The Philadelphia School Reform Commission moved a step closer yesterday to adopting a policy that will allow the district to monitor the city's 61 charter schools more closely.
A vote is scheduled for Wednesday.
Cathy Balsley, director of the district's charter school office, told the commission that the revisions would allow the district to visit charters more frequently and clarify the criteria used to grant and renew charters.
One of the most significant changes would give the commission the flexibility to consider charter applications every two years instead of annually. That would go against the state's 1997 charter school law, but the legislation that allowed the state to take over Philadelphia schools in December 2001 exempts the School Reform Commission from many of the charter law's provisions.
