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

APPS News: May 2017

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by Karel Kilimnik
May 10, 2017

Spring is showering SRC meetings upon us: there are two meetings each month from March until June. We continue to inform supporters of public education in several ways: an overview of Resolutions to be voted on in our Eyes on the SRC, a report of these meetings in Ears on the SRC, video of testimonies from members and supporters, and a new section of Calendar Events. We appreciate any and all feedback on our writings. Please feel free to share additional information and resources or to ask questions. The next two SRC meetings for May are listed in the Calendar section.  We are happy to advise those who want to testify but have never done so. We urge all who want to fight for public schools to attend and bring a sign if possible.

New SRC Policy Committee Meets—When Those Affected by Policies Cannot Attend
In March the SRC passed a resolution creating “ a policy committee that will review policies that affect students and staff”.  They scheduled these meetings for 9 AM, when a when students, staff,  and working parents are unable to attend.  Thus, those who are responsible for implementing the policies, and those affected by them, are excluded. The first meeting of the SRC Policy Committee, Chaired by Commissioner McGinley and attended by SRC Chair Joyce Wilkerson and Superintendent-designee Naomi Wyatt, met on April 6 in a small conference room at 440. About 80% of those present were district staff.  Four APPS members attended, along with Councilwoman Helen Gym and her chief of staff. Prior to this initial meeting over 75 pages of district policies were posted Friday afternoon March 31 for public perusal. Read the APPS Ears on this Meeting for a more detailed account.  If the intent was to enable the public, in particular those directly affected by these policies, to have some input, then these meetings need to be scheduled at a more convenient time.

Action Meeting Morphs into Budget Meeting

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Ears on the SRC Special Meeting – May 1, 2017

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by Diane Payne
May 9, 2017

This special meeting of the School Reform Commission was announced in a press release sent out Monday April 24. The school district’s official notice was not published in the newspaper until Wednesday April 26. Those who wished to speak had to sign up by Friday. The sole purpose of the meeting was to vote on charter renewals and amendments for 26 schools. The day after giving notice of this meeting, an article appeared in the Notebook giving the public some information on the schools up for renewal. Because of that article, the public did have some information on the performance of these schools.

For the past year, the district has violated the PA Sunshine Act by failing to post or distribute the full resolutions on charter applications, renewals and amendments. The SRC has given no explanation for this change in practice except to designate these actions “quasi-judicial”. APPS has asked for an official explanation of this legal term and why it now applies to all charter matters. The district has not provided this, despite their many promises to be transparent. District Chief Financial Officer Uri Monson has stated at every budget hearing that charters are the single biggest driver of increased district costs. The SRC has a legal obligation to inform the public of all matters, especially those that are diverting so much from funding public schools.

APPS continues to monitor the district’s adherence to the PA Sunshine Act, which was enacted in order to ensure that the public can know what its government is doing and have an opportunity to speak about it. The SRC violates not only the Sunshine Act, but the court-ordered settlement between the SRC and APPS. We are challenging their practice of only announcing the topic before the vote, then publishing a full resolution in a revised Resolution Summary after the meeting. No governmental body is permitted to report false information about its public proceedings.

SRC Position Remains Unfilled
Present for this meeting were Chair Joyce Wilkerson and Commissioners Farah Jimenez, Bill Green and Chris McGinley. The State Senate still has not confirmed Governor Wolf appointee Estelle Richman. State legislators, most recently House Speaker Michael Turzai, are quick to meddle in the school district’s business, making false statements about legal conditions which charters must follow, yet they fail to do their own job of holding a senate confirmation hearing—as well as a failing to fully and fairly fund our district and others across the state.

Green Disappears–Again

Click here to read the entire article.

The Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools Speaks at the Charter Renewal meeting of the SRC on May 1, 2017

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On May 1st, 2017 the Philadelphia School Reform Commission met for its Charter renewal meeting.

Details about the meeting can be found here:
SRC approves nontewal of Lab Charter, tables decision on Memphis Street | The Notebook – May 1, 2017

The meeting was dominated by supporters of various charter schools promoting their school and asking for renewal of their charters.

Members of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools spoke in opposition to charter renewals and called for full funding for public schools including an end to the four year impasse over a new contract for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

Click here to view all six videos.

Click on each picture to view individual videos or read transcripts of testimony. The pictures are posted in the speaker order at the meeting.

