Eyes on the SRC – October 13th, 2016

by Karel Kilimnik
October 10, 2016

The unexpected resignations of Commissioners Marjorie Neff and Feather Houston raise many questions about the future of the SRC. Who will replace them and how will they be chosen? Since the state takeover of the Philadelphia public schools in 2001, the selection process has always taken place out of the public eye. There is no formal set of qualifications for the position. SRC members may receive no salary, but we cannot forget that they are government officials overseeing a $2.6 billion budget. No Philadelphian has ever attended a nomination hearing for any member, past or present, of the SRC. The mayor has final say on his nominee; there is no review process. The governor’s nominee must pass Senate approval, but those have never been open hearings.  Mayor Kenney is now “vetting potential candidates”. For those of us deeply concerned about the governance of the district, these are not reassuring words. They mean that once again, the people of the city will have nothing to say about who determines the future of our schools and communities.

The SRC must maintain a quorum of three. Farah Jimenez, in the view of many, doesn’t count as a full voting member since she has so many conflicts that result in abstentions on crucial votes. How will this affect the again resubmitted charter renewal resolutions which have been postponed for six months?

The assault on public schools continues with increased intensity. Instead of cultivating a high-quality district that serves every student in every neighborhood, the Hite administration’s policy is to parcel funds to privatize schools and cripple communities. Instead of ensuring that every school has a full teaching staff along with full-time nurses, counselors, and librarians, Hite creates the illusion of improvement with diversions like the Redesign Schools, Turnaround Schools, the Innovation Network, the Turnaround Network, and the Autonomy Network.

Among the October resolutions is one to reopen a high school shut down by the SRC in 2013 as something other than a real public school (B-10) and one to relocate another high school (A-6). How will these changes affect enrollment in nearby schools? Is this a foreshadowing of more deprivation of neighborhood schools in order to fund “contract” schools and additional charters? The “cash-strapped” school district has somehow come up with $23 million for the Big Picture company; last month they voted to have Big Picture reopen Vaux as a contract school. Yet they fail to address community concerns about neighboring Strawberry Mansion High—like will Big Picture be poaching SMHS students? Is this the first step towards closing Strawberry Mansion as part of the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s “revitalization” (gentrification) plan for the neighborhood? Will the SRC finally explain what a contract school is? Will they tell us what Big Picture will be doing with $23 million in taxpayer funds?

What If…

What if the district used that $23 million to bring back Reading Specialists in every school? Reading specialists have vanished, along with other support staff, as Hite’s “Doomsday Budget” has become the new normal. While giving lip service to being “for the children”, every year there are fewer resources for them. Will a new SRC reverse this devastating trend and ensure that every school in every neighborhood has what it needs?

Please join us on Thursday October 13^th at 4:30 PM for the next SRC Action Meeting. Call 215.400.4180 before 4 on Wednesday October 12^th in order to sign up to testify.

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 Resolutions of Note
Be sure to read the APPS analysis with each resolution.

These October resolutions clearly show the encroachment of the private sector into our public schools. Many of these contracts are for services long provided by the district employees. The district is increasingly overrun with out-of-towners with little knowledge of or commitment to Philadelphia. This is to be expected when the superintendent is a graduate of the Broad Superintendents  Academy.

Click here for the full list of Proposed Resolutions for the October 13th meeting.

The Mastery, ASPIRA, and Universal Resolutions for charter renewals were first posted in April 2016. CSO director Dawn Lyn Kacer’s presentation outlined a range of reasons for non-renewal of ASPIRA that cited fiscal mismanagement, failure to pay into PSERS , and insufficient academic progress. Since her presentation, many more serious issues concerning ASPIRA have come to light, including numerous sexual harassment complaints against ASPIRA CEO Alfredo Calderon, who has allegedly created a hostile work environment at the company. These charters are lucrative ventures using our tax dollars for funding. Why is the SRC inventing new ways, like not publishing texts of resolutions, to prevent the public from knowing what kind of deals they are making with them?

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A-2
Operating Budget: $3,500 Ratification of Contract with Education Pioneers, Inc. – Summer Track Fellow
RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission hereby ratifies the execution, delivery and performance by The School District of Philadelphia through the Chief Talent Officer, of a contract with Education Pioneers, Inc, to fund a Summer Track Fellow to complete a Data Tracking Systems project to produce a series of data analyses and recommendations regarding teacher applicants and vacancy data, for an amount not to exceed $3,500, for the period commencing June 1, 2016 through August 25, 2016.

