COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Remote location using Microsoft® Teams Wednesday, December 6, 2023 1:00 p.m. PRESENT: COUNCILMAN ISAIAH THOMAS, CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN KENDRA BROOKS, VICE-CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILWOMAN QUETCY M. LOZADA
Good afternoon, everyone. Today is Wednesday, December 6, 2023 and this is the Committee on Education. I understand that state law requires the following announcement be made at the beginning of every remote public hearing as follows: Due to the current health emergency, City Council Committees are currently meeting remotely. We are using Microsoft Teams to make remote hearings possible. Instructions for how the public may view and offer public testimony at public hearings of Council Committees are included in the public hearing notices that are published in the Daily News, Inquirer and Legal Intelligencer prior to the hearings and can also be found on PHL.com -- PHLCouncil.com. I now note that the hour has come. Ms. Golden, will you please call the roll to take attendance. Members that are in attendance, will you please indicate that you are present when your name is called. And also say a few brief remarks when responding. Madam Clerk.
Present. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and colleagues.
I'm present. Thank you. A quorum of the Committee is present. This hearing is now called to order. This is the public hearing of the Committee on Education regarding 230787. Ms. Golden, will you please the title of the hearing resolution 18 to be heard today.
Resolution No. 20 230787, authorizing the Committee on Education to hold hearings to discuss problems and systemic biases in oversight that create inequalities between Black- and White-led charter schools, resulting in less support for Black-founded and led institutions that are highlighted in a recently released report to the School District -- I'm sorry, to the Philadelphia School Board.
Before we begin to thank you, Ms. Golden, and before we begin to hear testimony, everyone who has been invited to the meeting to testify should be aware that the public hearing is public. Participants and viewers have no reasonable expectation of privacy. By continuing to be in the meeting, you are consenting to being recorded. Additionally, prior to recognizing Members for questions -- this part is really important -- please make sure that the chat feature is only used for Members to signal that they would like to be recognized. In order to comply with the Sunshine Act, the chat feature must only be used for this purpose. So again, please do not use the chat feature. The Chair would also like to recognize that Councilmember Lozada is present. Councilmember, can you just say hello so folks know you're here.
Good afternoon, everyone. My apologies for being a little bit behind today. Hope everyone is doing well.
I also want to -- I also want to say welcome to State Representative Morgan Cephas, State Representative Napoleon Nelson as well as State Senator Nikil Saval. I want to thank you for joining us in this hearing today, and I also want to give you the liberty of being able to use the chat feature or contact me directly to let me know that you have questions or would like to be recognized. Before the Clerk calls the first panel (inaudible) a little bit of context as it relates to today's conversation. We've been in the midst of negotiations and discussion around issues relating to Black charters and Black-led institutions for some time. Black-led institutions in the City of Philadelphia are in a position right now where we're seeing a large number of institutions being closed compared to the percentage of institutions that are Black-led institutions. Black-led institutions offer a very unique experience. Myself personally, understanding and being a teacher in a space that promoted and brought African-centered education, the pedagogy culture, the uniform language, the content, thought is very different, the overall experience is very different than what traditional schools offer, and the education that we can respect, one that can be preserved. When we're talking about issues relating to economics and poverty, Black-led institutions often are more inclined to employ Black businesses, to hire Black facilitators and to provide quality services to Black families and Black students, especially when we're talking about African American-run, African-centered institutions and those that abide by African pedagogy. So with that being said, I'm excited about today's conversation. My overall goal is to examine the findings of the report that was sanctioned by the School Board. We're going to be joined by our School Board President who I want to thank for being a part of this conversation. But outside of examining the findings of the report, we also want to listen to lived experiences and perspectives as it relates to what people have done, what people have experienced. And I think the most important part of today's hearing is to come up with recommendations, solutions and suggestions on how we should move forward so that we'll operate in a way that doesn't intentionally or unintentionally have a disproportionate impact on Black- led institutions. So with that being said, would any of my colleagues like to be recognized for opening remarks before we start this hearing today? (No response.)
Hearing none, Ms. Golden, would you please call the first panel we have to testify this afternoon.
