This two-part Schooled podcast by WHYY News highlights aspects of the Philadelphia School District that serve as an inspiration for a hit television show. The reporting took place in 2024 and 2025. Philadelphia native Quinta Brunson created the hit TV series, “Abbott Elementary,” as modeled upon real-life experiences students face learning in the Philly school system. The sitcom shines a light on the challenges that the school district faces — teacher shortages, limited resources, furniture and supplies – among the real-life issues incorporated into the show’s storylines.

This episode focuses on the making of “Abbott Elementary,” its impact, Quinta’s ties to Philadelphia, and educators’ reactions to seeing their world enacted on the small screen.

In this episode, a look at how New Jersey responded to its own school funding lawsuit decades ago — and what Pennsylvania could learn. Then, a visit to the state capitol to see how legislators are responding to the recent court ruling that says Pennsylvania’s school funding system is unconstitutional. And, how underfunded schools are taking matters into their own hands while they wait for help.

This episode is the second in this season of “Schooled”, a podcast production from WHYY that gives the insider’s story of public schools, through the eyes of students, parents, and educators. 

Read and listen to the first episode.

Find “Schooled” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Two neighboring public high schools show the inequity of Pennsylvania’s school funding system. We learn about the forces at play and how a lack of resources affects everyday life for students and teachers. Then, we meet the people who have dedicated their lives to solving the state’s school funding problem.

Public education in America is still divided between the haves and have-nots, and the problem doesn’t get much worse than in Pennsylvania. But change could be coming.

In exactly one year, a relatively large and diverse school district went from debating masks to targeting LGBTQ books. Here’s how it happened.

A book ban put the Central York School in the national spotlight. Meet the people who defeated it — and discover how it changed them.

There’s rising concern about the number of teachers who may leave the field. We asked them why. What they told us might surprise you.

New tapes shed light on an old story: the suspension of 32 Philly teachers during the 1950s. We explore what happened, and what it tells us about ourselves.

School leaders across the U.S. are looking for the next Shakoor Henderson: a promising Black, male educator in a field that sorely lacks diversity.

So why is he on the verge of being pushed out of public education after a long, winding fight to get in?

The answer lies in his past — and the barriers faced by many Black men in America.