Closing the Gaps: A Tale of Two Students

In 2007, the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board issued a report titled A Tale of Two Cities, which used substantial research to help establish an agenda for Philadelphia’s economic future. The report portrayed "a city on the rise," whose prosperity is marked by world-class educational, medical, and cultural institutions; historic assets that draw millions of domestic and international visitors; one of the largest concentrations of higher education institutions in the United States; sources of training for 20 percent of the nation’s life science professionals; and a revitalized city center that, in many ways, has never been stronger.

But the report also depicted Philadelphia as "a city on the decline," whose struggles include a public school system taken over by the state; a ranking atop the nation’s 10 largest cities in the percentage of people living in poverty; a labor force participation rate that is 96th out of the nation’s 100 largest cities; a college attainment rate that places Philadelphia 92nd among the 100 largest cities; and a population in which more than 60 percent of adults are considered low-literate.