Category: Ears on the Board of Education

Ears on the Board of Education: April 30, 2020

by Diane Payne

April brought the Board’s second remote Action Meeting.  There were moments of technical difficulty which took several tries to fix–a reminder of how difficult online learning is for everyone involved.  Online learning is the mask we need during this crisis. It is not the cure.

Tributes to Resigning Board Members

All nine Board members attended, as did the two student representatives and Superintendent Hite.  Minutes of the March Action Meeting were approved. President Joyce Wilkerson opened her remarks with a notice that Action Item 62 had been added to the agenda the day before. This Item calls on the state and federal governments to maintain school funding and not to use the Covid-19 crisis as justification for slashing funding to schools that have suffered for years from inadequate funding.  Per the 2016 legal settlement between APPS and the District regarding walk-on Items, anyone who wished to speak was invited to sign up before the voting began via email or phone. Wilkerson thanked the District’s principals in recognition of the May 1 Principal Appreciation Day, and she thanked teachers in anticipation of Teacher Appreciation Day the following week.  She noted the Board would appear at City Council hearings as Board of Education candidates on Friday, May 1. Wilkerson bid farewell to Wayne Walker and Chris McGinley, both attending their last meeting as Board members. Maria McColgan read a tribute to Walker, and Angela McIver read one to McGinley.  Both Walker and McGinley thanked the Board members and the public they served.   Wilkerson concluded her remarks by urging members of  the public to join the Board in advocating for all levels of government to maintain school funding.

[Video of this meeting can be viewed on the District website.  Agendas and PowerPoints can also be viewed by going to the Board’s meeting materials page.]

Seven members of APPS spoke in defense of public education.  Remarks can be viewed on the APPS website.   Several members of the East Falls community returned to testify against a proposal to allow Laboratory Charter School to move into that neighborhood.

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Ears on the Board of Education: March 26, 2020

by Diane Payne

The Board of Education conducted this Action Meeting following  a number of adaptations to pandemic restrictions. In times of crisis, we may lose sight of the importance of following long-established government rules and policies, but these are the very times that make that even more important. The PA Sunshine Act ensures that the public has the ability to observe and  participate in decisions made by their government. While adjusting to the needs of Governor Wolf’s public safety direction to not gather in groups, it is incumbent on the Board to facilitate Action Meetings with as much public participation as technology affords. The Board had initially allowed for no public participation, saying that people could send in testimony 24 hours before the meeting, summaries of which would be read by Board members.  No public voices would be heard during the meeting. APPS continued to point out–in public statements and in letters to the Board–that available technology allowed for them to take and respond to questions and comments in a number of ways. For example, if most of the Board members were participating by phone, then one phone line could be used to hear from the community. Comments and questions taken via twitter and email could be answered during the meeting–and when the meeting came, that is exactly what the Board did.  It was heartening to see APPS’ suggestions put into practice. Board members read public testimony in full, and they read and responded to messages sent via twitter and email. Superintendent Hite did try to answer some of those questions with promises to provide additional answers in the follow-up venues of FAQs on the District website and his weekly Facebook live meetings on Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m. The Board has promised to improve on its efforts for April’s meeting by tapping into the technology options that offer live, interactive possibilities. Unfortunately, the Board’s introduction of two crucial items the day of the meeting has served to cast doubt on the Board’s promises of transparency.

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Ears on the Board of Education: February 27, 2020

by Diane Payne

Board Rejects Three New Charter Applications

When we organize and fight, we can win.  By unanimous vote, the Board rejected applications from High School of Health Sciences Charter and String Theory/Joan Myers Brown. APPS wrote an analysis of the applications and the forces behind them, after attending all hearings and researching the corporate and political connections behind them. The Kensington Health Sciences Academy–principal, teachers, parents and students–wrote commentaries and showed up at Board meetings to urge the District to support their neighborhood school rather than cripple it with charter competition.

APPS  attends and reports on every meeting conducted by the Board of Education, as we did with the School Reform Commission before it.  Often, APPS members provide the only public eyes and ears witnessing and reporting on decisions and spending that affect our city’s schools.  This month, the outsourcing to unaccredited institutions and corporate edu-vendors continues the policies and practices of the SRC. The Board awarded contracts to Teach for America and Relay Graduate School of Education (not accredited in this state) for teacher recruitment, and the DMG group for administrative consulting.  These edu-vendors maintain a deep connection to charter schools and corporate disruptors of public education. Either blind to or unconcerned about that connection, the Board approved a total expenditure of $2,651,000 for these Items alone. The Board postponed the Action Item allotting $2 million to the edu-vendor SchoolKit.

(Read the reports by the late Ken Derstine, a founding APPS member, on billionaire Eli Broad’s efforts to disrupt and dismantle public education:  Who is Eli Broad? & More on Broad in Philadelphia)

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Ears on the Board of Education: January 30, 2020

by Diane Payne

This jam-packed Action Meeting convened at 5:00 p.m. and adjourned at 10.  As expected, many speakers lined up to address the ever-expanding toxic schools crisis.  Made explicit from the testimonies of staff, administrators, and parents: there is a serious disconnect between what the District claims it is doing to address this public health crisis and what students and staff see happening. Speakers cited the lack of consistent, thorough, and clear communication; the failure to involve stakeholders in decisions and plans; and a lack of compassion and humanity in addressing parent, student, and staff needs.  Those who stuck it out until the very end included members of the Caucus of Working Educators (WE) of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) and members of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators (CASA). Some saw as disrespectful the Board’s failure to acknowledge the presence of CASA President Robin Cooper or to bring her up to the table sooner.

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