{"id":1015351,"date":"2026-08-21T17:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1015351\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T17:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:42:18","slug":"5-issues-to-watch-for-philadelphias-2026-27-school-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1015351\/","title":{"rendered":"5 issues to watch for Philadelphia\u2019s 2026-27 school year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia\u2019s free newsletter<\/a> to keep up with the city\u2019s public school system.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia schools will open their doors to students next week as educators and families brace for what could be a tumultuous year.<\/p>\n

The upcoming school year will be the last for nine district schools as Superintendent Tony Watlington moves forward with his plan to close schools beginning in 2027<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, school leaders say they\u2019re also focused on improving student attendance and boosting academic performance. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to get our reading scores up,\u201d Brenda Elliott, the district\u2019s deputy superintendent of academics, told Chalkbeat. \u201cWe are committed to ensuring every one of our students are reading on grade level.\u201d<\/p>\n

That could be difficult. Test scores released last school year showed that third grade reading scores declined<\/a>, with fewer than 1 in 3 able to read proficiently. Amid low test scores and looming school closures, some members of the City Council say they want more control over education issues.<\/p>\n

We’re here to help.<\/p>\n

Every day, Chalkbeat Philadelphia reporters are answering your questions, following the money, and digging into what’s happening in the city’s public schools. Keep up with our free newsletter, delivered every Wednesday and Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Janis Butler has been an educator for 53 years. But this will be her first year as interim principal at Fanny Jackson Coppin Elementary School. Her goal is to make sure \u201cnot only that the staff feels supported, but the students feel supported as well.\u201d If she\u2019s able to do that, \u201cthey will all rise to the occasion,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s Butler \u2014 who used to be a district student herself \u2014 most looking forward to on the first day back? \u201cTo give some hugs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Here are five things we\u2019re watching as the school year gets underway:<\/p>\n

Philadelphia gears up to begin closing schools<\/p>\n

With the Board of Education\u2019s approval in April, the Philadelphia school district is implementing a sweeping facilities plan that includes closing 17 schools over the next decade.<\/p>\n

Schools slated for closure at the end of this year include Lankenau Environmental Science High School, Paul Robeson High School, and Overbrook Elementary, which have mounted fierce resistance with the backing of members of City Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The plan also includes colocating several schools and upgrading nearly 170 others. This year, we\u2019ll see whether the district is able to get any closer to scraping together the additional $2 billion it needs<\/a> to pay for the upgrades \u2014 or whether it will scale back some of what it\u2019s promised.<\/p>\n

\"ALankenau High School students Tyrone Ware, right, and Niyasia Bounds say they don’t know what they would do if their school closes. The district plans to close Lankenau at the end of the 2026-27 school year. (Rebecca Redelmeier \/ Chalkbeat) <\/p>\n

The district has pledged to help families affected by the closures<\/a>. We\u2019re keeping our eye on what services are available, and how families at closing schools decide what school to attend next.<\/p>\n

Political fights over schools could escalate<\/p>\n

Members of Philadelphia\u2019s City Council are not conceding defeat on school closures<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Led by Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas, a group of councilmembers has demanded that the district and school board \u201creturn to the negotiating table\u201d and consider removing some schools from the closure list. They\u2019ve threatened lawsuits, called for board members\u2019 resignations, and have even gone as far as to explore shifting to an elected school board<\/a>. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s been no signal from the district that it\u2019s reconsidering, but the political debate will no doubt continue into the school year.<\/p>\n

Mayor Cherelle Parker has been conspicuously absent from public debates about school closures recently. In 2024, Parker declared that her administration would form a committee<\/a> to review the district\u2019s facilities plan. But that committee never materialized. <\/p>\n

Shortly before the closure vote, Parker stood in lockstep<\/a> with Superintendent Tony Watlington. Once a majority of her appointed board approved the plan and councilmembers began to raise objections, Parker receded from the conversation. <\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the mayor did not respond to requests for comment. <\/p>\n

Will Philly\u2019s new curriculum decisions pay off?<\/p>\n

The district is about four years into a major, multimillion-dollar curriculum overhaul. Math came first in 2023-24, followed by English in 2024-25, and science this past school year. Some educators have welcomed the new materials, but many have told Chalkbeat they dislike the new curriculum<\/a> and remain skeptical of its usefulness for students. <\/p>\n

Math scores have improved<\/a> and reading scores have fallen<\/a>, but the Philly school district has opted not to release school-level data from last school year\u2019s tests to educators and principals<\/a>. While the state reviews some of the PSSA and Keystone exam data, district spokespeople say the data can\u2019t be used to compare student performance or for selective admissions this school year. That makes it difficult to determine how students are faring.<\/p>\n

\"APhiladelphia district officials say their plan this year is to get reading scores up. Test scores released last school year showed that third grade reading performance declined. (Kriston Jae Bethel for Chalkbeat) <\/p>\n

The district has also said by next school year, they\u2019ll offer an algebra course to all eighth graders<\/a>. That means this year, they\u2019ll have to expand access to more than 50 schools that don\u2019t currently offer the class.<\/p>\n

The district will overhaul charter school evaluations<\/p>\n

The school board\u2019s charter school office is expected to release a new way to evaluate charters, called Project RISE, this fall. If schools don\u2019t meet certain standards, the board could choose not to renew their charters, kicking off a process that can lead to closing the school.<\/p>\n

Recent charter nonrenewals have led to tensions between charter leaders and the school board<\/a>. Charter leaders have alleged the process is biased. A handful of charters have sued the district over its decisions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

School board members have also called for an examination of enrollment in some charter schools<\/a>. Separately, they\u2019ve approved the first new charter school in nearly a decade<\/a>, which will open this fall. <\/p>\n

National debates over tech, vouchers come into focus<\/p>\n

In Philadelphia, individual schools are largely on their own to determine how to manage students\u2019 scream time and cellphone use<\/a>. This year, we\u2019ll keep our eye on whether that changes as Gov. Josh Shapiro calls for a bell-to-bell cellphone ban and more regulations on minors\u2019 artificial intelligence use.<\/p>\n

Shapiro has also yet to say whether he will opt into the Trump administration\u2019s school tax credit program<\/a>, which could funnel money to private schools. We\u2019ll be following what he and other Democratic governors ultimately decide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Are there other stories you think we should be covering? Reach us at philly.tips@chalkbeat.org<\/a> to let us know your questions and ideas.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Redelmeier is a reporter at Chalkbeat Philadelphia. She writes about public schools, early childhood education, and issues that affect students, families, and educators across Philadelphia. Contact Rebecca at rredelmeier@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia\u2019s free newsletter to keep up with the city\u2019s public school system. Philadelphia schools…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1015352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,40980,1448,2830,1311,18823,1809,175106,6214,22598,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-1015351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-america","tag-chalkbeat","tag-pa","tag-pennsylvania","tag-philadelphia","tag-philly","tag-protest","tag-school-closures","tag-students","tag-teachers","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117134739790741806","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1015351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1015352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1015351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1015351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1015351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}