This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
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In 2012, the School District of Philadelphia sought the advice of a management consulting firm that was hired with private money to help the District chart a plan for its long-term fiscal health.
The William Penn Foundation, a major Philadelphia-based philanthropic organization (which provides funding to NewsWorks/WHYY), provided funding for the Boston Consulting Group to formulate a strategy that included finding management efficiencies, negotiating labor savings and, most controversially, closing schools.
The BCG’s recommendations, though, were kept out of the public domain — sparking a debate about how much transparency there should be when a public entity formulates its future plans.
Last week, after a years-long court battle, transparency advocates declared victory as the District decided to abandon the legal case and release the long-undisclosed document regarding school closures.