The Superintendent's Roundtable discussions were held to hear (firsthand) from many parents who felt that their children were not receiving

448-626: A certain degree comparable to a school district. Other arrangements are possible: certain types of special schools in North Rhine-Westphalia are run by the Landschaftsverbände . There also exist private schools , mostly funded by the States, but run by private entities like churches or foundations. In Italy , school districts were established in 1974 by the " Provvedimenti Delegati sulla scuola " ("Assigned Laws [to

512-399: A chief executive officer. In 2001, the district had a projected deficit of $ 216.7 million in its current $ 1.7 billion budget. There was a crisis in making the school payroll and paying $ 30 million in vendor bills. In recognition of the assistance, Mayor Street agreed to postpone for three months a 1998 federal lawsuit brought by the city claiming racial discrimination in the way

576-554: A coalition of labor unions and community groups called the "Coalition to Keep Our Public Schools Public", filed a lawsuit to stop the state from signing a contract for Edison Schools to manage city schools. The state backed off on a hostile takeover and negotiated with the city. One of the chief concerns was the complete privatization of the school district. The reform plan was opposed by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Protestors like J. Whyatt Mondesire of

640-568: A decline in property tax revenues during and after the Great Recession . By 2016 there were about 13,000 school districts, and the average student population was about 5,000. Although these terms can vary slightly between various states and regions, these are typical definitions for school district constitution: These terms may not appear in a district's name, even though the condition may apply. In England and Wales , school boards were established in 1870, and abolished in 1902, with

704-411: A decrease of 38,127 or 35%. Many states had passed laws facilitating school district consolidation. In 1951 the majority of the school districts in existence were rural school districts only providing elementary education, and some school districts did not operate schools but instead provided transportation to other schools. The Midwest had a large number of rural school districts. Previously areas of

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768-482: A hunger strike. On June 17, two parents and two cafeteria workers began a hunger strike and the protest was named "Fast for Safe Schools". The protesters received a lot of support from the community as well as politicians. On June 28 fifteen politicians fasted for twenty-four hours to show their support. On the same day members of the community delivered a petition with more than one thousand signatures to Governor Corbett. Governor Corbett did finally add $ 140 million to

832-641: A minority of secondary schools , a few primary schools, and much further education . (Most schools are neither organized geographically nor publicly managed, although the Department of Education inspects and funds them and pays teachers' salaries.) Each ETB area comprises one or more local authority areas , with city or county councilors forming the bulk of the ETB board. The ETBs was formed in 2005 by amalgamating Vocational Education Committees established in 1930, also based on local government areas. In Hong Kong ,

896-728: A months long negotiation under the legislation enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in April 1998. The takeover plan had six main elements: putting the district under the control of a School Reform Commission; hire a CEO; enable the CEO to reform the teaching staff by hiring non-certified staff, reconstitute troubled schools by reassigning or firing staff; allow the commission to hire for-profit firms to manage some schools; convert some schools to charter schools; and reallocate and redistribute school district resources. At

960-449: A parent, was increased to serve 173 schools. Many of the programs have received local and national attention for pioneering the field of parent engagement. The school district has an art collection that contains about 1,125 paintings, photos, sculptures and other pieces that are displayed in schools or are stored in an undisclosed facility. The estimated worth was $ 30 million in 2003, but district spokesperson Fernando Gallard estimates

1024-455: A school system that is separate but similar to a town's or a county's powers. These include the power to enter contacts, use eminent domain , and to issue binding rules and regulations affecting school policies and operations. The power of school districts to tax and spend is generally more limited. For example, many school districts in New York state require a majority of voters living in

1088-432: A second language, and other evidence-based knowledge and skills enhancement courses. Parent University was funded heavily by a Federal Stimulus grant. The district also set up citywide resource centers where parents can get resources to seek help from the district on issues that could not be resolved at the school, such as bullying problems or complaints. The number of Parent Ombudsmen, school-based staff who work directly with

