school district: Philadelphia Metropolis

The New Home Schooling

Like many Pennsylvania children, eight-year-old Venus Kennedy has just begun third grade, but not in a new and unfamiliar classroom. She is doing all of her schooling from the comfort of her family home near Temple University. Kennedy is among the thousands of youngsters in the Philadelphia region for whom the start of school this year means pulling up a chair in their living room, dining room or bedroom and logging on to a computer. They are attending virtual schools - a fast-growing trend in K-12 education, enrolling about 175,000 students nationwide and estimated 23,000 in Pennsylvania. (Comments)

E Pluribus Unum? Nah.

The dispute known in the media as The Mosque at Ground Zero bubbled up while I was on vacation and, coincidentally, reading a book about the religious wars of an earlier era in American history. It was an odd experience:... (Comments)

The 13th District

Crime is down in Philadelphia, but rising in many inner-ring suburbs. In Upper Darby Township, veteran policeman Michael Chitwood is working to stem the tide of crime seeping from the city. Mike Mallowe profiles Chitwood and his efforts in this two-part special report. (Comments)

Military Push in Schools

By Jo Ann Zimmerman Uncle Sam wants your children--and thanks to our public schools, he knows how to find them. A little-known provision of President George Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation requires all public schools, along with private schools... (Comments)

The Missing Piece

By Tom Ferrick Jr. Many years ago, I was interviewing John Kromer, a bright and able public servant who was then head of the Office of Housing and Community Development. As I recall, he was showing me a map of... (Comments)