Coming Monday: a blueprint for the William R. Hite Jr.-era Philadelphia School District. Expect a focus on early literacy, a call for more art and music classes, more students in advanced math by middle school, and more and higher-quality spots in vocational programs.
»Read story: Hite will present his blueprint for schools Monday
»Read story: Hite will present his blueprint for schools Monday
Comments (36)
This comment has been deleted.— jconrad19090- Granted it is a tall task, but lets go back and look at the past few Superintendent's plans. All sounded good on the first day and then stark reality kicked in. Some components did better than others. When the next Superintendent came aboard many of the previous directions were changed, reversed or just killed. The district policies changed directions like a Yo-Yo. The Superintendents changed less than every three years. It would take 6 months or more for them to announce the new plans and much much longer for the new plans to actually take effect. I know these folks. Teachers and support staffs at 440 are slow to embrace change and from their point of view it has been a nightmare to constantly be adapting to radical changes in day to day operations.
Knowing all of that history, I have very little faith in Hite's new plan. These highly paid Superintendents come in and stir things up and talk-the-talk but never stay around long enough to reap the benefits of the expensive changes that they make. New programs require new books and materials and professional development that cost a lot. The district just spends so much money on these regular retooling s. We need Superintendents to stay around for ten years or more to make these changes cost effective.— ADCacrow - You are correct AD- Hite is just another SHORT TERMER with SHORT TERM plans and SHORT TERM ideas. What better way to make a SHORT TERM gain than to cut away expenses by closing all of those neighborhood schools? I predict that in a few short years, some numbnut superintendent will be buying back some of the schools that Hite sells off at a much higher price. Hite is just tying to get a BIG BANG to make himself look good. He'll be long gone when we start thinking that we need school buildings in the places were they used to be. I'm all for targeted closings and rebuilding of schools like we have done in the past, but this closing plan is absurd. This is the easiest and dumbest way to cut the budgets. Don't forget that Prince William Hite (aka Silly Billy Hite) just gave out hefty pay raises to those not even having any student contact in his Palace at 440. He is just interested in preserving the elite status quo. He may look like us, but he ain't one of us.
— DarnelX - You're so funny Darnel! "Silly Billy Hite"...that's hilarious. Personally I liked it when you dubbed him "Prince William Hite" over the Summer. So appropriate...the continuation of the phony aristocracy of the School District. They hold themselves in such high regard and they are such poor managers. If the School District of Philadelphia was a business, they would have declared chapter 11 bankruptcy years ago. They should close 440- the Queens Palace and move to a more humble dwelling. Thay talk about Schools having a lot of empty space. They have so much empty space there. The people are overpaid and have huge offices. They live like royalty there. Then they treat our kids like dirt.
- I do declare. I prefer Silly Billy Hite. Prince William was fine until this clown proved himself early on to be more clueless and insensitive as Queen Arleen by giving out those obscene pay raises. He has been demoted in my view from Prince to Court Jester. Silly Billy Hite is a much better fit.
— clay_bertrand - Mr. Bertrand, you speak the truth. Hite is the clown prince of Philadelphia. Another carpetbagger that amounts to just being a highly paid temporary employee. Before we know how bad he is, he will be gone with the money just like that fat ugly Ackerman.
— Magistra® - This guy ain't no brother. He's sticking it to us.
— D.C. Stinkley - You said it bro. Hite and Ackerman show a black face in charge but the real people running this asinine district is the white devil. Hite is a puppet. — DarnelX
- Yup. Granted, there are a lot of black faces at 440 but they are in the low end jobs. The power elite are white. I know some black people that work with some of the power brokers and they still feel shut out.
— Blabette_Portajon - It will never happen because the unions will never allow it. Once again, the kids will be the losers here as the adults scramble for the money. For the LOVE of money is evil.— Fritz and Alice
- You have that backwards. The unions are the ones fighting for better schools and the help the kids need, not some McDonalds style franchise charter school, or a corrupt governor's sychofant like this guy.
- Forget it. Expect more of the same from this guy. He's nothing more than Governor Corbett's hatchet man. His number one job is to bust the unions, and he could care less about the kids. More art, and innovation? Give me a break. More charter schools, he means. More hoops for highly qualified union teachers to jump through, and more unreasonable constraints placed on the neighborhood schools. The only way this guy can help the kids of Philadelphia is to leave town, and take his failed School Reform Commission with him.
- This comment has been deleted.— jbetty01
- They dazzle us with big plans upfront but still run the same old same old dysfunctional district with the same old lousy staffs. The average School District employee is extremely lazy and closed minded to new ideas. — Blabette_Portajon
- How is it they posted the call for a teacher "Transition Corps" December 26th with a deadline to apply of 12/28? The exact couple of days most teachers would likely be spending with family and friends instead of checking work email and writing 500 word letters of interest? Sounds like they should call it "More Corps"....as in more of the same old cronyism and more of the same old smoke screens....— hmmm
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