Category: Eyes and Ears on the SRC (archive)

Eyes on the SRC: Thursday, March 25, 2017

S1140003

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

Eyes on the SRC: May 18, 2017

SRC logo

by Karel Kilimnik
May 15, 2017

Outsourcing of professional development for teachers and administrators continues with this month’s resolutions. Relay Graduate School of Education, which received a contract just two months ago, will be paid to send three assistant superintendents and nine principals to a twelve-day summer program in Texas. Dave Levin, co-founder of KIPP, is also one of the Relay founders. KIPP has a large presence in Texas.

After four years, the district still has not reached a settlement with PFT members. That may be the reason that the district has had to undertake a large recruitment effort for the second year in a row. Resolution  A-2 calls for the Office of Talent to “develop, implement, and refine a pilot Teacher Residency Program for the District”. It’s ironic that this recruitment effort is being underwritten by the Philadelphia School Partnership. PSP has made the forcing out of teachers a condition for funding school transformations, including Blaine and WD Kelley elementary schools.

What If…?
Instead of paying $415,800 to a vendor to provide a summer school literacy program at seven schools, every school could determine what summer enrichment program to provide for its students. If we took all of the money from contracts going to corporate education vendors at this one SRC meeting, there would be over $1 million for almost 20 summer school programs.

Note: The next two SRC Action Meetings will be held on Thursday May 18 and Thursday May 25, both at 4:30 PM. To register to speak, call 215.400.4180 before 3PM the previous day.

Click here to read selected Resolutions for the May 18th meeting and the APPS analysis.

Ears on the SRC Special Meeting – May 1, 2017

SRC pic May 1 2017 #2

by Diane Payne
May 9, 2017

This special meeting of the School Reform Commission was announced in a press release sent out Monday April 24. The school district’s official notice was not published in the newspaper until Wednesday April 26. Those who wished to speak had to sign up by Friday. The sole purpose of the meeting was to vote on charter renewals and amendments for 26 schools. The day after giving notice of this meeting, an article appeared in the Notebook giving the public some information on the schools up for renewal. Because of that article, the public did have some information on the performance of these schools.

For the past year, the district has violated the PA Sunshine Act by failing to post or distribute the full resolutions on charter applications, renewals and amendments. The SRC has given no explanation for this change in practice except to designate these actions “quasi-judicial”. APPS has asked for an official explanation of this legal term and why it now applies to all charter matters. The district has not provided this, despite their many promises to be transparent. District Chief Financial Officer Uri Monson has stated at every budget hearing that charters are the single biggest driver of increased district costs. The SRC has a legal obligation to inform the public of all matters, especially those that are diverting so much from funding public schools.

APPS continues to monitor the district’s adherence to the PA Sunshine Act, which was enacted in order to ensure that the public can know what its government is doing and have an opportunity to speak about it. The SRC violates not only the Sunshine Act, but the court-ordered settlement between the SRC and APPS. We are challenging their practice of only announcing the topic before the vote, then publishing a full resolution in a revised Resolution Summary after the meeting. No governmental body is permitted to report false information about its public proceedings.

SRC Position Remains Unfilled
Present for this meeting were Chair Joyce Wilkerson and Commissioners Farah Jimenez, Bill Green and Chris McGinley. The State Senate still has not confirmed Governor Wolf appointee Estelle Richman. State legislators, most recently House Speaker Michael Turzai, are quick to meddle in the school district’s business, making false statements about legal conditions which charters must follow, yet they fail to do their own job of holding a senate confirmation hearing—as well as a failing to fully and fairly fund our district and others across the state.

Green Disappears–Again

Click here to read the entire article.

Ears on the SRC: April 27, 2017

SRC pic with missing commishers

by Diane Payne
May 5, 2017

Present for this regular action meeting were Chair Joyce Wilkerson and Commissioners Farah Jimenez and Bill Green. Commissioner Chris McGinley was absent.

The PA Senate continues to shirk its responsibility to fill the fifth seat by holding a confirmation hearing for Wolf nominee Estelle Richman. Unbelievably, that doesn’t stop House Speaker Michael Turzai, a Republican from western Pennsylvania, from telling the SRC what they should be doing on the issue of Charter Schools.

After the tenth public speaker, Commissioner Green left the meeting without explanation. Just as the last registered speaker—#58—was called up, Chair Wilkerson announced that Commissioner Green had joined the meeting by phone.

The fact that the SRC conducted most of its business on April 27th without a quorum calls into question the validity of all official actions taken. His absence for most of the public testimony only strengthens the appearance of a commissioner who does not value the voice of the public on matters of public concern.

Six members of APPS testified in defense of public education at this meeting..

SRC Prefers An Obstructed View of Their Actions
The SRC continues to stifle community engagement and give lie to their claims of “transparency” by forcing the APPS videographer to film in a busy and noisy part of the auditorium. Rather than allow him to stand against the wall, out of the way, on the left side, where he had been for years, they have actually moved chairs out of public seating areas so that he is blocking the view of those sitting behind him. The audio and video quality of our reports have been compromised.

Staff Presentations

Click here to read the rest of the article.