Danielle Outlaw resigns | Morning Newsletter

The heat wave isn’t letting up. Temperatures are expected to reach a high of 96 but will likely feel like we’re hitting triple digits.

After three-and-a-half years, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw is calling it quits. The first Black woman to lead the city’s police force is resigning later this month to become a deputy security chief at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Our lead package of stories covers what’s next for Outlaw and the city she’s leaving.

— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

After Sept. 22, Danielle Outlaw will no longer be Philadelphia’s police commissioner.

She had unprecedented challenges during her tenure including pandemic shutdowns, record levels of gun violence and homicides, mass protests that her department responded to with heavy-handed tactics, and significant police staffing shortages.

Note: She said leaving was voluntary for a new position but the news came four months before Mayor Jim Kenney is set to leave office and a new mayor is to be sworn in. Historically, new mayors tend to pick new top cops.

Many Philadelphians’ reactions to the news boiled down to liking Outlaw as a person, but feeling like she ultimately didn’t do her job well.

What’s next? First Deputy Police Commissioner John Stanford will step in as interim commissioner until the end of the year when Kenney’s term ends. After the November mayoral election, the winner — likely Democratic nominee Cherelle Parker — will decide who runs the 6,000-member department. Police sources and city insiders expect Stanford, Deputy Commissioner Joel Dales, and Kevin Bethel, the chief of school safety for the Philadelphia School District, to be vying for the job.

Keep reading to learn what police experts and antiviolence advocates want in a new commissioner.

🎤 And now, I’m passing the mic to reporters Kasturi Pananjady and Maddie Hanna:

In a landmark court ruling at the start of this year, a Pennsylvania judge gave lawmakers a clear message: Fix the state’s broken school funding system. How? That’s the hard part, because there are many ways in which the current system falls short of providing students what they need.

We wanted to help readers understand how layers of inequity compound to produce the system we have today — not just in the abstract, but for your schools in particular because most districts in the state lack sufficient funding. When you choose a school district at the top of the page, the story becomes personalized to your community.

In the coming weeks, educators, experts and parents are expected to testify about their experiences with schools as lawmakers work toward solutions. Hearings will be held all across the state, and understanding how your district’s children are affected is the first step in helping create a fairer education system for everyone.

Interactive newsroom developer Jasen Lo built the school funding interactive so you can see how much money your school district has for students. Click here to find out how your district compares to others.

There will be a second Eagles’ Christmas album, A Philly Special Christmas Special, coming this fall.

How many tracks will it have?

A) 10

B) 11

C) 13

D) 15

Think you know? Check your answer.

🍽️ Reviewing: The new restaurants that debuted during the summer of 2023.

🎧 Listening to: Chlöe’s Tiny Desk Concert.

Hint: Hang out by the waterfront

PRISING GAWK

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Jami Phillips, who correctly guessed Sunday’s answer: Delaware River.

Thanks for hanging out this morning. I’ll be back tomorrow with the latest Philly news. 📧