In fall 2001, Pennsylvania initiated a "friendly takeover" of the School District of Philadelphia and embarked upon what at the time was characterized as the "largest-scale privatization of public schools ever undertaken." Under the guidance of a School Reform Commission comprising members appointed by the governor and the mayor of Philadelphia, the district solicited proposals and subsequently selected seven private managers to operate 45 poorly performing schools. While this report briefly summarizes the policy context leading to the state takeover, as well as data related to student outcomes, its primary purpose is to describe the structure, roles and responsibilities of the central office apparatus charged with selecting and managing multiple external education service providers--also referred to as education management organizations (EMOs). The policy context and student outcome data provide a framework in which to understand the lessons learned. Appendix A contains: School District of Philadelphia Call for Proposals Outline. (Contains 36 endnotes and 8 tables.) [The U.S. Department of Education's Public Charter Schools Program provided funding for this document.]