Description: This ratifying resolution is being requested to provide for an Education Pioneers Summer Track Fellow to analyze and build Data Tracking Systems for the Recruitment and Staffing teams in the Office of Talent. The Summer Fellow was responsible for analyzing the School District’s incoming applicant data and historical vacancy numbers to provide initial recommendations for process improvements and to build systems for ongoing data analysis. This proposal stated that 10 weeks would begin on June 1, 2016 and conclude on August 25, 2016. To implement the expectation of the contract, the work began as planned without the contract being executed.

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A-3  5/21/15
Various: $35,000 Contract with Education Pioneers – Central Office Staffing Support RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission authorizes The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to execute, deliver and perform a contract with Education Pioneers to provide up to seven graduate-school-level Fellows for 10-week fellowships and one graduate school-level Fellow for a year-long fellowship for central office staffing support, for an amount not to exceed $35,000, for the period commencing June 1, 2015 through May 30, 2016.

Description: Among all school-based factors that determine what students learn in school, leadership is second only to classroom instruction. Education Pioneers finds and supports exceptional leaders and connects them with education organizations that need them. Through its Fellowship Program, Ed Pioneers recruits diverse leaders to apply their skills to have an impact on students while working at the Central Office level.

In partnership with The School District of Philadelphia, Ed Pioneers will provide up to seven 10-week graduate-school-level fellows for the 2015 summer (June – August) and one year-long fellow for the

2015-2016 school year (June – May) who will work in the following offices:

• Office of Student Support Services: One 10-week fellow
• Office of the Deputy Superintendent: Two 10-week fellows
• Office of Talent: Two 10-week fellow and one year-long
• Office of Information Technology: One 10-week fellow
• Office of Finance: One 10-week fellow

These fellows will consult on 10-week projects and year-long projects as determined by the hosting office. During their fellowship with the District, Ed Pioneers will provide fellows with professional development via a seven-part workshop series. The fee paid to Ed Pioneers covers the recruitment, selection, matching, and professional development services that the organization provides.

Based on the job descriptions/project descriptions provided by the District, Ed Pioneers will match fellows whom the organization has recruited and selected. The long-term goal is that, after completing their graduate school program, the fellows would apply to work for the District full-time.

APPS Analysis: Why does a fully staffed Office of Talent need to hire an agency to analyze and build Data Tracking Systems within that office?

These may seem like small amounts compared to other contracts, but let us examine Education Pioneer’s funders, philosophy, and goals to see how they represent the ongoing onslaught of privatization. Education Pioneers claims to be “addressing an enormous need in education”. Just recently, the Hite administration publicly celebrated its “success” in recruiting teachers for this academic year. Education Pioneers ignores the needs of a public school system that requires experienced and educated individuals who are valued for their competence and compassion. Education Pioneers’ perspective becomes clear when they write about their plans to “deepen our support from local investors in the cities where we work”. Why do they need investors? Their website states “ our revenues are a mix of program fees (paid by partner organizations who hire our talent) and philanthropy (which funds our ongoing operations and allows us to expand)”. These operations used to be functions of district staff that have been outsourced into the private sector controlled by out-of-state companies providing services across the country with less accountability and transparency. The bottom line is: who controls our public schools—the community or the boards of corporations and foundations?

There was a time when foundations actually supported the innovative work of educators without an overlay of restrictions and guidelines. Education Pioneers’ funders include the Walton Family Foundation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, who partner with charter school operators throughout the country including Rocketship , KIPP, Green Dot, Uncommon Schools as well as TFA, the Broad Center, TNTP, the Charter School Growth Fund, and the US Department of Education. They are part of the tangled web of corporate education reformers gaining control of our public schools.

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A-3

Operating Budget/Categorical/Grant Fund: $131,000 Contract with The New Teacher Project – Teacher/Principal Screening and Recruiting 2016-2017
RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission authorizes The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to exercise the option to extend the District’s existing contract with The New Teacher Project, Inc., to provide teacher recruitment, teacher screening and principal screening with The Office of Talent, for an amount not to exceed $131,000, for the period commencing October 14, 2016 though June 30, 2017. The existing contract was the result of RFP 478, submitted as a resolution in March 2016 and authorized by the SRC.

