by Karel Kilimnik
At the Board’s inaugural meeting last July, many new Board members made a commitment to transparency and community involvement. Agenda Items, alas, do not reflect these promises. In September 2018, the Board posted documents related to Action Items, including a list of new hires and terminations, City of Philadelphia documents on Authorization of Keystone Opportunities Zone, and the conditions for approving the new MaST Charter School. The Action Item descriptions were much fuller and more descriptive than the paltry information presented since then. The fact that the Board posted Contract Summaries, which we had asked the SRC to post many times, seemed to be a fulfillment of their commitment to transparency. Unfortunately, that was the first and last time anything resembling a contract was posted. In October, the Board presented another Agenda format that actually had fewer details in Action Items. Also, despite our protestations, the Board has stopped providing paper copies of anything but the agenda at Action Meetings, making it impossible for the public to follow the discussions (if any) and votes on Action Items. The Board places three binders at the back table with a warning not to remove the materials. So are members of the public supposed to sit in the back if they want to know what is going on? Is this their idea of transparency? These are public documents and the public has every right to take them. The Board should provide adequate copies. Unfortunately this parsing of information continues today resulting in a lack of transparency. Their descriptions are uninformative and we continue to question what few nuggets of information are provided to the public.
Superintendent Hite continues to outsource services to vendors instead of building the capacity of District staff. We continue to remind him and the Board that there is a wealth of experience and knowledge within both the teaching and the school support staff. Building on these strengths would lead to greater teacher retention. When people feel respected and listened to, they do not feel the need to leave. Many ESOL teachers have come to both Committee Meetings and Action Meetings to praise the professional development provided by WestEd QTEL (Action item 34). Hopefully the Board will listen and approve this Action Item.
Three charter school applications are going to be considered for approval at this meeting (Action Items 4,5 & 6). The District’s Charter Schools Office has issued reports which enumerate significant problems with all of the applications. The District cannot afford to spend almost $119 million over the next five years on unnecessary charters. Our aging school facilities are in dire need of repair. Those millions could make a dent in the estimated $4 billion needed to bring every building up to code. The charter law makes it difficult–but not impossible–to shut down a failing charter, so approving a charter would mean at least a ten-year financial burden on the District. If the Board takes its promise to improve the opportunities for the schoolchildren of the city, then they have an obligation to vote no on these applications. (See the APPS charter reports here).
The next Board Action Meeting is Thursday February 28th at 5 PM. The community must come out to urge the Board to vote no more charters! If you cannot attend please submit written testimony by 5 PM Feburary 27 to schoolboard@philasd.org, telling the Board what your school needs but will not be able to afford if the District sinks another $119 million into new charters. To sign up to testify call 215-400-4010 by 3 pm on Wednesday Feb. 27th.
Resolutions of Note
Charter School Applications
Action Item 4: Application for New Charter School: Joan Myers Brown Academy: A String Theory Charter School
The Board of Education received the new charter application for the Joan Myers Brown Academy: A String Theory Charter School on November 15, 2018. Hearings on the application were held on December 17, 2018 and January 22, 2019. Pursuant to the Pennsylvania Charter School Law, the Board of Education will vote to deny or approve the application during its February 28, 2019 Action Meeting.
Action Item 5: Application for New Charter School: Frederick Douglass Charter School
The Board of Education received the new charter application for the Frederick Douglass Charter School on November 15, 2018. Hearings on the application were held on December 17, 2018 and January 22, 2019. Pursuant to the Pennsylvania Charter School Law, the Board of Education will vote to deny or approve the application during its February 28, 2019 Action Meeting.
Action Item 6: Application for New Charter School: Tacony Academy Charter School at St. Vincent’s
The Board of Education received the new charter application for the Tacony Academy Charter School at St. Vincent’s on November 15, 2018. Hearings on the application were held on December 17, 2018 and January 23, 2019. Pursuant to the Pennsylvania Charter School Law, the Board of Education will vote to deny or approve the application during its February 28, 2019 Action Meeting.
APPS Analysis: APPS members attended all the hearings, analyzed the applications, and researched the business and political connections of each of these three applicants. We had to file a Right to Know request with the District in order to obtain the voluminous attachments to each application so that we could understand the depth and breadth of what was being proposed by each of these charter management companies. The Charter Schools Office evaluated each application and cited numerous issues and concerns with all of them. All three charter applicants present major problems in areas of curriculum, finances, real estate entanglements, and potential student enrollment. The birth rate in Philadelphia is not rising, so any new charter students would come from already existing public schools. The financial attachments indicate that the District would be paying out approximately $119 million over five years if approved. Is this how we want the Board to spend scant education dollars, or do we want to invest in healthy school buildings, increased staffing, extracurricular activities, and librarians in our schools?
Contracts
Action Item 34: Contract with WestEd Professional Development for EL Instruction Academic Support – Contracts
The Administration recommends that the Board of Education authorize The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to execute and perform a contract, subject to funding, as follows:
With: WestEd
Purpose: Professional development
Start date: 3/1/2019 End date: 6/30/2021
Compensation not to exceed: $542,000
Location: All Middle Schools; All High Schools
Renewal Options: No
Description: WestEd’s Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) will provide professional development and coaching services to ESL and content teachers of record in core subjects (math, science, social studies, English) who teach English Learners in grades 6-12 on the QTEL framework for three consecutive years.
