Lower-income kids in Philadelphia area can receive free school tuition, thanks to grants to a nonprofit that took over 15 archdiocesan schools.

"Independence Mission Schools, a model of urban education that combines private education with entrepreneurial business management practices and academic accountability, offers parents in Philadelphia another option to consider for their children’s pre-K to eighth grade education. . . . Currently there are 4,300 students enrolled, and IMS expects as many as 500 families to enroll before the start of the fall term. There is no lottery system, so families who complete the IMS enrollment process can have their children attend one of IMS’s schools." -- Lisa B. Samalonis, the Montgomery [County, PA] News