Month: May 2017

Defenders of Public Education testify at the May 25th SRC meeting

SRC 5-25-17

On May 25th, 2017 the Philadelphia School Reform Commission met to vote on the budget for the 2017-18 school year.

See In surprise. SRC approves Deep Roots charters with conditions | The Notebook – May 25, 2017 (read Lisa Haver and Rich Migliore’s comments) and
Philly’s SRC approves nearly $3 billion budget | Inquirer – May 25, 2017

This is testimony of parents, teachers and members of the  Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools in defense of public schools at the meeting

Click on each of the pictures below to view individual videos. Speakers are in order of appearance at the SRC meeting.

Click here to see all eleven of the videos.

Note: The problem with the camera angle and interruptions in the field of view are due to placement of the camera. The SRC has confined our camera to a “press box” which is located in the middle of the audience thus the quality of the video.

Testimony of community member Tomika Anglin at the May 25th SRC meeting.

Tomika Anglin SRC testimony pic 5-25-17
Click the picture to view the video.

Testimony of community member Mama Gail at the May 25th SRC meeting.

Mama Gail SRC testimony pic May 25, 2017
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Testimony of teacher Robin Lowry at the May 25th SRC meeting.

Robin Lowry SRC testimony pic May 25, 2017
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Testimony of APPS member Lisa Haver at the May 25th SRC meeting.

Lisa Haver SRC testimony pic 5-25-17
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Testimony of APPS member Debbie Grill at the May 25th SRC meeting.

Debbie Grill SRC testimony pic 5-25-17
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Click here to read the transcript of Debbie’s testimony.

Testimony of community member John Temple at the May 25th SRC meeting (including a comment by Commission Green about John’s testimony at the end of the meeting.)

John Tremble testimony pic
Click on the picture to view the video.

Click here to read the transcript of John’s testimony.

Testimony of APPS member Eileen Duffey at the May 25th SRC meeting.

Eileen Duffey SRC testimony pic May 25, 2017
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Testimony of APPS member Diane Payne at the May 25th SRC meeting.

Diane Payne SRC testimony pic May 25, 2017
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Testimony of APPS member Karel Kilimnik at the May 25th SRC meeting.

Karel Kilimnik SRC testimony 5-25-17
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Testimony of APPS member Lynda Rubin at the May 25th SRC meeting.

Lynda Rubin SRC testimony pic May 25, 2017
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Click here to view the transcript of Linda’s testimony.

Testimony of Smith School community member Alison Stohr at the May 25th SRC meeting.

Alison Stohr SRC testimony pic May 25, 2017
Click on the picture to view the video.

Ears on the SRC: May 18, 2017

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by Diane Payne
May 25, 2017

Some Good News

For defenders of public education, finding good news is not easy, but it does happen.   At the April 20th SRC meeting, APPS co-founder Lisa Haver told the SRC that she, like many people, is not able to understand a complex budget without some explanation. After the meeting, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Uri Monson asked Lisa for ideas on this. After a number of conversations, Monson issued a “Budget 101” along with the full district budget. This multi-page, graphic tutorial is available on the district website. Sometimes they do listen!

More good news: after months of unnecessary delay, the PA Senate finally did its job and confirmed Estelle Richman, thus filling the fifth seat on the SRC. Richman had been attending SRC meetings as an observer since her nomination by Governor Wolf six months ago. It is not acceptable that we still have this Harrisburg-imposed governance of our school district. Fighting to regain local control of our schools should be a priority of the people of Philadelphia, but until that control is restored we should not have to wait for Harrisburg to do its job and confirm our full complement of commissioners.

Defenders of Public Education Testify

All five members of the commission were present and remained for the entire meeting; none of the commissioners left mid-meeting. At both April meetings, Commissioner Green left early in the meeting without notice or explanation, then called in—after the public speakers finished—to vote on the resolutions. APPS has called into question the legitimacy of the votes at both of those meetings, as Commissioner Green and the SRC failed to follow their own by-laws as stated in Policy No. 006.1

Lisa Haver and APPS Legislative Liaison Lynda Rubin sent Green a letter, asking that he consider resigning if he is not able to fulfill his duties. Green did not reply.

Of course, members of the public ask questions of the SRC in public testimony at every meeting, but rarely get a response. Being unelected means being unaccountable.

Nine members of APPS spoke in defense of public education at this meeting. Eleven other speakers, including members and supporters of the Caucus of Working Educators of the PFT, addressed the timely topic of immigrant student rights. These students, parents, teachers, attorneys and community advocates spoke about the realities of being an immigrant student and what the district needs to do to protect their rights. Dr. Hite was reminded of promises he made in January on this issue, questions were asked, demands were presented—but as usual not a peep from those at the front table, even to acknowledge this information was being heard, processed and/or addressed.

More Wasteful Spending

Click here to read the rest of the post.

