Phila. Scales Back School-Based Child-Care Services

By Ann Bradley

Ever since mothers trooped off to work in factories during World War II, the Philadelphia school district has been providing the public with subsidized day care for infants and toddlers.

Now, the unusual program is being scaled back in favor of a new social need: serving teenage parents. Teen-parent centers will be set up in each of the city's 22 neighborhood high schools to serve the young children of public school students.

The need, district officials argue, is critical: Each year, about 2,700 of Philadelphia's 200,000 public school students have babies. Many drop out of school if they cannot find...