Note #1: During the charter school presentations, Commissioner Bill Green left the meeting and was not present for speakers. He voted on charter renewals by phone at the end of the meeting. A fifth seat remains empty because the Pennsylvania Senate has not approved the appointment of Governor Wolf’s nominee since last fall.

Note #2: Restrictions by SRC on camera placement continue to be a problem. Since we are required to be in a “press box” which is in the audience there is continual interference with the view with movement in the audience or people sitting between a speaker and the camera. While we were able to move up one row from the last meeting there is still a problem with being required to film speakers from the back and the SRC over the heads of audience members. The one exception is the video for Lisa Haver. We were able to film from the front of the audience because they had allowed the corporate media to film from that position earlier in the meeting.

The testimony of Lisa Haver before the School Reform Commission

Lisa Haver SRC 5-1-17
Click on the picture to view Lisa’s video.

The testimony of Deborah Grill before the School Reform Commission.

Debbie Grill SRC 5-1-17
Click on the picture to view Debbie’s video.

The testimony of Diane Payne before the School Reform Commission.

Diane Payne SRC testimony 5-1-17
Click the picture to view of video of Diane’s testimony.

Click here to read the transcript of Diane’s testimony.

The testimony of Lynda Rubin before the School Reform Commission.

Lynda Rubin SRC 5-1-17
Click on the picture to video of Lynda’s testimony.

The testimony of Ilene Poses before the School Reform Commission.

Ilene Poses SRC testimony 5-1-17

Click here to read the transcript of Ilene’s testimony.

The testimony of Barbara Dowdall before the School Reform Commission.

Barbara Dowdall SRC 5-1-17
Click the picture to view video of Barbara’s testimony.

Click here to read the transcript of Barbara’s testimony.

Ears on the SRC: April 20, 2017

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by Diane Payne
April 29, 2017

The March 23 meeting of the School Reform Commission had been posted on the School District (SD) website for months as a regularly scheduled Action Meeting. For some reason, many of us who called the district to sign up to speak were told we had to speak on the topic of next year’s budget. APPS sent an email to the SRC requesting that they inform the district employees who take registration information that the district had never posted this as a budget meeting and that the public cannot be barred from speaking on general topics at any SRC Action Meeting.

Incredibly, the SRC made it even more confusing for those who tried to speak at the April 20 meeting. At first, callers were told they could only speak on the budget. Those who called on subsequent days were told they could speak on anything EXCEPT the budget, as they already had the limit for that one topic. The SRC was actually taking the position that they only wanted to hear from six members on the public about a $2.9 billion budget. Only the City itself, at $4 billion, has a larger budget than the school district. On the day before the meeting, some callers were told that they could not speak at all. Not until letters were sent by APPS, and action was taken by the office of Councilwoman Helen Gym, did the SRC allow all of those who called to speak. APPS’ Karel Kilimnik challenged the SRC to end the disinformation, confusion and lack of transparency.

All four commissioners—Chair Joyce Wilkerson, Commissioners Chris McGinley, Farah Jiminez, and Bill Green—were present. A confirmation hearing for Estelle Richman, nominated by Governor Wolf months ago, has yet to be scheduled. Harrisburg continues to inflict the SRC on Philadelphia but will not take the time to make sure all of its seats are filled.

Five members of APPS spoke at this SRC meeting. Click here to see their testimony and those of other community members who spoke on the budget, lack of transparency and the PFT contract..

CFO’s Budget Report
District Chief Financial Officer Uri Monson gave a 5-minute presentation on a $2.8 BILLION dollar budget—a single page of figures for the FY 18-22 financial plan. Where money is going and how money is spent is indiscernible from the single page of figures and from the presentation. Monson acknowledged the $65 windfall from the city’s reassessment of commercial properties, but recommended that the money be spent on early literacy initiatives and eliminating split grades. This would result in the hiring of an additional 112 teachers. The tenacious George Bezanis of the PFT’s Caucus of Working Educator’s shouted from the back “What about the PFT contract?” Superintendent Hite responded that getting teachers a contract was a “priority” and meetings were scheduled with the PFT. Haven’t we heard that—many times—before? After four years, they are only empty words.

After Monson’s presentation, commissioners questioned him for about 20 minutes on specifics. Munson explained that a portion of the unexpected money must go to charter schools as well. He stressed that the numbers in this budget were based on what is actually available right now as funding streams. If no new revenue becomes available, we can expect to again resort to cuts beginning in FY 19.

More Services Needed for ELL Students

Click here to read the rest of the article.