The first testifier is School Board President Reginald Streater.
President Streater, good afternoon. Please state your name for the record and of course you may proceed with your testimony. Before President Streater starts, I just want to remind everybody again that the chat feature is only used by elected officials to communicate that they would like to be recognized. Board President Streater, please state your name for the record and of course you may begin with your testimony.
Thank you, Chair Thomas. My name is Reginald Streater. I am the President of the Philadelphia Board of Education. I'm here to testify today. May I begin?
So good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for inviting me here today to join this panel discussion. I want to begin by thanking the Education Committee, particularly Chair Thomas and Chair Brooks for dedicating time to discuss this important issue and inviting us to serve on this panel. Also, thank you to members of our state government who I understand who are also joining us today and other members of Council on the Education Committee. On October 6th, the Board released in full the Ballard Spahr report which was commissioned by the Board as an independent investigation concerning the allegations of racial bias and charter school authorizing practices. In response to the nature of the allegation, the investigation was commissioned expressly to determine whether there was any objective, factual support with specific allegations of racial discrimination or racial bias and whether the charter renewal process has caused discriminatory effects on Black-led and Black-founded charter schools. To reiterate, the scope of the investigation was two-part: To provide a legal analysis and, one, any specific allegations of racial bias and, two, any unlawful discriminatory impact. Since the investigation needed this legal analysis, it was within the context of the Pennsylvania Charter law it was appropriate to hire a law firm. The Board engaged Ballard Spahr, LLP to conduct an investigation in December 2021, and the Ballard firm engaged the Center for Urban and Racial Equity, also known as CURE, to assist in its analysis. The investigation did not reveal any evidence of intentional, overt racial discriminatory acts by any School Reform Commission member, Board of Education member or Charter School Office employee against a charter leader. The investigation made no 14 findings of unlawful racial discriminatory effects of the charter renewal process or that any charter school closure was improperly based. However, the Ballard firm did however make several observations, including challenges some charter schools face in terms of resources and some frustration such schools have with the charter authorizing process. While the Ballard report did not explore the reasons underlying specific charter school closures nor find that racial bias caused those closures, it shed important additional light in understanding on those challenges and on perceptions of the Board, the Charter School Office and the authorizing process that we take very much to heart. As you have heard us say before, we highly value student achievement in District schools and Charter schools. The more students achieve, the more our young people would be able to pursue their passions after they leave us, and we all know that a better educational system and better achievement for each individual student contributes to a more financially, viable, increasingly thriving city. Our scholars in the City in which you, as our elected officials serve with such dedication, deserve that. And I know you all believe that as well, that they deserve that. The Ballard report also presented forward-looking recommendations, which the Board is taking seriously and giving thoughtful consideration. Based on feedback we have heard in large part from the Charter sector over time, we have already begun implementing some of the recommendations, including taking steps to increase transparency and improve communication in our charter renewal process by, one, significantly expanding the opportunities for schools to review the findings of the Charter School Office -- the findings of the Charter School Office prior to finalization; two, publishing additional resources to support schools through various compliance requirements; and, three, maximizing transparency by publishing additional information regarding the generation of ratings and recommendations.