 

Eyes on the SRC: Thursday, March 25, 2017

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Eyes on the SRC: May 25, 2017
by Lisa Haver

SCHOOL REFORM COMMISSION PUBLIC MEETING RESOLUTION LIST : As of 5/23/2017

SCHOOL REFORM COMMISSION

  1. SRC-1  Adopts an amended Operating Budget for 2016/2017 and an Operating Budget for 2017/2018
  2. SRC-2  Adopts an amended Capital Budget for 2016/2017 and an amended Capital Program for 2017-

2022 and Adopts a Capital Budget for 2017/2018 and a Capital Program for 2018-2023

  1. SRC-3  Approves an agreement with the Philadelphia Intermediate Unit to provide an educational program and auxiliary services to nonpublic school students for 2017/2018
  2. SRC-4* Proposed Action on Revised Charter Application – Deep Roots Charter School
  3. SRC-5** Proposed Adoption of Adjudication – Laboratory Charter School of Communication and Languages (Added 5.23.17)
  4. EDUCATION SUPPORT SERVICES
  5. A-1  Operating Budget: Amendment of Lease Agreement with 18 South Seventh Street Associates, L.P. – Constitution High School (Added 5.23.17)
  6. A-2  Operating Budget: Amendment of Lease Agreement with 2130Arch Street Associates, L.P. – Science Leadership Academy (Added 5.23.17)

III. EDUCATION SERVICES
None Submitted

  1. INTERMEDIATE UNIT
  2. IU-1  Adopts an amended Philadelphia Intermediate Unit Budget for 2016/2017 and a Philadelphia Intermediate Unit Budget for 2017-2018
  3. IU-2  Approves an Agreement with the Philadelphia School District to provide an educational program and auxiliary services to nonpublic school students for 2017-2018

*Consideration of the Revised Charter Application (SRC-4) by the School Reform Commission would be a quasi-judicial action. Please refer to the Charter Schools Office Renewal Recommendation Report available on the Charter Office website.

**Consideration of the Adoption of the Charter Adjudication (SRC-5) by the School Reform Commission would be a quasi-judicial action. Please refer to the Charter Schools Office Amendment Evaluation Report available on the Charter Office website.

***Please refer to currently available Budget Documents here.

Above is the Current Resolution List for the Thursday, May 25 SRC Action Meeting. It is the only information that the SRC has posted on its website for that meeting. As we searched in vain over the past two days for a Resolution Summary, we saw that items were added to the list almost hourly.

Up until Tuesday afternoon, the only items listed were the first three on the budget. As of Wednesday morning, there are ten. No information is given for any of them.

Two different listings are posted (Upcoming Resolution List, May 25 and Current Resolution List, May 25) with different information on each. This is not just confusing, but it seems to be a deliberate tactic to withhold information from the public.

The SRC continues to give lip service to transparency and community engagement. But it is clear that they will continue to vote on crucial issues with no regard to their responsibility—as government officials— to the stakeholders of the district.

APPS sent the following letter to the SRC Wednesday morning:

Dear Chair Wilkerson and Commissioners:

On February 8, 2017, after a lengthy public hearing process, the SRC voted to deny the new charter application submitted by Deep Roots Charter. The Resolution List for May 25, just posted today, indicates that the SRC will vote on a revised application from Deep Roots. No Resolution Summary has been posted, in violation of the Sunshine Act settlement agreement between the school district, the SRC and the Alliance. Thus, no details of the revised application have been provided to the public.

The district website indicates that the Charter Schools Office evaluation of the new application was posted yesterday, May 22, just three days before the SRC vote.  There has been no hearing process at which the public could be apprised of the contents of any new application or any opportunity for the public to comment on it.

We request that the SRC withdraw the resolution and schedule at least one hearing at which concerned members of the public will have an opportunity to speak on this major expenditure of district funds.

Sincerely,

Lisa Haver
Karel Kilimnik

APPS testimony before the School Reform Commission – May 18, 2017

S1140004

On May 18, 2017 the Philadelphia School Reform Commission met for the first of two Action Meetings scheduled in May.

This is testimony of members of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools at the meeting.

Click here to view all of the videos.

Click on the pictures below to view individual videos. Speakers are in order of appearance at the SRC meeting.

Note: Frequent visual interruptions are due to the poor location of press at the SRC meetings.

Video of APPS member Cheri Micheau testifying before the Philadelphia School Reform Commission –May 18, 2017.

Cheri Micheau SRC 5-18-17
Click the picture to view the video.

Video of APPS member Karel Kilimnik testifying before the Philadelphia School Reform Commission –May 18, 2017.

Karel Kilimnic SRC 5-18-17
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Click here to read the transcript of Karel’s testimony.

Video of APPS member Ilene Poses testifying before the Philadelphia School Reform Commission –May 18, 2017.

Ilene Poses SRC testimony 5-18-19
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Click here to read the transcript of Ilene’s testimony.

Video of public school parent Tomika Anglin testifying before the Philadelphia School Reform Commission –May 18, 2017.

Tomika Anglin SRC 5-18-17
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Video of APPS member Lisa Haver testifying before the Philadelphia School Reform Commission –May 18, 2017.

Lisa Haver SRC 5-18-17
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Video of APPS member Lynda Rubin testifying before the Philadelphia School Reform Commission –May 18, 2017.

Lynda Rubin SRC 5-18-19
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Click here to read the transcript of Lynda’s testimony.

Video of APPS member Tonya Bah testifying before the Philadelphia School Reform Commission –May 18, 2017.

Tonya Bah SRC 5-18-17
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Video of APPS member Diane Payne testifying before the Philadelphia School Reform Commission –May 18, 2017.

Diane Payne SRC 5-18-17
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Click here to read the transcript of Diane’s testimony.

Video of APPS member Deborah Grill testifying before the Philadelphia School Reform Commission –May 18, 2017.

Deborah Grill
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