Description: The New Teacher Project (“TNTP”) will continue to provide support to the School District of Philadelphia’s Recruitment and Staffing team in preparation for the 2017-2018 academic year. Specifically, TNTP will support Teacher and Principal Selection through: refining selection activities and associated tools, screening candidates, and supporting the use of data to refine outreach and selection. TNTP will provide meaningful coaching and support for Talent Office staff assigned to the recruitment and staffing function over the course of this engagement.

The School District of Philadelphia’s Office of Talent is currently engaged in recruiting and hiring the highest quality teachers and principals. To support recruiting and hiring, the Office developed rigorous, competency-based selection tools and an expanded scope of recruitment activities. The vendor will support the implementation of our competency-based selection models with fidelity. Such support will allow the District to efficiently screen candidates, giving assistant superintendents and other District leaders more time to focus only on those who are eligible to be hired and empowering hiring teams to conduct more effective interviews. Specifically, the vendor will provide additional capacity to expand recruitment efforts, review applications, conduct phone interviews, and evaluate data activity submissions for teacher and principal candidates. All final hiring decisions will be made at the district.

Teacher Selection Process Services -Application Review – Review all teacher candidate applications and rate each candidate according to District’s teacher application rubric. Results will be uploaded to the District’s online applicant platform and candidates will be tagged according to final ratings.
– Phone Screen – Conduct a 45 minute phone interview with all teacher candidates who pass the initial application review and assign scoring. Results will be uploaded to the District’s online applicant platform and candidates will be tagged according to final ratings.

– Data Activity Review – Review data activity submissions for all teacher candidates tagged to move forward per the results of the phone screen. Candidates will be rated according to the District’s teacher data activity rubric. Results will be uploaded to the District’s online applicant platform and candidates will be tagged according to final ratings, to be shared with principals.

Principal Selection Process Services

– Application Review – Review all General Principal and Turnaround Principal applications and rate each candidate according to the District’s principal application rubric. Results will be uploaded to the District’s online applicant platform and candidates will be tagged according to final ratings.
– Phone Screen – Conduct 45 minutes phone interview with all principal candidates who pass the initial application review and assign scoring. Results will be uploaded to the District’s online applicant platform and candidates will be tagged according to final ratings.

– Data Activity Review – Review data activity submissions for all principal candidates tagged to move forward per the results of the phone screen. Candidates will be rated according to the District’s principal data activity rubric. Results will be uploaded to the District’s online applicant platform and candidates will be tagged according to final ratings, to be shared with assistant superintendents.

The volume and pace of this level of applicant evaluation requires between 5-10 consultants. Services by the vendor will allow the Office of Talent to maximize its recruitment and staffing efforts, expedite the pace of hiring, and better cultivate the highest quality talent to work across the District.

APPS Analysis: The district has spent almost $1,000,000 on contracts with TNTP since 2015. Prior to the Hite administration, the Human Resource Department hired teachers and principals without using outside businesses. Internal staff familiar with the needs of schools and the district recruited and employed educators.

The New Teacher Project was founded by Michelle Rhee and has close connections with Teach for America (TFA). While TNTP claims to be able to identify the qualities of a good teacher, its research has been questioned by actual educators in institutions of higher learning. In fact, TNTP is not a research organization, it is an education reform advocacy group which receives significant funding from donors including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundaiton. Addition revenue is generated through contracts with school districts and states.

TFA inserts unqualified college graduates into classrooms after just a few weeks of orientation. TNTP’s current president taught for only two years via TFA; she then founded a charter school in Harlem which was closed down after three years because of low test scores, high teacher turnover, and financial improprieties.

NCTQ: Terrible Teacher Prep and Headline Research | Curmudgucation

New TNTP President Among the First to Have Her School’s Charter Revoked | deutsch29

District expenditures on TNTP from October 2015 to October 2016:

October 10, 2015, Resolution A-3: Candidate phone screening services, $10, 000.
March 3, 2016, Resolution A-2: Teacher/Principal screening and recruitment, $79. 037.
June 16, 2016, Resolution A-2: New Principal Coaching, $661,032.
October 2016, Resolution A-3:Teacher/Principal screening and recruitment, $131, 000.

