In a decision that could prove pivotal for Philadelphia鈥檚 school system, the appointed panel running the district has chosen three school management companies and three nonprofit organizations to manage 75 of its lowest-performing schools.
Assembled by the city鈥檚 mayor and Pennsylvania鈥檚 governor to run the schools when the state took over on Dec. 21, the School Reform Commission is charged with turning around the fiscally and academically troubled district. With their April 10 announcement, the five panel members took what many view as a big step into uncharted waters, attempting a large-scale improvement with a variety of methods.
The panel鈥檚 chairman, James E. Nevels, characterized the decision as 鈥渁 major step in the reform process.鈥�
鈥淭his is an exciting time for Philadelphia schools, and it is a monumental moment in the history of education,鈥� Mr. Nevels said in a statement. 鈥淲e all understand that change is long overdue, and today we begin a course to better serve students, teachers, and their families. These are schools where change is most urgently needed.鈥�
The reform commission tapped Chancellor Beacon Academies of Miami and two New York City companies鈥擡dison Schools Inc. and Victory Schools鈥攖o run some of the schools. To run others, it chose Temple University in Philadelphia; Foundations Inc., a Mount Laurel, N.J.-based nonprofit organization that operates after-school programs; and Universal Companies, a nonprofit, neighborhood-redevelopment organization in Philadelphia that runs one charter school in the city.
The groups will operate as educational management organizations, pairing up鈥攊n many cases鈥攚ith community groups to run schools. The schools were chosen based on their low performance on the Stanford Achievement Test-9th Edition and Pennsylvania state tests.
Details Unresolved
When Gov. Mark S. Schweiker, a Republican, pushed for a takeover of the 200,000-student Philadelphia school system late last year, his plan called for private educational management organizations, or EMOs, to take over the worst-performing schools in partnership with community groups, with Edison playing the lead role.
The reform commission has not decided how many or which schools each group will run. But its plan departed from that of Mr. Schweiker by making clear that privatization鈥攚hich prompted intense local opposition鈥攚as only one of five governance models that would be used at the schools.
鈥淎n assumption a lot of people made was that schools would just be privatized,鈥� said Carey Dearnley, a spokeswoman for the reform commission. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the case.鈥�
The 鈥渕ost radical鈥� step, Ms. Dearnley said, would be for schools to be privatized鈥攖aken over completely by private managers, which could replace current staff members with their own employees. The least severe step would be for a school to become 鈥減rovider managed,鈥� with a company or nonprofit group working with the existing administration.
Between those models are three other choices: reconstituting a school, converting it to a charter school, or making it an 鈥渋ndependent鈥� school, a term used in Pennsylvania for a type of public school similar to a charter school.
Ms. Dearnley said not all models would employ a combination of EMO and community group; some might use only an EMO. The reform commission had not yet decided late last week which models would be used at which schools, or which community groups would be involved in running schools.
In a decision March 26, the panel decided to negotiate contracts with 12 groups, including Edison, to offer consulting services at the district level. (鈥淭akeover Team Picked in Phila.,鈥� April 3, 2002.)
The governor鈥檚 spokesman, Steve Aaron, called the SRC鈥檚 latest decision 鈥渁 bold step toward reform. It鈥檚 what those kids need and it鈥檚 long overdue,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e like the direction we鈥檙e seeing.鈥�
The local teachers鈥� union, the 21,000-member Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, expressed doubts about the new developments, repeating its criticism that the reform commission has not focused enough on ways to improve teaching and learning.
鈥淲hile they are tinkering with management and governance, it鈥檚 business as usual in Philadelphia schools,鈥� said PFT spokeswoman Barbara Goodman.
Of great concern to the union was the reform commission鈥檚 contention that under at least two of the models鈥攑rivatization and charter school鈥攗nion contracts could be abrogated.
