Category: Eyes and Ears on the SRC (archive)

Eyes on the SRC: February 15, 2018

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by Karel Kilimnik
February 11, 2018

As we count down the final days of the SRC, we continue to examine the policies implemented by the Broad Academy-trained Superintendent, Dr Hite. Eli Broad is one of many uber-wealthy “philanthropists” pushing their corporate education agenda public school systems across the country, including ours.  Broad is a firm believer in free-market policies  and in the role of competition in education. Experience and degrees in education are secondary. Self-proclaimed innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit will suffice.

Two themes emerge in this edition of Eyes on the SRC. First, the determination of both the District and the SRC to outsourcing services traditionally performed by District staff.  Second,  the increasing use of data to inflict real damage on district schools at the same time the District fails to provide data justifying its decisions to overhaul certain neighborhood schools.  Where is the data to the Transformation Schools, Turnaround Network Schools, Redesign Schools, Priority Schools—all sold by the Hite administration as that year’s remedy for struggling schools? Magic Data is about as valuable as Magic Money. There is an Education Industrial Complex at work dipping into education funds and enriching edu-vendors at the expense of our children.  Some examples from this month include Resolutions A-2 and Resolution A-11, which will enrich the owners and stockholders of The New Teacher Project (TNTP) and Jounce Partners, respectively, with little expectation that it will provide a better learning experience for students.

While education advocates fight for more funding in Harrisburg, the SRC continues to put precious dollars into the pockets of vendors, consultants and faux education groups like TNTP.  Resolutions A-12, B-2, and A-3 demonstrate the growing influence of private funders including the Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) and the William Penn Foundation, whose policies and pet projects are simply rubber-stamped by the SRC without public deliberation.

Dr Hite often speaks about what teachers should be doing to address student trauma, even as his policies inflict more turmoil on entire school communities. His decision on this year’s cohort of Priority Schools forces both Steel Elementary School in Nicetown and Rhoads Elementary School in West Philadelphia into the District’s Turnaround Network. Both principals and teachers will be compelled to re-apply for their positions. “Up to” 80% of teachers can be retained—that means 20% must leave, and that most of the faculty can be forced out before next school year.  How does all this turmoil affect students already affected by trauma? It simply escalates their feelings of instability and loss of control. Relationships developed with teachers and principals over the years are tossed aside as new teachers are brought in. Perhaps Dr. Hite sees fit to introduce one of ten partner vendors already approved by the SRC for professional development. What our students need is stability, nurturing of relationship—not blended learning that sits children in front of computer screens instead of interacting with a teacher. These resolutions (A-7, B-12) send an astronomical $19 million into the coffers of  “various vendors” and Pearson Incorporated, which has profited greatly from the enforced yearly testing mandated by No Child Left Behind.

At this meeting, the SRC will consider resolutions on proposed contracts to various vendors totaling over $114 million.

What If…?

This question takes on a new significance this month: if the SRC votes to approve all resolutions, which it does over 99% of the time, it will send more than $114 million to outside companies including:  TNTP (A-2); Kelly Services, for outsourcing of substitute services (A-4 & 5); Pearson Inc., for “instructional management” (A-7); CLI (B-9)  and other companies for more outsourcing of  Professional Development  (B-10 and B-11); several companies for online instruction/blended learning (B-12). For only $24 million, the district could bring back one Certified School Librarian for every school in the district.

Next SRC meeting:  Thursday, February 15 at 4:30 PM in the auditorium at 440 No. Broad Street.  Call 215-400-4180 by 3:30 on February 14th to sign up to speak.

Click here to see selected SRC Resolutions and the APPS analysis.

Ears on the SRC: January 18, 2018

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by Diane Payne
February 3, 2018

Ringing in 2018

Only four commissioners were present at this meeting: Chair Joyce Wilkerson and Commissioners Estelle Richman, Christopher McGinley and Farah Jimenez.  Absent again, without explanation or apology, was Commissioner Bill Green.  It has become increasingly clear that Commissioner Green does not take his responsibility to the public seriously.  This is now the sixth time he has been absent since April 2017.  He has come in at the tail end of meetings only to vote; he has left meetings early to call in and vote.

Ten APPS members testified on behalf of public education.  [To see their testimony and the testimony of other defenders of public education, please go to the APPS website.]

Remarks and Presentations

Superintendent William Hite, in his official remarks, stated that the district has greater stability in job placement.  However, the testimony of teacher Robin Lowry painted a different picture for her school.  [To see and view Robin’s testimony about the vacancies at Edison H.S., go to the SRC testimony video and click on the 22:45 minute time stamp.]