QTEL is a research-based instructional model that provides both elementary and secondary educators with the tools they need to accelerate language development, academic literacy, and disciplinary knowledge of English learners.
Professional development services include a week-long summer institute for approximately 120 teachers in June 2019 and June 2020. Both summer institutes will be open to all ESL and sheltered content teachers in grades 6-12.
In addition, starting in spring 2019 and continuing through the 2020-2021 school year, the Office of Multilingual Curriculum and Programs will select three secondary schools to receive targeted and intensified instructional supports, including professional development sessions for principals and leadership teams, professional development and on-site coaching for teachers, as well as webinars and online learning forums to support each school in implementing the QTEL framework with fidelity. All schools that serve students in grades 6 through 12 will have the opportunity to apply. The Office of Multilingual Curriculum and Programs will select schools based on the percentage of students who are English Learners and the commitment from staff to attend summer institutes and participate in follow up PD/coaching.
APPS Analysis: At the January Student Achievement and Support (SAS) Committee Meeting, Board members questioned District staff about the extension of a contract with WestEd. The company would provide training to District staff, but for some reason the District spokesperson could not answer the questions about the program–even though data has been collected since the inception of the program. Despite hearing from several advocates and educators as to how beneficial this program is, the SAS Committee voted to table the vote until the February Board meeting. WestEd QTEL has worked with the District since 2016; why are questions about the effectiveness of the programming coming up now? At the January Action Meeting, six ESOL teachers spoke to the full Board about how effective QTEL has been both for ELL teachers and regular content teachers who work with ELL students.. Rarely has such praise been heard for a professional development presentation. ESOL teachers expressed appreciation for this long-term sustained professional development program that focuses on the needs of middle and high school content teachers of ELLs. These practitioners stressed that QTEL provided a way of making content understandable for students with limited English language skills as well as immersing students in academic language. They urged the Board to expand the program, not terminate it or send it to another vendor.
Action Item 32: Contract with Temple University – Conflict Resolution Education Student Support Services – Contracts
The Administration recommends that the Board of Education authorize The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to execute and perform a contract, subject to funding, as follows:
With: Temple University
Purpose: Temple University will provide professional development in conflict resolution for 600 K-5 staff during the summer; provide professional development and coaching for up to 35 central office staff for the duration of the 2018-2019 school year and the 2019-2020 school year; and provide online conflict resolution training for all school-based staff.
Start date: 3/1/2019 End date: 6/26/2020
Compensation not to exceed: $600,000
Location: All Schools
Renewal Options: Yes Number of Options: 3
Duration of each option to extend: Years: 1 Months:
Maximum compensation authorized per option period: $600,000
Description: Temple’s CRETE (conflict resolution education in teacher education) is a national program that provides teachers and non-teaching staff critical skills in conflict management and classroom management so they can be the strongest link in making our schools safer. Conflict resolution is widely effective on the constructive conflict resolution skills of the students improving interpersonal and intrapersonal competence and an indispensable part of preventing violence at schools. CRETE develops skills in positive discipline, bullying prevention, de-escalating angry and disruptive youth, developing conflict skills in students, and creating community in the classroom to deal with issues of diversity that can create destructive conflict. Since the 2013-2014 school year, CRETE has been used successfully by the District to train central office staff and school-based staff, through new teacher induction, Saturday principal training and professional development for climate and safety staff. In addition, qualitative feedback from principals who received CRETE professional development indicated that this training moved beyond information about trauma and provided needed concrete intervention ideas and supports for schools. As a result, principals requested future trainings. In addition, the work the vendor can provide, the coaching, consultation and specialized training, aligns with the design of the National Institute of Justice research grant that SDP is implementing to support the behavioral health of our students.Temple’s CRETE trainers will train existing central office staff to become certified CRETE instructors; CRETE content will be developed in online format for all staff; and CRETE instructors will provide professional development during the proposed K-5 Summer Institute. Additional projects may include conflict resolution training for parents and for students. We endeavor to expand the conflict resolution training to larger audiences including school teams and additional central office staff in an effort to continue to train others in conflict resolution. With these provisions contributing to leadership development and to students from all education levels, it will be conducive to their academic success while also enabling them to acquire new life skills
APPS Analysis: This $600,000 contract could be renewed until the total payment to the vendor comes to $1.8 million. Conflict Resolution requires ongoing professional development that provides many opportunities for school staff to share and process their efforts–not just one workshop. It is not only about developing the actual skills and strategies but growing relationships that create trust among school members. It requires people to interact with each other, practice these skills, and evaluate how they worked. Developing content in online format for all staff is a tool to support the work and should not be considered a replacement for actual face-to-face trainings. Their idea of expanding Conflict Resolution Training to parents and students should be supported. This Action Item states that CRETE trainers will train existing central office staff to become certified CRETE instructors. Who are these staff and who will they be training? Is turnaround training included in this contract so that school based staff can support each other as they implement Conflict Resolution strategies? If the Board posted a link to the contract we would have more information about this vendor’s proposal.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 