Tag: Charter Renewals

Board of Education Silent on Every Issue Raised by Constituents

Board of Education Action Meeting: August 22, 2024

by Lisa Haver

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Board renews three substandard charters. (Photo: Lisa Haver)

At its August action meeting, the Board of Education passed thirty-six agenda items totaling over $79 million. They also approved three 5-year charter renewals, whose projected costs–at least $85 million total, based on the current district budget –were not posted.  Board member Cheryl Harper was absent, as was Chou-Wing Lam, who has not attended a board meeting since April. At this point, Board Member Lam should have communicated to the public the reason for her third consecutive absence and whether she is able to continue to serve. If she is not able to carry out her duties, she should resign. Most notable about this meeting is what didn’t happen: none of the board members spoke about any of the agenda items or responded to any of the issues that parents, educators, and community members came to testify about. Not one question, not one comment. 

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Board Outsources Extended Year Programs

Board of Education Action Meeting: June 27, 2024

by Lisa Haver

APPS member Lynda Rubin testifies at June 27 board meeting (Photo: Lisa Haver)

APPS members have asked the Board of Education many times, most recently at its June 13 “community hearing” at Rush middle school earlier this month, why they set up so few chairs for the public at their monthly meeting. In an auditorium that holds 240 people, there have been only 140 chairs. At this meeting, the board set up only 102 chairs. Why? The board raised the issue during the meeting of how they can improve public engagement, yet they have no explanation why room for the public shrinks with every meeting.

Board Outsources Extended Year Programs 
The board also raised the issue of public engagement when they discussed the pilot program for an extended school at 20 district schools. The district sent out emails to staff at the 20 designated schools on June 24–almost two weeks after schools closed for the summer. Many teachers found out when the email, sent by Deputy Superintendent Germaine Dawson, was reported in news stories and posted on social media. In addition, the Watlington administration has not sent emails to parents at the designated schools. On Thursday, hours before the board meeting, Mayor Cherelle Parker held a news conference to launch the pilot program for year-round school, a signature plank in her campaign platform. She was adamant, however, that reporters not refer to it as “year-round school”, saying that it was limited, at this time, to more extended day and extended year services. Parker expressed frustration that the story was “leaked”, but the fact is that her administration failed to communicate with those who would be involved, including the PFT, whose spokesperson told the Inquirer that they were “still awaiting direct communication” from the administration” about the program. The lack of coordination between the Watlington and Parker administration, and the failure of both to communicate with affected parties before the announcement, raised concerns about the success of the year-round initiative.

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Board Message to District Charter Operators: No Consequences for Substandard Performance

Board of Education Action Meeting:  January 25, 2023

by Deborah Grill, Lynda Rubin, Lisa Haver

Board Caves on Charter Renewal                   
At this action meeting, the Board of Education sent a clear message to all charter operators in the district: no matter how inadequate the education you provide to your students, no matter how many barriers to enrollment you use to exclude children, no matter how precarious your finances–we will let you carry on. The Board disregarded the law and its own procedures and policies when it caved to obvious political pressure and voted unanimously to reverse its previous decision and renew Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School. Dawn Chavous, charter lobbyist and now co-chair of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s Education Sub-Committee, testified in favor of renewing the charter.  Board members offered a variety of rationalizations but never explained how this one charter managed to be reconsidered for renewal after two votes not to renew. As Lisa Haver pointed out in her testimony, the Board voted last year for non-renewal after an extensive legal process in which data and evidence were reviewed, public testimony was heard, and the charter administrators had time to explain their failure to meet standards. The Board was now reversing itself without presenting any new evidence or explanation, she said.  The Board’s round-robin of questions before the vote amounted to a charade in which they acted as if this was just another renewal consideration, not an unprecedented reversal that ignored all data and evidence entered into the record.  Only one Board member asked what would happen if SWLA failed to carry out the conditions listed in the agreement.  Charter Schools Office Director Peng Chao responded that they could note that in the next renewal evaluation in 2027. In other words, there will be no enforcement of the conditions in the agreement, which has set academic conditions even lower than those that Southwest had failed to meet in its last evaluation. Chao also stated that his office remained open to collaborating with the school to ensure they meet the conditions. No board member pointed out that the CSO can only do that by manipulating the current standards and conditions and that only the school’s administration and staff could make sure that their students received an adequate education. One board member, apparently unaware of charter schools’ enrollment limits, suggested that the school needed to get more students to boost finances. More funding for Southwest Leadership Academy would of course mean less funding for District schools. This 5-year renewal will cost the district a minimum of $10 million. When Board leadership claims, repeatedly, to be “child-centered”, it seems that doesn’t apply to children at substandard charter schools.

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Philadelphia’s school board must take charter school standards seriously — and act when they’re not met | Opinion

Some charter operators continue to rake in six-figure salaries — higher than the district superintendent — despite documented failures.

The following commentary was written by APPS co-founder Lisa Haver and published in  Billy Penn on August 16, 2023

The playground at Universal Daroff Charter School, which closed just before the 2022-23 academic year began. (Aubri Juhasz/WHYY)

At its action meeting this Thursday, the Philadelphia Board of Education will vote on whether to approve 5-year renewals for up to 19 charter schools. 

Unlike other local districts, Philly’s school board holds no public hearing to review the performance of charters before deciding whether it’s beneficial to students and the community to fund them for another five years. Rarely does the board vote for non-renewal. 

The projected cost of renewing all 19 schools up for a vote, based on the district’s 2022 budget, is more than $470 million over the next five years. Of the 14 charters the board has already indicated it will renew, eight failed to meet academic standards. Instead, their rating falls in the Charter Schools Office’s middle category, “approaches standards,” which allows schools that score above 45% to squeak by.

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