Schools agree with mayor on accountability

The school district will honor Mayor Nutter's call for more transparency and accountability.

In an unanimous vote, the School Reform Commission yesterday agreed that the district will negotiate with Nutter over his "Educational Accountability Agreement," which will give the city much more say in how the district spends its money.

Nutter expects the agreement to be signed by both parties by noon today.

SRC Chairman Robert Archie, a longtime friend of Nutter's, declined to comment, but Commissioner Joseph Dworetzky said the SRC's message was clear.

"We wanted to let the mayor know that we are prepared to get to an agreement on this as quickly as possible," he said after the meeting.

"We don't have a draft agreement for the mayor to look at, so that's the way we did it."

On Sunday, Nutter sent a nine-page letter to Superintendent Arlene Ackerman and the SRC, requesting that the district provide a variety of information including contracts by next Wednesday.

He also called for data about recent audits, district facilities, nonunion and instructional staff making $90,000 or more, performance evaluations of reform programs, and other details.

His request comes after he stuck his neck out by reviving plans for a soda tax and proposing an increase in real-estate taxes to help fill the district's $629 million deficit.

Both proposals will be discussed at a City Council committee meeting tomorrow.

But Ackerman put the mayor in a tight spot when she kept him in the dark about her plans to use federal money to restore full-day kindergarten in the budget.

District officials had requested up to $110 million in extra money.

Lori Shorr, the mayor's education chief, said more accountability was needed, given the district's plan to cut jobs and essential services.

"People have to decide, do they want to invest in education or not, and they need to feel good about the district and its accountability," she said after the meeting.

When asked if he believed that Nutter's request would step on the toes of the SRC, which was put in place by the state to oversee the district, Dworetzky said he welcomed the city's involvement.

"I think that the Philadelphia schools are a partnership between the state and the city," he said. "That's what we intended to say to the mayor and that that's what that resolution means."