More public schools to be given to charters
More Philadelphia public schools will be given to charter organizations in September, the district's fourth go-round in its "Renaissance Schools" process.
More public schools to be given to charters
Kristen Graham
More Philadelphia public schools will be given to charter organizations in September, the district's fourth go-round in its "Renaissance Schools" process.
The district on Friday released a request for proposals for 2013-14 charter operators, no big surprise since officials have been saying for months that while they won't be authorizing any new standalone charters for next year, they like the Renaissance charter model and will continue to use it as a way to improve failing schools.
Officials said they would release the details of this year's crop of Renaissance schools on Feb. 11. A spokeswoman declined to say how many schools will be given to charters this year.
Since 2010, 17 struggling district schools have been handed to charters to run. The district has been pleased with the schools' progress, officials say, citing improvements in academics, attendance, violence and percentage of neighborhood students enrolling.
Schools are deemed "Renaissance eligible" on the basis of academics, school climate and neighborhood attendance rate. Only firms with a track record of turning around low-performing schools will be considered, officials said. Winning bidders will be awarded a five-year charter to run the schools.
Teachers in the affected schools will be considered force transfers who are eligible for jobs in other district schools.
Raven Hill, the spokeswoman, said that she could not speak to whether Promise Academies - district-run Renaissance Schools - will be designated.
The Renaissance timeline is tight - charter operators have until Feb. 8 to submit a letter of intent to submit RFP responses, which are due March 5. Meanwhile, community meetings for the designated schools will be held in February, and the School Advisory Councils that will make recommendations about which charter operators to pick will be recruited by early March. Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. will make his recommendations about charter-school matches by April 19, with a School Reform Commission vote on the matches to be held by early May.
Copies of the Renaissance RFP are available on the district's website.
The district's use of Renaissance schools has led to continued enrollment drops in the city's traditional public schools. This year, there are about 146,000 students in the system.
Even though they aren't performing as well as public schools the SRC still insist on allocating them more schools with tax money, smh— teachmyway- And it gets much worse than that. All of the technology and materials are stolen and given to these scam charters for free, leaving the remaining public schools with even fewer resources. It's all part of the plan. One more reason for a parent to enroll their child in a charter, even though the education these kids receive there is sadly lacking. In order for Corbett to make his money he has to keep manipulating people. Hite said parents "choose" to enroll their children in charters. What a bunch of bull. There's no choice when the district makes their kindergartener walk two miles to school, or puts six year olds in the same school with teenagers. When the district dissolves disciplinary supports and makes it difficult to remove dangerous children from the classroom, parents have no choice, and everyone suffers. Close every scam charter! Public schools do it better. Public schools do it cheaper! All they need is the support that Hite and Corbett are so willing to give to private corporations that have no business interfering in public education.
- Well, there goes our tax dollars to make a bunch of charter operators rich and to keep a bunch of our school uneducated. Make a note of the names of the new operators of these new charter schools. They'll be on a Federal indictment in the next couple of years.— mike 1717
- Not wasting any time, huh? People are going to these meetings in good faith, believing that Hite is really listening to them and their pleas to save their schools. Turns out this is what is happening behind closed doors.
They have absolutely no shame.— pachysandra - And no honor. Mr. Hite is a liar! Hite lied to people when he promised there would be no new charter schools.
- Maybe Hite is listening, but just disagrees. Some schools don't deserve to be saved.— willll
- Charters are scams but the SRC is addicted to them because it makes it look like they're doing something.— FixThisCityPlease
- charter schools are a scam.— the lopez!
- No, Philly public schools are the real taxpayer scam, when they have consistently proven to be an under performing entity, beholden to the Teacher's Unions — camtheman
- No, charter schools are a scam. What you want are teachers who don't care about their jobs.
- promise academies cost more than renaissance schools and haven't been as quick to improve. three of the four operators have met the targets assigned for enrolling students within their catchment area. you can't win this argument so you might as well hurl insults.— pointguard
- Charter schools are allowed to select students who already meet academic benchmarks and expel those who can't keep up. Theres no excellence in education going on there. The only insult here is the one to your intelligence if you expect those facts to speak for themselves.
- Another charter provider pleading guilty this week and another comprehensive report from Stanford showing that once a charter gets off to a bad start, they do not improve. Couple this with the recent revision of test scores that sent the charter numbers tumbling and it is easy to see what racket these charters are. But here comes the pointguard advocating for more thievery and more educational BS. — mick-of-the-moment
- A good curriculum, sound fiscal management, and making students actually accountable for their behavior and their school work is a really good start towards "improvement." Perhaps this is why the PSD schools were not getting it done.— dee99999
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.
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