This year, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) – despite a state takeover that took place over a decade ago – found itself with a $300 million deficit, public school closures and consolidations, mass layoffs, finger pointing, blame and chaos for the upcoming school year. With the start of the 2013 school year just days away, SDP was uncertain whether its schools would even be able to open. Nevertheless, Philadelphia’s charter school community is thriving – and growing.
Today, more than 80 charter schools serve 25 percent of the city’s students, and charter school waiting lists are long. Oversight of Philadelphia’s charter schools rests with SDP, and the School Reform Commission (SRC), a five-member commission formed in 2001 (pursuant to Pennsylvania’s “takeover law”), oversees SDP and acts as final arbiter of all charter-related decisions. Last Thursday, the SRC shocked Philadelphia’s charter school community by suspending four key components of Pennsylvania’s Charter School Law and several provisions of the Pennsylvania School Code related to the city’s collective bargaining agreement. Specifically, the School Reform Commission:
suspended the established legal criteria for renewal or revocation of a charter and required SDP to develop new criteria;
permitted conditional renewals for all schools, regardless of academic performance (previously, conditional renewals were granted only for schools in corrective action);
eliminated the ability of a charter school to stay open while appealing a non-renewal or revocation decision;
effectively eliminated the appeal process;
gave the SRC absolute, unilateral power to dictate charter school enrollment caps; and,
eliminated the process by which the state funds charter schools in the event their host districts fail to make the required payment, essentially giving the SRC the power to stop payment to any charter school without recourse.
Pennsylvania’s takeover statute grants the SRC authority to suspend the Pennsylvania School Code and regulations promulgated by the State Board of Education – but only to relieve SDP’s financial pressures. Under the Pennsylvania Constitution it is the legislature that is tasked with the provision, maintenance and support of the public school system. With last week’s power-grab, the SRC not only usurped the legislature’s authority but it also removed the Charter School Appeal Board’s and the state Secretary of Education’s jurisdiction over certain charter school matters. Independent charter schools in Philadelphia were stunned. Philadelphia charter schools already face daunting operational challenges. They are serving a rapidly growing student population with approximately 30 percent less funding than their traditional school counterparts. Now, making matters worse, they are operating in a quickly-destabilizing environment. The School Reform Commission’s dramatic, unconstitutional overreach must be reversed. Patricia Hennessy is a shareholder at Latsha, Davis and McKenna. Latsha, Davis and McKenna serves as counsel for numerous charter schools, private schools and educational institutions throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio and Maryland. The firm is the solicitor to the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools. Learn More: Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools: Statement Concerning Philadelphia School Reform Commission’s Action to Suspend Parts of the School Code
Menu