1152-710: A single school district." Noting that most modern school districts were formed by consolidating one-room school districts in the first seven decades of the 20th century, Fischel argues that "outside the South, these consolidations were consented to by local voters" who "preferred districts whose boundaries conformed to their everyday interactions rather than formal units of government" and that "[t]he South ended up with county-based school districts because segregation imposed diseconomies of scale on district operations and required larger land-area districts." In New York , most school districts are separate governmental units with

1216-449: A state), most American school districts operate as independent local governmental units under a grant of authority and within geographic limits created by state law. The executive and legislative power over locally-controlled policies and operations of an independent school district are, in most cases, held by a school district's board of education. Depending on state law, members of a local board of education (often referred to informally as

1280-438: A year later launched a statewide advocacy organization, Good Schools Pennsylvania, to mobilize citizens in support of improved state funding for public education). He called improving public education "one of the great civil rights battles of this generation." The board of education then implemented a new management structure, replacing the superintendent's position with two new positions, a chief academic officer, Deidre Fambry, and

1344-619: Is an American public school district that is located in Montgomery County , Pennsylvania . The school district serves the borough of Jenkintown , a suburb of roughly 4,700 people that is located three miles from Philadelphia . According to 2017-21 ACS -ED data, the district serves a resident population of 4,681. The median household income is $ 120,172, versus a state median income of $ 67,587, and national median income of $ 69,021. The district features one elementary (K-6), and one middle/high school (7-12), both connected by

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1408-611: Is certainly bold but not very wise", commented Representative Dwight Evans , Democratic chair of the House Appropriations Committee and prime architect of the takeover bill. Two lawsuits were filed by the city and the Philadelphia School District in 1997 and 1998 to address what they considered inadequate funding levels. The first, filed by the school district, the city and community leaders, contended that Pennsylvania did not provide

1472-427: Is common and some law firms specialize in education law. Districts typically maintain professional liability insurance in order to pay its settlements and legal liabilities. As of 2023 in most U.S. states, public school districts may lay taxes to fund their operations. In others, such as Maine , some school districts are able to lay taxes and others are not. Independent school districts often exercise authority over

1536-577: Is great disparities in school system expenditures per student. In 2000, the Philadelphia school district spent $ 6,969 a year per student. Seventy percent of Philadelphia's students are at or near the poverty line. This contrasts with expenditures per student in wealthier suburban school districts, such as Jenkintown School District ($ 12,076), Radnor Township School District ($ 13,288), and Upper Merion School District ($ 13,139). In February 1998, then-superintendent David Hornbeck threatened to close

1600-642: Is the sole school district in Philadelphia , the nation's sixth-largest city as of 2020 census. Prior to August 2012, the district was organized into academic division (AD) offices, each with its own assistant superintendent. As a part of the Chief Academic Office Reorganization/Transition Proposal, the AD structure was abolished. Schools are organized into Principal Learning Teams (PLTs), each with its own peer-selected coordinator and all schools now report to

1664-693: The Education Bureau divides primary schools into 36 districts, known as school nets, for its Primary One Admission System . Of the 36 districts, districts 34 and 41 in Kowloon and districts 11 and 12 in Hong Kong Island are considered the most prestigious. In Iranian cities school kids normal registrations are limited by school districts, register is online at my.medu.ir and the parent sees schools within range online. Jenkintown School District The Jenkintown School District

1728-790: The Midwest and West tend to cross municipal boundaries, while school districts in New England and the Mid-Atlantic regions tend to adhere to city, township, and/or county boundaries. As of 1951 school districts were independent governmental units in 26 states, while in 17 states there were mixes of independent school districts and school districts subordinate to other local governments. In nine states there were only school districts subordinate to local governments. In most Southern states, school systems operate either as an arm of county government or at least share coextensive boundaries with

1792-575: The NAACP vowed "... to shut down the streets", in protest. Members of the NAACP and a group of black ministers blocked an intersection in front of City Hall during rush-hour traffic. The day before, several hundred students walked out of classes. And earlier a crowd consisting mostly of unionized district employees marched on City Hall, where they disrupted the Christmas tree-lighting ceremony and drowned out

