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Task force: Philly school district lacks confidence on ethics

The Ethics Task Force charged with reviewing policies in Philadelphia schools criticized the district’s image problems.

    by BY REGINA MEDINA, Daily News Staff Writer <a href="mailto:medinar@phillynews.com">medinar@phillynews.com</a>, 215-854-5985
    Published 

THE TASK FORCE that was charged with reviewing ethics policies in the Philadelphia school district assessed the district's image problems, however diplomatically, in a report obtained Tuesday by the Daily News.

"Far too few district employees or members of the general public appear to have a high degree of confidence that district business is conducted in the most ethical manner," read the report, dated December 2012.

The nine-member Ethics Task Force, which convened at the request of School Reform Commission Chairman Pedro Ramos in January 2012 and was led by Common Pleas Judge Ida K. Chen, found that several factors contributed to the perception, including:

* Severe reductions in auditing and compliance staff at every level of the district, leading to sporadic oversight.

* No single senior-level staffer or one office is in charge of district oversight of ethics rules, policies and practices already in place.

* Insufficient emphasis on transparency, which the task force deemed "essential to public trust and confidence."

The document highlights the "substantial Code of Ethics" that covers most ethics issues, and notes that the majority of the workforce "seek to perform their daily activities with integrity."

The report, to be released next week, was obtained one day after the state Ethics Commission had found that former SRC Chairman Robert L. Archie Jr. had violated ethics regulations.

Archie was fined $6,600 for voting to ratify a contract between the district and the company behind a reality show centered on actor Tony Danza teaching at Northeast High School. The company paid the district's legal fees, which ultimately went to Duane Morris LLP, the law firm where Archie was and still is a partner.

Some of the recommendations listed by the task force include more accessible and comprehensive training for staff so rules are understood. The report urges the district to establish a "strong culture of ethics" with leadership and accountability beginning at the top.

District spokesman Fernando Gallard said the district has "reviewed it and now is ready to release it." The SRC will charge the administration with implementing the recommendations, he said.

Ellen Mattleman Kaplan, vice president and policy director of the Committee of Seventy, who testified in front of the task force, said she received a copy of the recommendations and believes it should have been made public once the SRC received it.
“It exists. When something exists and people have it, I think people deserve to have it,” Kaplan said. “The school district commissioned the report and a number of people have copies. It was submitted and should be made public.”

Ellen Mattleman Kaplan, vice president and policy director of the Committee of Seventy, who testified in front of the task force, said she received a copy of the recommendations and believes it should have been made public once the SRC received it.

"When something exists and people have it, I think people deserve to have it," Kaplan said. "The school district commissioned the report and a number of people have copies. It was submitted and should be made public."