Total: $881, 039

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A-6
Relocation of Building 21
RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission authorizes The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to relocate the Building 21 educational program from its current location in the Ferguson facility, 2000 N. 7th Street, Philadelphia, to the Kinsey facility, 6501 Limekiln Pike, Philadelphia, beginning in the 2017-2018 school year. The Ferguson facility, which currently houses the educational programs of Building 21 and the U School, shall remain open and continue to house the educational program of the U School; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission authorizes The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to notify the Pennsylvania Department of Education of the change listed herein, as required by Title 22 of the Pennsylvania Code §349.28(a).

Description: In February of 2014, the School District of Philadelphia authorized the opening of three new high schools — Building 21, The U School, and The LINC. At the time of their openings, Building 21 and The U School were co-located at the Ferguson facility located at 2000 N. 7th Street, 19122.

The Ferguson facility has a capacity of 816 students. When both Building 21 and the U School reach their full capacities (500 students each), there will be up to 1,000 students in the facility. This exceeds the building’s functional capacity for successfully educating students according to the models of each program.

The Kinsey facility, located at 6501 Limekiln Pike, Philadelphia, PA 19138, most recently housed the educational program of Hill-Freedman World Academy. In February of 2016, the SRC merged Hill- Freedman World Academy with Leeds Middle School, and relocated Hill-Freedman to the Leeds facility located at 1100 E Mt Pleasant Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19150. As a result of this move, the Kinsey facility is now vacant and available for occupancy. The Kinsey facility has a capacity of 636.

The proposed relocation would re-open the Kinsey facility and provide an additional innovative high school option in the West Oak Lane area of the city.

Students currently enrolled at Building 21 would remain eligible to continue attending the school. Going forward, the school’s admissions policy would change such that 50% of its seats would be available for city-wide admissions, while the other 50% would have preference for the following zip codes: 19138, 19150, 19126, 19141, 19119, 19144. The admissions policies of the U School would remain unchanged.

APPS Analysis: Why is Building 21 moving now, and why is it coming to the Northwest? As with Strawberry Mansion, the concern is that neighborhood schools will lose students and be targeted for closure. Building 21 anticipates enrolling 500 students; the district website has current enrollment at 300. According to the Philadelphia School Partnership website, Building 21 anticipated enrolling 600 students in grades 9-12 by 2016-2017. This means they have to double enrollment quickly. This school was only created a few short years ago, but it continues to benefit from additional resources and attention.

In 2012, three Harvard doctoral students in the “Education Leadership Program” created their concept for an “innovative school model” and called it Building 21, “from the famous Building 20 at M.I.T. that was a cradle of innovation and divergent thinking for over 50 years”. These students received a PSP incubation grant of $50,000 in 2013, and in 2014 PSP awarded them $2 million to launch. PSP is driving the creation of “alternative” schools in the District with their funding. While most district schools struggle to survive under Hite’s austerity program, PSP endows private entities with millions to create new schools, assured that the district will pick the remaining tab. Presently, Building21operates one school in Philadelphia and one in Allentown. Building21 is part of a national trend of entrepreneurs seeking a foothold for their investments. They appropriate pedagogy and turn it into a product to be sold to school districts across the country.

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 A-8
Categorical/Grant Fund: $30,000 Grant Acceptance from the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education – Assessment of Curriculum Engine

RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission authorizes The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to accept with appreciation a grant from the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education in an amount up to $30,000, to provide support for a comprehensive assessment of the School District’s online Curriculum Engine, for the period commencing October 14, 2016, through July 30, 2017.

Description: The School District of Philadelphia’s Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) will receive up to $30,000 in order to offset the expenses for collaborating with the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME) on a comprehensive assessment of the District’s Curriculum Engine. The Curriculum Engine is an online repository of state and federal standards arranged by grade and subject that teachers may access via SchoolNet as they develop their lesson plans. The purpose of the project is to provide the District’s Office of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment with a comprehensive analysis detailing the current state of its Curriculum Engine, including an overview of strengths and weaknesses, and recommendations for next steps.

As part of the project, ISKME will map how teachers perceive and actually define curriculum materials for their local classroom needs, what pain points they are currently having in meeting their instructional resource needs, and how they move or envision moving through curriculum tools and resources. ORE will support IKSME’s efforts by analyzing data from the District-wide teacher survey, conducting focus groups and usability sessions, and contributing to ISKME’s interim and final reports.

