Dylan Purcell is a reporter on the investigative team, specializing in data analysis. Since joining the Inquirer in 1998, Dylan has worked on numerous investigative projects, including coverage of courts, crime and education. He is a Temple University graduate and avid local sports fan.

Latest Stories

Teachers and readers offer ways for Philly to combat its punishing teacher turnover


Cheerin’ and runnin’ in the rain. Today’s Broad Street Run was a poncho and garbage bag event

Rain or shine, the Blue Cross Broad Street Run is a party that draws an enthusiastic crowd every year.

The forces behind Philly’s high teacher turnover

Many new Philadelphia district teachers leave because they feel they don’t get adequate coaching and support. Then they’re replaced by recruits just like them, and the cycle begins again.

How a Kensington elementary school convinced teachers to stay despite the neighborhood’s challenges

Like the district's high teacher-turnover schools, Isaac A. Sheppard School in West Kensington has its challenges. But its teachers stay for years, thanks to support from strong principals and from one another.

Special Report

We used the district’s own data to uncover 26 Philly schools with ‘appalling’ rates of teacher turnover

Experts say a stable teaching staff is crucial to a school’s academic success, and turnover of 25 percent in a year is cause for alarm. Twenty-six Philly schools experience turnover far beyond that measure, an Inquirer investigation has found.

Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to eliminate lead from Philadelphia schools faces opposition

Wolf's $100M plan would be funded by a tax on natural gas extraction. An industry executive and two Republican spokespeople spoke out against the tax.

Tie emerges between Penn bribery case and national college admissions scandal

Eight months before the bribery case broke, Penn faced its own scandal: Its former basketball coach accepted cash, a recruiting trip to Miami, and rides on a private jet to get a businessman's son into the school.

How Philly’s electricians union and Johnny Doc converted payroll deductions into political influence

From 2002 through 2018, Local 98 collected just under $41 million to invest in helping elect allies to office, according to an Inquirer analysis of member contributions to its political committee.

For Johnny Doc, union-paid generosity began at home

Dougherty allegedly bestowed on his relatives home renovations, extravagant meals, lavish birthday parties, and shopping sprees. Three men on the union payroll collectively referred to as “the kids” were portrayed as personal gofers for his family by prosecutors.

How the ‘Toxic City’ investigation has protected Philadelphia children from environmental perils

Here's what city and school officials did to help protect children from health hazards in the wake of the Inquirer's two-year investigation, Toxic City.