PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington often says his goal is to make Philadelphia the fastest-improving school district in the country. Now, he wants help to see how successful districts are doing it.
The district is seeking proposals from consulting firms to analyze the district’s central office organization, and to compare it with the nation’s 25 largest urban districts and the five urban districts that are improving the fastest.
Chalkbeat reported the district issued the request for proposals on Dec. 6, and the firm would work from April 2023 until the same month in 2024.
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The firm would be asked to evaluate what it would take to achieve the school board’s “goals and guardrails,” and to recommend what it would take for Philadelphia to become the fastest-improving urban district in the country.
This latest deal would come after the school board in May approved a controversial $450,000 consulting contract with Tennessee-based Joseph and Associates to help Watlington develop his transition team.
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The move comes less than a month after Watlington pushed the pause button on the district’s Facilities Planning Process, meant to focus decision-making on potential capital improvements of aging school buildings, possible closings or consolidations within the district, and instead work on the district’s five-year strategic plan.