Category: Posts (Newest to Oldest)

A chronological listing of APPS post descending from the newest to the oldest.

Board Bars Public from Attending and Testifying, Then Hires Communications Consultants

Board of Education Action and Budget Meetings:   April 20, 2023

by Lisa Haver and Deborah Grill

With every meeting, the Board of Education finds new ways to enforce its mission of speaker suppression. Several APPS members who tried to sign up to speak at the action meeting found the window closed after just two hours.  APPS member Ilene Poses was not only barred from speaking but was barred from entering the auditorium when she arrived. Security told her that there was no more room in the auditorium. When she called those of us who had made it in, we counted over ten empty seats. Ilene was finally admitted along with several other people.    

The board pushes the public away both literally and figuratively. The staff tables in the front of the room set up an ever-expanding barrier between the board and the public. In an auditorium with an official capacity of 240, the board had only set up 82 seats. Lisa Haver asked the board to explain that when she testified; she got no answer.

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Southwest Leadership Academy Charter Non-Renewal Hearing Report

by Lynda Rubin

Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School (SLACS) has had less than stellar academic and financial accomplishments for years. The K-8 school in Southwest Philadelphia was originally authorized by the SRC in 2007 as a K-6 at one location, but currently operates out of two rented facilities, (Gr. 3-8) 7107 Paschall Ave, 19142 (its original location) and (Gr K-2) 6901 Woodland Ave, 19142. It has a City-wide admissions designation, but students reside mainly in the local geographical areas and Delaware County (to which some prior students moved while attending SLACS and continued at SLACS). The school’s student composition is 89% African American, 7% Hispanic and 4% White. Asian Pacific and Multiracial. 13% have special needs, 4% are English Language Learners (ELL) and 69% of the population lives in poverty status.

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Board Must Deny All New Charter Applications from Global Leadership, Aspira and Perseverance

by Deborah Grill, Lisa Haver and Diane Payne

This district opened its first charter school in 1998.  Every year, those lobbying for and profiting from the privatization of public schools have promised to improve education for the city’s children.  They said that the district had an obligation to create charters for the good of the children and the community.  Twenty-five years later, we can see that the charter experiment foisted upon the city and its families has failed.  Because of the backing of well-funded PACs and special interest groups, with their increasing political influence, charters have avoided accountability to the same communities they made 6their promises to.  

The district has had many years to learn that the aspirational language of charter apps is rarely achieved.  Charter renewal evaluations don’t measure whether the schools have fulfilled their promises of innovation; they cite standardized test scores and other data. 

To read the reports on the applications click here

Include Reports From Offices at 440 About Ongoing Projects and Initiatives

School District of Philadelphia Board of Education Action Meeting Written Testimony

January 26, 2023

by Dr. Cheri Micheau

As I have mentioned numerous times, it would be very helpful to the public if Board meetings could include reports from various offices at 440 about ongoing projects and initiatives, as well as reorganization and important changes.  Following are several requests for information that should be a part of updates at upcoming meetings:

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