A grass-roots organization of parents, community members, and school staff, fighting to defend public education. We work together to provide analysis and demand accountability from the School District of Philadelphia to provide students with a high-quality education.
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.
This special meeting of the School Reform Commission was held for the sole purpose of voting on the three remaining charter school applications. A total of five applications were submitted to the district by the November 15th deadline, but the Metropolitan Philadelphia Classical and the Wilbur Wright Aerospace and Aviation Academy applications were subsequently withdrawn. The three remaining applicants were Deep Roots Charter School, Friendship Whittier Charter School, and KIPP Parkside Charter School.
Commissioners present included Chairwoman Joyce Wilkerson, Commissioners Farah Jimenez, Bill Green, and Christopher McGinley. Governor Wolf’s newest appointment, Estelle Richman, has not yet been confirmed by the State Senate, but she did attend the meeting as an observer.
Hearings to analyze the applications were held in December and January by the Charter School Office (CSO) with outside hearing officers overseeing a panel for each applicant. The only notice for these hearings were buried on the district website, so APPS members were not present at the December hearings. However, one or more APPS members attended the January hearings for four applicants (Wilbur Wright Aerospace withdrew before the hearing process, Metropolitan withdrew after). APPS’ Research Committee has written analyses of each charter based on the application itself, information given at the hearing, and independent research.
The CSO also had significant concerns about each of the remaining three applicants. Their reports can be found here on the School District website.
Although understandable fears have arisen recently that the constitutional rights we have taken for granted are under attack, Americans, for the most part, still have confidence that those rights remain intact. All citizens have the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty, to have an attorney present during any trial or hearing, to a fair and speedy trial before an impartial judge and to present evidence and witnesses. Both the Fifth and 14th Amendments state that no citizen can be “deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law” and that all levels of government must adhere to these laws.
Many who read the article last month about the plight of Philadelphia teacher Marianne Kennedy were shocked to learn that those rights apparently do not apply to all Philadelphians.
After coming to the aid of a troubled student with a history of behavior problems last June, Kennedy was summoned by a social worker at the city’s Department of Human Services to come in and “have a conversation” about an incident at the school when the child lay on the floor, screaming and blocking access to a classroom. The DHS worker assured Kennedy she did not need to have an attorney present, and a colleague who accompanied her was barred from the interview. Kennedy explained that the child’s parents, who had just lost custody of him, had a history of drug abuse and that the school’s staff and administration had worked with his guardian to provide emotional and academic supports for him.
Kennedy was shocked to find a few weeks later that her employer had been notified by DHS that she had been identified as a child abuser and that the district was already taking steps to have her terminated – even though she was not, and still has not, been provided with any notice of allegations that specifically states what she could have done that could be construed as abuse.
Several witnesses, including the principal, submitted statements sent to DHS and the district that Kennedy followed proper procedure and never did anything to harm the child. Only the organized and vocal support by her colleagues and community members prevented Kennedy, a teacher with over 20 years of exemplary service to the students of the district, from being fired. There is no law that says that a preliminary determination by one DHS worker must result in the firing of any school district employee.
DHS scheduled a hearing six months after that initial interview, presided over by an administrative law judge hired by that agency. Kennedy has spent those six months in “teacher jail,” even though she had no formal hearing before the School Reform Commission – a clear violation of her tenure rights. Thus, Kennedy was guilty until proven innocent. Her reputation was damaged and her livelihood threatened without due process. She has had to raise thousands of dollars for attorney’s fees.
Kennedy is one of a number of Philadelphians who work with children in schools and day-care centers who now find themselves branded as criminals before they ever see the inside of a courtroom. Not only have they been denied their constitutional rights, many have lost their livelihoods and their reputations – not because they have been convicted or even arrested, but because one bureaucrat at the city’s Department of Human Services makes a determination based, very often, on hearsay.
Mayor Jim Kenney and other elected officials have shown courage and leadership in fighting to defend the constitutional rights of immigrants and other targeted groups. Those same officials must take immediate steps to prevent denial of due process and equal protection under the law by any city agency under their own authority.
Also see:
As child abuse allegations in Philly schools rise, ‘teacher jail’ thrives and reputations are at stake https://tinyurl.com/y9a4ow9r – Inquirer – July 21, 2018
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools