Src

THE MOST counterproductive trend in public institutions is a tendency for each new administration to cast aside all that has gone before. Years of progress can get wasted in the process. That's why the appointment of Sandra Dungee Glenn to chair the School Reform Commission is a sign that the progress the Philadelphia schools have made under the SRC's city-state partnership will continue. Glenn, appointed by Mayor Street as one of the city's two appointments to the five-member SRC, was named by Gov. Rendell to replace James Nevels, the SRC's founding chairman.

The School Reform Commission voted unanimously yesterday to approve amendments to a controversial policy that would change the way charter schools can increase their enrollment or change their grade configuration. The policy would have permitted charters to apply for the changes only every five years, when a school's charter was up. Now, charters can apply for changes at renewal or during the third year of their charter. Until the proposed charter-school policy change, the SRC considered requests from charters on an individual basis and has had no policy for evaluating the success of each school.

WE HAD hoped that talk of naming a Latino to replace Daniel Whelan, who is white, on the School Reform Commission would become a reality. After all, Latino students make up 17 percent of the district's 180,000 students. And it's a population that is struggling. Though the fastest-growing population in the city, Latinos have the lowest graduation rate and highest dropout rate - a staggering 50 percent - according to a Johns Hopkins University study. Instead, Gov. Rendell yesterday nominated Denise McGregor Armbrister, a highly qualified executive who runs the Wachovia Regional Foundation.

WE WELCOME Heidi A. Ramirez's nomination to the School Reform Commission with great expectations. Ramirez, a young education specialist from Temple University, comes with both refreshing youth (she's 33) and an impressive resume that focuses on urban education, poor and minority students - exactly who comprise the School District of Philadelphia. With those credentials, we expect her to hit the ground running. And we are pleased that Gov. Rendell has selected for the board a Latina who, we hope, will have significant empathy for the district's growing Hispanic constituency.

People are rightly questioning whether the Philadelphia School Reform Commission is fulfilling its role as an independent watchdog of the district's operations. At the very least, Gov. Corbett needs to show more concern by filling a seat on the governing body that has been vacant for months. David F. Girard-diCarlo was the only Republican on the five-member panel when he abruptly resigned in February. His absence has left a void in which few dissident views are expressed. Further damaging public confidence in the SRC is the poor leadership displayed recently by its chairman, Robert L. Archie, whose apparent breaches of conflict-of-interest rules ought to lead to his resignation.

AS INTERIM chief executive officer of the Philadelphia schools in 2000-2001, there were many days I wished I'd a magic wand to make board members disappear. I had a job to do, so how could I answer all their questions, from the mundane to the important to the inappropriate? So I can understand how School Superintendent Arlene Ackerman might've been frustrated by inquisitive SRC member Heidi Ramirez, who recently announced her resignation, citing her frustration at being ignored.

AMID SPECULATION that Heidi Ramirez is leaving the School Reform Commission under political pressure, the status of the commission has grown even murkier. Gary Tuma, Gov. Rendell's spokesman, confirmed last night that Rendell has withdrawn his nomination for Joseph Dworetzky, who was his pick for another open spot on the board that oversees Philadelphia's public schools. Tuma said he wasn't sure when the nomination was pulled, but said that it was at least a week ago. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi said the nomination was recalled June 30 - the deadline for the state budget.

It's not only South Philadelphia High where immigrant students face problems, parents and an activist told the School Reform Commission yesterday. Even younger students in the neighborhood are routinely the victims of racism and bullying because they don't speak English, the parents said. Parents who don't speak English are ignored, and the educational services for their children are inadequate, they added. Angelica Viceriana, whose children attend Jackson Elementary in South Philadelphia, said she had been threatened by a district staffer when she signed up to speak to the commissioners.

The School Reform Commission was poised to award a $90,000 lobbying contract to Duane Morris Government Affairs L.L.C., an arm of the law firm that employs new panel chair Robert Archie. But last night, it appeared that Duane Morris was out. Archie said he would ask his law partners to withdraw the firm's proposal, which was set for a vote by the commission at tomorrow's meeting. He had nothing to do with the decision to give the state lobbying contract to Duane Morris, Archie said, adding that the choice was made before he was named to the panel.