Next, investing in additional implicit bias training for Board members, Board staff and Charter School Office staff to further standardize our understanding and use of our existing framework. And consistent with what the District has done for some years, a request for proposal is open to seek attorneys and law firms to act as hearing officers for all matters that require a hearing officer. This is further consistent with our policy around procuring professional services. Additionally, early this year we adopted multiple recommendations presented by the African American Charter School Coalition. Those are the publication of final charter school renewal reports at least two weeks in advance of public discussion of the specific school, are the reports at a Board meeting. Two, expanded opportunities for charter schools to meet with the Charter School Office to discuss the review reports in advance of public hearings. Three, revising timeliness as appropriate if there's an instance where the Charter School Office does not meet its own established timelines. Charter schools are an important part of our educational ecosystem here in Philadelphia, and we remain committed for continually evaluating and improving our charter authorizing practices in the best interest of our students. Additionally, we look forward to partnering with Charter school leaders, families, students and other Charter school stakeholders to discuss challenges and solutions with a focus on improving student outcomes. The Board fundamentally believes our decision-making must be driven by a student-centered Approach. This is why we adopted our Goals and Guardrails to set clear expectations for students at success, establish a process to monitor progress and identify and implement supports based on the needs of our students. We remain dedicated to working in partnership with City Council to ensure that the District and our Public Charters are best positioned to meet the needs of our young people, who deserve safe and nurturing school communities where they are valued, respected and encouraged. Just as the Board of Education is committed to student achievement on the District side, we look forward to continuing to build a strong collaborative relationship with Charter schools to ensure that our students are not only supported by a climate and culture but also supported in their academic pursuits, wherever those pursuits may take them in life. It is indeed our collective responsibility to come together and serve as a village for our children to support, educate, protect and inspire them to reach their greatest potential, especially when they face daunting challenges to their success and well-being. In closing, my opening comments, we look forward to continuing these partnerships and working with you to do this critical work to support our learners and our greater public school communities. We are a system of public education and we should aspire to move forward together with that top of our minds. And that ends my comments.
Thank you, Board President. We appreciate your remarks. I'm hoping that you can stick around to be able to possibly answer questions and participate in the dialogue. I would like for our Clerk to call the next panel. And if anybody has questions for Board President Streater as well as the next panel, we'll entertain that after the next panel goes. Is that okay with you, Board Education Streater?
Thank you, sir. Appreciate you being here. Thank you for your service. I just want to remind those of the listening audience that being a member of the School Board is a volunteer position. These folks are not paid. They spend a lot of time and effort and energy brainstorming what's best for our children and young people of the City of Philadelphia, and it's often a thankless job. So thank you to Board President Streater as well as the other members of the School Board. Madam Clerk, can you please call the next panel or the next set of witnesses to testify.
The next panel will be Dawn Chavous from the African American Charter School Coalition; Dr. David Marshall, Associate Professor of Education of Research at Auburn University; and Dr. Robert Maranto from University of Arkansas.
Good afternoon, everybody. Please let's start with -- let's go with Dr. Maranto first, Dr. Marshall second and Dawn will be third. Please state your name for the record and you may begin with your testimony.
Yes. Thank you, Dr. Maranto. Would you please state your name for the record and begin your testimony.
Great. Robert Maranto. It's a huge honor to be here. Philadelphia's a great city. I'm glad to be here, and hometown of Marcus Foster, that David Marshall and I and others are doing a lot of work on. Maybe the best educator of the late 20th century and an amazing person. And I also want to say I spent five years on the School Board, and I really appreciate what Councilman Thomas said about the School Board service. I think I'm here mostly to give sort of a broader background. And so, I think I only have about four points. One is charter schools exist in part to empower and marginalize communities or traditionally marginalize communities. And that purpose unfortunately can be undermined sometimes by very complex authorization and renewal processes and sometimes disempower communities, especially communities of color that may lack the foundation support, may lack the financial support to get through some difficult bureaucratic procedures, even though they might be doing a great job as educators representing folks in communities. I'm a former grad student, Ian Kingsbury, Martha Bradley- Dorsey, I give them a lot of the credit and I have done a couple of articles over the years on this, probably two most recent and most noted ones in some journals. And the first on charter school openings we found enormous quantitative evidence nationally that charter school proposals by Black and Latino