Phila. Extends Hornbeck's Contract for 2 Years

The Philadelphia school board has extended Superintendent David W. Hornbeck's contract until August 2001, despite protests from City Council members and candidates for mayor.

By a 6-3 vote, the board gave the 56-year-old superintendent two more years on the job. Mayor Edward G. Rendell made a rare personal appearance at the school board meeting early last week to praise Mr. Hornbeck's accomplishments and lobby for the extension--which will take the superintendent well into the next mayor's term. Term limits require that Mr. Rendell, a Democrat, leave office at the end of this year.

The new contract also gives Mr. Hornbeck, who earns $167,000 a year, the opportunity to negotiate the district's next contract with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of Teachers affiliate that represents the city's 13,000 teachers. The union has been a highly vocal critic of the superintendent, whose four-year tenure has...