During a recent Board of Education meeting, the Philadelphia school board reviewed the renewal status of 18 charter schools, resulting in the approval of 12 for five-year renewals. However, six schools received low academic performance scores, raising concerns among board members.
The board’s discussion highlighted the urgency of student success, with members like Cheryl Harper emphasizing the correlation between student performance and the overall success of Philadelphia. Harper expressed discomfort with renewing charters that are underperforming, indicating a need for accountability in the education system.
Despite these concerns, the district’s Charter School Office recommended all 18 schools for renewal. Among those approved, Community Academy of Philadelphia and Mastery Charter High School were granted conditions-free renewals, while 10 others received conditional approvals. Schools such as Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures, Imhotep Institute, and Independence Charter School were noted as “approaching” academic success but still falling short.
President Reginald Streater acknowledged that further scrutiny was needed regarding the six charters that did not meet educational standards, including KIPP Philadelphia and People for People. This indicates a significant division within the board regarding the future of these schools.
The challenge of setting high expectations for long-established charters was raised by board member ChauWing Lam, who questioned the likelihood of improvement from institutions that had been operating since 2003. Concerns also surrounded the People for People Charter School, which showed a low academic score of 29%. Although Chief Peng Chao noted that the school planned to refocus its mission on younger grades, board member Joyce Wilkerson criticized this as a recurrent pattern of failure.
This board meeting proceeded shortly after the approval of Philadelphia’s first new charter school in seven years, a decision that came against a backdrop of a city budget perceived as inadequate by education advocates. With the Philadelphia school district facing a significant budget deficit, charter schools’ financial demands add pressure to already strained resources.
The meeting saw vocal advocacy from parents, staff, and alumni of the charter schools in question, who passionately argued for their renewals, often framing the conversation as one of parental choice. Supporters of the charter sector, including the president of Philadelphia’s Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, argued in favor of approving all proposed charters, claiming that the waiting list for charter options continues to grow.
However, the opposition remained vocal throughout the proceedings. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President, Arthur Steinberg, implored the board not to renew charters with documented records of poor performance and criticized the recent approval of new charters amid the district’s financial difficulties. Steinberg suggested this decision undermines the funding needs of public schools.
Robin Cooper, a notable voice against charter expansion, pointed out that the percentage of charter schools in Philadelphia far exceeds that of other major cities, arguing that insufficient funding for public schools inevitably reflects a lack of funding for charters as well.
Testimonies from guardians of students with special needs served to amplify the narrative of personal impact, with families sharing their positive experiences from specific charter schools. Alumni like Samaya McQueen insisted that their charter experiences significantly positively influenced their lives.
As concerns mounted over the implications of allowing poorly performing charters to continue operating, former teachers and members of community organizations expressed apprehension about potential school closures within the district.
Lisa Haver, a member of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, resonated this sentiment by asserting that granting renewals to schools without demonstrable success was a failure of the board’s duty as evaluators of charter schools.
With the board set to receive more information about the undecided charters during their next meeting on June 26, the discussions surrounding charter school renewals promise to remain a contentious topic in Philadelphia’s educational landscape.
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