Category: Posts (Newest to Oldest)

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

Eyes on the Board of Education: November 19, 2020

by Karel Kilimnik

”The movement is a testament to the fact that courage is contagious.”  Opal Tometi, Black Lives Matter Organizer

The Board of Education has issued a brief agenda this month. APPS members again urge the Board to listen to teachers and parents, particularly in its compliance with the Hite administration on its proposed reopening plan. The Hite administration continues to implement corporate education practices, even more so behind the Covid Curtain.

As Covid cases surge in Philadelphia,  we see again the racial inequities inherent in our society. Unemployment, sickness and death have devastated Black and Brown communities. District leadership must be held accountable for decisions that affect those communities. Educators know that in-person learning works best for students, but the health and safety of students and staff are not negotiable. 

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Board of Education Joint Committee Meeting: November 5, 2020

by Lynda Rubin

The remote meeting of the Student Achievement and Support Committee and the Finance Committee did little to clear up the issues around building re-openings and the ventilation reports at the heart of the matter. But when “Green” does not mean “Go” but something like” possibly close to Go”, few definitive answers were heard. 

 Angela McIver, Lee Huang,  Julia Danzy, Maria McColgan, President Joyce Wilkerson attended. The Committee approved Minutes of the October 8, 2020 Joint Committee Meeting. 

Continue reading here.

Analysis Shows Failure of Renaissance Schools

by Coleman Poses

In his swan song to the Board of Education last April, Dr. Chris McGinley requested that the Renaissance model be retired, due to its lack of accountability as well as the fact that schools were being coerced to adopt a model that was based upon school choice. Dr. Fix-Lopez promised to bring a motion before the Board to end the Renaissance program by October. Chairperson Wilkerson stated that the Renaissance evaluation that the district had been performing needed to be made public before a vote could be taken. Dr. Hite, however, prepared a way to continued existence for these schools by stating that policy 141, “The Renaissance Schools Initiative” needed to be “updated”.

At the Policy Committee meeting on September 10, the committee voted to update various charter policies. During this meeting, Committee Chair Maria McColgan kept assuring the charter school advocates on the Zoom that these policy changes had nothing to do with the existence of the renaissance program.

At the meeting, Charter Office head Christina Grant explained that the office was proposing conflating six existing charter school policies into two, and eliminating Policy 141.

Upon questioning by Committee Chair McColgan about how the elimination of Policy 141 would affect the operation and oversight of the Renaissance charters, Ms. Grant stated that these schools would continue to operate in exactly the same fashion that they have always operated, and that the monitoring and authorization of these schools would not change.

Why then, all the fuss about elimination of this policy? A closer look at the policy itself reveals that: “Renaissance Schools shall not exercise selective testing or erect other barriers to admission. All Renaissance Schools must enroll and serve all grade appropriate students that were enrolled at the school at the time of Renaissance School designation. Students who attend or through feeder patterns are slated to attend a school that is designated a Renaissance School shall be guaranteed a seat in the new school, subject to space limitations of the school.”

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APPS Urges Board to Reject City Health Director’s Reopening Recommendations

by Lisa Haver

Update: the Hite administration has scrapped its reopening plan for the foreseeable future. When the issue comes up again for reconsideration, possibly in Spring 2021, APPS will reissue this statement. 

Members of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools call on the Board of Education and the Hite administration to stop following recommendations from City Health Director Thomas Farley on sending back students and staff to District buildings. 

The inconsistencies of Dr. Farley’s statements since July demonstrate his failure to present an honest assessment of the dangers of reopening school buildings. No one disputes that face-to-face instruction would be better, but we cannot endanger the lives of teachers and their students, nor those of their families.

To read the rest of the statement click here.