This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
The School Reform Commission, days before it is scheduled to disband, gave Superintendent William Hite a report card calling his leadership “exceptional” and rating him “proficient” or “distinguished” in all areas.
“Under Dr. Hite’s sound and stable guidance, the District has emerged from deeply challenging years, regained financial stability, returned to local control, and seen the beginning of district-wide academic growth,” said a statement released today accompanying the evaluation.
Hite will get a salary increase for only the second time since he became superintendent in 2012. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the District went five years without a new teachers’ contract, during which teachers got no salary boosts. The stalemate was finally resolved in 2016.
In 2015, Hite signed an extended contract through August 2022 that tied any future salary increase for himself to the average base salary increase for teachers.
With the 1.927 percent increase, his annual salary is now $317,902.
The current evaluation includes no bonus.
On a four-point scale (1 being the highest), Hite was rated a 1 or 2 in all domains. He got his highest marks for systems leadership, District operations and management, communications and community relations, and professionalism. He was rated slightly lower on human resources management, and student growth and achievement.
The SRC gave Hite the highest marks for working collaboratively with the commission to develop a vision, for identifying and rectifying problems, and ensuring that best practices are used in many domains, including curriculum and instruction. It said he is an effective manager, a good communicator both internally and externally, and deserves the highest rating for modeling “professional decision-making processes and ethical standards.”
Its overall conclusion: “Despite these notable gains, immediate and significant challenges remain. We thank Dr. Hite for continuing to approach these challenges head-on with the sustained urgency and dedication Philadelphia’s students deserve.”