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.
I think you're right-on, PhillyGuy. This is just a start. Other districts will experience the same thing in the future.— dim-5- If charters are soooo bad why are parents lining up to get their kids in them?— davebrown777
- If trout was teaching your kid, you'd wait in line forever for an alternative. — b,ill at,kins
- 13% of district schools made AYP. This includes magnet schools and special admissions schools. 30% of charter schools made AYP (using the same measurement). Charters get less money and still perform better. The lie about charters costing money is just that, a lie. Charters cost tax payers about 30% less than traditional public schools. That's public money. When people say charters cost money, it's because it costs the School District money, in large part because the district never adjusted to account for lost students. Finally, you have to remember that the district didn't only lose students to charters, but private schools, catholic schools, home schooling, and families leaving the city.— northeastnaysayer
- I think they should open more tech/trade schools like Mastbaum and Swenson cause I can't even spell's renaissance.
Promise Academies, renaissance schools, charter schools, or whatever fancy label you want to put on it, they're all just more scams waiting to happen.
— billypencil - the reason why the district can't fix the failing schools is because the unionized labor model is to expensive and unmotivated to tackle big, difficult problems. their singular focus on time and salary is not conducive to the work it takes to turn around a school.— pointguard
- Regardless of what side of this debate you may fall keep in mind the following: Charter schools will not save tax payer dollars, the price per student actually raises by approx $1k. Charters on average will have lower incidents of violence and have more administrative control over the educational experience. Charters, even with slightly more funds, slightly safer environments with more control have shown no improvement in student academic scores. Essentially it's the same outcome with a shift in revenue from the union teacher employee to the non-union management and administrator of the Charter. That's about it folks.— Independent_1
- Let's accept your statements for argument's sake. If the safer environment is the primary change for students, then what's the problem? Isn't a safer environment going to be more conducive to learning in the long run? Why are the unions demanding that these children be forced back into unsafe war zones? — b,ill at,kins
- william hite doing all the right things so far to correct decades of negligence? will they run him out of town for being legit? most likely— stayoutofphilly
- Does anyone notice how poor the average SAT scores are at most of the Charter Schools?— anti-tax
- Remember when you and the rest of your goonion fraud flunkies insisted that standardized testing wasn't a true measure of educational progress? lol, don't ever change. I love laughing at you desperate, hypocritical clowns. — b,ill at,kins
- Charter schools = Government dependency factories
Public school = Government dependency factories
Private school = Good education
Home school = Best education
— Hobo Floto Voto - Yeah just about any old person can home school and teach Trigonometry, English, Chemistry, Economics all at the college prep level. — mick-of-the-moment
- no intelligent person is arguing to keep psd schools which never educated anyome.— dreinterests
- If kilgore fish was teaching my kid, I'd be begging for more charters too. You've failed, fish. You'll never admit it publicly, but I think deep down, you know it.— b,ill at,kins
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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