Philadelphia’s public schools are getting extra academic and financial support as officials work to restore public confidence in a system buffeted by leadership turnover, a test-cheating scandal, and political turmoil.
Mayor Michael Nutter and state Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis appointed two executive education advisers last week to work with district administrators and created a business task force to identify ways the school system can run more efficiently.
The additional oversight is designed to stabilize the 203,000-student district during a major transition in leadership. Superintendent Arlene Ackerman abruptly left in August, and the five-member School Reform Commission, a city-state panel that oversees the district, has two vacancies.
