Yesterday, several representatives of the schools came to the School Reform Commission to ask its members to lift the conditions from their charters. The commission had said it would only grant permanent charters if finances allowed and the schools' operational plans met current district need.

"We are at a complete standstill," said Mike Axelrod, founder of the Philadelphia Polytechnic Charter School. "We cannot recruit students because we cannot promise them we will be open. We cannot recruit teachers because we cannot promise them jobs."

Many of the seven - Arise Academy Charter High School, Eastern University Charter School, Franklin Towne Charter School, KIPP West Philadelphia Preparatory Charter School, Philadelphia Polytechnic, Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School, and Tacony Academy Charter School - began their application process in 2006.

Jill Welsh Davis, president of Arise Academy, which wants to serve 200 students living in foster care, said the school has been awarded $600,000 in state grants, but cannot touch it until the district lifts the conditions.

The charter operators are particularly frustrated because at the time of their conditional approval, the district asked them to lobby for more money for Philadelphia schools in the new state budget. They did so, helping to secure an increase in charter school reimbursement for the district.

Previously, the state paid the district up to 30 percent of per-student charter school costs. Now, the district will get reimbursed 41.6 percent of the cost.

Commission chairwoman Sandra Dungee Glenn said the panel still believes the seven proposed charter schools are worthy, but the panel would not know whether it can grant full approvals until early 2009, when the district will have a clearer picture of its budget for next school year.

"We cannot be cavalier about making financial commitments," Dungee Glenn said.

She said she realized informing schools by March "is not an ideal process. We have worked each year to improve this process."

But some charter operators wonder whether they'll be able to open at all next fall, even if the conditions are lifted.

Davis, of Arise Academy, pointed out that her students are wards of the court, and the layers of bureaucracy involved in their schooling is particularly complicated.

"How long do we make kids like this wait?" she asked.

Terrell Kelly, 17, who's one of Arise's founding board members, spoke to the panel yesterday about the need for the school.

He told them he has lived in 10 different foster homes and two group homes. He has attended seven different high schools, and is now a senior at Bartram High. He never got to play football, make lasting friendships, or establish bonds with teachers. He thought about dropping out.

"It would have made everything a lot smoother for me," Kelly said of the Arise. "I probably would have graduated this year."

Addressing reporters after the commission meeting, superintendent Arlene Ackerman said the district is re-starting talks with its largest union, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, this week.

She said the district has not moved off the position that it wants a one-year deal in order to give the new leadership time to decide what educational goals a long-term pact must achieve.

Union leaders have balked at the idea of a one-year deal, saying they prefer a multi-year contract.