October: The man with Philly’s toughest job is having a blast

Dr. Tony Watlington

Philly school superintendent Dr. Tony Watlington believes something world-class can happen in the city’s classrooms

By Eileen Kenna

 Dr. Tony Watlington, the superintendent of the Philadelphia School District, offered his “aspiration and commitment” to turn Philadelphia into  “the fastest improving big city public school district in the country” at the club's first program of the season last week at the Mann Center

 Program chair Chris Satullo interviewed Watlington as part of the club's “New in Town: Building a Legacy” theme for the 2023-24 season in front of about 90 members and guests.

Dr. Watlington, who was born to a military family at Fort Dix, N.J., as the youngest of seven children, said he split his childhood between the Garden State and North Carolina. A graduate of North Carolina A&T, Ohio State and the University of North Carolina, Watlington said his childhood and adolescence taught him a lot about how we view all different types of families.

“I learned that we have to understand families and how they’re situated and not make judgments,” he said. “I came from a two-parent family chasing the American dream with high standards for their children. And when my parents didn’t stay together, I became one of those kids that qualify for a free or reduced lunch.”

He said his family circumstances helped him understand that growing up poor is most likely not a result of “a deficit in character, morals etc.”  For their part, his parents, neither of whom went to college, helped propel him on his path by firmly expecting him to do so.

Dr. Watlington highlighted several areas of concentration to help the district improve, chief among them recruiting, training, supporting and retaining good teachers. 

 Also, knowing that many children in city schools move mid-year, he wants to standardize curriculum so that a change of address doesn't set students back and push them onto a path to dropping out.  Responding to parental feedback he received during an energetic "listening tour" when he arrived in Philly last year, he's re-launching a program similar to the Parent University a prior superintendent championed, saying that the district must get better at treating parents as partners and equipping them to advocate effectively for their children.

 Following are just some of Dr. Watlington’s other comments on the issues and challenges affecting the school district going forward:

How to measure achievement

Watlington, who ran two school systems in North Carolina before coming to Philly,  cited three ways to measure progress reliably:

 Use the gold standard test, the National Assessment Of Educational Progress, which is given to a cross section of 4th and 8th graders based on race,ethnicity and socioeconomic status, among other criteria.

• Track the dropout rate honestly: "How are we doing at keeping our young people in school?" Never forget, he said, that every student who drops out costs your community at least $400,000 in lost productivity and social costs.

• Obsess equally about the graduation rate, comparing yourself to school systems whose stats are now better than yours.

 “So, what’s the sweet spot?” He asked.  “We have 50 years of public school research on what works and  what doesn’t work in an urban context and a suburban and rural context.”

 In fact, research conducted at the University of Wisconsin in the 1980s tells us “everything we need to know to improve academic outcomes for all groups,” Dr. Watlington said.

“They said it’s a matter of will. I say it’s a matter of will and skill."

Key components to drive achievement:

If you can consistently do the following things, Dr. Watlington said, you can elevate student achievement:

• Invest in highly qualified, stable and well-supported teachers.

• Invest in highly qualified principals who'll stay for the long haul.

• Develop collaborative and effective home-school relationships. “Parents who are our students’ first teachers and the teachers in the classroom have to have a relationship and it has to be productive.” He also said he'd like to boost school staffs by hiring community members who have "street cred" and contacts in the community.

Watlington was eager to talk about the district's relative dearth of Black teachers, citing steps he's set in motion to remedy that,. He said the research shows that having even one Black teacher improves a Black student's likelihood of graduating:

 "Identity matters. If a teacher or adult says, 'I don't see race or ethnicity,' that is devaluing my existence.  It means you don’t see me. Because who we are is an amalgam of our lived experiences, our cultures, our mores. It matters."

 Reaching out and building a pipeline of Black teachers from HBCU's like his alma mater, North Carolina A&T, is vital, said Watlington, whose first school system job was as a bus driver.

 Watlington's face lit up when he recalled how a couple of weeks ago he got to lead a ceremony honoring Joyce Abbott, a long-time Philadelphia teacher and school climate coordinator who once taught a student named Quinta Brunson. The Emmy-winning Brunson years later named her hit ABC sitcom about a Philly elementary school after her former teacher.  "Joyce is a teacher extraordinaire, who always set high expectations for everyone around her," Watlington said. "Her example speaks to all that's good in our city schools."

 And there are more good things going in the system than many Philadelphians believe, Watlington insisted, ticking off several pleasant surprises he encountered when moving up from the Carolinas, including school climates that are kept under control without using armed guards, and a school funding situation more promising than the one he left in the Tar Heel State.

 He concluded by urging the assembled leaders to demand excellence of the city schools, to speak up when they see signs of it and to contribute "your time and talent" to the struggle to boost achievement:

"Our biggest national security threat is not Ukraine {he spoke before events in the Middle East over the weekend}.  It's losing a whole generation of our youth. ...  I'm a huge student of history. I've always been fascinated with Philadelphia, where the Constitution was written. I’m fascinated by how a city that served as the nation's capital, a city that represents the birth of democracy, a city that was part of building the world's largest economy, the world’s strongest military and a true middle class in the 20th century, why is it we in this city cannot figure out how to educate all of our children? And to, If not eradicate, significantly reduce achievement gaps?"

 Watlington believes Philadelphia can do that.  He invited the Club's members to hold him to that goal, but urged them also to do what they can to help him achieve it.