Sign up for Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s free newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system.Philadelphia schools will open their doors to students next week as educators and families brace for what could be a tumultuous year.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. Meanwhile, school leaders say they’re also focused on improving student attendance and boosting academic performance. “We are going to get our reading scores up,” Brenda Elliott, the district’s deputy superintendent of academics, told Chalkbeat. “We are committed to ensuring every one of our students are reading on grade level.”That could be difficult. Test scores released last school year showed that third grade reading scores declined, 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.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 “not only that the staff feels supported, but the students feel supported as well.” If she’s able to do that, “they will all rise to the occasion,” she said. What’s Butler — who used to be a district student herself — most looking forward to on the first day back? “To give some hugs,” she said.Here are five things we’re watching as the school year gets underway:Philadelphia gears up to begin closing schoolsWith the Board of Education’s approval in April, the Philadelphia school district is implementing a sweeping facilities plan that includes closing 17 schools over the next decade.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.The plan also includes colocating several schools and upgrading nearly 170 others. This year, we’ll see whether the district is able to get any closer to scraping together the additional $2 billion it needs to pay for the upgrades — or whether it will scale back some of what it’s promised.Lankenau 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.The district has pledged to help families affected by the closures. We’re keeping our eye on what services are available, and how families at closing schools decide what school to attend next.Political fights over schools could escalateMembers of Philadelphia’s City Council are not conceding defeat on school closures. Led by Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas, a group of councilmembers has demanded that the district and school board “return to the negotiating table” and consider removing some schools from the closure list. They’ve threatened lawsuits, called for board members’ resignations, and have even gone as far as to explore shifting to an elected school board. There’s been no signal from the district that it’s reconsidering, but the political debate will no doubt continue into the school year.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 to review the district’s facilities plan. But that committee never materialized. Shortly before the closure vote, Parker stood in lockstep 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. A spokesperson for the mayor did not respond to requests for comment. Will Philly’s new curriculum decisions pay off? 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 and remain skeptical of its usefulness for students. Math scores have improved and reading scores have fallen, but the Philly school district has opted not to release school-level data from last school year’s tests to educators and principals. While the state reviews some of the PSSA and Keystone exam data, district spokespeople say the data can’t be used to compare student performance or for selective admissions this school year. That makes it difficult to determine how students are faring.Philadelphia 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.The district has also said by next school year, they’ll offer an algebra course to all eighth graders. That means this year, they’ll have to expand access to more than 50 schools that don’t currently offer the class.The district will overhaul charter school evaluationsThe school board’s charter school office is expected to release a new way to evaluate charters, called Project RISE, this fall. If schools don’t meet certain standards, the board could choose not to renew their charters, kicking off a process that can lead to closing the school.Recent charter nonrenewals have led to tensions between charter leaders and the school board. Charter leaders have alleged the process is biased. A handful of charters have sued the district over its decisions.School board members have also called for an examination of enrollment in some charter schools. Separately, they’ve approved the first new charter school in nearly a decade, which will open this fall. National debates over tech, vouchers come into focus In Philadelphia, individual schools are largely on their own to determine how to manage students’ scream time and cellphone use. This year, we’ll keep our eye on whether that changes as Gov. Josh Shapiro calls for a bell-to-bell cellphone ban and more regulations on minors’ artificial intelligence use.Shapiro has also yet to say whether he will opt into the Trump administration’s school tax credit program, which could funnel money to private schools. We’ll be following what he and other Democratic governors ultimately decide.Are there other stories you think we should be covering? Reach us at philly.tips@chalkbeat.org to let us know your questions and ideas.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.Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.