applicants are much less likely or half as likely to be accepted for opening as proposals from White and Asian applicants. We also found when we looked at 634 charter applications in eight states plus New Orleans, we also know that regulators tend to prefer applications from Charter Management Organizations or CMOs and other more privileged applicants that do have a lot more resources, so we found that more regulation tends to increase inequities. The more regulations you have, the more difficult the process is, the harder it is for local community leaders to negotiate that process and that leads to a lot fewer Charter schools from Latino and in particular Black applicants. The second article -- that was in urban education. The second article we did which appeared more recently in race, ethnicity and education, we looked at -- I know it was summarized in education and elsewhere. We analyzed charter schools that opened between 2010-11 2018-19 in states. 12 And we found that among 13 those serving majority Black kids, 14 32 percent had closed far often 15 because of administrative decisions 16 by state and other regulators. For 17 other charters, just 22 percent 18 closed. So in other words, those 19 serving mostly Black kids were 50 20 percent more likely to close. 21 Among charter schools 22 founded by Black education 23 entrepreneurs, almost a third, 31 24 percent, closed compared to less than -- that's about twice as many. 15 percent of other charters closed. So in other words, if you're a Black-founded charter school, the odds of you closing are about twice as high, almost a third. We owe a -- Professor Camika Royal who I noticed is mentioned in the report, and I think for good reason, she points out that Black-led charters were just percent of Philadelphia's 13 charter schools but represent 14 almost 9 out of 10, 87 percent of 15 the charters targeted for closure 16 in the 2010s. And I certainly 17 don't think anyone is intentionally 18 being racist. 19 But I think that leads to some serious questions about structural rate system that have to be looked at very carefully. I did read the report last night. I was very impressed by its staff and its recommendations. And just to reinforce some of those recommendations, the CSO, the Charter School Office, really has conflicting missions in both regulating and supporting charter schools. It's very hard to do both. And there's a lot of evidence that it hasn't really done as well as it could on the second part of that on supporting charter schools.
And so, it might make sense to have a body that does that as a number of cities do, as the state of Texas does. Arkansas, actually we have a state-funded profit body that does that. Secondly, the CSO, the Charter School Office's Annual Charter Evaluations, the ACE reports, really lack transparency. Operators have trouble figuring them out, and that's a problem. You can't have an accountability system if people don't really understand it fairly easily. Big charter management organizations, they have a bunch of statisticians and others who are in charge of interpreting those. They have the finances, the resources to do that. But small operators who are more likely to be people of color are less likely to have those reports, and that's a real problem. Third, the reporting requirements of charter schools are redundant, costly, often confusing. The report gets into that in great detail, and they know a lot more about it than I do certainly in Pennsylvania context, and that again favors national Charter Management Organizations, CMOs, over standalone operators, which are disproportionately Black or Latino. So again, I think the report's recommendations makes sense. I'm glad to hear it sounds like Director Streater and others are willing to work with this. It would make sense to have a dedicated charter support organization as in many other cities and some states make sense to streamline reporting requirements and there are a number of other steps that are certainly worth considering. And I'm really glad that Councilman Thomas and Mr. Streater and others are showing a willingness to try to work with Charter operators and particularly Black Charter operators on these matters. Thanks very much. Again, huge honor to be here and glad to do anything to help.
Thank you, Doctor. Will our next panelist please state your name for the record and begin your testimony. And after this panel, we will open it up for questions.
Yes. My name is David Marshall. And I will similarly echo it's an honor to join part of this conversation this afternoon truly. I guess one of the things I'll start saying, charter schools, they're one mechanism to get families, especially lower-income families additional educational options and opportunities. Families with means have always been able to choose schools for their children either through purchasing housing attached to desirable schools or through paying for private school tuition. So what we're talking about this afternoon, charter schools, they are and were intended to be a vehicle that was intended to expand the opportunity for families. And, yes, I've gone through the report as well. The Ballard report corroborates several systemic issues with the overall charter school authorizing process. I think these findings represent an opportunity for Philadelphia to take the lead in moving forward towards an improved model of charter school authorizing. Similarly, I will echo that it's a good opportunity and I'm glad that Councilman Thomas has called this and we can have -- there's broad participation. People are willing to engage with this. This afternoon I'm going to focus my remarks on really three areas as being within the locus of control of local actors in three areas where I think there can be some movement. And some of this is going to overlap what Dr. Maranto suggested. The first is increased support. And the report states approximately 