Ethics complaint looms for William Penn, BCG
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia School District by the Philadelphia Inquirer's Kristen Graham.
Ethics complaint looms for William Penn, BCG
Members of the civic group Parents United for Public Education will file a formal complaint with the city's ethics board tomorrow, said Helen Gym, one of the group's founders. The complaint contends that work the Boston Consulting Group did for the Philadelphia School District this year constitutes lobbying under the city code, and that BCG and the William Penn Foundation - which paid for the work - should have registered as lobbyists.
BCG, for several months, studied the district's operations and came up with an extensive set of recommendations for how to cut costs and restructure operations. Parents United, the Philadelphia Home and School Council and the Philadelphia branch of the NAACP say that the lobbying dealt with charter expansion and tagging dozens of district schools for closure.
The complaint comes after the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia completed a legal analysis of the issues at Parents United's request. Also signing on to the complaint are the Philadelphia Home and School Council and the Philadelphia branch of the NAACP.
PILCOP attorney Michael Churchill noted that it’s the failure to register that constitutes a violation, not the act of lobbying itself. “This opinion does not say it was illegal for them to engage in these actions. It says if they do it, they should register.”
William Penn officials said they did nothing wrong.
"We are aware of their intent to file a complaint, and our attorneys are confident that it is without merit. The William Penn Foundation has been a force for public integrity and civic good in the Greater Philadelphia region for nearly 70 years, and we will continue that tradition through our efforts to improve children's futures, protect the environment, and nurture creativity and rich cultural expression," spokesman Brent Thompson said in a statement.
In a surprise move, William Penn CEO Jeremy Nowak left the foundation last week. Nowak was highly involved in the BCG and district work, but board chair David Haas has said that Nowak's departure had nothing to do with the foundation's district work.
A spokeswoman for the Boston Consulting Group could not be reached.
Parents and representatives from the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP will hold a press conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss the complaint.
"This complaint is fundamentally about the public understanding that the controversial plan by the Boston Consulting Group was funded by narrow private interests with a specific agenda," parent Gerald Wright, another Parents United co-founder, said in a statement. "They have been allowed unprecedented access to information and data denied to the public, and they have had unprecedented access to lobby top decisionmakers without ever identifying as lobbyists."
Well, Parents United for Public Education lobbied for Arlene Ackerman on the way in, and lobbied for her million dollar payout on the way out, without registering as a lobbyist, why should the penn foundation?— BigBenFranklin- Let's face it folks. The School District, and everything around and near it is corrupt. Ackerman, Knudsen, Ward, Archie, Masch, Mathews, Nixon, All of The rest of the SRC past and present. Gamble....All of them. It's like The Lord of The Rings and instead of rings there is the 2 Billion Dollar budget that sucks in the corrupt.
— DarnelX - The complaint truly distracts the District, the SRC, WPF and others who really care about improving the schools for kids. Re-direct your anger and focus on what really matters. Parents United for Hate is really what you should call your organization. Isn't Helen Gym the founder of a charter school?— RiseAbove
- Helen Gym helped found a charter when the idea was that they would lead to community control of schools. Later the corporate reformers took over the idea of charters as a way to privatize public schools and make them a vehicle for corporate profit. This is why the Boston Consulting Group is in Philadelphia. They have to interest (or background) in education or the students of Philadelphia. Their overriding interest is how corporations get access to the education "market" as another sources of profit. — tom-104
- Another frivolous use of taxpayer monet by the parents. BTW if the NAACP (National Advancement Advocacy for CRIMINAL PEOPLE) is for it I am against it!— SPENDSPEND
- Shouldn't the NAACP be protesting agains those who committ the daily murders of blacks in this city? Per the CDC the leading cause of death across three age brackets of young black males is homicide.— dontavoidtheobvious
- BigBen, that would be because the new lobbying law just took effect THIS YEAR.
And, all of you naysayers need to get with the program. The William Penn foundation tarnished it's image by playing with fire. It's one thing to work on the outside and push your agenda like regular stakeholders, parents,and advocates. It's another to throw your money around on the inside, drive the agenda, and disregard any semblance of democracy. The William Penn Foundation surely has learned their lesson this time. Now, I hope this at least causes some reflection by other scum bag groups like Phila School Partnership--this is an excellent example of the law working to the people's advantage. I look forward to the press conference tomorrow, and I'm thankful for the bravery of Parents United, and PILCOP when other organizations like my own, decided to stay silent and afraid of the WPF. Either way, it's a score for humanity.— radicaleducator - Parental rights violated | Top Ten Charter School Principal refuses diabled-single Latino father access to student and teaching staff. Student grades misrepresented by English teacher, supported by Principal and SDP administration. Formal Complaint against ethics violation and grade changing laws goes unanswered by Superintendent Rite.
Can someone please help me? Student went from Valdectorian status to F student in 30 days of school starting this year -no one cares.— E.
During the school year, you’ll frequently find her hosting live chats about the district on Philly.com. Please do pass along the scoop about what’s going on at your Philadelphia public school; Kristen welcomes tips, story ideas and witty banter at kgraham@phillynews.com or 215-854-5146.
You can also follow Kristen on Twitter here.