APPS Analysis: ISKME (Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education) is allied with the ed-tech industry and is a proponent of hybrid e-learning. It is imperative that advocates for public education pay close attention to this contract. Despite its relatively small size, there could be serious consequences. The competency-based education model being pushed nationally since the passage of the ESSA reduces student access to human instruction from a live, certified teacher and relies heavily on “playlists” of “educational resources.” 

An increasing number of teachers in other states are being compelled to upload the lesson plans they have developed into online platforms without having protections in place to safeguard their intellectual property. To learn more about the learning eco-system model, in which Open Educational Resources play a part, read this post from Wrench in the Gears, a blog written by a Philadelphia parent.

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A-10
Categorical/Grant Fund: $180,000 Contract with In-Class Today, Inc. – Intervention Services

RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission authorizes the School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his Designee, to execute, deliver, and perform a contract with In Class Today, Inc. to provide intervention services leveraging direct mailing communications to parents and guardians regarding student absenteeism for an amount not to exceed $180,000 for the period commencing October 14, 2016 through October 14, 2017.

Description: The School District of Philadelphia will contract with In Class Today, Inc. (ICT) to leverage direct mail communications to empower parents and guardians with relevant, useful, and comprehensive information about their own child’s absenteeism to increase student attendance and thereby improve student achievement.

Professor Todd Rogers, Director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Student Social Support R&D Laboratory, completed a pilot of this project in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) during the 2012- 2013 school year. Dr. Roger’s research team then completed a District-wide implementation in the 2014- 2015 school year. The intervention reduced chronic absenteeism by 11% at 1/20th the cost per incremental day of other interventions performed at the District.

ICT is an entity that was created for the sole purpose of scaling out the research developed in the Student Social Support R&D Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School. ICT is a sole source provider of a unique combination of services in this emerging area. The project will be run and managed by ICT, with the attention and involvement of Todd Rogers. The intervention planned for the 2016-2017 school year is predicted to result in an even more potent improvement on previous studies.

This project will involve students attending all traditional public elementary, middle, and high schools in the District and will target K-12 students in the bottom 50% for attendance. This does not include schools with a special designation, such as specialized schools, alternative education schools, virtual and charter schools.

Since the content of these communications will include students’ personally identifiable information (PII) and specifically academic attendance data, all work will comply with federal FERPA regulations in terms of student data privacy, storage, and transfer. This will include using industry-standard encryption software for data transmission, storage and manipulation. All ICT staff who have access to PII data will be required to have training in the handling of data that comply with FERPA standards. The District’s Office of Research and Evaluation will provide the data to ICT, work on the mailing templates and timelines, and report out to District leadership about the project’s progress.

APPS Analysis: Given that leveling throughout the district is taking place this month, disrupting the class schedules of thousands of students and compromising the integrity of the academic offerings at many schools, not to mention school and classroom climate and cohesiveness, one might question the wisdom of spending $180,000 (approximately two teacher salaries) to send direct mail to families regarding student attendance. What happened to parent liaisons at each school? This resolution represents one more way in which the Hite administration replaces personnel with some type of program sold by outsiders with no relationship with the students or staff.

Please note: Unless you opted out, all of your child’s academic, attendance, and directory information was given to Harvard in 2014. Parents can opt their children out of this study at any time (you can opt out now). Email sdpattendanceproject@gmail.com   (or call 617-545-7492) with the information listed below: Student Full Name, Student School, student grade, Parent/Guardian phone number, and a statement that you do not want your child to participate in this project.

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A-24 (Pending)

Settlement of Civil Action – Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools and Lisa Haver    A-24
(Updated 10.7.16)
Settlement of Civil Action – Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools and Lisa Haver                            

RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission authorizes the School Reform Commission, through the Chair, and The School District of Philadelphia, through the General Counsel, to enter into a settlement agreement with Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools and Lisa Haver, in a form satisfactory to the School Reform Commission and the Office of General Counsel, in exchange for releases of all claims for alleged violations by the School Reform Commission of the Sunshine Act, including: (i) all claims that the announcements of reasons for executive sessions by the SRC are insufficiently specific; (ii) all claims that the SRC is engaging in private deliberations simply because the members of the SRC may refrain from discussing resolutions during their public meetings; and (iii) all claims arising out of or in connection with the special public meeting of the SRC held on October 6, 2014, and dismissal of the civil action filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County and the appeal filed in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, at no cost to the School District. of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, November Term, 2014, No. 382, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief for alleged violations by the School Reform Commission of the Sunshine Act. On January 19, 2015, plaintiffs filed an Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Motion for Preliminary Injunction, which Motions were denied by the Court by Order dated February 3, 2015. On February 26, 2015, plaintiffs filed a Notice of Appeal to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania from the Order denying their Motions, Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania; No. 284 CD 2015. This resolution documents the settlement of the issues between the parties.

 APPS Analysis: APPS filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas in November 2014, one month after the stealth meeting in which then-Chair Green and the SRC voted to cancel its contract with the PFT. No member of the public was permitted to speak until AFTER the vote was taken. APPS alleges that the SRC violated the PA Sunshine Act that day and has showed a pattern of violations over the years.   That Act was passed to make sure that Pennsylvanians are informed in a timely manner of exactly what their government doing and given an opportunity to speak about it. We didn’t anticipate that it would take two years to settle. We have been in the court-mandated mediation process for over a year and look forward to settling this lawsuit so that the community has better knowledge and understanding of what the SRC does every month.

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B-5
Donation: $235,478 Ratification of Acceptance of Donation from Inquiry Schools; Ratification of Acceptance of Grant from Inquiry Schools – Science Leadership Academy Middle School
RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission hereby ratifies the acceptance with appreciation by The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent, of the donation of $235,478 from Inquiry Schools, for professional development, consulting services, and related supports, for the period commencing September 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017, and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission hereby ratifies the acceptance with appreciation by The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, of a grant of $80,000 from Inquiry Schools, to fund the salary and benefits for a grade teacher at Science Leadership Academy Middle School (“SLA-MS”) for the period commencing September 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017.

Description: This resolution reflects the donation and acceptance of grant from Inquiry Schools to the School District of Philadelphia.

The School District is opening a new, non-selective-admission Science Leadership Academy Middle School (SLA-MS) in Powelton. This new school will be part of a proposed K-8 school facility at the site of the former University City High School that will also house an expanded Samuel Powel Elementary School.

The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) has been providing financial support for the planning and start-up processes for this new school. PSP has given a grant to Inquiry Schools that enable it to provide the supports authorized by this resolution. PSP previously provided grant funds to Drexel University from its Great Schools Fund to support the strategic planning process for this initiative, and is continuing to provide funding to support the next stage in the school start-up process.

Inquiry Schools has supported numerous start-up and school transformation projects across the country. Part of the original Philadelphia School Partnership funded planning grant, Inquiry Schools has been supporting the planning of Science Leadership Academy Middle School since 2012. Most recently, Inquiry Schools has supported the successful start-up of Science Leadership Academy@Beeber.

The grant funds, the acceptance of which are being ratified through this resolution, will support the salary and benefits for a grade teacher who will teach 5th grade. The resolution also authorizes the acceptance of a donation from Inquiry Schools of professional development, consulting services, and related supports for the school start-up process.

This ratification reflects a revision in the timeline of the distribution of the grant funds.

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B-25 (Added 8.9.16)
Memorandum of Understanding with Drexel University- Expansion of Powel Elementary School, Creation of Science Leadership Academy Middle School and Development of a Two-School Campus
RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission authorizes The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to execute, deliver and perform a Memorandum of Understanding with Drexel University concerning the expansion of Powel Elementary, creation of Science Leadership Academy Middle School and the development of a two-school campus for the schools to share. The provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding must be acceptable to the Office of Risk Management and the Office of General Counsel.

Description: The School District of Philadelphia (“School District”) has been working with Drexel University (“Drexel”) on the expansion of Powel Elementary School (“Powel”), the creation of Science Leadership Academy Middle School (“SLA-MS”), and the development of a two-school campus located on a portion of the former University City High School site which the School District sold to Drexel and Wexford Science + Technology. The School District and Drexel will identify and articulate key elements of academic and climate programming that will be systemic across and between Powel and SLA-MS. Drexel, through its School of Education, will support both schools through providing pre-service teachers, assessment resources, and academic support in the field of literacy, mathematics, and science. The School District of Philadelphia will support both schools by providing autonomy over design of professional development and selection of curricular materials and supports.

