Category: In The News: APPs media

APPS Calls on Mayor Kenney to Investigate SRC Actions in Aspira Case

Full SRC 5-19-16

The SRC has been considering the status of the charters of two ASPIRA schools, Olney High School and Stetson Middle School, for almost two years. There have been several stories published in the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Public School Notebook about ASPIRA’s failure to provide sufficient educational services to its students, along with serious issues about its questionable managerial and financial practices.  In April, the Charter School Office, which is under the domain of the SRC, presented detailed reports on both schools and recommended non-renewal for both. Rather than accept the findings of the CSO, the SRC has voted several times to postpone the vote.  APPS is requesting that the Mayor have his Chief Integrity officer investigate the actions of the SRC in the ASPIRA matter, in particular the private negotiations being conducted by two SRC members designed to make sure that ASPIRA retains control of the schools.
Rather than honestly answer the questions when interviewed by City and State Pennsylvania about the APPS letter, SRC Commissioner Bill Green launched a personal attack on APPS Co-founder Lisa Haver and questioned APPS independence.
 
APPS has previously questioned possible ethics violations due to conflicts of interest by SRC members relations with charter companies such as this letter to SRC Commissioner Farah Jimenez on September 2, 2015. In the letter, APPS stated: 
You identified yourself in that article as “Chair of Terry Tracy for Council-at-Large”. Mr. Tracy is a Republican party-backed candidate for city office. Subsection 696 (b)(6) of the Pennsylvania School Code of 1949, as amended, states: “No commission member may, while in the service of the School Reform Commission, seek or hold a position as any other public official within this Commonwealth or as an officer of a political party.”

Although no resolution has been posted regarding ASPIRA for Thursday’s (August 19th) SRC meeting, it is possible that the SRC will add a resolution for renewal at the last minute.

Below are the intros to the City and State Pennsylvania article and the letter to Mayor Kenney with links to the full text.

Education advocates call for investigation of Philly charter schools
City and State Pennsylvania – August 12, 2016

by Ryan Briggs

The Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, an educational advocacy group, has called for the city’s Inspector General and Chief Integrity Officer, Board of Ethics and the Mayor’s office to investigate the relationship between School Reform Commission members and the troubled ASPIRA charter school organization.

The charter operator has been flagged by the School District of Philadelphia’s charter office for repeated academic and financial failings, but has remained in operation for more than a year due to the repeated postponement of a charter renewal vote.

The letter accuses School Reform Commission members of engaging in a “private appeals process” to benefit the charter at the public’s expense.

APPS member Lisa Haver accused SRC members Bill Green and Sylvia Simms in particular  of colluding with school operators to keep the school in operation through “ex parte” negotiations held outside of SRC meetings

“The School District charter office’s own reports recommended nonrenewal,” she said. “They’re working it out behind closed doors. It’s a violation of public trust.”

Haver said that Green and Simms had formed “a voting bloc” bent on keeping ASPIRA running in spite of its failing record at Olney High School and Stetson Middle School, which the operator took over four and five years ago, respectively.

Click here to read the whole article published in City and State Pennsylvania

APPS letter to Mayor Kenney Calling for an Investigation into SRC Actions on Aspira

Dear Mayor Kenney,

On behalf of the members of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, we are writing to request that the City’s Chief Integrity Officer, Ellen Kaplan, conduct a full investigation into the actions of the School Reform Commission during its current renewal procedure of the charters for Aspira Stetson School and Aspira Olney School. We have attended all of the SRC meetings in April and May of this year when these resolutions were considered, and we have serious concerns that the public has been denied the right to a fair and impartial process in these matters.

Click here to read the entire letter to Mayor Kenney

Education Activists React to SRC Commissioner’s MSNBC Appearance

 

jimenez on joy reid show

Philadelphians who happened to be watching the Joy Reid show, which was aired nationally on MSNBC on Saturday, July 23, were surprised to see SRC Commissioner Farah Jimenez on a panel of “everyday voters” who said they were still undecided on the presidential election.  Two of those viewers were APPS members Lynda Rubin and Lisa Haver.  They sent the following letter to Commissioner Jimenez earlier this week:

Click here to read the letter to SRC Commissioner Farah Jimenez

APPS Calls on Mayor, Governor to Investigate SRC Actions on Renaissance Renewals

SRC 4-28-16 resize

Honorable James Kenney, Mayor
City of Philadelphia
Philadelphia PA   19107

Honorable Thomas Wolf, Governor
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA   17120

June 8, 2016

Dear Mayor Kenney and Governor Wolf:

On behalf of the members of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, we request that you conduct an investigation into the actions of the School Reform Commission during its current renewal procedure of the charters for Aspira Stetson School and Aspira Olney School. We have attended all of the SRC meetings in April and May when these resolutions were considered, and we have serious concerns that the public has been denied the right to a fair and impartial process in these matters.

Aspira Inc. was granted a charter to manage John B. Stetson Middle in April 2010 and one to manage Olney High School in April 2011, after the district deemed each “low-performing” and placed them in its Renaissance program. The purpose of that program, according to the district’s website, is to “dramatically improve the learning environment in underperforming school district schools and to create highly effective schools that provide exceptional opportunities for student achievement and preparedness for success in college and the workforce.” The SRC’s Charter Schools Office (CSO) has cited several reasons—academic, financial, and managerial—which confirm that Aspira has failed to provide its students with a high-quality education and has failed to meet basic standards for proper school management. In addition, Aspira representatives admitted to financial irregularities enumerated in the CSO report.

Reasons cited by the CSO for non-renewal of Stetson include:

Click here to read the entire letter.

APPS calls on SRC Commissioner Green to drop his lawsuit to be reinstated as SRC Chair

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Members of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools call on SRC Commissioner William Green to drop his lawsuit against Governor Wolf to reappoint him as SRC Chair and  to join with Philadelphians in supporting the Governor’s fight to fully fund the city’s public schools. 
 
“Mr. Green’s pointless power grab serves only to divert attention from the SRC’s failure to provide the city’s children with safe, adequately staffed schools, the instability created by their rushed decision to outsource substitutes, the millions paid to outside legal counsel in their attempt to cancel the teachers’ contract, or to address the impending chaos brought on by the forcing out of teachers and principals from seven district schools,” said Lisa Haver, co-founder of the Alliance.
 
“Commissioner Green’s attack on Governor Wolf doesn’t address the real issue:  that the people of this city continue to lose out because of the failure of the Republican-led legislature to fully fund Pennsylvania’s schools,” Haver said. 
 
APPS noted that Mr. Green  has refused to join the lawsuit challenging the under-funding of schools, has been criticized for shutting the public out of the decision making process, and has failed to obey Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act.
The Philadelphia Inquirer article about Green’s suit. The APPS press release is cited in the article.
Lawsuit: Restoring Bill Green as SRC Chair will help Philly schools | Philadelphia Inquirer – April 19, 2016.
Green sues to regain SRC chairmanship | Philadelphia Notebook – April 19, 2016
 In the update to the preceding Inquirer article about Green’s suit, Green is quoted as saying: “State legislators “might have more confidence in sending the district money” if he were in charge.” In other words, ALEC legislators would give more money for the School District if he were in charge because he would fast track the expansion of charters.
Note: Green’s lawsuit is being sponsored by the Fairness Center, a right-wing, anti-union think tank. It is affiliated with the Commonwealth Foundation which has ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).