Eyes on the SRC – June 16, 2016

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Each month, APPS publishes our “Eyes on the SRC” in which we select some of the resolutions to be voted on at the next meeting for perusal and analysis. As of this writing, the SRC has posted 129 resolutions for the June 16 Action Meeting. Eight of those resolutions involve charter school renewals or amendments to other charters. Two resolutions involve approvals of the charter licenses for John Wister Mastery Charter School and Global Leadership Academy at Huey Charter School as part of the Renaissance program. One resolution re-establishes Kenderton Elementary as a District operated neighborhood school.

There are too many resolutions in The Academic Payments/Contracts for APPS to investigate before Thursday’s meeting.   Many of these resolutions involve the outsourcing of services and involve millions of dollars.   We encourage you to look them over. You can access them on the School District’s website.

At its May 28 meeting, the SRC again tabled the resolutions on the non-renewals of Aspira Olney High School and Aspira Stetson Middle School.

This month, without explanation, the SRC has failed to post the resolutions on non-renewal of the two Aspira schools. In addition, non-renewal resolutions for two Universal schools, Audenried and Vare, have disappeared since being postponed two meetings ago. Will the SRC tell the public what is happening and whether or not the process is continuing? Or is this process taking place behind closed doors?

Please note: there is a second Action meeting this month: Thursday, June 30 @ 4:30 PM.

To register to speak at either one, call 215-400-4180 before 4:30 PM the day before the meeting.


Click here to read Selected Resolutions and APPS Analysis

In Memoriam: Cheryl Roebuck

Cheryl Roebuck

In Memoriam

Cheryl Arrington Roebuck

July 17, 1939 – June 4, 2016

It is with great sadness that APPS notes the passing of Philadelphia public school teacher Cheryl Roebuck. Several of us had the honor to work with her over the years as she taught music to several generations of students.

Cheryl attended Philadelphia public schools and graduated from Olney High School. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in music from Temple University and a master’s degree in education from the University of Phoenix. She worked in the School District of Philadelphia as a music teacher for more than 33 years, teaching at Meredith School for more than 20 years. She was the wife of state Rep. James Roebuck , Jr.

I taught at Meredith and served as Technology Leader for nine years, from 2002 to 2011.  It was an inspiration for me to watch Cheryl work with students, encouraging them to develop talents they didn’t know they had.  Over those years, she directed Winter Celebrations full of sophisticated music with soloists, several school choirs by grade group,  and dance.

Each spring she was musical director for the Meredith School’s Spring Shows. For one month dozens of students were engaged in developing their stage skills under her direction. Meredith staff and parents made elaborate costumes. The art teacher and others made great sets to give the students the experience of performing in a top quality show. I had the privilege of working with Cheryl to video many of the shows for students and their families. They included The Wiz (twice), Honk!, Annie (twice), Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Fabric of America, Just So, The Music Man, The Wizard of Oz, Mulan, and Bye Bye Birdy. The shows were of professional theater quality. Each show’s several performances were sold out as Meredith students and families, and people from around the city, attended what they knew would be an outstanding production.

Of special note was the way she put students with learning or behavior problems on the stage. Many, even those who had to deal with too many frustrations in their lives, were able to experience the excitement of seeing an audience applauding their talents. I witnessed first-hand the importance that the arts can play in education in developing students confidence and self-esteem.

A number of the students inspired by Ms. Roebuck have gone on to careers in the arts. Some of them traveled great distances to pay their respects at her memorial service.

Thank you Cheryl!

Ken Derstine

APPS Calls on Mayor, Governor to Investigate SRC Actions on Renaissance Renewals

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Honorable James Kenney, Mayor
City of Philadelphia
Philadelphia PA   19107

Honorable Thomas Wolf, Governor
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA   17120

June 8, 2016

Dear Mayor Kenney and Governor Wolf:

On behalf of the members of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, we request that you conduct an investigation into the actions of the School Reform Commission during its current renewal procedure of the charters for Aspira Stetson School and Aspira Olney School. We have attended all of the SRC meetings in April and May when these resolutions were considered, and we have serious concerns that the public has been denied the right to a fair and impartial process in these matters.

Aspira Inc. was granted a charter to manage John B. Stetson Middle in April 2010 and one to manage Olney High School in April 2011, after the district deemed each “low-performing” and placed them in its Renaissance program. The purpose of that program, according to the district’s website, is to “dramatically improve the learning environment in underperforming school district schools and to create highly effective schools that provide exceptional opportunities for student achievement and preparedness for success in college and the workforce.” The SRC’s Charter Schools Office (CSO) has cited several reasons—academic, financial, and managerial—which confirm that Aspira has failed to provide its students with a high-quality education and has failed to meet basic standards for proper school management. In addition, Aspira representatives admitted to financial irregularities enumerated in the CSO report.

Reasons cited by the CSO for non-renewal of Stetson include:

Click here to read the entire letter.

APPS members testimony to the Philadelphia School Reform Commission – May 26, 2016

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The Philadelphia School Reform Commission (Commissioner Green participated by phone conference)

On May 26, 2016 the Philadelphia School Reform Commission’s met to decide on non-renewal of four charters and to vote on the School District Budget for Fiscal Year 2016-2017.

This is the testimony of five members of the Philadelphia Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools to the Commission.

All five videos can be viewed here.

Click each picture below to view single videos. Speakers are in order of appearance at the meeting.

Lynda Rubin SRC pic

Video of APPS member Lynda Rubin testifying at the Philadelphia School Reform Commission hearing – May 26, 2016.

The transcript of Lynda’s testimony.

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Video of APPS member Coleman Poses testifying at the Philadelphia School Reform Commission hearing – May 26, 2016.

The transcript of Coleman’s testimony  with a spreadsheet of relevant charter information.

Rich Liuzzi SRC 5-27-16

Video of APPS member Rich Liuzzi testifying at the Philadelphia School Reform Commission hearing – May 26, 2016.

The transcript of Rich’s testimony.

Diane Payne SRC 5-27-16

Video of APPS member Diane Payne testifying at the Philadelphia School Reform Commission hearing – May 26, 2016. Be sure to listen to the audio of the debate with Commissioner Jimenez at the end of Diane’s testimony.

The transcript of Diane’s testimony.

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Video of APPS member Lisa Haver testifying at the Philadelphia School Reform Commission hearing – May 26, 2016.

The transcript of Lisa’s testimony. The last few sentences were not in her testimony because of the three minute time limit.