Penn’s $100M pledge to Philadelphia public schools is helping to remediate environmental hazards
Significant progress has been made in the four years since Penn pledged $100 million to the School District of Philadelphia to remediate environmental hazards, including asbestos and lead, in hundreds of school buildings throughout the city.
Penn’s contribution of $10 million annually for 10 years is enabling a dramatic acceleration in the ongoing work by the city and the district in Philadelphia’s school buildings, which average 75 years old. It represents the largest private contribution to the district in its history and an unprecedented commitment by Penn to the city and its public schoolchildren.
Tony B. Watlington, school district superintendent, provided an update in August to Penn leaders on how the University’s contribution has been put to work, just as the fourth of the installments had been released.
“This $10 million per year is a vital supplement to our district’s budget. This is an ongoing process,” Watlington said. “Our environmental budget has grown significantly over the past three years, in part because of your generous contribution and in part because we are reallocating resources to address this challenge in earnest.”
The historic financial commitment was the vision of Penn President Emerita Amy Gutmann. “Nothing is more important than the health and welfare of our children, and few things are more crucial to a community than the safety and quality of its public schools,” she said at the time. The pledge was designed to assure that Penn’s support extends beyond West Philadelphia and to impact students and schools throughout the city.
“At GSE, we are a deeply committed partner to the School District of Philadelphia in its crucial work to provide a safe, healthy, secure, and inviting learning environment for effective learning,” said Penn GSE Dean Katharine Strunk.
“I am impressed with Dr. Watlington’s data-driven approach to all that he does,” Strunk said. “It’s clear that the district is benefitting from the systems he is putting into place to create substantive and measurable change—from curriculum based on what really works to creating a proactive approach to school environmental safety.”