“The announcement that Dr. William Hite will not renew his contract with the School District of Philadelphia comes as a relief to many of our school community members who have been repeatedly failed by the District’s leadership over the past decade. During Hite’s tenure, Philadelphia saw an unprecedented number of neighborhood schools shuttered, a sharp rise in the tide of school privatization, and repeatedly botched attempts to remediate toxic building conditions across the city. While Dr. Hite still has ten months remaining in his contract, my sincere hope is that this change in leadership can be more than just symbolic and spark real change in the District’s approach to decision-making and to school-community relationships…”