Philadelphia School Partnership: halfway to raising $100m
The Philadelphia School Partnership is halfway to raising $100 million - a lofty goal it set when the nonprofit began two years ago.
Philadelphia School Partnership: halfway to raising $100m
Kristen Graham
The Philadelphia School Partnership is halfway to raising $100 million - a lofty goal it set when the nonprofit began two years ago.
PSP was established to help high-performing city schools regardless of type: public, charter or private.
PSP executive director Mark Gleason was set to make the announcement on Thursday afternoon, flanked by Mayor Nutter and members of the School Reform Commission.
Earlier, PSP had announced it would receive a $15 million donation from the William Penn Foundation; it has added $5 million from the Maguire Foundation and $31.9 million from a group of 20 investors, including the Ace Charitable Foundation, Ted Aronson, the J. Mahlon Buck Jr. family, Cigna, Janney Montgomery Scott, JP Morgan Chase, Lincoln Financial Foundation, Ned and Marcia Kaplin, Patricia Kind, the Samuel S. Fels Fund, Eustace Wolfington and PSP board members Evie McNiff, John Stine, Mike O'Neill and Janine Yass.
"This is now a much broader group of funders than we had a year ago," Gleason said in an interview. "We have some corporate funders, we have some individuals, we have some foundations. We have funders who historically supported Catholic schools, who have historically supported charter schools, who weren't that active in funding education at all."
The organization has distributed several grants totaling just over $7 million already, including one to String Theory Schools, which will take over running H.R. Edmunds School, a former Philadelphia public school, in September. Officials made the PSP announcement at Edmunds, which is now known as The Philadelphia Charter School for the Arts and Sciences at H.R. Edmunds. Other recipients include the Sustainability Workshop, a project-based alternative senior year program, and the Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School, which recently opened in North Philadelphia for low-income students.
"Reaching so quickly the halfway mark in a $100 million fundraising effort is a sign that people in the Philadelphia area are committed to the creation of a system of great schools," Mayor Nutter said in a statement. "Our administration believes that every Philadelphian should have access to quality education and this brings us one step closer."
In all, $51.9 million has been committed to PSP's Great Schools Fund, which ties in with the Great Schools Compact, a document signed last year by city, state, district, charter and Archdiocesan officials that pledges to eliminate 50,000 seats in low-performing schools and replace them with seats in strong schools, regardless of school type.
PSP has said it wants to directly fund the creation of 35,000 high-performing seats in city schools and "indirectly contribute to the transformation of at least 15,000 additional high-performing seats through changes in policies and practices inspired by the fund's investment and related activities."
Is that school that cheated on the tests but got high marks going to get any of this money? Or are they waiting on another Ackerman to bail them out.— neddyflanders- Neddy - always helpful - such caring for the kids. Go back in your hole.— SoundGround
- That is a very commendable result. PSP and especially the donors have earned our appreciation and thanks. Hopefully PSP will implement standards and guidelines, along with periodic audits, to ensure that the funds are put to good use.— swonderful
- Great news. Now we can install metal detectors and window bars at every school and hire more security guards.— farley
- Hopefully they'll get that other 50 million - & keep Nutter from hitting us all with yet another "TEMPORARY tax" ... my take? City's public schools are shrinking in enrollment and should be consolidated Additionally, the 3 BILLION+ they budget each year SHOULD BE MORE THAN ENOUGH! And that's the problem, it's TOO MUCH. (Spend more than they take in) They need to find efficiencies within their budget & quit crying poor every few months.— kennedy2
- well, we all know throwing money at the PSD has great results... and aren't "high-performing" schools doing alright by definition?— DontBelieveTheHype
- The problem is the additional resources do not go to the higher-performing schools because under NCLB you must put more money toward the schools that are failing. But, in saying that...failing at what...a state test. Each school faces unique challenges. Let's just track this money and make sure it actually goes to classrooms and not to administrative oversite.
— iteachinphilly - Somewhere in this pot of gold sits the president of Philadelphia Academies INC. Guess who's president of this "non-profit?" Any chance in hell's fire the first lady's org receives any monies targeted to preserving public ed? If so, would this be a conflict of interest. I guess not if PA legistlators who control charter legistlation and policing are able to profit from the very schools they own.— lefty
- Iteachinphilly: well said. it is my understanding that part of this money goes to developing new schools. hopefully some of our sisters and brothers in education who've been shackled to the beast (government run schools) will take the plunge and liberate themselves. the kids need you in schools where excellent teaching is valued.— pointguard
Comment removed.- The only people developing new schools are the charter creators. They are using the building we close and scooping up the money and the children with lies and deceit. We need to support a public school system and stop funneling the money away to private companies. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson are rolling in their graves at this point.— iteachinphilly
- Mark Gleason and most of the privatizers are carpet baggers who have come here for one thing-money. They have no connections with the city or its schools and no interest in the students. This is all about business. After they have accumulated their pot of gold they will move on in their career path to greater and greater riches leaving destruction and despair in their wake.— tom-104
- Will any of this money go to high performing School District run schools or only to charters and private?— gdw
- the proper order of things is charters open, the your buildings empty out. the money should follow the child. if you want to snow ski, you don't move to the desert. if you want to teach, you go where the children are. the ability for parents to choose the school there child attends is very much in line with the ideas of the enlightenment. tom and ben would surely agree with school choice. goverment run schools are not in the constitution.— pointguard
- The proper order of things is charters open, hire unqualified employees, usually family members, get caught stealing or falsifying financial records. Next they either plead guilty, or forced to resign, go to jail or commit suicide. — mick-of-the-moment
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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