Ex-charter official testifies on school's shortcomings
- Susan Farley-Ellison testified Thursday of Truebright's academic shortcomings.
- She said that the charter's chief executive told her the school could not afford a curriculum.
- Farley-Ellison also said the school did not have a program for students whose first language was not English.
A former administrator at Truebright Science Academy Charter School testified Thursday that the school lacked a curriculum, provided no services for students whose first language was not English, and told the Philadelphia School District it offered advanced courses that did not exist.
During a hearing to determine whether Truebright deserves to have its charter renewed, Susan Farley-Ellison detailed the North Philadelphia school's academic shortcomings.
Farley-Ellison, the school's supervisor of curriculum and instruction in 2010-11, said the school had textbooks but lacked a curriculum because the charter's chief executive told her the school could not afford one. She said the school did not have a program for students whose first language was not English.
And, she said, many of the courses Truebright listed in its renewal application filed in November 2011 had never been offered.
Miles Shore, the district's assistant general counsel, asked her: Honors English? Honors social studies? Advanced math and science at the middle school? AP and honors science and math at the high school? Each time, Farley-Ellison replied no.
She made the comments during a hearing at the district's headquarters on North Broad Street as Truebright - which is linked to a controversial Turkish imam - is fighting to remain open.
Farley-Ellison was one of the highest-ranking Americans ever employed by Truebright. The charter's administrators and board members and many of its teachers are Turkish nationals, some of whom are working in the United States on nonimmigrant visas.
She testified that she left Truebright in July 2011. She said her position was eliminated after she applied to become the top administrator. She said she was not interviewed for the job nor told why she was not chosen.
The job went to Bekir Duz, a Turkish national who had been a top administrator at a charter school in central New Jersey, which is also run by followers of the Turkish imam, M. Fetullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the Poconos.
A Common Pleas Court judge ruled in late February that Farley-Ellison could be compelled to testify at the charter hearing even though she had reached a settlement agreement with Truebright that barred her from mentioning the agreement or saying anything negative about the school.
Last April, the School Reform Commission took the first step in closing Truebright by voting not to renew its operating charter on 18 grounds, including poor academic performance, lack of certified teachers, and allegations that the charter's board did not respond to concerns of staff or parents.
Truebright appealed, triggering a hearing that gives the school an opportunity to present its case for staying open.
The proceedings began in July but had been on hiatus since November while lawyers sparred over Farley-Ellison's testimony.
Phinorice J. Boldin, an outside attorney who is serving as hearing officer, scheduled the hearing to resume April 26.
Contact Martha Woodall at 215-854-2789 or martha.woodall@phillynews.com.
