110833841
To the Editor:
Thanks to Bill Chenevert for his report on the proposed charter school applications for sites in South Philly (“To charter or not to charter,” Jan. 29). Indeed, Hamlet had less of a dilemma than the School Reform Commission has in approving any of the 40 applications.
The confusion mounts. No wonder the SRC has asked for an extension until June so they can complete their review of all applications, including three new charter proposals for South Philadelphia.
Here is an excerpt from the current evaluation of one of them — String Theory — for a new arts centered charter to occupy the shuttered Abigail Vare Elementary School at 1621 E. Moyamensing Ave. It relates to their academic plan for designing curriculum.
“However, the applicant did not provide a clear and cohesive, locally developed curriculum. Everything from the curriculum maps to the assessments to the lessons are to be completely designed by the teachers. Additionally, the applicant emphasizes that teachers should be creating innovative lessons with cross-curricular connections. This type of teaching would be incredibly time intensive.
Discussion of professional development for teachers was limited and did not sufficiently address how teachers would be supported to design their own curriculum. The application also did not address what supports teachers would receive to interpret and utilize student data to inform their instruction.”
That is just one snippet of the review that lists deficiencies in the plan by String Theory, which currently manages the two Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School campuses on South Broad Street. Obviously, they put their proposal together in a hurry to make the Nov. 15 deadline. They want to begin classes at Vare, hopefully by fall of 2015, with 600 students from kindergarten to fifth grade. But none of their proposals are detailed or carefully constructed.
In case anyone wants to know, here are the names of all the evaluators reviewing String Theory. Two of them are from outside the district. The team leader, Carly Bolger, a charter school advocate from Chicago, was once the New Jersey director of the Department of Education’s charter school office. She was recruited by then acting commissioner Chris Cerf, formerly of Edison Schools, Inc., to help with the expansion of charter schools. So we already know what her agenda is.
Others on the team include Megan Reamer, district charter application process manager; and evaluators: Donna Best, consultant, formerly from the N.J. Department of Education; and finally, Roger Haynes and Joe Alberti from the School District of Philadelphia.
Critics of this process point to the fact that so many of these “volunteer” evaluators are outsiders with no background in Philadelphia schools.
The SRC put off for seven years accepting charter school applications for valid financial reasons. They cannot even keep district schools open for lack of funds. Did I mention that String Theory presented a budget of more than $6 million to fund their school in the first year? The report did not list the source of this funding.
If you wonder why the SRC is forced even to look at these charter school applications, you can thank Philadelphia Republican state Rep. John Taylor, who added an amendment to the cigarette tax law that requires the SRC to consider all applications for charter schools. It also permits new charter applicants to petition the state Charter Appeals Board if they are rejected by the SRC. That was never allowed before. This guarantees that charter schools will be forced on the School District of Philadelphia. At the present time, thanks to former Gov. Tom Corbett, there is no state reimbursement for charter school allotments.
The biggest concern, as Chenevert reports, is how the School District can afford all this expansion of charter schools? Obviously, the goal behind all this churn is to transfer funding from the cash-strapped district to private, so-called nonprofit education managers. And for parents who may be attracted to such schools, the main concern is the perennial stumbling block of special admission requirements.
Gloria C. Endres
South Philadelphia
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