75 percent of Black- led charter schools that were closed were independently-operated or standalone charters as Dr. Maranto identified. And these generally do not have the same access to resources as different schools or charter schools that are part of our charter management organizations. And in general, Philadelphia's charter schools are more likely to be standalone schools than charter schools in other jurisdictions. New York City would be one example. It has far more schools that are part of larger CMOs. I don't think this is a bad thing, however. Standalone charter schools tend to have less bureaucracy. The decisions that they make have the potential to be the most responsive to the needs of students who will enroll, the teachers they employ and the communities in which they are situated. However, this also means they're likely to have fewer resources and they may need more help in navigating complex regulatory regimes than better-resourced schools. The Charter School Office has an opportunity to support these schools and find meaningful ways to interact with school leaders, teachers and parents on a regular basis, and student learning is a top priority. This will ensure the students who attend these schools have the best chance to receiving an education they deserve. And I will similarly say that Dr. Maranto's suggestion of sort of an independent dedicated charter support organization would not be a very bad thing. We see that here in Alabama. We have new schools for Alabama, which is an independent nonprofit partially publicly-funded organization whose only job is to support charter schools and help them navigate complex processes. And we've seen that as being a good thing in this context. The second point I want to make is about due process. One of the most important roles of charter school authorizing employees is they're making decisions about whether to renew charter schools. Charter contract lengths are usually five years in length. That's the standard. And generally, there shouldn't be much deviation from that to ensure that schools have sufficient time to meet the goals of what they set. One- and two-year charter renewals make it really difficult to really make the meaningful changes in shorter periods of time. When an authorizer decides not to renew a charter school's charter and goes for closure, schools should have an avenue to appeal that decision. That's best practice and that's the case in most jurisdictions.
In Pennsylvania, there's a CAB, the Charter Appeals Board, and they hear such appeals. However, the District has often included surrender clauses in contracts. These are provisions that while they're not illegal, and the report mentions that, they do force schools receiving renewal to agree to forego their due process and then agree to forego the right to appeal decisions that do not go their way. The District has had a history of using surrender clauses primarily with minority-led schools, including Black-led schools, schools with fewer resources, including standalone schools which are unfortunately likely to be Black-led schools, are more likely to be forced in a situation where they have to accept such clauses in their contracts because they have fewer resources with which to push back on them. All schools deserve the due process, and the use of surrender clauses should be discontinued would be my recommendation in any future charter contracts. Increased transparency which was touched on earlier by one of the previous speakers, this will be my third and I think this could be achieved two ways. Charter schools are public schools and actions that are taken involve public dollars and that includes those involving charter schools, and these actions should be made public. The report notes that the Board of Education often uses nonpublic executive sessions in deliberations about charter schools. This trend has been seen in other jurisdictions in the United States and Philadelphia is certainly not unique. But the overuse of executive sessions are generally met with skepticism and frustration. Generally when something is not done in public, the people fill in the blanks usually in uncharitable ways. In my two terms and my previous experience, I've served two terms as the Chair of the Alabama Public Charter School Commission, which was the statewide authorizing body for charter schools here. In my two terms as Chair, just the level side, we only used and went into executive session on one occasion. So I think that sort of the best recommendation would be to discuss public business publicly. The second recommendation which sort of echoes Dr. Maranto's remarks and also with what's in the report is to have greater clarity around methodology used for the ACE reports. The ACE reports are the Annual Charter Evaluation reports that are conducted annually and published for each charter school. Investigators in the report conceived that they even had difficulty sort of connecting the dots with the framework that was used to evaluate schools. I think it would be helpful for school leaders, their teachers, for parents who are making decisions about where to enroll their children, I think all stakeholders, all parties would benefit if this was a little clearer. And that was suggested upfront in the first set of remarks. And I think where possible, and this is something I'll even admit as an academic we're often not very good at, is using the clearest most accessible language possible, and I think that's very important if we want to make sure that everyone has the ability to use this information to make decisions for their children because that's what matters. So I'll conclude my remarks by just noting that former Philadelphia educator and school leader Marcus Foster once wrote, Where there's conflict there's energy, where there's energy there can be change. And I believe this is an important moment and opportunity for change.
