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Philanthropy can be a Philadelphia school’s best friend

Some say money can't solve Philadelphia schools' problems.

Don't tell that to Jessica Pena, director of The Great School Fund. At a time when Harrisburg is tightening the belt around Philadelphia schools, The Great School Fund is breathing new life into high-performing schools and transforming failing schools.

The organization has already invested $11.5 million in the city's schools and is trying to raise $100 million more.

"We look for leaders with vision," said Pena.

Case in point: Ted Domers, principal of Carver High School for Engineering and Science in North Philadelphia. Last year, when the district approached Domers about increasing enrollment at his high school, he had a better plan. What if they were to create a new middle school instead?

The district encouraged Domers to apply for a grant from The Great School Fund. As a result, Carver High received a $147,000 grant that will enable 120 seventh and eighth-grade pupils to attend Carver Middle School in September 2015.

If not for PSP, the district would have overcrowded Carver High's existing classrooms instead of creating new ones.

Pena said the fund is a project of the Philadelphia Schools Partnership, established by local philanthropists who "weren't seeing the kind of change they wanted." The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, known for its commitment to education, is among PSP's contributors.

"The fund presents an opportunity to invest in sweeping change in a non-ideological way that is very focused on outcome," Pena said.

PSP's goal is to ensure that each year 35,000 more students will receive a better quality of instruction, resulting in higher reading and math scores, clearing the path for attending college. The fund invests in K-12 schools of all types — district, charter and private — with the capacity to give disadvantaged students the same quality of education received by those in more affluent, predominately white, suburban districts.

Established in 2011, Philadelphia School Partnership is pumping desperately needed funds into inner-city schools at a time when Moody's Investor Services warns it will cut the district's bond rating, which already is junk status. The district's proposed $2.5 billion budget for the next fiscal year will "materially imperil its ability to provide students with an adequate education," said Moody's analyst Dan Seymour.

What about failing schools? "We take over low-performing schools and replace them with a Renaissance Charter School," Pena said. "We use the same building and students, but with new teachers."

If the failing school has a leader with a vision, PSP will work with the school to turn it around.

Last year, PSP gave $1.5 million each to two North Philadelphia elementary schools — William D. Kelley and James G. Blaine. The schools, which serve predominantly disadvantaged black and Hispanic youth, remained under the leadership of their principals who spent one year immersed in creating strategic plans to turn their schools around.

Amelia Brown, principal at Kelley, is credited with reducing truancy and increasing parental involvement. At Blaine, in the Strawberry Mansion section of the city, Principal Gianeen Powell has raised academic performance above surrounding ZIP codes.

"The grants were based on reviewing applications, analyzing school data, visiting schools, and meeting with leaders," Pena said.

The results are impressive. Schools selected for growth grants outperform the district in reading and math. They ultimately expect performances to exceed state averages. Within 10 years, PSP expects twice as many Philadelphia students to attend college.

Public and charter schools are not the only recipients of PSP funding. In July, PSP invested $274,000 to help transform two Philadelphia Catholic schools — St. Thomas Aquinas School and St. Helena-Incarnation School. Both were performing below average in reading and writing compared to other Catholic schools.

"To improve education across the city, there needs to be continuing innovation in all three sectors — district, charter and private," said Mark Gleason, executive director of PSP.

Unfortunately, PSP will not ease the pain of the district's budget crisis in the long run. The more children attend charter schools, the higher the financial burden per student on the district. Three out of 10 Philadelphia students go to charter schools and, given the current climate, those numbers are sure to grow.

The Pennsylvania Independent is a public interest journalism project dedicated to promoting open, transparent, and accountable state government by reporting on the activities of agencies, bureaucracies, and politicians in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is funded by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a libertarian nonprofit organization.