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Philly school system overwhelms top suburban principal

12.18.2002

A successful suburban principal with thirty years' experience - a woman hired to work miracles - has crashed and burned after only four months as principal of a troubled Philadelphia elementary school that's now managed by Edison Schools. Struggling to answer to two bosses, the principal was "exhausted, frustrated and finally defeated by the Philadelphia system's bureaucracy, which left her without teachers, and entrenched union rules, which kept her from even meeting with her teachers." For a sobering look at the difficulties of urban school reform, see "Philadelphia School's Woes Defeat Veteran Principal," by Sara Rimer, The New York Times, December 15, 2002

Tags: Philadelphia
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