Philadelphia district officials don't want two schools' charters renewed

Philadelphia School District officials formally recommended yesterday that the charters of two schools not be renewed, and cited problems in 14 others.

District officials did not identify the schools during a meeting of the School Reform Commission.

The Inquirer has learned that the two schools recommended for non-renewal are Germantown Settlement and Renaissance Charter School in Mount Airy. The other schools whose charters are up should be renewed, but with reservations, officials said.

Cathy Balsley, director of the district's charter school office, told the School Reform Commission that the two schools recommended for non-renewal had not submitted complete annual reports and had not kept adequate levels of certified staff. The schools also had "significant material violations" in areas of governance, management operations, academic program, and financial accountability.

"The students in these charter schools demonstrated low rates of academic performance and growth during the five-year renewal period," Balsley said.

In the case of the 14 schools recommended for renewal, Balsley said, the schools have shown they have the capacity to meet their goals, but have "failed to comply with a number of significant items."

Both categories of schools often fail on staffing, Balsley said. The federal No Child Left Behind law requires that all teachers be "highly qualified," and the state mandates that 75 percent of a charter school's teachers be certified.

"Qualified staff has a positive relation to increased academic performance," Balsley said.

Commissioner Heidi Ramirez said she was encouraged that city students had a variety of educational choices, but worried that some of those institutions were failing to submit reports.

"I'm a little troubled by the preponderance of schools failing to provide that information," Ramirez said.

Charmain Eubanks, business manager for the Renaissance Charter School, confirmed that her school was recommended for non-renewal, but said the notification process was flawed. She said the school received no explanation of the reasons for non-renewal, and had additional documents to bolster its case.

"Currently, the governance and financial management of our school is sound," Eubanks said.

Charter schools have until tomorrow at noon to submit documentation to support their applications, district officials said.

Emmanuel V. Freeman, president of Germantown Settlement Charter School, suggested that traditional public schools were less scrutinized than charter schools and defended his school.

"It is absolutely clear to me that some of the decision-making is based on inaccurate information, incorrect data," said Freeman.

But Saba Bireda, an attorney for the Education Law Center in Philadelphia, urged the district to watch all charter schools more closely.

"Our experience with some charter schools has shown us that many are not contributing positively to the reform goals the SRC has set forth for all Philadelphia students," Bireda said.

LaVonne M. Sheffield, chief accountability officer for the district, said her staff's recommendations came after an exhaustive, stepped-up review process. Sheffield said the process was fair.

"We're making a judgment on the lives of children for the next five years," Sheffield said. "I don't think that's tough. I think that's the role of the school district."

Commission chair Sandra Dungee Glenn said the district's scrutiny of all of its schools - charter, traditional public, and public run by outside managers - was equal.

"I think we're being consistent and fair," she said, adding that the commissioners had made no decisions on whether to accept the recommendations.

The commission is scheduled to vote on the recommendations at its 1 p.m. meeting Wednesday.

If a school is not renewed, it can appeal to the state and, eventually, to court.