<P> "Holding students and their parents and teachers hostage in an effort to gain additional funding is certainly bold but not very wise", commented Representative Dwight Evans, Democratic chair of the House Appropriations Committee and prime architect of the takeover bill . </P> <P> Two lawsuits were filed by the city and the Philadelphia School District in 1997 and 1998 to address what they considered inadequate funding levels . The first, filed by the school district, the city and community leaders, contended that Pennsylvania did not provide a "thorough and efficient" education; it was dismissed outright by the state court . The second case, a civil rights suit filed in Federal District Court, by the district, the city, and other interested parties, contended that the state's funding practices discriminated against school districts with large numbers of non-White students; the School District of Philadelphia was a key complainant in this case . The city agreed to put this case on hold when Mayor Street negotiated the "friendly" state takeover of the district, with the promise of additional funding from the state . </P> <P> In June 2000, under increasing pressure to find a solution to the fiscal and academic problems facing the district, school superintendent David W. Hornbeck ended his six - year tenure . Hornbeck said he did not have the financial support of state and city officials to continue his school reform program (and a year later launched a statewide advocacy organization, Good Schools Pennsylvania, to mobilize citizens in support of improved state funding for public education). He called improving public education "one of the great civil rights battles of this generation ." The Board of Education then implemented a new management structure, replacing the superintendent's position with two new positions, a chief academic officer, Deidre Fambry, and a chief executive officer . </P> <P> In 2001, the district had a projected deficit of $216.7 million in its current $1.7 billion budget . There was a crisis in making the school payroll and paying $30 million in vendor bills . In recognition of the assistance, Mayor Street agreed to postpone for three months a 1998 federal lawsuit brought by the city claiming racial discrimination in the way the state funds the Philadelphia school district . In a study released in July by the Harvard Civil Rights Project, Pennsylvania was ranked as having the sixth most segregated schools in the United States . Under the legislation enacted in 1998, in 2001 Governor Mark Schweiker took control of the schools . The state takeover of what was then the fifth largest school district in the United States was seen as the most radical reform ever undertaken in a large urban school district . This move was opposed by Mayor John F. Street and many members of the city of Philadelphia . The negotiations dragged on because of the state's insistence that the city pay its fair share, while the city fought to retain some control over the governance . Also at stake was the control of patronage jobs controlled by the mayor in the district's central administration . </P>

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