Phila. Leaders in Jobs Dust-up

Schools chief loses fight to keep auditors off payroll.

It’s all over now. But only days ago, the clash between Paul G. Vallas, the chief executive officer of the Philadelphia schools, and City Controller Alan Butkovitz prompted a top district official to say their behavior was worse than juvenile.

“This is an issue fraught with adults acting like children,” James Nevels, the chairman of the School Reform Commission, the appointed body that runs the city schools, told The Philadelphia Inquire r . “… I won’t call it children because it insults children.”

The conflict was resolved—at least for a while—when the commission decided Feb. 24 that the controller’s office could continue a decades-old practice of having about 10 of its employees on...