by Deborah Grill
There are several reasons why the Board of Education should deny Global Leadership Academy’s application to open a third charter school, a high school in North Philadelphia at its February 2024 action meeting. The district already has 82 existing charter schools, most of which, including the two existing Global Leadership Academy schools, have not outperformed the district’s public schools. In fact, one reason why the Board of Education denied this application the first two times it was submitted, in addition to the very flawed application, was GLA’s poor performance at Huey Elementary, its Renaissance charter school. The district’s current 82 charter schools cost the district considerably in tuition fees and stranded costs. The district cannot afford any more charter schools without further diminishing the education of the students in its existing schools, who must try to learn in understaffed and toxic buildings, with many basic resources paid out of the pockets of teachers. In addition, the district does not need any new charter schools, as over half of the 82 operating now are under-enrolled.
Almost all of the founding members who attended the January 23 public hearing either had worked at one of the current schools, were currently employed by GLA, or had a business contract with GLA. No public testimony was heard at this hearing.
This third application from Global Leadership Academy Charter High School is less than truthful, as was the case in the first two. The applicants continue to disavow their two existing charter schools, both of which contain the name “Global Leadership Academy”. During the public application hearing on January 23, members of the applicant’s founding coalition went out of their way to distance themselves from GLA’s two existing schools. There are four separate entities here, often referred to interchangeably during the hearing. Unintentionally or not, this muddies the waters of the relationship among the schools, the applicant, the management organization, and the academic/business service.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 