Thank you for your testimony. Our final witness for this panel is Dawn. Before Dawn goes, I just want to -- actually you know what, I'll wait until after she testifies. Please state your name for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Dawn Chavous. Good afternoon to the distinguished members of City Council and the state officials who are joining them here this afternoon. I would like to begin my remarks by quoting a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the First President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. " He said this because like kids we know that regardless of who you are, where you come from or how much money you make, when you have access to education, it creates a clear and lasting path to freedom and opportunity that is exactly what we are trying to create and establish here for children in Philadelphia. My name is Dawn Chavous as I said and I am the proud product of both private and public school education, ultimately graduating from McCall Elementary School and Franklin Learning Center High School. I was a student representative on the Board of Education and worked to improve the quality of my high school when I was just a teenager. Now, as an adult with a Master's level education from an Ivy League institution, I've spent over years in the education 13 reform space serving in numerous 14 capacities at the local, state and 15 national level regarding education 16 reform work. I've also been a 17 staunch advocate for children and 18 parents to help them feel 19 empowered, know their rights and 20 preserve their options. Now, as a parent of two young boys, this work has much greater meaning for me. I'm here today on behalf of the African American Charter School Coalition which was founded three years ago with the purpose and intent to advocate for equity in our public education system. We also work to create a non-biased system of charter oversight, renewal and expansion opportunities for Black-founded and led schools, which currently and sadly does not exist today. Our Coalition is made up of Black-founded and led school leaders and parents from across the City representing of the 14 brick-and-mortar school locations 15 and over 15,000 children and 16 working-class families. If we were 17 a school district, we would be the 18 sixth largest school district in 19 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 20 For over 20 years, Black- 21 founded and led schools have succeeded in providing a high-quality and culturally rich educational program for students that celebrate a child's heritage and ethnicity, but we have suffered many times silently through the process of just existing and being recognized as an important part of the educational landscape here in Philadelphia. We believe Black children matter. Over 90 percent of our student population is African American. We believe Black teachers matter, which is why our Black-founded and led schools also prioritize hiring teachers of color to provide direct instruction to our students. 54 percent of our teachers are minority compared to our local school district, which is around 30 percent. 98 percent of the students we serve are from low-income households. There are currently 113,000 students attending traditional public schools. There are approximately 65,000 students in public charters and 13,000 in virtual schools. That means that over 41 percent of Philadelphia public school children are in public charter schools. That doesn't include another 23,000 who are on charter school waitlists. The school within our Coalition represent not only high-quality education and culturally-focused education programs for our scholars, but they also serve as an economic engine for the communities and local neighborhoods they are in. Charter schools also support many small Black-owned businesses with vendor opportunities. So let me explain a little bit what the problem is. Despite the great work these schools are doing, there are inequities that exist between White- and Black-led schools when it comes to funding, resources and support, School District renewal and expansion opportunities, philanthropic resources and distribution.
Please also consider this other very startling statistic: Minority-led schools only represent percent of the public charter 7 school sector. Yet represent over 8 87 percent of all school closures 9 or nonrenewals within the last 12 10 years. We continue to fight to 11 stop budget cuts at the state level 12 and stop City leaders who advocate 13 for the dissolution of public 14 charter schools at the local level 15 without fully understanding or 16 appreciating the consequences of 17 their actions. 18 Schools are education safe 19 havens and economic engines for the 20 communities where they reside. 21 Closing a school not only disrupts 22 the neighborhood it resides in, it impacts the small Black-owned businesses they support, it impacts teachers and most importantly, it impacts the children and working-class families we serve. Our schools have collectively dealt with systemic racism, discrimination, inequity, subjectivity and bias when it comes to school expansion and renewal opportunities. The current process that the Charter School Office and School Board uses to evaluate and determine renewals for Black-founded and led charters is broken. And many times when schools have spoken up there has been retaliation. That is why we launched the Black Schools Matter campaign, which is our effort to correct misinformation about African American-founded and led public charter schools as well as hold all of our stakeholders and individuals who are in positions of power accountable to not only ensure our scholars and parents feel like they do matter, but to also create a more fair and equitable system for our schools. In 2021, we called on our local and state officials as well as the Board of Education to investigate systemic bias and inequities within