1856-710: The Unorganized Borough of Alaska were not served by school districts but instead served by schools directly operated by the Alaska Department of Education and by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools. The state schools were transferred to the Alaska State-Operated School System (SOS) after the Alaska Legislature created it in 1971; that agency was terminated in 1975, with its schools transferred to

1920-442: The county council and county borough councils becoming the local education authorities . In France, the system of the carte scolaire was dismantled by the beginning of the 2007 school year. More school choice has been given to French students; however, priority is given to those who meet the following criteria: In Germany , schools and teachers are predominately funded by the states of Germany , which also are in control of

1984-409: The "friendly" state takeover of the district, with the promise of additional funding from the state. In June 2000, under increasing pressure to find a solution to the fiscal and academic problems facing the district, school superintendent David W. Hornbeck ended his six-year tenure. Hornbeck said he did not have the financial support of state and city officials to continue his school reform program (and

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2048-695: The Acceleration Network for schools receiving additional intervention support to improve academics, the Innovation Network that includes criteria-based schools, and the Opportunity Network that includes alternative and contract-based schools that offer targeted programming to smaller groups of high need students. SDP leadership also includes Associate Superintendents of School Performance, who support either Elementary or Secondary schools. This leadership structure aligns to

2112-676: The Chief Academic Office through the Office of School Performance Management. The School District of Philadelphia is governed by a nine-member board of education. All members are appointed by the Mayor of Philadelphia and approved by Philadelphia City Council . The board of education was re-established in July 2018 after seventeen years of governance by a School Reform Commission. In 1967, high school students demonstrated in front of

2176-574: The Controllers of the Public Schools of Philadelphia were to be appointed by the judges of the Court of Common Pleas . There was one Controller to be appointed from each ward. This was done to eliminate politics from the management of the schools. Eventually, the management of the school district was given to a school board appointed by the mayor . This continued until 2001 when the district

2240-468: The Friday before Memorial Day. From 8:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M., students participate in a small parade and then compete in events including tug-o-war (high school only), grade level events, and track. Whichever team (Reds or Blues) gets the most points at the end of the day wins Color Day. Every student is assigned to either Red or Blue team when they first enroll and keep that designation throughout their time at

2304-557: The Government] about the school"). Each district must contain a minimum of 10,000 inhabitants. The national government attempted to link the local schools with local society and culture and local governments. The school districts were dissolved in 2003 by the "legge finanziaria" (law about the government budget) in an attempt to trim the national budget. In the Republic of Ireland, 16 Education and Training Boards (ETBs) administer

2368-469: The School District of Philadelphia's 5 year strategic plan. "Accelerate Philly: 2023-2028 Strategic Plan" focuses on "Centering schools and school leadership teams as the units of change", according to its Theory of Action. Under the strategic plan, the district allows principals to hire teachers and staff and create incentives for high-performing teachers and schools, such as tenure. The district also created tracking tools, and performance indicators, to gauge

2432-476: The School District of Philadelphia, and are accountable to it. Enrollment in Philadelphia's district schools was 203,225 students as of September 2019. As of the 2014–2015 school year, there were 107 languages other than English spoken at home by district students. The largest group of students with families using languages other than English at home was the Spanish speakers, with 6,260 students, making up 52% of

2496-466: The United States tend to be different from the demographics of the students. This difference is "most pronounced in majority nonwhite jurisdictions and school districts with the largest racial achievement gaps ." There were 130,000 school districts in the country in 1930, with an average student population of 150. From 1942 to 1951 the number of school districts declined from 108,579 to 70,452,

2560-493: The board of education building, demanding better treatment, especially for African-American students, and better funding. The demonstrators were met with force by the Philadelphia Police Department, and the resulting riot left 22 injured and 57 arrested. The state takeover of the district had its roots in the chronic low test scores of district students and a history of inequitable financing which left

2624-478: The budget even though it was less than what was requested by the community. The community celebrated this victory that they achieved through nonviolent protest. However, by the time school was starting in August, the safety staff had not been hired back. On August 14, over one hundred community members resumed the hunger strike for a twenty four-hour period. As a result, most of the staff was rehired. Beginning in 2001

