Six Philly schools returning to district in blow to private operators

In a blow to the Philadelphia School District's historic privatization experiment, the School Reform Commission today voted to seize six schools from outside managers and warned them that they are in danger of losing 20 others if progress is not made.

"Hard decisions have to be made," Arlene Ackerman, district chief executive, said of the decision. "Adults must be held accountable."

In all, 15 percent of the 38 schools run by private managers - the poorest performers - will be returned to the district; 53 percent of the schools will get one year to show accelerated progress or risk losing their contracts; and 32 percent will get new, three-year contracts.

The schools, operated by a variety of providers including companies and universities, were evaluated based on academic performance and school climate indicators, such as attendance and violent incidents.

Privatization came to the district in 2002, considered by many the core of sweeping reforms imposed under a Republican-led state takeover. The decision put Philadelphia at the vanguard of districts nationwide.

At one point, officials considered turning the entire district over to Edison Schools Inc., a for-profit provider that currently runs 20 schools, four of which will return to district hands.

But over the past six years, the privately-run schools have not proven to be a silver bullet. The schools they operated failed to deliver higher test scores than district schools, despite costly interventions.

Sandra Dungee Glenn, commission chairwoman, said it was time for action.

"It's been six years, and it's time to sort it out," said Dungee Glenn. "We need to be tailoring and matching models to the needs of each school."

Still, despite the hard line, the "diverse provider" model is a worthy one and here to stay in Philadelphia, said Dungee Glenn.

Schools that are performing well will need no district interventions, and their best practices will be shared with struggling schools, she said.

"We're also not closing the door to new relationships," said Dungee Glenn.

The six that will open in September as district schools - Gillespie, Harrity, Potter-Thomas, Stetson, Dunbar and Fitzsimons - will get intense interventions from the district. They landed in the lowest category because they have repeatedly failed to meet state standards and district targets.

Among the supports these schools will receive are: teacher coaches, targeted professional development, a parent outreach worker, and a social worker.

Those in the second tier, the schools that have shown limited progress, will receive some of those supports.

The bulk of the 38 schools landed in this middle category. After their year is up, the commission will look for significant improvement or either return the schools to district control or consider turning them into charter schools.

"It puts providers on notice that we consider they have made just limited progress for children, and that's not good enough," Ackerman said of the middle tier.

Each of the former privately managed schools will retain its current faculty, Ackerman said.

"We are not reconstituting any school," said Ackerman. "This is probably more support than they've gotten ever from the district."

The contract discussion sparked some controversy among commission members. Participating in the meeting via teleconference, James Gallagher urged his fellow members to wait a month before acting.

Gallagher said he was unclear on the methods used to select schools for the three groups.

"Some of these schools were in horrific condition, now they're in positive condition?" Gallagher asked.

Ackerman shot back that there was no time for delay. She said she needs all summer to prepare those schools returning to district control to open in the fall.

"There's alarming data," she said. "Five years of no or very little progress. What I'm uncomfortable with at this point is doing nothing."

Gallagher was ultimately overridden, and the measure passed, 3-1. Commissioner Heidi Ramirez abstained because she is a professor at Temple University, one of the outside managers.

Representatives from Edison, the largest provider, said they were disappointed in the decision to losen four of their schools. Todd McIntire, general manager, singled out two of them for making gains not reflected in the district's data.

And "a year is a problem," for 12 other schools because it's not enough time to evaluate change, he said.

"Overall, Edison Schools brought significant progress to the reform effort in all of the partnership schools since 2002," he said in a statement.

In another matter, the commission also took action on two other projects.

Sulzberger and Turner Middle Schools in West Philadelphia are being closed at the end of next school year because of lack of enrollment. The district is moving to a K-8 model in most schools.

Also, the Parkway West and Middle Years Alternative Schools, both currently in a building at 49th and Chestnut, will relocate to the present Sulzberger site.