The one staff presentation concerned changes in the district’s food program.  It is heartening to hear that the district is trying different means of increasing participation in the food program, but the issue of the quality of the food remains unaddressed.  Children still receive unappetizing pre-packaged items, not the meals many of us remember that were prepared in school kitchens.

Commissioner McGinley, chair of the SRC’s Policy Committee, noted that Resolution SRC-1 was a policy resolution that will be voted on at this meeting and that SRC-2 is on the agenda for public review and comment only.  SRC-2 will be considered at the February SRC Action Meeting.  The next policy meeting will be [was]at 440 N. Broad Street at 10:00 a.m. on February 1, 2018.  Dr. McGinley also noted that the discussion of the charter school policy will continue at that meeting.

Sunshine Act Violation

The SRC continues to thumb its nose at the Sunshine Act and the Commonwealth Court Settlement that resulted from an APPS lawsuit over SRC violations of that law.  Part of that court-ordered settlement stipulated that the SRC would post resolutions two weeks prior to all Action Meetings. Almost every month, however, the SRC adds resolutions in the week before the meeting.  Charter school resolutions are posted as “quasi-judicial” and lack any text; thus, the public has no information available to them when the SRC votes on them.  Subsequent to the meeting (and their vote), they fill in the text of the resolution–which is not what the SRC voted on.  That is a falsification of the public record, and it is a violation of the Sunshine Act and of the settlement.  We have repeatedly called on Chair Wilkerson and the legal department (now headed by Lynn Rauch) to address these violations. The SRC is a public body. Its members should respect the rule of law.

Charter Sham Continues–on Taxpayers’ Dime

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Eyes on the SRC: January 18, 2018

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by Karel Kilimnik
January 15, 2018

Change is in the wind this month as we look forward to the end of the SRC, await the pronouncement of the fate of the six Priority Schools, and see how many of the nine applicants for new charters will hit the taxpayer lottery. Both Dr. Hite and Mayor Kenney have said that the district will need to close more neighborhood schools every year for at least the next five years in order to balance the budget.

APPS members who testified last month at the first round of hearings for new charter applicants reminded the district that it cannot ignore the financial health of the district when considering new charters. District CFO Uri Monson has testified at the SRC and in City Council that charters are the single biggest item in the District’s budget. Philadelphia is fast approaching the 50/50 tipping point of district to charter schools.

Is the SRC deliberately pushing the District toward the New Orleans Model, which Commissioner Green has often lauded despite evidence that it has been a disaster for that city’s students and teachers?

Approving any new charter comes with the understanding that no matter how well or poorly that school may perform, the city is stuck with it for a long time. The five-year charter term has become meaningless. On the rare occasion that the SRC votes not to renew a charter, a long and expensive hearing process must take place, followed by a possible legal appeal. This can take years—while the school continues to operate. But when Dr. Hite targets public schools for closure, there is no appeal. In fact, there is not even a legal requirement for a hearing.

Despite the fact that the SRC agreed in a court-ordered settlement to post resolutions two weeks before action meetings, after APPS sued them for a pattern of violations of the PA Sunshine Act, the SRC just posted two new resolutions last Friday. Two concern renewal resolutions: the Memphis Street Academy resolution has been tabled since April 2017, the Universal Vare resolution since April 2016. Both were recommended for non-renewal by the district Charter School Office. APPS has asked at every meeting when the SRC would be deciding on these renewals; of course, we never got an answer.

In the face of predictions of more financial problems for the district, the SRC continues to sell school buildings at prices far below market value. This month, Resolution A-24 proposes the sale of the former Ada B. Lewis Middle School to an unknown out-of-state buyer. This raises questions about the effect of closing public schools, not just on the students but on the community as a whole, and about how little the community gets to say about it. Lewis was closed over ten years ago despite strong opposition from parents, teachers, students and community members. The district allowed the building, once home to the largest middle school in the city, to become an eyesore. In 2013, the District closed Smith Elementary in the rapidly gentrifying Point Breeze area. Many of the same community members who fought to keep Smith open formed the Save Smith School Committee to stop the sale of the building. Their long legal battle was lost when a judge ruled in favor of the district, thus enabling an out-of-state real estate investor to purchase the building, who quickly flipped the property to a local developer of high-priced housing.

