Superintendent Arlene Ackerman yesterday presented a sweeping, controversial vision for the Philadelphia School District's future that includes shutting down failing schools and potentially reopening them as charter schools, reducing class sizes, and overhauling teacher hiring.

Dubbed "Imagine 2014," the draft plan would cost $50 million over five years, officials estimate. After getting community input, the School Reform Commission must vote on a final version in April.

The plan represents the first major policy push for Ackerman, who has led the 167,000-student district for eight months and who later yesterday got into her first public dust up with the commission on an unrelated resolution. Despite the hefty price, her plan would give city students, half of whom do not finish high school, the bare minimum, she said.