Gates grant supports Great Schools Compact, PHA pays NYCHA, open government data projects honored, possible Wayne Junction historic district

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Philadelphia a grant of $100,000 to support the implementation of Philadelphia’s Great Schools Compact, the Public School Notebook reports. The Gates Foundation was won over by the compact between the city, state, and charter school coalitions to support all successful schools, including charter and parochial schools, and convert 50,000 seats in struggling schools into higher performing ones. This grant also signals that Philadelphia has a shot at millions more next year.

Philadelphia Housing Authority is paying $150,000 to the New York City’s housing agency to keep Michael P. Kelly at the helm of PHA. PHA brought Kelly to Philadelphia as interim director, but according to that contract if Kelly were to take the job permanently Philadelphia would owe $300,000 to his former New York agency. The agencies went halfsies.

Philadelphia came in runner-up for City of the Year in this year’s Gov Fresh Awards, honoring open government initiatives, and was well represented in other categories, reports Technically Philly. OpenDataPhilly, ElectNext, DistrictBuilder, and Septa.mobi were also among the Philly-related projects recognized with awards.

Historic Wayne Junction Station is getting ready for a major renovation project, and the City Planning Commission wants to see the industrial buildings surrounding the station designated as an Industrial Historic District, Amy Z. Quinn reports for PlanPhilly/NewsWorks. At a public meeting Tuesday, planners explained the advantages of creating a local historic district and a National Register district to complement the station’s renovation work and spur development.

The Buzz is Eyes on the Street’s morning news digest.