Philadelphia Public Schools Reorganizing, Closing 64 Schools As District Braces For Dissolution

This piece comes to us courtesy of the Philadelphia Public School Notebook.

District staff and consultants are recommending a sweeping overhaul of how public schools in Philadelphia operate, planning to close 64 schools over the next five years and divvy up those that remain among "achievement networks" led by teams of educators or nonprofit institutions.

The achievement networks would have 20 to 30 schools each and be connected by either geography or a common, creative approach to teaching and learning. The leaders of the network, who could include successful principals, would have contracts based on performance and be required to serve students of all abilities and situations equitably.

Listen to reporter Benjamin Herold's report for NewsWorks Tonight on WHYY.

These networks would be in addition to groups of schools run by charter management organizations, or CMOs.

The planners expect 40 percent of students to be enrolled in charter schools by 2017.

At the same time, the central office staff, already cut in half this year to about 650 people, would shrink even further to around 200 people and handle "non-core mission" functions such as compliance, finance, communications, government relations, accountability, and strategic planning.

Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen said that more direct academic services "are now going to be pushed directly into the field," although a document sent by Chief Academic Officer Penny Nixon to principals over the weekend still called for some academic services to run out of the central office.

It's time to move away from "command and control" to a "service delivery" model for a diverse school portfolio, Knudsen said.

The plan, while saying that it is premised on giving parents more choices, doesn't include any direct promises that schools will get what most parents say they want –- smaller classes, art and music teachers, libraries, nurses, adequate security –- all of which has been cut this year. And it relies on being able to attract and keep talented principals and teachers in an atmosphere of fiscal austerity, find the money to properly train and support them, and have the resources to give them the materials they need.

Knudsen made it clear that the fiscal picture is still uncertain, disclosing that next year's anticipated $186 million shortfall has grown to $218 million, due to an adverse state decision about tax assessments.

This plan, developed by District teams and the Boston Consulting Group, "is about the need for fundamental change in education policy and practices, and it's about righting the financial ship and living within our means," Knudsen said. Without action, the cumulative deficit would grow to $1.1 billion by 2017.

In order to balance the budget by 2014, the proposal includes $156 million in savings by restructuring wages and benefits and $149 million in lower charter school payments, caused by the District's 7 percent reduction in per-pupil spending. It would also save $122 million through streamlined operations, including $33 million from closing 40 schools in 2013-14.

This piece has been truncated. To read the rest of the story, visit The Notebook.

Comments

[wakeupyouall]

11:07 AM on 06/23/2012

I've done both public and private. Both were innovative progressive schools. The main thing that i learned was small is beautiful. In smaller schools kids can't get lost in the crowd and no kid is allowed to fail.

[stopnlisten]

02:24 PM on 04/30/2012

Lower taxes on houses and businesses and a way to privatize schools.....I smell GOP.

[wakeupyouall]

11:07 AM on 06/23/2012

Yep educated people don't vote republicon.

[foresure]

08:13 PM on 04/27/2012

If they are not replacing FUBAR schools with FUBAR parents and FUBAR students with full service, full time boarding schools, they are almost exactly replicated the old saying about re-arranging the deck chairs on the titanic.

Google the definition of FUBAR, if you've never been in the military.

Only difference is they are generating a lot of income for charter schools, M.Ed's, D.Ed's and countless bureaucrats.

Then even more invomr , for even more expensive experts to have conferences on why the whole thing failed.

[Alisha31]

01:27 PM on 04/30/2012

My mom taught in Philly for 38 years (I currently teach in Phoenix, AZ) and her solution was to take the kids away from those FUBAR parents and put them in boarding schools where they can concentrate on their education and not have to worry about food, shelter, time to do homework etc. We used to discuss that boarding schools were the only way to really re-make American education for a number of students.

[Setthemfree]

06:07 PM on 04/30/2012

The sad thing is is that a lot of parents aren't doing their jobs and teachers and schools are being blamed.

[simsum]

09:33 PM on 04/30/2012

Regarding urban education, may I recommend to you the books of Jonathan Kozol? I think you will greatly appreciate what he has to say.

And about Philadelphia, there's a book by a Pulitzer-winning journalist that explains so much of what is going on there, looking beyond the superficial headlines and soundbites: "Myth of the Welfare Queen", by David Zucchino.