the charter authorizing process in Philadelphia, which we believe was leading to disparate outcomes for our schools. As a result of our advocacy and the leadership of not only Councilmember Thomas and many of his colleagues, the Board of Education announced it would commission an independent investigation into the allegations of disparate treatment, bias and systemic racism within the authorizing process conducted by the District. Over the last three years, we have attempted -- and we all know the report was released in October. Over the last three years, we have attempted to operate in good faith with the Board of Education. We have come to the table to collaborate to work with the Board of Education to work through and resolve issues raised. Even before the investigation was complete, over a year ago we submitted recommendations to the Board to consider to make changes to the evaluation and authorization process. They have taken no 15 meaningful action this past year to implement any of the changes we recommended. And I did hear President Streater mention 3 of the 12 recommendations that were adopted in February. But what was failed to be mentioned were the 9 other recommendations that we submitted, and there's been no 24 action taken on them or no 25 information or consideration that's been shared with us regarding whether or not the Board will adopt them. In addition to that, some of the recommendations that we made over a year ago were also in the Charter school investigation report of recommendations that were done through this independent study. While we know the report wasn't released until October 6th, according to the date of the cover sheet of the report, it was completed on August 31st. So the District sat on this for close to six weeks that we know of, and the first statement was that they were pleased there was no intentional overt racial bias found. As if that statement on of the report totally absolved them from any wrongdoing, that couldn't be any further from the truth.
The investigation team highlighted a series of inherent conflicts of interest that exist between the CSO, the Board of Education and the charter schools and some former Board and SRC members felt that financial implications of the District were considered when making decisions about renewals, expansions and new charter applications. And while a significant number of current Board members denied that was the case, the investigation team uncovered that the Board was incentivized to act in the interest of charter schools. The Board's authorization, renewal and expansion decisions are all intertwined with the District's budget. The investigation revealed that as early as December 2017, the SRC and the Charter School Office were considering the race of school leaders when evaluating authorizing decisions that were made over the prior years. The investigation also suggests that at least six years ago the CSO compiled data showing that Black- and minority- led charter schools were subject to closure in higher numbers. The investigation also highlighted that the framework doesn't properly measure performance or the outcomes intended. It needs to be revamped. Yet they are still using the same framework to evaluate and nonrenew minority-led schools like Southwest Leadership Academy. Their nonrenewal needs to be rescinded and their charter needs to be renewed. It is shameful what the Board and the CSO put that school through because they were concerned three years ago that they didn't have enough cash on hand. That issue was fixed before they reached their renewal year. Yet that same Board let another charter like Franklin Towne allegedly break the law and it took not only the Philadelphia Inquirer but our advocacy to force the District to do something about that school. They were breaking the law and knowingly discriminating against children from certain zip codes, children with IEPs and children from different ethnicities. And the Board took no action for five years other than renewing the school with flying colors. Annual Charter Evaluations, also known as ACE reports, are used by the Charter School Office to provide interim school evaluations for years in between charter renewals. ACE reports change each year so because of that, it's hard to look back and see progress made as a result because the targets and goals are constantly changing. How can a charter school meet a goal if from year-to-year they don't know what it is? There is also too much subjectivity built into the report. We believe this because we have had two different schools receive the same noncompliance marks, yet get two totally different grades. Let me explain it another way. If you and I are taking a test and I get more answers right than you do, how is it that I fail and you pass? When you raise your hand or ask a question or don't agree with something the CSO is asking, that is when you get in real trouble. The CSO has a culture that doesn't make schools feel like they are supported or heard. It's more of a gotcha, let me see what I can find wrong approach and do whatever I say, what you think doesn't matter approach. And if you speak up, you will be punished. This entire process for many of our schools feels like a form of modern day servitude. And despite all of that, these school leaders, teachers, parents and students press on. They continue to fight and work to educate children. But just imagine for a moment how much more they could do if they didn't have to worry or stress or have the stress of dealing with a CSO that makes them feel like they shouldn't exist. We want schools to be held accountable. We believe schools should be held to rigorous academic standards, but we also believe that the accountability standards and process for evaluations must be fair and equitable. Having to fight the District on issues like this while also educating the kids take resources away from students who need them the most.
