But amid the jubilation of smiling principals receiving oversize $1,000 checks for meeting their goals, Ackerman also struck a sober note in her charge to the group, responsible for 265 schools and 167,000 public-school students.
Only one-third of district schools met targets set at the beginning of the year. And if the district continues its incremental progress in meeting state standards, it will take until 2123 until every child in the city is reading and performing math on grade level.
It would take 15 years to wipe out the dropout crisis if the nation's eighth-largest school district continued on its current course, she said. The city's black and Latino students underperform the white and Asian students, as in most school districts, but Philadelphia is also struggling with boys' lagging girls in achievement across the board.
"There's still a lingering feeling of disappointment," Ackerman said. "It weighs heavy in my heart."
Everyone must work harder, Ackerman said. Schools must accelerate progress for all students.
On its current course, the district will doom large swaths of students - "sentence them to a permanent underclass," the superintendent said. "We know they're going nowhere without a high school diploma."
The superintendent announced that starting this school year, there will be more supports and tighter controls for the district's most struggling schools. Last year, 85 "empowerment" schools received an extra $12 million in resources and more scrutiny.
This year, she said, there will be even tighter controls and 10 new empowerment schools. A bigger budget will pay for master teachers and reading specialists at each.
