Eyes on the SRC: May 18, 2017

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by Karel Kilimnik
May 15, 2017

Outsourcing of professional development for teachers and administrators continues with this month’s resolutions. Relay Graduate School of Education, which received a contract just two months ago, will be paid to send three assistant superintendents and nine principals to a twelve-day summer program in Texas. Dave Levin, co-founder of KIPP, is also one of the Relay founders. KIPP has a large presence in Texas.

After four years, the district still has not reached a settlement with PFT members. That may be the reason that the district has had to undertake a large recruitment effort for the second year in a row. Resolution  A-2 calls for the Office of Talent to “develop, implement, and refine a pilot Teacher Residency Program for the District”. It’s ironic that this recruitment effort is being underwritten by the Philadelphia School Partnership. PSP has made the forcing out of teachers a condition for funding school transformations, including Blaine and WD Kelley elementary schools.

What If…?
Instead of paying $415,800 to a vendor to provide a summer school literacy program at seven schools, every school could determine what summer enrichment program to provide for its students. If we took all of the money from contracts going to corporate education vendors at this one SRC meeting, there would be over $1 million for almost 20 summer school programs.

Note: The next two SRC Action Meetings will be held on Thursday May 18 and Thursday May 25, both at 4:30 PM. To register to speak, call 215.400.4180 before 3PM the previous day.

Click here to read selected Resolutions for the May 18th meeting and the APPS analysis.

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

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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

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Ears on the SRC: April 27, 2017

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by Diane Payne
May 5, 2017

Present for this regular action meeting were Chair Joyce Wilkerson and Commissioners Farah Jimenez and Bill Green. Commissioner Chris McGinley was absent.

The PA Senate continues to shirk its responsibility to fill the fifth seat by holding a confirmation hearing for Wolf nominee Estelle Richman. Unbelievably, that doesn’t stop House Speaker Michael Turzai, a Republican from western Pennsylvania, from telling the SRC what they should be doing on the issue of Charter Schools.

After the tenth public speaker, Commissioner Green left the meeting without explanation. Just as the last registered speaker—#58—was called up, Chair Wilkerson announced that Commissioner Green had joined the meeting by phone.

The fact that the SRC conducted most of its business on April 27th without a quorum calls into question the validity of all official actions taken. His absence for most of the public testimony only strengthens the appearance of a commissioner who does not value the voice of the public on matters of public concern.

Six members of APPS testified in defense of public education at this meeting..

SRC Prefers An Obstructed View of Their Actions
The SRC continues to stifle community engagement and give lie to their claims of “transparency” by forcing the APPS videographer to film in a busy and noisy part of the auditorium. Rather than allow him to stand against the wall, out of the way, on the left side, where he had been for years, they have actually moved chairs out of public seating areas so that he is blocking the view of those sitting behind him. The audio and video quality of our reports have been compromised.

Staff Presentations

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