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2688-608: The choir with their chants. On December 21, 2001, Secretary Charles Zogby of the Pennsylvania Department of Education signed a Declaration of Distress for the district. This triggered the state takeover of the school district from the City of Philadelphia . The state of Pennsylvania formed the School Reform Commission to oversee the troubled public school system. This action was the result of

2752-474: The city's schools if the state did not provide the funds needed to balance his proposed budget. State lawmakers responded to the threat with fast-moving legislation, Act 46, on April 21, approving a school funding package that included a takeover plan. The legislature's plan was a reaction to Hornbeck's threatening to shut down the schools because of a financial crisis. "Holding students and their parents and teachers hostage in an effort to gain additional funding

2816-496: The collection is worth $ 2 million in 2013. Much of this art disappeared when Paul Vallas was Superintendent of the Philadelphia School District. School district In the U.S., most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts. A school district usually operate several elementary , middle , and high schools . The largest urban and suburban districts operate hundreds of schools. While practice varies significantly by state (and in some cases, within

2880-469: The district or the local government to approval their annual budget, but school districts in Virginia have no taxing authority and must depend on another local government (county, city, or town) for funding. A district's governing body, usually called a school board , is typically elected by direct popular vote but may be appointed by other governmental officials. The governing body might also be known as

2944-457: The district required all schools to enact school uniforms or strict dress codes. Some schools had already adopted uniforms prior to 2001. Each school in the School District of Philadelphia is part of a learning network that is led by an Assistant Superintendent, to whom school principals report. SDP learning networks include geography-based learning networks that are numbered (13 during the 2023-2024 school year). SDP learning networks also include

3008-470: The district with substantial and perpetual deficits. In 1975, Pennsylvania provided 55 percent of school funding statewide; in 2001 it provided less than 36 percent. An analysis determined that increased district spending was limited by a state system which relies heavily on property taxes for local school funding. As a result, wealthier school districts with proportionately more property owners and more expensive real estate have more funds for schools. The result

3072-480: The district's central administration. In the end, the city put up an additional $ 45 million for the schools instead of the $ 15 million initially offered and the state provided an additional $ 75 million. In return, the mayor gets to appoint two commission members rather than just one under the governor's initial plan. The schools were clearly failing, but the state and the city could not agree on reform and local governance issues. As negotiation continued,

3136-481: The district's lowest-performing schools. To date, the schools managed by private providers were doing neither better nor worse than district-wide achievement trends. District-managed schools given additional resources but no specific intervention were likewise doing about as well as other schools in the district. In contrast, district-managed schools given additional resources and a "restructuring" intervention showed larger achievement gains in mathematics. In June 2013,

3200-457: The management of some of the lowest-achieving schools to for-profit and nonprofit organizations and two local universities and providing additional resources to the private managers. The most controversial of the 2001 reforms the partnership program saw "educational management organizations" (EMOs) Edison Schools , Foundations Inc., Victory Schools, Universal Companies, Temple University , and University of Pennsylvania brought in to manage some of

3264-404: The most radical reform ever undertaken in a large urban school district. This move was opposed by Mayor John F. Street and many members of the city of Philadelphia. The negotiations dragged on because of the state's insistence that the city pay its fair share, while the city fought to retain some control over the governance. Also at stake was the control of patronage jobs controlled by the mayor in

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3328-608: The newly created Alaska Unorganized Borough School District, which was broken apart into twenty-one school districts the following year. In the 2022 Census of Governments, the United States Census Bureau enumerated the following numbers of school systems in the United States: School districts in the US have reduced the number of their employees by 3.3%, or 270,000 between 2008 and 2012, owing to

3392-504: The overall education policies. On the other hand, school buildings are mostly run and funded by municipal governments on different levels of the municipal system (municipalities proper, districts), depending on the size and specialization of a certain school or the population size of a certain municipality. As with other fields of government, for more specialized schools, special government bodies ("Zweckverband") can be established, where municipalities, and not voters, are members; these are to

