District changes mind on contracts for failing schools

Backing away from their earlier position, Philadelphia School District officials said yesterday that they were not ready to endorse a plan to renew the contracts of companies that run underperforming public schools.

Last week, Associate Superintendent Benjamin W. Rayer told the School Reform Commission that the firms that run eight schools whose test scores had lagged district schools should get a one-year contract extension. He also recommended giving the managers of eight other schools with strong student gains two-year contracts.

But the resolution formalizing Rayer's recommendation was pulled from commission yesterday's agenda.

After the meeting, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said she wanted another month and more data before making that call. Rather than rely only state test scores, she also wants to evaluate parent satisfaction, graduation rates, and safety.

"I was really very, very concerned," Ackerman said. "I wanted to make sure that we had lots of things that we were looking at."

Ackerman said that her staff had scrambled to get the information together in time for yesterday's meeting, but that in June the commission would vote on "whatever we decide in terms of the schools that will move forward after we look at that data."

Last year, the commission seized six schools from private providers and warned them they were in danger of losing 20 others if they didn't accelerate progress this school year.

Philadelphia began its historic privatization experiment in 2002 after the state took over the district. Over seven years, the 45 schools initially given to outside managers have had uneven performance, studies have shown. The district had taken heat from activists who argued that the providers, including for-profit companies such as EdisonLearning, were gettinig a free pass.

The commission also defeated a resolution that would have awarded a $95,000 contract to Plus Ultre L.L.C., a consulting firm founded by Leroy Nunery, a former Edison executive and finalist for the Philadelphia superintendent's job last year. The contract called for Plus Ultre to help the district design and coordinate how it will solicit and lead groups that will revamp failing district schools.

Ackerman's five-year plan calls for up to 35 underperforming schools to be shut down and reopened as district-run charters or privately managed schools. The first 10, which have not yet been selected, will convert in 2010, she has said.

Commissioners Johnny Irizarry and Heidi Ramirez voted against the proposal; Denise McGregor Armbrister and chairman Robert Archie supported it.

The panel usually has five members, but Joseph Dworetzky is awaiting state Senate confirmation of his appointment.

Ramirez said the contract would have been "putting the cart before the horse" since the commission hadn't yet heard all the details of the superintendent's plan for a system of schools.

Ackerman said that the plan had been vetted for months and that the work was urgent. She said she had become aware of Irizarry's concerns in the last few days when he began asking questions about the contract.

"The clock is ticking, and we have to get started," she said, adding that her staff would have to start the work without Plus Ultre. Ackerman said she would try to resolve Ramirez's and Irizarry's questions and bring the contract before the commission again.

Ackerman also said the district was working on several fronts to answer questions about teacher quality and distribution.

A coalition of activist groups is scheduled to announce today its intention to grade the district on both issues.

High-poverty schools - in the city and around the country - have long had the highest percentage of new and underqualified teachers and the most turnover.

Ackerman said she was well aware of the issues and knew what needed to be done to fix them. She could not elaborate, she said, because many of the issues are on the table as the district negotiates a new contract with teachers.