The Philadelphia school district received a $4.3 million grant last week to support an existing program designed to bolster its corps of principals.
Eli Broad, whose Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation gave the grant to the Academy for Leadership in Philadelphia Schools, said in a statement that he believes the program gives the district the potential to place better-trained principals in 20 percent of its schools within three years.
The program, launched in the spring of 2003, is available to aspiring and first-year principals in the district, as well as top principals from other places. It includes evening and weekend training sessions, and a full-time internship under the supervision of an experienced principal.
The grant represented the largest private donation the district has received since its takeover by the state three years ago. A panel composed of state and mayoral appointees has run the 214,000-student district since then.
Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell called the grant an honor that reflects faith in the Philadelphia district’s leadership and recognition of its improvements.