Last month, the SRC approved the sale of the Beeber Wynnefield Annex. Neighbors had attempted to buy the building to convert it to a community center when the district closed it in 2002, but the District’s asking price of $300,000 was beyond their means. The building stood as an eyesore for almost twenty years, when Iron Stone Capital Partners bought it last month for $140,000—less than the original asking price.

 Is this what the people of Philadelphia want—for the District to shut down schools, then sell the buildings to satisfy the financial interests of developers and investors? The SRC offered little opportunity for the community to express its own needs, neither in Point Breeze nor in Wynnefield. Hite shut down Bok even though it was a thriving high school in a beautiful building; now that building is lost to the community. The SRC should consider the wishes of the community before it votes, not just the bottom line of developers and real estate investors.

Dr Hite’s pronouncement on the fates of this year’s cohort of Priority Schools may be made this month. He announced in a September press release that Penn Treaty will be “partnered” with the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA)—even before Cambridge Education and Temple University started to do their “School Quality Review”. The District told members of the six school communities that they would not be closed or charterized, but only for the next two years. Parents have repeatedly demanded a seat at the table where the future of their school is being decided, but have only gotten the usual dog-and-pony show of District-run meetings where no real decisions are made.

Catapult Learning reappears this month in two resolutions that propose lucrative contracts for the company. Since 2015 the company has shared in contracts totaling over $60 million for programs for high-needs students. In 2017, the District proposed awarding Catapult a $54million contract to run a stand-alone school for former Wordsworth Academy students; the District had to withdraw students from Wordsworth after the murder of a student at the facility. After strong pushback from The Coalition of Special Education Advocates, which is comprised of over fifteen organizations including APPS and represented by attorneys from the Public Interest Law Center (PILCOP) and the Education Law Center (ELC), the proposal was cut back to $10 million to provide for the 100 returning Wordsworth students. [See Lynda Rubin’s summary of the July 6, 2017 meeting for more details.]

Even after the SRC approved that Catapult contract, there were still concerns about Catapult’s record, about the fact that no contract has been made available to the public, and the exclusion of parents, teachers, and advocates from the process. Dr. Hite attempted to reassure Coalition members by having Chief Academic Officer Cheryl Logan address those concerns. Logan said that the District would be carefully monitoring Catapult’s new schools, beginning with weekly visits. To date, neither Dr. Hite nor Dr. Logan has provided any account of visits or any type of oversight of Catapult.

What If…

…instead of spending $490,000 on some kind of undefined direct marketing campaign, and another $68,600 to a vendor for professional development, that half million plus went directly into classrooms? Students could have necessary supplies like paper, pencils, and crayons—as students in suburban districts do—and teachers would not have to beg for funds online.

Next SRC meeting: Thursday January 18 at 4:30 PM. To register to speak, call 215-400-4180 before 3:30 PM Wednesday January 17.

Click here to read the APPS analysis of SRC resolutions.

Ears on the SRC – December 14, 2017

SRC 12-14-17

by Diane Payne
January 4, 2018

Ringing Out 2017

All five members of the School Reform Commission were present.  The Head of the Office of General Counsel, Lynn Rauch, was introduced at this meeting; she replaces Interim Director Miles Shorr.  Five members of APPS spoke in defense of public education.  To view their testimony, please go to APPSPhilly.net.  APPS members attend every SRC meeting to monitor and report on questionable, often destructive, SRC decisions that undermine public education–actions that otherwise would go unreported and undetected.

Sunshine Act Again Behind the Clouds

The SRC continues to violate the PA Sunshine Act, even after the 2015 court-ordered settlement between the district and APPS.  The SRC agreed to post resolutions two weeks prior to every meeting to give the public ample opportunity to review them.  However, just one week before this meeting, resolutions were posted on the non-renewal of Aspira Olney and Aspira Stetson, and on the revocation of Khepera Charter.  These resolutions did not just pop up unexpectedly.  These charter renewals had been tabled for over a year and a half.  It is amazing that this body continues to flaunt the letter and spirit of the Sunshine Act as well as the stipulations of the APPS court settlement.

Walk-on Resolution

Commissioner Bill Green made a motion to add a walk-on resolution (SRC-10) to increase the seat enrollment of Independence Charter school by 25 seats.   Because of the APPS Sunshine Act agreement, audience members were permitted to sign up to speak for or against the resolution, but there was no explanation or context given for the action.  Regular attendees were not surprised to see Green once again going above and beyond for charter investors.

Superintendent’s Remarks

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