Charter school boom hits district's budget

The Philadelphia School District is experiencing a boom in charter school enrollment - nearly a 50 percent larger increase in students than it had budgeted for - and a large chunk of them are in cyber charters, district officials said yesterday.

The increased charter enrollment is one of several items stretching the district's projected budget deficit to $33 million in a $2.18 billion budget.

But interim chief executive officer Tom Brady said he was confident he could close the deficit by the end of the fiscal year.

"We will not have to carry a budget deficit over," Brady said. "No question."

Charters will cost the district $279 million this year, $13 million more than the district had budgeted for. The district pays $7,708 to charters for regular education students and $16,760 for special education students.

Utility costs including oil also are up about $5 million more than expected, Brady said.

Also yesterday, it was learned that the School Reform Commission has narrowed its finalist list for chief executive officer to three: Kent McGuire, dean of Temple University's College of Education; Arlene Ackerman, formerly superintendent in San Francisco and Washington and now a professor at Columbia University; and a third candidate whose name was not revealed. A selection is expected in the few weeks.

On the charter enrollment increase, James Gallagher, School Reform commissioner, called it good news, even though it poses a budget challenge for the district.

"Things don't grow unless people are drawn to it, unless it has something special to offer them. And there's really something very special happening here," he said.

The district had been anticipating a 1,400-student jump in charter enrollment. Instead, the increase topped 3,000. About 600 of the additional students are enrolled in cyber charters, raising that total enrollment to 2,200 students at a cost of about $19 million, said Christina Ward, the district's director of special finance.

In addition, the district's 61 charters currently enroll 30,785 students - about 1,000 more than the budget anticipated, said Ward. The city's charter schools collectively represent the second largest school district in the state.

Maritime Academy Charter saw a huge jump, from 474 students to 721, she said.

"It was pretty shocking to us," Ward said.

Ward also said that district officials believe that about 40 percent of the students enrolled in charters came from Catholic and other private schools.

Also yesterday, Brady said the school district has seen a 4 percent increase in high school attendance to 85 percent, following the institution last fall of a program that provides free SEPTA transportation for high school students.

Brady said the attendance jump couldn't be solely attributed to the free ridership, but added ""I would think it would be an important part."

Also yesterday, student and parent groups urged the district not to turn over 70 low-performing schools - more than a quarter of schools in the district - to private managers or convert them to charters. They said the district should add more qualified teachers and supplies and make schools smaller.

School Reform Commission chairwoman Sandra Dungee Glenn cautioned that no decisions have been made on the schools, which have failed to make adequate yearly progress for four consecutive years under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Interim chief academic officer Cassandra Jones is expected to make recommendations to the commission later this month or next month.

Dungee Glenn said the commission is not looking for a "one size fits all" approach, but wants to tailor improvements to each school.

"What I would expect is that we will be doing some level of change in all 70 schools," she said.

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