Just two weeks before the Philadelphia School District hopes to close a budget deficit with more state and city funding, its leaders have angered the very two people who could help make it possible - Gov. Rendell and Mayor Street. Rendell and Street called into question the management capabilities of the School Reform Commission after it unilaterally appointed an interim management team to lead the district without consulting either leader. In a sharply worded statement issued yesterday, Street and Rendell opposed the commission's decision Wednesday to appoint Thomas M. Brady, a retired U.S. Army officer, as interim chief executive officer of the 174,000-student district.

The Philadelphia School Reform Commission on Friday renewed operating agreements with two city charter schools and approved additional students for those two and a third charter. And in a special session otherwise devoted to charter-school issues, the SRC assured parents from Creighton Elementary that the five-member panel will vote next week on whether the school's teachers will be given permission to try to turn it around. "We have to take a vote that resolves the Creighton issue by the end of next week," SRC Chairman Pedro Ramos said.

As Jerry Jordan blasted School Reform Commission restructuring plans Tuesday night, heads turned to the back of the room, to a line of children, sporting a poster with a simple message: "We need better schools. " Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, spoke out against SRC proposals to overhaul the Philadelphia School District's structure and planned layoffs to nurses and other professionals at an "emergency community meeting" held at Bright Hope Baptist Church in North Philadelphia.

FIXING THE SCHOOL district would be simple, if only: The schools went back to teaching basics. We'd stop siphoning off money to charter schools. We'd open more charters. We had the means to get rid of bad teachers. We had a way to get rid of bad students. Parents cared more. We made sure there were music and art classes. The state funded the schools they way it is supposed to. This list could go on — and on and on, limited only by the number of people you ask. Everyone has an opinion about how to fix the district, and the district has an opinion about how to fix itself via a new set of proposals that would close 40 schools, move many students to charters, establish "achievement networks" and require major concessions from the unions to close its fiscal gap. Tuesday, City Council members offered their own opinions, quizzing the School Reform Commission as they consider providing $39 million to the district.

Appearing before City Council for another day of grilling on the Philadelphia School District's budget and proposals to transform operations and close dozens of schools, officials Tuesday said there were widespread misunderstandings about a plan to revamp the district. "Achievement networks" — groups of 20 to 25 schools run either by district staff or by outside nonprofit providers, such as universities or charter organizations — would be the foundation of the plan to decentralize.

As it prepares to make a decision on a complete transformation of the way the Philadelphia School District is structured and run, the School Reform Commission heard from more members of the public on its plan Wednesday night. The plan calls for a lean central office and "achievement networks" — groups of 25 schools run either by district staff or outside nonprofit providers, such as universities or charter organizations — to replace the current structure. Hillary Linardopoulos, a third-grade teacher at Julia deBurgos Elementary in Kensington, urged leaders to work with the current structure, not rely heavily on charters to fix things.

As the number of immigrant students and others with English-learning needs grows, Philadelphia School District leaders vowed Monday evening not to cut resources for bilingual education and related services despite continuing budget woes. The School Reform Commission held a nonvoting session to discuss the district's efforts to improve programs for 13,000 "English-language learners," of whom 3,000 are immigrants. The district has budgeted approximately $35.6 million for around 300 teachers who specialize in English for Speakers of Other Languages, or ESOL, said district spokesman Fernando Gallard.

The Philadelphia School Reform Commission on Friday authorized 2,031 additional seats in three charter schools over the next few years and approved new five-year operating agreements for four schools. Panelists on the five-member SRC said the expansions were part of their new effort to increase the number of spots for students in high-performing schools. One charter will be allowed to more than double its enrollment. During the special charter session, all the schools consented to abide by enrollment limits set in their new charter agreements.

Appearing before a skeptical City Council on Tuesday, Philadelphia School District officials underscored the system's dire financial position and stressed the need for $94 million in new city money. Without that amount - contingent on Council adopting Mayor Nutter's plan to raise the money through property taxes - "it's almost an insuperable barrier for us," said Thomas Knudsen, the district's chief recovery officer. Without a city cash infusion, the district's shortfall for the 2012-13 school year would be $312 million.

In advance of a critical budget session next week, City Council members pressed the School Reform Commission Thursday to back away from a warning that the city schools may be unable to open next fall without $94 million in new funds from city real estate taxes. But the commission chairman, Pedro Ramos, politely stood his ground. "We're at a crossroads … and it feels like there's a big pile of cans sitting there in the middle of the road, and it's every can that's been kicked down the road to this point," Ramos told Council members.