KIPP charter schools open up to invite credibility

Against a backdrop of scandals at other Philadelphia charter schools, one charter organization has devised its own system to provide more accountability.

KIPP Philadelphia Charter Schools recently launched Open Book. With this project, KIPP is putting financial records, budgets, salary information, audits, test scores, minutes of charter board meetings, and biographies of board members on its website for the public to view.

"We're not trying to say that we're perfect, but there are no conflicts of interest here," said Marc Mannella, chief executive officer and founder of KIPP Philadelphia. "We want everyone to see who is on the board and how it works."

KIPP Philadelphia operates four charters in North and West Philadelphia and on Vine Street just north of Center City. It began in the city with fifth through eighth grades. The district gave it permission to begin adding elementary and high school grades last year.

Those charter schools are part of a network of 99 schools affiliated with the nonprofit, California-based Knowledge Is Power Program, which focuses on preparing students for college. The schools are scattered across 20 states and Washington.

Mannella, who opened the first KIPP charter school in Philadelphia in 2003, said Open Book had been created in response to weak reporting requirements of Pennsylvania's 1997 charter school law and news accounts that at least 18 of the city's 74 charters were under federal investigation.

For example, a former board president and a former CEO of Philadelphia Academy Charter School in the Northeast were sent to federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges. And last month, a federal grand jury indicted the former board president and CEO at New Media Technology Charter School, alleging they stole $522,000 in taxpayer funds.

A year ago, the city Controller's Office announced that an investigation of 13 charters had found apparent conflicts of interest, unusual CEO salary arrangements, and complex real estate deals in which charters leased facilities from related organizations.

Mannella said Open Book could help restore public confidence in charters.

"The need for transparency is even greater here in Philadelphia, where the charter movement's promise of more accountability in exchange for more autonomy has not yet been realized," Mannella wrote on Open Book.

"We hope this project inspires other charter schools to follow suit and fosters a public dialogue about what an effective accountability system for public schools could look like in Philadelphia and nationwide."

Pennsylvania's charter law requires schools to submit annual reports to the district and to the Department of Education, which eventually are posted online. New Jersey requires annual reports, too.

But the annual reports do not provide the details about finances, audits, and school leaders offered by Open Book, Mannella said.

His initiative also includes information about student mobility and teacher retention - two areas that have generated controversy for KIPP. Critics have complained that KIPP's rigorous model prompts many students to leave the program. They also contend that the demanding teachers' schedule of longer school days, longer school years, and regular Saturday programs leads to burnout.

Open Book shows that at KIPP Philadelphia, at least, between 87 percent and 90 percent of students return each year - comparable to rates in nearby district schools.

KIPP retained 70 percent of its teachers from 2009-10. Open Book says: "We are working hard to improve our teacher retention."

When considering which data to include, KIPP consulted the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools' ethics code and the school district Report Card. Staff also reviewed an editorial on charter accountability that the Philadelphia Public School Notebook published in 2010.

Mannella said Open Book fit KIPP's philosophy of making information public. Each year the KIPP Foundation in San Francisco releases a Report Card with data about the network and the performance of individual schools.

So far, Mannella said, Open Book has received kudos from prospective teachers and other charters.

"We are supportive," said Naomi Johnson Booker, chairwoman of Philadelphia Charters for Excellence and CEO of Global Leadership Academy, a charter in West Philadelphia.

The alliance she heads was founded last summer to support charters that meet high standards and encourage them to share best practices.

The 20 city charter schools that have joined have signed a pledge that includes many of the same principles as KIPP's Open Book, Booker said.

Open Book can be found at www.kippphiladelphia.org/transparency-initiative.html