Union chief urges delay on New Media charter renewal

The president of a statewide teachers' union urged the Philadelphia School Reform Commission yesterday to delay voting on a new charter for New Media Technology Charter School until the district investigates parents' and teachers' complaints about its finances and academics.

"There is no need to rush things," said Ted Kirsch, president of the American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania, which represents teachers at three other city charter schools.

The commission is scheduled to vote on a new five-year operating charter for New Media and nine other schools on Wednesday. New Media has 484 students in fifth through 12th grades at campuses in Stenton and Germantown. Its charter expires at the end of August.

At the commission's meeting this week, the district's top charter official recommended renewing New Media's charter with a dozen conditions.

But several New Media parents said there were so many problems that the school should be closed. They cited a lack of textbooks and supplies and a shortage of qualified teachers, and said security guards have filled in as instructors.

The Inquirer reported this week that the district's inspector general is investigating the school's finances, according to sources with knowledge of the probe. Financial shortfalls have forced New Media to borrow to make payroll. The school also failed to make payments to the state teachers retirement system for more than a year.

More than $167,000 that had been missing was restored in March, according to a spokeswoman for the Public School Employees Retirement System.

The inspector general began looking into New Media's finances in December, when the SRC received an anonymous letter allegedly from teachers who claimed the school was deducting money from their paychecks but not sending the money to the pension system.

Officials found that the charter had not made any payments to the pension system since December 2007.

Charter officials blamed a former business manager for the lack of payments.

Yesterday, Kirsch lauded the teachers. "Bravo to the New Media Charter School teachers who exposed their administration's failure to make payments to the teacher retirement system for over a year," he said.

"It is a shame that, initially, teachers were afraid to speak up when they saw misconduct, because they feared for their jobs."

Kirsch added that the commission should reconsider voting next Wednesday because a week was not enough time to look into the complaints from parents and staff in an environment free from intimidation.

If the SRC renews New Media's charter for five years without requiring new management and leadership safeguards, it would send the wrong message, Kirsch said.

Benjamin W. Rayer, associate superintendent of charter, partnership, and new schools, has recommended attaching a long list of conditions to New Media's renewal, including a requirement that the charter's board adopt a conflicts-of-interest policy, a code of ethics, and financial controls.

He also has called on the board to adopt a resolution saying that any employee or board member convicted of fraud would be fired immediately. The condition would apply only to New Media.

After Wednesday's SRC meeting, district Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said New Media charter's renewal was not assured.

"It's not a done deal until it's a done deal," Ackerman said. "I have questions. If I have them, I'm sure the SRC has more."

She had no further comment yesterday, district spokesman Fernando Gallard said.