ThinkFest2021: William Hite and and Guy Generals Talk Educating Philly

ThinkFest Design by Philadelphia Magazine’s Meredith Getzfread

We put William Hite in the top 10 of our most influential Philadelphians list for one simple reason: If parents don’t reasonably feel like kids are safe at school, if schools aren’t opening and running with any consistency, then the rest of the city’s economy will never get back to normal. Now, more than two months into the school year, Hite is happy to report that schools are back – though not without some lingering issues from the past year.

I talked with Hite, who is retiring after a 10-year tenure as Philadelphia schools Superintendent, and Guy Generals, president of the Community College of Philadelphia, about what the arc of a public school education should look like in our city. Should we be thinking of a K-12 model for our students, or K-16 – figuring out how to seamlessly usher our kids from kindergarten to the workforce? Generals and Hite, who have a long history of working on these issues together, spoke candidly about what schools need to do to prepare our kids for the new economy – and what parents have to do to help.

As a parent of two kids in the Philadelphia public school system, I found this conversation to be personally significant. I hope you’ll tune in.

ThinkFest 2021 will take place November 8th through the 12th at noon and 4 p.m. daily on YouTube Premieres. This event is virtual, free and open to the public.

Take a look at the full lineup and register here