Move to revoke the Palmer Leadership charter wasn't easy, but it was right

LAST MONTH, the School District of Philadelphia's School Reform Commission, under the new leadership of chairman Bill Green and district Superintendent Dr. William Hite, delivered on a promise to hold schools accountable to high standards and began revocation proceedings for the charter for Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School.

While, as a charter-school board chair, I take no pleasure whatsoever in the failure of a fellow charter school, the reality is that charter revocation or nonrenewal is a vital part of the public charter-school model.

The overall success of charter schools is based on the "autonomy in exchange for accountability" maxim. Charter schools are authorized and encouraged to allow creative and thoughtful people to try something new in an effort to solve the intractable problems our urban schools face. If it were easy to achieve success, no one would fail - and we'd all wonder why the school district couldn't solve the problem without charters. But it is not easy, and therefore some of those who try something new will indeed fail. When that happens, the school should be closed swiftly and decisively.

At the same time, closing any school, let alone a school like a charter, where parents have chosen specifically to send their children is a Herculean task. Parents and students tend to love their schools and familiar routines. There are beloved teachers, sports teams and after-school activities. And no one likes the government dictating these wrenching decisions.

But we should all be clear: Continuing poor academic performance and documented financial irregularities rob our students of their future and damage our city and state. When these results are shown to persist, the decision to close a school - any school - is as necessary as it is difficult.

In its decision to test the revocation waters with Palmer Leadership Charter School, the SRC is taking a big step in the right direction.

Hopefully, we'll all learn from the process and find a way to make transitions for parents and students easier. Perhaps we will get to a place where obvious poor performance motivates charter-school boards to close voluntarily or find a takeover or merger partner. Perhaps we will get to a place where persistent poor academic performance is as rare as it should be.

While facts may dictate that Palmer Leadership Charter School should be closed by the SRC, Walter Palmer and the leadership of the school should be congratulated for their attempt to help solve the problem of urban education. This work is not easy, and those who try should be applauded.

Failure in the face of the daunting challenges in urban education is no disgrace.

I thank Walter Palmer and his team for their honest effort put forth in their school. I also stand with the school district and the SRC in their courageous action to close a failed, yet popular and well-known, school.

In the coming days and weeks we can expect many in the community to sign petitions or join protests in order to try to save Palmer Leadership Charter School. However, we must remember that our children are watching us - and learning from our actions. What shall we teach them?

We cannot teach them that poor academic performance is acceptable or that financial irregularities are not a big deal. While civic engagement is a fundamental component of our democracy, we must not teach them that the rules don't matter if you can marshal the forces of powerful individuals and groups.

Rather, we should teach them by example that we can face crises without panic and that we can solve problems without blame. We should show them that only successful performance assures long-term prosperity and that failure is a learning opportunity, not a time to point fingers and blame others.

The Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School began, as many schools do, with commitment and optimism, it was operated for years with hope and integrity, and it should be allowed to close with compassion and grace.