This story should be on the editorial page. It's a fulfillment of the author's radical fantasy. Let me get this straight--Jeremy Nowack, distressed over the PSD turning out 2 generations of barely literate "graduates", decides to embark on something big and different to turn it around--and the author thinks we should be upset or suspicious about that? I don't think so. We should be cynical and suspicious about all those entrenched forces who have condemned us to graduation rates under 50% and unemployable alumni of the PSD. I'll take Nowack over the all talk and do nothing group (PFT, Mayor, Notebook) every day of the week. Nowack's "secret agenda" of better and sustainable education is something we should all sign on to.

Let me get this straight: The reporter writes a story with practically all anonymous sources. You never attended a meeting. You never got confirmation that anything you write ever took place. You put together bits and pieces and you report them as fact? Seriously, you call yourself a reporter? A newspaper? What a typical Philadelphia attitude. Someone has an idea to do something different and it may actually succeed. But instead you want to keep things status quo? What if Jeremy Nowak succeeds? Perhaps Philadelphia's children would graduate and be in positions to get jobs. I often want to complain about the fact that the City Paper is mostly supported by sex ads that abuse women, but this story really ticks me off. If I was Jeremy Nowak, I'd get a good first ammendment lawyer and sue. but alas, I'm not Jeremy. Instead, I think I'll just stop buying from anyone or any company that advertises in the City Paper. Thanks, Dan, I needed that excuse.

Thank you very much for writing this story. It is important for the public to know who is really driving the school "reform" efforts in Philadelphia and what their agenda is, and how their unwillingness to continue to fund advocacy groups seems like a not-so-subtle effort to silence anyone who might ask critical questions.
Another question to ask is why did Mr. Nowak leave The Reinvestment Fund when he did, and how all the loans that TRF has made and continues to make to charter schools around the country are doing?

Back in the 80s, the Wall Street Journal ran an article on untapped sources of capital. They stated that most markets were saturated with he exception of public education. Since that time, education has been set upon by people whose sole purpose was to siphon public dollars into private companies. In order to siphon off the money from public education, the politicians, courts, and social engineers first had to destroy public education. This they did over the past 35 years with bad 'student's-rights generated' legislation, ridiculous court decisions, and misguided 'politically correct meddling.' After they ruined the schools, they then came up with new 'ideas,' not to SAVE public education, but to offer alternatives to the system they had ruined. They knew that education was the last area of untapped money. They used charter legislation to get their hands on that money and have been bilking the system ever since. Believe me, it's not about education-it about money !! Charter schools, curriculum, and dozens of other ways have been created to tap into the public dollar. There have so many outside "partners" that duplicate services it's become sickening. Any new programs that come down from gov't always have percentages mandated for "outside agencies." This is why public education as we knew it, was destroyed, and why charter schools, et al, are the politicians current darlings.

Alas, journalism - once thought to be a fundamental pillar of democratic society - verges on decadence as Daniel Denvir publishes a conspiratorial, ideologically-charged, and overall poorly researched article attempting to compensate for a debilitating case of schlortism. We know, Danny boy. Being "the small guy" in a world of Pulitzer prize winning investigative journalists is tough. We pity you, as yes, bulldogs like Jeremy Nowack act disruptively in an effort to *gasp* change the decaying Philadelphia school system. Beholden to journalists like you Denvir, we now have widespread abuse of freedom of the press and a flagrant and foolish disregard for journalistic standards. Hats off to Nowack and his band of "conspirators." Because guess what: the teachers unions have an agenda too. Yet they aren't bulldogs. No. More alike rabid wolves whose primitive need to keep with industrial contracts and the flow of cash fuels a system of inordinate corruption and mob-like tactics. Let me preemptively say (for all of those indignant moms and teachers who might actually read city paper this week: this isn't teacher bashing, it's system bashing. And Nowack has it down.

Oh my god. The reporter wrote a long, boring piece that accuses a man of leading a conspiracy to privatize education. The reporter had an in-person INTERVIEW with the man he is accusing. And he didn't ask the subject to address the accusations and allegations?

This is journalistic malpractice, and the reporter is a coward.

Thank you, Mr. Denvir. Keep digging. It is truly disgusting to watch these money bullies in action (talk about thugs).

Whew, this was an unusual choice for a Cover Story. I can't imagine this baby helping those single copies fly out of the news boxes. At any rate, perhaps the real juice in this meandering mess comes at the end, where we learn about "journalism" projects being privately funded. Now, THAT was truly news to me.

I agree with tom-104 and Frank Murphy and some of the other comments above. I am a Philly public school parent and I would like to express my thanks to Daniel Denvir for this and the other articles he has done on this topic. He has uncovered important material and it is up to us to make the best use of it that we can in fighting this so-called reform.

What we are seeing has little if anything to do with education. It is the austerity program come down to the local level, in Philly like in so many other cities around the country. The majority of the people must pay for the crimes of the 1%. This is the solution to the ongoing economic crisis. The basic issue here is one of democracy. Do a couple of wealthy men get to determine the future of the educational system? My daughter is more than an income source for the testing companies or the online lectures that the Boston Consulting Group considers to be "cost-effective innovation". They must be fought every step of the way.

As the parent of a child in the public school system, and as a person who has attended one of the SRC meetings and heard Tom Knudsen’s attempt to justify the SRC proposals, I would like to thank you for this article. While I might certainly agree with the article’s subject, Jeremy Nowak, that Philadelphia schools desperately need fixing, I am against privatization of the public school system. Charter schools can be great, but in addition to - not as a replacement of - the public schools that already exist. We do not want private interests with whatever profit-based agendas they may have controlling the education of young minds; that is the first step towards allowing complete corporate control of our country. Corporate interests already control what used to be a free press in this country and they control a majority of politicians through their lobbying efforts and contributions; if they take over schools and inculcate our children with the idea that success (i.e., testing) is more important than the ability to reason and think creatively, then we are truly lost.

The biggest problem the public schools in Philadelphia face is lack of funding. If instead of spending all this money on subverting the basis of a free public education , Nowak and his organization spent the money on the schools themselves or lobbying the state to do their part, he might be able to actually make a positive difference. The thought that Nowak and his crew think they know better than we do what is best for us is galling. We should not allow ourselves to become a “managed” society; our children deserve better.