Crunching the Numbers on Penn Alexander

"Correction: according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Penn Alexander has an economically-disadvantaged rate of 24%. The oft-cited 50% figure the Penn Alexander and the district uses is a "USDA-approved area estimate" and not an actual count. Lea's percentage according to the PDE is closer to 90%. In terms of urban education reform, the success of Penn Alexander is ultimately meaningless as it's not replicable and even Penn knows and will admit it. A huge investment of $17 million by a district (and taxpayers) building a brand new school and a major institution giving it a quarter of a million dollars in addition funding annually plus an endowment plus in-kind services and people still ask why there hasn't been "another" Penn Alexander in the district. There's reasons the next place to try is a major institution in another city." —guest #1 [Brace Yourselves: Philly Cited As Model for Public Education]