The Memorandum of Understanding if the first phase of a multi-stage process. Approval of the School Reform Commission will be required related to leasing the two-campus facility once plans become finalized.

This project is aligned with the School District’s Action Plan strategy to cultivate and sustain partnerships at the system and school levels and to create innovative school models.

APPS Analysis: Instead of supporting the three district schools on the University City high school site (including Charles R. Drew School and the Walnut Center, an early childhood center), Hite and the SRC chose to demolish those school communities and turn to PSP for funding. PSP has sunk millions into this project, beginning with a planning grant of $215,000 in 2012 to create this middle school extension of Powel. Is this really how we want our district schools to be funded – through private entities who are then entitled to make decisions about school location, funding, and curricula? Or should we follow the Finnish model of having a high quality school district where every neighborhood school provides an equitable educational experience?

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B-10 (Updated 9.23.16)
Operating Budget: $23,000,000 Contract with Big Picture Philadelphia – Vaux High School Project
RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission authorizes The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to execute, deliver and perform a contract with Big Picture Philadelphia to manage and operate an education program serving up to 500 students at Vaux High School: A Big Picture School, for an amount not to exceed $23,000,000.00 for the period commencing November 1, 2016 through June 30, 2022, with an option to extend the contract for an additional period of five years through June 30, 2027.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission authorizes The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to accept with appreciation the generous donation from Big Picture Philadelphia of the annual salary and benefits package for the Design Leader for Vaux High School: A Big Picture S chool, valued at approximately $185,000. The Design Leader will be a School District of Philadelphia employee.

Description: This resolution authorizes the School District of Philadelphia to enter into a contract commencing November 1, 2016 with Big Picture Philadelphia for its program based on selection from the competitive process Request for Qualifications No. 143.

Request for Qualifications No. 143 (the “RFQ”), New District Innovation Schools, sought the best leadership teams and best ideas for starting new and for re-imagining existing district schools. Big Picture Philadelphia’s response to the RFQ led to the opening of Vaux High School: A Big Picture school, a new partnership high school serving the students and families of the Sharswood-Blumberg community as a part of the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s community redevelopment initiative.

The School District released the RFQ on April 20, 2015; responses were due on July 15, 2015. The School District received five (5) proposals in response to the RFQ.

The School District reviewed proposals received in response to the RFQ using a review team from the Innovation Network. Proposals were read and scored in a closed and secure environment at School District headquarters. Proposals and scoring grids were not allowed outside of the reading room.

APPS Analysis: This project is actually aligned with the District’s plan to destabilize schools through closing some and reopening them in connection with private agencies. How long has this plan been brewing? This resolution gives no details or conditions about this deal. There is no record of any community meetings held in Sharswood by the district for neighbors to learn about or comment on this contract. There are many questions which the SRC must address before passing this resolution: Where is this $23 million coming from? What programs will be cut to pay for this enormous amount? Where is the Big Picture budget? Why do they need $23 million for one school slated to enroll 500 students? Does Big Picture get a management fee? What are the terms of Big Picture’s relationship with PHA? Big Picture is a private company dealing with two government entities, the District and PHA? Who will hold them accountable for this $23 million contract?

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B-11 (Added 9.23.16)
Operating Budget: $1,618,050 Contract Amendments with ACS Consultants, Inc., Delta-T Group, Inc., EBS, and Progressus Therapy, LLC – Special Education Teachers and One to One Aides
RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission authorizes The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to execute, deliver and perform amendments of contracts originally entered into with ACS Consultants, Inc, (Allied Health Staffing Services), Delta-T Group, Inc., EBS (Educational Based Services), and Progressus Therapy, LLC, pursuant to Resolution B-22 approved by the School Reform Commission on August 18, 2016, to provide substitute special education teachers, special education intervention instructors, one to one aides, and classroom assistants, to fill special education teacher, one to one aide and assistant vacancies, and to provide substitute coverage when needed, by increasing the amount of the contract by an additional $1,618,050, from the $2,849,175 approved in Resolution B-22, to an aggregate amount not to exceed $4,467,225, for the period commencing October 14, 2016 through, June 30, 2017.

