Charters in peril in deficit crisis?

Philadelphia School District officials yesterday said for the first time that closing underperforming charter schools is among actions they are contemplating to erase a ballooning budget deficit.

The proposal, certain to generate controversy, comes as district officials estimated that next year's budget gap could soar past $180 million if drastic corrective action is not taken.

Publicly funded, independently operated charter schools foster classroom innovation while giving parents and students more school choices, according to supporters. The charter movement has flourished in the city, starting in 1997 with four schools, growing to 56 today.

But that movement may have to take a hit due to the budget crisis, School Reform Commission Chairman James Nevels said.

"We've got 13 charter schools that are up for renewal," he said following a commission meeting. "Now, we're going to look real closely at who's getting the job done and who isn't. . . . We could limit expenses by renewing only those charter schools that are effective.

"It would save the district some money, but I am not suggesting that that is the cure-all," he continued.

State Rep. Dwight Evans, a staunch backer of charter schools, said he was disappointed by Nevels' comments.

"I don't have a problem with that standard if that standard is applied across the board," said Evans, a mayoral candidate who helped create the West Oak Lane Charter School, among the 13 schools up for a five-year renewal. "But it has not been applied across the board because if it had been, a lot of regular schools would have been shut down."

Paul Vallas, the district's chief executive officer, said: "If a charter is consistently failing . . . we have to do something about it. We have to put it on probation, not renew it, or put it under new charter leadership."

In addition, he said, the five charter proposals approved for this fall may be delayed or may open with smaller enrollments, while the 11 charter applications under consideration likely won't be approved if they won't help the district ease overcrowding at existing schools.

"We're not going to go out and approve another dozen or so charters with the present budget uncertainties," Vallas said.

"It would be a mistake to ax parental choice," Evans countered. "I think we're trying to get more people to move into Philadelphia and stay. "

The school officials said they were looking at every aspect of the district's 2007-08 budget to determine what should stay and what should go.

The performance of the six management organizations that have run 41 schools for five years will likely be assessed on a school-by-school basis, Nevels said.

Yesterday, Vallas gave the commissioners a draft of a five-year financial plan, which included a proposal to balance the budget.

A preliminary budget statement explaining how officials plan to do that will be made public on March 14, they said.

Nevels said the deficit comprises about $36 million in currentyear debt and a projected deficit of more than $140 million for the 2007-08 fiscal year, which starts July 1.

Vallas said the coming-year figure was closer to $153 million and is the result of rising costs for payroll, employee benefits, debt service and charter schools.

Within the next 10 days, school officials said they plan to share their five-year financial plan with Gov. Rendell and Mayor Street. They said they hope to get more funding from both.

Sheila Ballen, director of press and communications for the state Department of Education, said that Rendell's budget proposal includes $47 million more for the district and that's that all that's anticipated. *