[vollenhouse]

10:13 AM on 04/27/2012

Arne Duncan and Obama complicit in the closing of public schools nation wide. Time to Dump Duncan!!

Go to dumpduncan.org and sign the open letter to Obama urging him to reconsider his policies on public education.

[Setthemfree]

07:33 PM on 04/29/2012

This is true. But, he has to keep his billionaire friends happy. Also, it's an election year. Obama needs their money and support.

[stopnlisten]

02:22 PM on 04/30/2012

I'm a complete Obama fan. I can't stand Duncan as his adviser. He needs to go. He just doesn't get it. He also left a bad legacy in Chicago.

[noshortcuts]

09:55 PM on 04/26/2012

When the public sees education as a right, rather than a privilege, it's worth lessens. Expecting every child to be successful, when not all put forth the same effort or are supported by parent(s) who respect education, is unrealistic. This "gap" continues to be played out in every state, county, and city. Charter school will initially look like an alternative, but who then will be left at the public schools? It is not about how you teach, but rather how much the student wants to learn that determines the outcome.

[Setthemfree]

05:32 PM on 04/26/2012

The U.S. is a joke. They starve out education so they can force inner city kids into charter schools that aren't going to do anything new but make a profit off of children. If the U.S. cared about an educated populus it would fund it without question. Instead it spent a billion dollars a month on wars. The charter movement is all about the money.

[luapmi2]

03:55 AM on 04/27/2012

and what...the teachers union members work for free? It has ALWAYS been about money.

[Jerseytime]

01:20 PM on 04/27/2012

No country on the planet expects good education results from poorly paid teachers- except America. Nevertheless, if poor pay does produce outstanding results, can the concept be applied to Wall Street?

[Setthemfree]

08:27 PM on 04/27/2012

You definately don't know any teachers.

[Katrin55]

12:56 PM on 04/26/2012

Will these new, charter schools have to accept all students regardless of ability or disability? Will parents have to pay tuition? Will taxpayers still continue to have to support these private (?) schools?

[foresure]

08:31 PM on 04/27/2012

Katrin:

Let us all pray to God, that some day the Government undertands that there are "undesirables" who should be ignored, simply moved along to their inevitable end.

[PlayTOE]

09:06 AM on 04/26/2012

Once again, trashing public education instead of providing public education ... will make the USA a 3rd rate nation.

[Jerseytime]

01:21 PM on 04/27/2012

Well, as for me, I always wondered what a banana republic would look like if its people spoke english.

[Kate Lynn]

07:54 AM on 04/26/2012

What a joke.

[MightyBee]

01:46 AM on 04/26/2012

Govt. spends the Kid's money for school budgets...Our Govt. sucks.

[MightyBee]

01:46 AM on 04/26/2012

To bad we have to deal with Govt. spending all the school's money. Sad, sad, sad we vote these losers into office.

[wakeupyouall]

11:12 AM on 06/23/2012

Actually it is the locally elected school boards that make those decisions.

[blindjester]

11:49 PM on 04/25/2012

Great. We're gonna farm out our kids to a bunch of charter schools.

My niece taught in one here in AZ for a few years, and was thrilled to get a job in the public schools. She worked hard for low pay and bad support to make the charter people a pile of money. Other than that, it was exactly like a public school--one teacher, a bunch of kids, shelves with textbooks, attendance to take, essays to write, novels to read.

Really, the main innovations in charters are just that somebody makes money on the deal, and the name in the front of the school says "charter." Everything else is pretty standard.

[Katrin55]

12:54 PM on 04/26/2012

Don't forget, many charter schools can expel students without having to provide an alternative educational setting and many charter schools do not have to take children with disabilities. Two huge reasons charter schools can be a potential problem for our society.

[Setthemfree]

05:30 PM on 04/26/2012

You are absolutely correct. There is no new innovation or creative curriculum. The pay is low and the staff are treated like garbage. Charters are a con on the American people. I've been disappointed because greedy people from both parties are promoting this garbage so their friends can get rich.

[wakeupyouall]

11:14 AM on 06/23/2012

That depend on the state in california Eah charter is different. And I believe teachers pay is comperable to public schools

[Setthemfree]

11:38 AM on 06/24/2012

In my state they don't come close to comparable pay or benefits. It is awful and sad.