3456-441: The power to levy taxes and incur debt, except for the five cities with a population of over 125,000 ( Buffalo , Rochester , Syracuse , Yonkers , and New York City ), where the schools are operated directly by the municipalities. The Hawaii State Department of Education functions as a single statewide school district, unique among states. According to a 2021 study, the demographics of voters who elect local school boards in

3520-481: The progress of schools and how schools affect student achievement. The district increased the staff and accessibility of its call centers to provide services and allow parents and the community to report directly to the headquarters. The district's many parent and community engagement policies are combined in a central office called the Office of Parent Family, Community, Engagement, and Faith-Based Partnerships. Between 2004 and 2009, outside funding for parent engagement

3584-475: The quality education they deserved. In 2010, School Advisory Councils (SACs) were modeled after the PA Governor's Institute of Parental Involvement to invite parents, family, and community members to share decision-making with school-based staff. The Parent University of Philadelphia offered a variety of free courses to parents, such as basic computer skills, lessons on the legal rights of parents, English as

3648-413: The school district cut over three thousand employees. Two thousand and two of them were aides that ensured the safety of the students during the school day. This budget cut angered parents, students, and employees. Governor Corbett had until the end of the month to approve the budget, so many took to protesting outside his office. UNITE HERE , the union which represented the laid off workers, helped organize

3712-431: The school district from handing over control of the central administration to Edison. Youth leaders were ultimately successful in preventing a takeover of the central office, and also prevented the take-over of any high schools by for-profit companies. As of 2007 the company had not delivered the promised improvements. After the state takeover, the district adopted what is known as the "diverse provider" model, turning over

3776-522: The school district's other than English at home population. The other languages, in descending order, were Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Khmer, various English and Haitian Creole, French-Base Creole and Pidgins, Russian, French, Portuguese, Nepali, Cantonese Chinese, Pashto, Malayalam, Ukrainian, Albanian, Bengali, and 82 other languages. Enrollment in the city's charter schools was 60,774 students (December 2013). The School District of Philadelphia

3840-492: The state funds the Philadelphia school district. In a study released in July by the Harvard Civil Rights Project, Pennsylvania was ranked as having the sixth most segregated schools in the United States. Under the legislation enacted in 1998, in 2001 Governor Mark Schweiker took control of the schools. The state takeover of what was then the fifth largest school district in the United States was seen as

3904-556: The state's counties. A 2010 study by economist William A. Fischel found that "two-thirds of medium-to-large American cities have boundaries that substantially overlap those of a single school district" with substantial regional and state variations in the degree of overlap, "ranging from nearly perfect congruence in New England , New Jersey, and Virginia, to hardly any in Illinois, Texas, and Florida." Older and more populous municipalities "tend to have boundaries that closely match those of

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3968-545: The time of the takeover, it was expected that Edison Schools, Inc. would be one of the prime beneficiaries of the partial privatization. It had been involved in developing the plan for privatization commissioned by then governor Tom Ridge . Edison was not given as many schools as it had hoped, primarily because of conflict of interest concerns Youth organizers from the Philadelphia Student Union staged protests, and engaged in civil disobedience to prevent

4032-868: Was provided by the William Penn Foundation for the Parent Leadership Academy (PLA) and The PA Department of Education for the Parent Volunteers Program (PVP). The district has implemented various different programs to engage families in the education of their children. In collaboration with the PA Parent Information Resource Center (PIRC), the district designated October as Parent Appreciation Month beginning in 2006. Parent Appreciation Month activities included Parent Appreciation Day, Superintendent's Closet Fashion Shows, Take

4096-620: Was taken over by the state, and the governor was given the power to appoint a majority of the five members of the new School Reform Commission. In July 2018, the School Reform Commission (SRC) was disbanded and control of the district was returned to the city and its newly selected Philadelphia School Board. The School District of Philadelphia operates 151 elementary and K-8 schools , 16 middle schools, and 57 high schools. The remaining 83 public schools are independently operated charter schools. Charter schools are authorized by

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