The Philadelphia Inquirer (12/14, Giordano) says Delaware County Judge Chad F. Kenney on Thursday granted state Education Secretary Ronald J. Tomalis' petition to place the Chester-Upland school district in receivership and "accepted his recommendation to appoint Joseph P. Watkins, who was already serving as the district's state-selected chief recovery officer." Kenney's decision accepts Watkins overhaul plan that "calls for increasing scholastic achievement, luring back students who have fled the district's schools, increasing programs, and attracting private funding. However, it also calls for closing and consolidating schools, including two of the district's higher achievers; increasing class sizes; raising taxes, and turning the schools over to external control, such as education-management companies or converting them to charter or cyber schools if they fail to met federal progress goals by the end of the 2014-2015 school year."
The Delaware County (PA) Daily Times (12/13, Kopp) notes the receivership will last for three years and quotes Kenney's order as saying, "The petition for appointment of Joseph P. Watkins to serve as receiver for the Chester Upland School District is not arbitrary, capricious or wholly irrelevant to restoring the school district to financial stability. In fact, the petition with an attached recovery plan speaks to only, and addresses only, the specific issue of restoring the school district to financial stability."
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