Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools
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.
Click on the picture to view the video of selected speakers defending public education at the October 19, 2017 meeting of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission. Speakers are listed in order of appearance before the SRC.
At this meeting the SRC announced they are exploring the dissolution of the SRC. See the video at 0:36. Also see:
What comes after the SRC? City likely to move soon on new Philly school board | Philadelphia Inquirer – October 20, 2017
by Karel Kilimnik
As we contemplate this new round of increasingly familiar resolutions, several things stand out. One is the continued funding of vendors of questionable quality to provide professional development, even after the recently approved PFT contract was characterized as “fiscally irresponsible” by members of the SRC. Another is the need for a fair and equitable funding formula so that schools do not have to rely on the largesse of foundations, non-profits, and universities to provide necessary resources and fund programs of their choosing. The voices of the district’s true stakeholders—students, educators, parents, community members—are diminished by those of private entities who have no obligation to be transparent or accountable to the public. Public schools are not charities. They must be supported by public money.
October’s resolutions demonstrate the growing influence of both Drexel and Temple universities in the district’s business. Two of the five SRC commissioners are employed by Temple. Temple was awarded a $70, 000 contract by the SRC to facilitate the community outreach component of Dr. Hite’s latest Priority Schools process currently underway. Temple has also acquired a $2.7 million dollar federal grant dealing with ELLs (B1) as well as managing a Music Education Project (B5). Drexel expands its involvement with the Powel School (A6) that raises the question of resources allocated within a certain zip code. The “Hunger Games” continue as schools scramble for resources that should be mandated and supported by the district. More professional development money lines the pockets of vendors such as Carnegie Learning (B16), again reinforcing the message that the problem is ineffective teaching and not the dearth of resources provided to struggling schools.
What If…?
The 3.5 million raised by the Fund of the Philadelphia School District was used to bring back Certified Librarians instead of “classroom libraries”. A Certified School Librarian works with every child in a school, not just students who have classroom libraries. They get to know the child over a period of years and guide students with research skills, a wide array of books both fiction and non-fiction, and developing an analytical perspective.
Next SRC meetings: Thursday October 19 at 4:30 PM; Thursday November 16 at 4:30 PM. Call 215 400 4180 by 3p.m. the day before in order to register to speak. Please consider attending even if you are not speaking.
by Diane Payne
September 25, 2017
Chair Joyce Wilkerson and Commissioners Farah Jimenez, Chris McGinley and Estelle Richman were present for the entire meeting. Commissioner Green was absent for the first two hours; he arrived at 6:45 for a meeting that started at 4:30, without explanation, when there were four speakers left. Green was absent during the testimony of forty-two speakers, Superintendent Hite’s remarks, the Policy Committee report from Dr. McGinley, and the presentation from Student Services Director Karen Lynch on the school selection process. He did, however, vote on all of the resolutions.
Before the vote on resolutions, APPS’ Lisa Haver stood and approached the front table, asking Chair Wilkerson: Can you please read the rules concerning Commissioners voting after missing most of the meeting? How can Commissioner Green miss the entire proceeding, arrive at the conclusion of the meeting, and be allowed to vote? Although those questions were addressed to the Chair, Green asked Miles Shore, Interim Chief of the district’s Office of General Counsel, to cite the rules about when Commissioners can vote on resolutions. Shore stated that since Green was present he was entitled to vote. Shore did not cite any policy number when giving this opinion.
Green also missed most of the SRC Action Meetings on April 20 and May 1 of this year. He did not hear the majority of the public speakers, the staff presentations or Superintendent Hite’s remarks–yet he still voted. As Haver said, Green personifies the SRC’s disregard for the public they are entrusted to serve. Green missed most of the April 27 2017 and May 1 2017 meetings also.
APPS again calls on Chair Wilkerson to address this issue. (See timestamp 1:58:00 in this link.) If Green cannot serve in a responsible manner, he should resign.
Sixteen members of APPS were present for this meeting; fourteen testified.
[To view their testimony, please go to APPSphilly.net.]
Our City Our Schools: SRC Must Go
Click on the above picture to view the testimony of speakers at the September 14, 2017 meeting of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission. Click on the timestamps (the numbers at the end of each name) to view specific speakers at the meeting.
Note: The problem with the camera angle and interruptions in the field of view are due to placement of the camera. The SRC has confined our camera to a “press box” which is located in the middle of the audience thus the quality of the video.
Note: The video will not load using Firefox.
These are the transcripts of some APPS members’ testimony at the SRC meeting in order of their appearance.
Click here to read Debbie Grill’s SRC testimony transcript.
Click here to read Lynda Rubin’s SRC testimony transcript.
Click here to read Ilene Poses’s SRC testimony transcript.
Click here to read Lisa Haver’s SRC testimony transcript.
Click here to read Alison McDowell’s SRC testimony transcript posted on her Wrench in the Gears blog.
Click here to read Diane Payne’s SRC testimony transcript.
Click here to read Barbara Dowdall’s SRC testimony transcript.
Click here to read Karel Kilimnik’s SRC testimony transcript.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 