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MAYBE JIM Nevels misunderstood what the R in the SRC stands for. Here's a reminder: It's the School Reform Commission, Jim, not Revolt. We understand that reforming a district as entrenched as Philadelphia's isn't going to be pretty. We just didn't expect it to be chaotic. Or for the School Reform Commission, which had done such an admirable job speaking as one voice during its early weeks, to now appear so disjointed. Earlier, commission chairman Nevels approved 26 new charter schools, to the surprise of nearly everyone, including members of the commission.

A group of 40 citizens met last night behind closed doors to advise the Philadelphia School Reform Commission on the selection of a new chief executive officer. While the committee is supposed to represent the public, the names of most of the members remain unknown. And the SRC refuses to say who they are. The advisory committee includes education advocates, parents, students, school district union representatives, and others. Some members of the committee who have disclosed their participation say the secrecy is a mistake.

Representatives from a charter school task force are expected to tell the Philadelphia School Reform Commission today how the district can increase communication and improve relations with the city's 61 charter schools. Although the agenda for the commission's 1 p.m. meeting had not been finalized late yesterday, commission staffers said task force members were expected to present recommendations they developed during a month-long charter review. "This is their report back to the SRC on the work they were charged to do," Amy Guerin, the commission's policy director said yesterday The meeting will be held in the auditorium of the district's administrative headquarters at 440 N. Broad St. The task force, which included parents, representatives from charter schools, as well as civic leaders, held two public meetings last month, gathered for three work sessions and collected written and oral testimony.

It's a bad omen when the news coming out of Philadelphia public schools is about adults squabbling, not kids learning. At a recent School Reform Commission meeting, Chairman James Nevels called an unscheduled vote to name an interim CEO to fill in for the departing Paul Vallas. That got member Sandra Dungee Glenn so upset she left the room. The three remaining members chose Thomas M. Brady, who joined the district in March as its chief operating officer, as Vallas' temporary replacement.

A laundry list of parents, politicians and other supporters showed up to the School Reform Commission meeting yesterday to defend South Philly High principal LaGreta Brown after a cartoon in Tuesday's Inquirer depicted her as sleeping on the job. Michael Lerner, president of the principals' union, said the paper took a "cheap shot" at Brown, calling her an easy target because of the assaults on a number of Asian students at the school in...

Philadelphia School Reform Commission Chairwoman Sandra Dungee Glenn has ordered the district's administration to redo budgets for each school, with the goal of keeping class sizes as low as possible and art and music, counselors, librarians and nurses intact. Dungee Glenn, through a spokeswoman, announced the action this week, following complaints from Parents United for Public Education, the Home and School Council and other parent and community groups. The announcement also followed an article in The Inquirer last week about the district's budget directive to principals to create "split classes," if necessary to meet class-size limits.

There's nothing like having a supportive husband. School Reform Commissioner Joseph Dworetzky, who has recently grown quite vocal about the district's dealings, will move to San Francisco at the end of August, but plans to remain on the board. Dworetzky's wife, Amy Banse, a top-level executive at Comcast Corp., was tapped to start a California office for Comcast Ventures. The gig running the venture-capital wing of the company is expected to last two years. Dworetzky said Friday that he plans to trek to Philadelphia every month and stay long enough to attend the two SRC meetings, make school visits and perform other duties expected of him. "I won't do it halfway.

LET'S ADD A new entry to the list of the acknowledged successes of school reform: the radicalization of parents. The school budget process that ended last week when the SRC adopted a $2.18 billion budget may go down as Philadelphia's own Bastille Day, when loud, protesting parents stormed the SRC and demanded a fair hearing of their own budget concerns. On Tuesday, the SRC granted a delay in the budget vote so parents could finalize their input. Four budget resolutions were incorporated into the budget, three from parents' groups.

Philadelphia Academy Charter School will remain open, but with an unprecedented level of scrutiny from the Philadelphia School District. The Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted unanimously yesterday to give the popular Northeast school a new, five-year operating charter starting Sept. 1, provided the school agrees to meet a list of 20 conditions. Those include a complete overhaul of the board and new bylaws barring conflicts of interest and self-dealing. The commission has ordered the board to sever all ties with charter founder Brien N. Gardiner, former chief executive officer Kevin M. O'Shea, and their relatives, and to end contracts with businesses tied to them.