Tag: SRC

Eyes on the December 17th SRC

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by Karel Kilimnik

December 10, 2015

Welcome to the Fifth Edition of APPS’ “Eyes on the SRC”.

A cautionary note to our readers. This analysis is based on what the SRC has chosen to publish right now at this very moment. We try to keep up but sometimes it’s difficult when a Resolution pops up right before the SRC Action meeting.

It is gratifying to see more people attending SRC Action meetings and speaking. We continue to ask questions, they continue to avoid answering. It is essential for all of us to speak up. Our words travel far beyond the four walls of the auditorium. The meeting is live streamed and journalists tweet as well as write articles. We have to get our ideas into the public arena. Dr. Hite continues to refuse to sever the Source4Teachers contract. Teachers cover classes, and students do not have regularly appointed classroom teachers, while Source4Teachers continues to fail miserably at providing substitute teachers. We need to continue asking Dr. Hite to break the contract. It is unconscionable to inflict this situation on students and teachers.

The next SRC meeting is Thursday Dec. 17th at 5:30. To register to speak you must call 215 400 4180 by 4:30 on Dec. 16th. It’s best to say that you’re a teacher, parent, or community member because only “one member of an organization can register to speak” (from the District website)

Click here to see a selection of SRC Resolutions for December 17th and APPS comments. 

Ears on the November 19th SRC

SRC 2-18-16 #!

by Diane Payne

The November 19, 2015 meeting was a jam-packed event with 71 speakers. The anger from parents and community members of Cooke, Huey and Wister, trying to save their schools from being turned over to charter companies, was felt by everyone in the room. A number of teachers and students, whose schools have been thrown into chaos due to the SRC’s outsourcing of substitutes, expressed their frustration with the district’s decision not to cancel the Source4Teachers contract. It is not possible to include every facet of this meeting, so a few highlights will have to suffice

Unanswered Questions

At each meeting, questions are put to Superintendent Hite and to the members of the SRC, most of which go unanswered. Here are some of the questions which were asked last Thursday:

Click here to read the entire post.

Eyes on the November 19th SRC

9-17-15 SRC

By Karel Kilimnik

November 14, 2015

Welcome to the Fourth Edition of APPS’ “Eyes on the SRC”. Every month, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission votes, with almost no public deliberation, on pages of resolutions that will affect the academic and financial future of the district. Our purpose here is to shine a light on a few resolutions that need to be explained in more detail. We ask questions here which should be asked of the SRC members themselves. That is one reason why we need every voice to speak out against the chaos and turmoil created by this present administration and by the School Reform Commission.

School started in September with a dire lack of substitutes, and the situation has not improved. Teachers in every school are losing valuable prep time to covering classes. Dr. Hite admits that Source4Teachers is doing poorly, yet he makes no effort to terminate their contract. He and the SRC, which voted to outsource substitutes, need to be called out on this at every opportunity.

The next SRC meeting is Thursday November 19th at 5:30. To register to speak you must call 215 400 4180 by 4:30 on Wednesday November 18th. It’s best to say that you’re a teacher, parent, or community member because only “one member of an organization can register to speak” (from the District website).

Want some help with your testimony? Contact us at philaapps@gmail.com

Click here to read the November 19 Resolutions of Note

Ears on the October 15th SRC

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By Diane Payne

At the meeting of the School Reform Commission on October 15th the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools asked several questions. This post details answers (or lack thereof) to our questions and also comments on the remarks of Superintendent Hite and Commissioner Green at the end of the meeting.

Two of the unanswered questions:

Karel Kilimnik: Where can we find the salaries of all the recently hired administrative personnel?  No answer

Diane Payne: My question today on resolution A2….what evidence did you use to select Mastery Charter School teachers as coaches for our staff rather than using the expertise and knowledge of your own district teachers?  No answer

 

Click here for the full Ears on the October 15th SRC post.