The Chester Upland school district is one of the poorest in Pennsylvania. It gets about 70% of its budget from state funds (richer school districts get most of theirs from local property taxes). Most of its 3,600 students come from low-income families, and about 80% are eligible for free or cut-price school lunches. Academically, it is no better off. Only half its students graduate. The district was under state oversight from 1994 until 2010. It also had an unsuccessful four-year stint under the supervision of Edison, a for-profit education group. Little wonder, then, that pupils have been fleeing the district's schools. Nearly half the children living there attend independent charter schools.
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