Author: appsphilly.net

The Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools is a grass-roots organization of parents, community members, and school staff—including teachers, school nurses, librarians, counselors and safety staff—dedicated to the preservation of public schools. APPS is an independent organization with no political or union affiliation. We are entirely self-funded and do not take financial donations from outside sources. All members donate their time and receive no salary.

APPS testimony to the Philadelphia School Reform Commission – February 18, 2016

SRC 2-18-16 #!

On February 18th the Philadelphia School Reform Commission held its monthly meeting.

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

All of the videos can be viewed here. Testimony is in the order of appearance.

Click on the picture to view the individual video.

Coleman Poses SRC testimony

Video of APPS member Coleman Poses testifying at the Philadelphia School Reform Commission meeting – February 18, 2016.

The full transcript of Coleman’s testimony.

Karel Kilimnik SRC testimony 2-18-16

Video of APPS member Karel Kilimnik testifying at the Philadelphia School Reform Commission meeting – February 18, 2016.

The full transcript of Karel’s testimony.

Lisa Haver SRC testimony 2-18-16

Video of APPS member Lisa Haver testifying at the Philadelphia School Reform Commission meeting – February 18, 2016.

The full transcript of Lisa’s testimony.

Carol Heinsdorf SRC testimony 2-18-16

Video of APPS member Carol Heinsdorf testifying at the Philadelphia School Reform Commission meeting – February 18, 2016.

The full transcript of Carol’s testimony.

APPS testimony to the Philadelphia School Reform Commission – February 16, 2016

SRC New Charter vote 2-16-16

On February 16th the Philadelphia School Reform Commission heard testimony on the authorization of new charters for the School District of Philadelphia.

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

Click on the picture to see the video.

Lisa Haver SRC 1-21-16

Video of APPS member Lisa Haver testifying at the Philadelphia School Reform Commission meeting – February 16, 2016.

The full transcript of Lisa’s testimony.

 

Diane Payne SRC 1-21-16

Video of APPS member Diane Payne testifying at the Philadelphia School Reform Commission meeting – February 16, 2016.

The full transcript of Diane’s testimony.

 

For details about the SRC meeting, see:

Philly SRC approves 3 of 12 charter applications amid bombshell Pa. Supreme Court ruling
by Kevin McCorry – Philadelphia Newsworks – Feburary 17, 2016

At the SRC meeting, Commissioners Green and Jimenez made a point of saying they are required by state law to authorize new charters without taking the fiscal condition of the School District into consideration. David Lapp of the Education Law Center testified at an SRC meeting on February 18, 2015 that this is not true. 

To Good to Be True?

Texas

By Alison McDowell
Alison is a parent of a public school student and a member of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools

February 17, 2016

On February 16, 2016, Diane Ravitch’s blog promoted a vision statement for the future of Texas public education that had been developed by a group of 35 Texas superintendents between 2006 and 2008. If you simply read the excerpted portions quoted on the blog, you’d likely find the sentiments expressed sympathetic to those who oppose the test and punish system. However, if you continued past the first twelve pages of the document, you’d have been abruptly confronted with “Article 1: The New Digital Learning Environment” that is at its core essentially a pitch for online learning. As a parent involved with opt out in Pennsylvania, I found many elements from these pages and the more-detailed tables available in a companion document, eerily similar to changes proposed for the PA school code that are now under consideration in my home state.

The corporate interests aiming to “transform” our schools know what we want to hear. They know we are weary and looking for hope wherever we can find it. They are not above manipulating our emotions to get what they want. They will distract us. They will speak our language, while at the same time sowing seeds like this “Article 1” that are meant to destroy neighborhood public schools. Pay attention and stay on your guard. If it sounds too good to be true…dig down until you find the real truth.

Eyes on the SRC: February 18, 2016

SRC 1-21-16

Welcome to the Seventh Edition of Eyes on the SRC.

by Karel Kilimnik

Before we get into the specific resolutions, we want to give an update on rules for speakers, as the SRC has changed them twice over the past two months. Since they won’t vote to make them official policy, you never know when they will change them again. We believe in school governance that is transparent in all aspects. The rules below are from the district website:

Revisions to current practice regarding speaker order: 

The School Reform Commission will be implementing new protocols based on two general principles. First, it is important to group speakers on the same or similar topics at Action Meetings in order to give Commissioners the ability to gain the big picture on each topic. Second, the Commission would like to encourage new voices and topics at meetings. 

Beginning February 18, 2016, the School Reform Commission (SRC) will be enacting the following changes to the order in which speakers testify at SRC Action Meetings:

  • Student speakers will continue to be prioritized and normally will speak first. 
  • Other speakers will be grouped by topic. Topics registered by new speakers, those who did not speak at the previous meeting, will be prioritized.
  • Speakers on resolutions will no longer be prioritized, given that all speakers are heard before votes are taken on resolutions. 

We also want to talk about the ramifications of what happened at the January 21, 2016 meeting. Commissioner Sylvia Simms introduced a motion from the floor at 10 p.m. to return Wister Elementary to the Renaissance list and have Mastery Charter take over its management, in effect publicly overturning the Superintendent’s decision to do an internal turnaround instead.

There was no resolution posted on the agenda, and no resolution was read aloud.  Despite requests from APPS members, Chair Marjorie Neff refused to let any member of the public speak on the resolution–another clear violation of the PA Sunshine Act. 

In fact, the Wister community, because it had been assured that no vote would be taken, was not represented at the meeting. Simms reassured the audience of her full confidence in Hite. You might ask: why do we need a $300,000 superintendent if you don’t support his decisions? Two other SRC members voted to approve Simms’ motion, even though they admitted that the district had used faulty data when it chose Wister in the first place. Mayor Kenney, City Council President Darrell Clarke, Councilwoman Helen Gym and many in the education community have expressed outrage about the SRC’s undemocratic action, which clearly violated the PA Sunshine Act.

The other issue that comes to mind is what criteria will they now use to turn other schools over to charter operators?

Click here for the full post to read Resolutions of Note and APPS comments.

Also see:

APPS Calls on the SRC to Rescind Its Illegal Vote
Alliance for Public School – February 1, 2016

Plan to privatize 3 schools is inconsistent and a gross overreach
The Philadelphia Public School Notebook – February 10, 2016