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School District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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School District of Philadelphia
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
District details
Superintendent: William R. Hite Jr.
# of school board members: 5
Website: Link

The School District of Philadelphia is a school district in Pennsylvania. In the 2012-2013 school year, the district was the largest school district in Pennsylvania and served 143,898 students.[1]

In December 2001, the district was put under the control of a School Reform Commission (SRC).[2] Learn more about the SRC and the debate over district governance here.

Superintendent

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This information is updated as we become aware of changes. Please contact us with any updates.

William R. Hite Jr. is the superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia. Hite was appointed superintendent in October 2012.[3]

Budget

From 1993 to 2013, the School District of Philadelphia had an average of $2,067,427,429 in revenue and $2,225,548,286 in expenditures, according to the United States Census Bureau's survey of school system finances. The district had a yearly average of $2,139,091,810 in outstanding debt. The district retired $272,307,048 of its debt and issued $430,354,238 in new debt each year on average.[4]

Revenue

The table below separates the district's revenue into the three sources identified by the agency: local, state, and federal.

Revenue by Source
Fiscal
Year
Local State Federal Revenue Total
Total % of Revenue Total % of Revenue Total % of Revenue
2010$859,639,00030.36%$1,415,203,00049.98%$556,585,00019.66%$2,831,427,000
2011$848,447,00029.29%$1,411,582,00048.73%$636,770,00021.98%$2,896,799,000
2012$936,603,00034.92%$1,292,598,00048.20%$452,562,00016.88%$2,681,763,000
2013$980,119,00035.73%$1,333,752,00048.62%$429,562,00015.66%$2,743,433,000
Avg.$725,857,28635.72%$1,043,609,23850.38%$297,960,90513.91%$2,067,427,429

Expenditures

The table below separates the district's expenditures into five categories identified by the agency:

  • Instruction: operation expenditures, state payments on behalf of the district for instruction and benefits, and retirement system transfers
  • Support Services: support services, food services, and retirement system transfers for support service staff
  • Capital Spending: capital outlay expenditures (i.e., construction, land or facilities purchases, and equipment purchases)
  • Debt & Gov. Payments: payments to state and local governments and interest on school system debt
  • Other: all other non-K-12 programs, except food services
Expenditures by Category
Fiscal
Year
Instruction Support Services Capital Spending Debt & Gov. Payments Other Budget
Total
Total % of Budget Total % of Budget Total % of Budget Total % of Budget Total % of Budget
2010$1,082,196,00036.68%$809,468,00027.43%$180,847,0006.13%$135,772,0004.60%$742,259,00025.16%$2,950,542,000
2011$1,109,832,00035.31%$824,572,00026.24%$203,291,0006.47%$147,097,0004.68%$858,187,00027.30%$3,142,979,000
2012$993,871,00035.32%$689,868,00024.52%$89,663,0003.19%$132,414,0004.71%$908,096,00032.27%$2,813,912,000
2013$1,695,669,00046.74%$688,221,00018.97%$80,438,0002.22%$150,225,0004.14%$1,012,963,00027.92%$3,627,516,000
Avg.$882,402,52440.95%$629,053,81029.04%$140,691,0955.86%$91,568,0953.85%$481,832,76220.29%$2,225,548,286

Debt

The table below shows the amount of debt retired, issued, and outstanding in the district for each year.

Debt
Fiscal
Year
Retired Issued Outstanding
2010$429,497,000$676,295,000$3,738,134,000
2011$439,412,000$425,880,000$2,980,922,000
2012$91,117,000$254,423,000$3,144,227,000
2013$114,204,000$264,995,000$3,295,018,000
Avg.$272,307,048$430,354,238$2,139,091,810

Noteworthy events

2015: Debates over School Reform Commission

The School District of Philadelphia has never been run by an elected school board, a unique situation among Pennsylvania school districts. The board was selected by the city's common pleas judge from 1905 to 1965, when the mayor was given the power to appoint members. In 2001, the mayor consented to the creation of the School Reform Commission (SRC), a five-member board with three members appointed by the governor and two members appointed by the mayor. The SRC was created in the midst of public concerns over district finances and academic performance.[5]

A push for local control gained momentum in 2015 with voter approval of a non-binding ballot question seeking the end of the SRC. Former Mayor Michael Nutter called for the end of the commission before leaving office, and successor James Kenney supports more local control once the district improves its finances.[6] The SRC was also analyzed by The Pew Charitable Trusts in a January 2016 report. The report titled "Governing Urban Schools in the Future: What's Facing Philadelphia and Pennsylvania" concluded with the following statement:

Education experts say that state takeovers of local districts have, at least in some cases, cured financial ills created through mismanagement. But there is no indication that any particular system for governing urban school districts is superior to another in improving long-term academic performance. Too many other factors, experts say, help determine what happens in the classroom, including the quality of principals and teachers, funding, and parental expectations.

There is broad agreement on at least one conclusion: Governance systems that produce uncertainty, distrust, and ambiguous accountability can impede districts’ progress on any front. [7]

—The Pew Charitable Trusts (2016), [5]

Contact information

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School District of Philadelphia
440 N. Broad St.
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Phone: (215) 400-4000

See also

Pennsylvania School Board Elections News and Analysis
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External links

Footnotes