Board of Education Action Meeting: December 7, 2023
by Lynda Rubin and Lisa Haver
On the day before this meeting, Board President Reginald Streater appeared as a panelist at a special hearing of the Education Committee of City Council. The hearing, held remotely and presided over by Committee Chair Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, was the most recent in a series convened by Council to discuss alleged racial discrimination by the district against Black charter operators. Councilmember Quetcy Lozada was the only other Committee member to attend. Streater’s panel consisted only of him. A second panel featured one professor from Alabama and another from Arkansas, both testifying on behalf of charter operators. The third panel was made up of local charter school administrators. The committee apparently did not invite anyone who may have had an opinion not shared by charter operators. The allegation that the district has discriminated against certain charter operators was accepted as fact, even though an independent report commissioned by the Board concluded that there was no intentional discrimination on the part of the district in non-renewal decisions. There was no discussion of the data and performance that resulted in charters being placed in non-renewal status. Lisa Haver signed up as one of the registered public speakers. She questioned how charter operators now had a problem with a performance framework that they helped to formulate.
Haver gave an overview of charter expansion over the past twenty-five years, including the failed Renaissance initiative. She asked that Council include facts from all sides in further discussions. Committee Chair Thomas’s reaction was to verbally attack Haver, accusing her of trying to “hijack” a hearing on Black-led institutions by talking about charter schools. For over two minutes, Thomas railed against Haver, who had no opportunity to counter. It is alarming that a City Councilmember would vociferate against one of his own constituents because she did not carry out the party line.
Haver, in her testimony at the action meeting, spoke about the alarming lack of tolerance for other points of view at the Council hearing. She warned of the political crisis that the district’s public schools will face in the coming year. Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker’s Education sub-committee includes several charter operators and education profiteers. The likely next City Council president is married to a paid charter consultant and outspoken defender of charter operators; both have had questionable dealings with the Universal Charter company.
Haver told the Board that only by holding public renewal hearings of charters would the public hear the facts, backed by data, on charter performance.
President Reginald Streater, Vice-president Mallory Fix-Lopez, Board Members Julia Danzy, Chau Wing Lam, Lisa Sally, and Joyce Wilkerson attended in person, as did Student Representatives Cavance Smith, De’Naiza Watson and Alternate Student Rep Doha Gassem. Cecelia Thompson participated via Zoom, as she has every meeting since March 2020. Sarah Ashley Andrews was absent. APPS members have noted that Thompson regularly attends district and community events in person, posting pictures online.
Student Asks that Curriculum Include Climate Change Issues
Central High student Zain Murtaz asked the Board and Dr. Watlington what they are doing as leaders of the school district on the issue of climate change. He asked how students can work with district leadership to educate the district’s students about it. Dr Watlington responded that his staff would do some “homework” on it. A student taking the initiative to attend a board meeting to raise such a crucial issue should not be treated so dismissively by the superintendent. The remaining four student speakers, all attending Franklin Towne Charter High School, urged the board not to carry out the non-renewal process that has already begun. The board voted in August to revoke the school’s charter after years of documented racial discrimination in their enrollment procedures.
Superintendent Tony Watlington presented data on student attendance and drop-out rates and data on teacher attendance. He announced the new “Swing Space Regional School” plans, designed to accommodate students whose schools were temporarily closed due to discovery of asbestos and other toxins. Later, speakers questioned the district’s lack of attention to longstanding serious health issues due to lack of maintenance. Student Representative De’Naizza Watson pointed out that at one of the swing space schools, South Philadelphia High School, longstanding heating problems, floor restoration and many other large health and safety issues were dealt with only after Southern was selected as a Swing School.
District CFO Herbstman, in his budget presentation, reported that the district may be facing yet another major deficit. The Board, more than ever, will have to change its budget priorities, sending more resources to classrooms rather than approving consulting contracts and outsourcing of district work.
Carrying out its annual reorganization, the Board voted to reelect President Streater and Vice-President Fix Lopez. Salley nominated Thompson for president, and Thompson nominated Salley for Vice-President. The vote was 6-2 for both offices, with Sally and Thompson casting votes for themselves and each other.
Withholding Information and Capping Speakers Is Not Public Engagement
Lynda Rubin testified about Action Item 28, Contract with Neubauer Family Foundation and Philadelphia Academies Inc. for Support and Expansion the 9th grade On-Track program. She told the board that most of the information about the item, including the identity of the contractor, the total cost, and which schools were already involved, was withheld until the day before the meeting. The Board opens the window to sign up to speak the Monday before the meeting, and often the list reaches the speaker limit imposed by the Board that afternoon. “How can members of the public make informed comments about an item with almost no information?” Rubin asked the Board. She reminded them that parents, students and community members come to inform the Board of issues they may not have considered, not to chastise the Board for show. We all want the district to succeed for our children and employees and often have no other public way to address our concerns. President Streater responded that Board members do appreciate the comments of the public. While that may be so, appreciation without consideration before the vote misses the importance of the Board’s actual evaluation of public comments, including having been given more complete information, before it votes on the original wording. Otherwise it is just setting up the public to think they have the power to affect Board decisions when in reality those decisions have already been made. This represents another form of the Speaker Suppression that APPS continues to fight against.
APPS member Barbara Dowdall testified about Action Item 4, a half-million dollar extension of a lobbying contract for The DT Firm. Dowdall cited numerous other education/economic groups in the commonwealth that could be consulted include Education Voters PA, Power Interfaith, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT), PA Association of School Administrators, the Network for Public Education (NPE). The Board, Dowdall noted, seems to continue to give preference to private businesses selling products to education, not necessarily exploring how to more fully meet the needs of Philadelphia students.
High school teacher and PFT member Kristin Leubbert chided the Watlington administration for its ineffectual attempts to stem the loss of teachers and paraprofessionals. Luebbert cited the problems of the costly new curriculum which does not include its own assessment tools. Teachers are being told to assess students using tests that do not align with the curriculum because that’s all the district has. Luebbert said that while she is fortunate to have a principal who works with teachers and respects their professionalism, he is the exception rather than the rule. If the administration would look at the schools that have high numbers of staff resignations, they would probably find principals driving them out.
Board Voting Procedure Should Inform, Not Confuse
APPS has frequently pointed out the confusing nature of the voting process. Efficiency should never be the goal of any governing body. President Streater calls out the numbers of the items to be voted on so quickly that it is difficult to hear them. General Counsel Lynn Rauch then calls the roll on all items, with members calling out the numbers of those they are voting No on or abstaining from. Rauch reads back the vote tally, often getting it wrong and having to be corrected by Board members. Those in the audience and online hear a hodge-podge of votes, with members rarely giving a reason for their No votes. This is not the way to keep the public informed on how they are voting to approve the policies and practices of the district and to vote on contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. Even trying to follow the posted video of the meeting doesn’t help–the sound quality is bad and some Board members don’t speak into their microphones. We listened numerous times to the video and are still not sure who voted against certain items. Minutes of these meetings are not posted until after the Board votes to approve them the following month. This lightning-speed method of voting shuts the public out. President Streater should conduct this voting so that the public can follow and Board members are accountable for their decisions.
All items passed. As far as we can tell:
Items 3, 5, 6, 7, 9-17, 22, 25, 27 passed unanimously.
Items 2, 4, 18-22, 24 passed 7 to 1.
Item 28 passed 6 to 2.
The Board approved spending of $93, 559, 173.
Next Board meeting: the Board has not yet posted the date of the January action meeting. Most are held on the third Thursday of the month.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 