Eliminating the Central School District Office: Philadelphia

Kristen A. Graham:

Knudsen, in a news conference, avoided references to the "Philadelphia School District."

"We are now looking at a much broader definition of education in the city that includes not only district schools but other schools as well," he said.

Mayor Nutter hailed the plan, which he said would push control over education down to the school level.

"If we don't take significant action, the system will collapse," the mayor said at a separate news conference. "If you care about kids and if you care about education, if you care about the future of this city, that's what we need to all grow up and deal with."

Teachers union president Jerry Jordan decried the radical restructuring as the SRC divesting itself of many of the core responsibilities of public education. He called it a "cynical, right-wing, market-driven" blueprint.

"This is totally dismantling the system," Jordan said. "It's a business plan crafted to privatize the services within the School District."

Decentralization is inevitable, regardless of idealogy. We're no longer sending most kids to work the fields and cattle before/after school or in the summer.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at May 16, 2012 3:40 PM
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