John Mayer Rice’s 1893 expose on public school systems caused quite a stir. Here are some of his comments about Philadelphia:

The public schools of Philadelphia offer a striking example of the difficulties involved in advancing schools, when those in authority use their offices for selfish motives, whether political or other, instead of for the purpose of furthering the welfare of the children entrusted to their care. And these schools show again the evils consequent upon a school system conducted without a responsible head, a circumstance which gives rise to constant conflict among the hundreds of irresponsible heads, who, in struggling against each other for the purpose of preserving their own rights, forget that none of them has any rights; for all rights belong to the children for whom the schools exist.