PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In his second State of the Schools address, Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington said test scores are inching up, and he hinted that year-round schools are still being considered.
Watlington delivered a status report on his five-year plan, dubbed Accelerate Philly, on Thursday at Philadelphia’s School of the Future in Parkside.
He pointed to the positives: Third-grade reading and math scores on standardized state tests have risen by more than six points over the last two years; 3,500 more students are attending school at least 90% of the time; the four-year graduation rate is near 78%; and district enrollment is up by more than 1,800 students this year, the district’s first enrollment increase in a decade.
“We are absolutely accelerating,” Watlington told KYW Newsradio. “Our kids are getting better. The district is getting better.”
Watlington admitted that algebra scores, though, have dropped. “We’ve been flat in algebra. We’ve gone in the wrong direction and we’re not getting better,” he said.
In addition to launching a new math curriculum last year, the superintendent said the district is expanding high-dose tutoring and bringing in qualified instructors to work alongside algebra teachers. Watlington also noted that the district partnered with the University of Pennsylvania to do targeted training for algebra teachers. And, the district is offering cash incentives to 11th-graders who failed the state Keystone algebra exams to retake the tests.
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The district is still deciding whether to expand the mayor’s extended-day programs beyond the current 20 district schools, Watlington said. Seventy-four percent of the seats for those before- and after-school programs are filled, he said.
“One hundred percent of our 20 district-operated schools are offering enrichment programs before and after school — everything from sports to chess to coding,” Watlington noted.
He also disclosed that actual year-round schools are still being considered. “[I’m] not prepared to talk about it at this moment, but a couple of true year-round schools with a calendar change that will require some coordination and negotiation with our [teachers] union,” he said. “More to come on that in the coming year.”
The district is evaluating the future of its school buildings this year, in a move that could lead to schools being built, consolidated or closed. “Before the close of this year, by December 2025, we fully intend to take a comprehensive set of conclusive recommendations to the Board of Education,” Watlington said.
A minimum enrollment figure for any potential closures, he said, hasn’t been determined. He added that more Philadelphia schools have added air conditioning in the last year.
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This spring, the district plans to relaunch its Parent University program, which teaches academics and financial literacy to parents and guardians.
“We need to provide our families with access to how best support their children — resources that will help them improve their own educational attainment and ability to support their children,” Watlington said. “We need to do more with financial literacy and social and emotional health and well-being. We’re going to do all of those things when we relaunch Parent University.”
The district’s initiatives, he said, would require increased funding from the city and state. “I do think it’s important that people know our kids are worthy of more investment,” he said.
While most district students fall short of proficiency, Watlington said overall, the district is moving in the right direction.
“We will absolutely be deemed one of the fastest-improving urban school districts in the country. Is it enough? Absolutely not,” Watlington noted. “We’re making some significant progress. We’re on the right track, and we know we have a long way to go.”