Description: Beginning in November 2016, it is anticipated that there will be an additional twenty (20) special education teacher vacancies. These anticipated vacancies are in addition to the thirty (30) District special education teacher positions that were unfilled at the beginning of the school year. These vacancies are the result of resignations of teaching staff, and the late rejections of offers made by the District to qualified special education teacher candidates, who applied for teaching positions with the District, and who were scheduled to begin teaching at the beginning of the school year in September 2016. [emphasis added]

The District’s Office of Talent conducted, and is currently engaged in, an exhaustive and comprehensive recruitment effort to locate, hire and place needed special education teachers, one to one aides, and classroom assistants in District schools. Although 1,236 certified special education teachers have been successfully recruited and placed to cover the 18,441 District students with disabilities, it is estimated that there may be an additional twenty (20) special education teacher vacancies by the beginning of November 2016. These anticipated vacancies are due to resignations of special education teachers and rejections of offers made by the District to qualified special education teacher candidates, who were scheduled to start teaching at the beginning of the school year. Approximately 20 additional Pennsylvania certified special education teachers shall be needed to cover the instruction of low incident students, students with autism, classrooms of students who require emotional and behavioral support, and other special education classrooms. Low incident children are among the most vulnerable students in the District and have some of the most challenging needs. Low incident students include students with the following disabilities: autism, intellectual disability, emotional disability, multiple disabilities, and those students needing basic life skills training and support. Recruiting certified and experienced teachers to work with this demanding population in a large urban district is challenging due to a low supply of qualified candidates, and high annual teacher turnover and resignation rates.

The use of contracted substitutes through this program shall only be used by the Office of Specialized Services (OSS) as a last resort. The recruitment and retention of regular PFT teachers and staff through the District’s Office of Talent is always the first priority and choice. However, when this option is exhausted, and when the District’s rigorous recruitment efforts fall short of need, the proposed contracts shall help ensure that all students with special needs have teacher and personal assistant coverage from the beginning to the end of the school year. This resolution seeks authorization to contract with ACS Consultants, Inc, (Allied Health Staffing Services), Delta-T Group, Inc., EBS (Educational Based Services), and Progressus Therapy, LLC to provide qualified and Pennsylvania certified substitute special education teachers and one to one aides/classroom assistants, to fill vacancies and provide coverage when needed throughout the 2016/2017 school year.

APPS Analysis: Why is the Hite administration unable to recruit special education teachers? Why is the Office of Talent unable to do what its staff is paid to do: hire qualified teachers and staff? Again, the Hite administration enters into very expensive contracts to carry out tasks which have always been carried out by district employees.

Under the leadership of former Chair Green, the SRC convened a special meeting early on a Monday morning two years ago to terminate its contract with the PFT. Since then, the SRC appealed every lower court ruling that upheld the contract, even appealing to the State Supreme Court. Despite losing every legal action, the SRC continued to throw money at law firms to continue this fruitless effort. What message have they sent to teachers? They have disrupted working conditions and overturned salary step procedures, thereby depriving staff of long overdue salary increases based on experience and education. These working conditions have driven many from the District. 

Teachers have lost money, working conditions have deteriorated, and principals have used evaluations as a way of punishing teachers. It’s amazing how many dedicated teachers remain in the district despite these working conditions. Despite the legal losses there are still no negotiations. What is it going to take to begin to rebuild a climate of respect for educators and the critical work that they do? Philadelphia’s students need the stability which a fairly negotiated contract would bring to our schools.

Also see:
No closings, but big changes for 11 Philly schools
Philadelphia Inquirer – October 10, 2016
Philadelphia School Superintendent Hite announces no school closings this year but 11 schools to undergo major overhauls as turnarounds which causes less community opposition with the same goal as closings.

Philadelphia School District proposes massive restructuring plan
Philly Voice – October 1, 2015
This reorganization has been in the works for a long time.

More Philly teachers preparing to leave?
Philadelphia Inquirer – October 10, 2016
Read the comments.

Decision day coming for two Aspira charters?
Philadelphia Inquirer – October 11, 2016

Riding the ‘Turnaround’ Merry-Go-Round in the Continuing Assault on Philadelphia Public Schools – Defend Public Education
For a detailed analysis of Philadelphia ‘turnarounds’ over the past ten months see this five part series.