The decision to nonrenew, revoke or deny the expansion of a public charter school has a significant impact on the families served by the schools and impacts the entire community. Closing a public charter school results in fewer educational options for families, the loss of a community resource and many times the loss of jobs from community members. High-stakes decisions must be made in an equitable, unbiased, transparent and fair manner. School closures will sometimes occur. However, it is incumbent upon our School Board members to ensure the process is equitable and beyond reproach. A decision to nonrenew also significantly impacts the school and causes irreparable harm because of the loss of teachers, students and finances. It is also a major disruption for children and families. Considering the amount of trauma and disruption many students have already had to endure over these last few years because of the global pandemic, civil unrest and increased gun violence, why take them through more. We believe it is in the best interest of children and working-class families to not be subjected to additional stress and trauma by making decisions to close Black-founded and led institutions based on a renewal process that is grossly flawed, subjective, biased and inequitable. If the Board is going to make such a major decision, the process must also be unimpeachable, to be certain children and families are not unnecessarily being disrupted or displaced. We must uncover and reveal the hard truths of what has happened to Black- founded and led schools. Our right to exist must be protected and we need to collectively create a more equitable system for all public schools. Like Historically Black Colleges and Universities, historically Black public schools must remain a permanent part of the educational landscape in our city. The evisceration of independent, self-governing Black institutions must stop before all Black-founded and led schools are dismantled and closed, leaving our great city with an exclusively White charter sector. Whether you support public charter schools or not, please know that our existence is the will of the people. They have voted with their feet and sent their children where they want them to go. We have to stop denying parents the ability to have a choice. Options just can't be for those with means or the ability to move into a certain neighborhood or move out of the City. High-quality public school options must exist for everyone. The ability to have an option and make a decision about where a parent wants to send their child provides liberation and freedom for Black working-class families. Close to 65,000 families have exercised this choice. At what point do we stop fighting over a false narrative meant to keep us apart rather than coming together united to serve our students. Our goal is to work collaboratively with anyone willing to work with us as long as they are willing to have an honest conversation, own up to mistakes that have been made, acknowledge errors in the system and be willing to listen and respect our voice at the table when coming up with solutions to fix them. It is exhausting and unsustainable for our schools to constantly be fighting the Charter School office and the Board of Education. Rather than fight for our ability to assist, help us by ensuring there are equitable processes in place. Help us by giving schools the latitude and freedom to educate and support the children and families all of you represent, while not having to battle a system that has more money, more power and more resources. Help us by implementing the recommendations outlined in the report such as allowing us to have an independent authorizer, establishing a moratorium on the use of the framework and nonrenewals until it is totally overhauled.
Stop using the surrender clause which has a disproportionate affect on minority schools and creating more accountability, checks and balances for the Board of Education who currently operates with total autonomy. Please know that we are not the enemy. Our schools and teachers are here trying to do their best under very difficult circumstances, to provide a culturally, competent, safe and enriched educational environment for children to learn and thrive in many of your Districts. If the approach we take is one of collaboration instead of elimination, I think public school children and families in our city will be much better served. Thank you.
Thank you to the members of that panel. I just want to take a moment to personally thank Dawn for her leadership in organizing advocacy. We wouldn't be here without you. You've done a yeoman's job over the last couple of years, and hopefully it will put us in a position where we'll see practical change, tangible change, things that we can point to and touch that has a positive impact on families in Philadelphia and across the City in Philadelphia. I want to take a moment to ask members of the Education Committee if anybody has any questions for our School Board President as well as members of this particular panel? I also would like to see if any members of our -- if any of our state partners that are here today have any questions? Madam Clerk, do you see anybody queued up for any questions -- well, I see Rep Cephas is on camera, so Chair recognizes State Rep Cephas. After State Rep Cephas, we'll go to State Senator Saval. Rep Cephas, good afternoon. Thank you for being here. Thank you for what you do for the City of Philadelphia. We appreciate you. STATE REPRESENTATIVE CEPHAS: Absolutely. First and foremost, I just want to thank Chairman Thomas and the entire Education Committee for your willingness and leadership to have this sometimes difficult conversation but a much needed one. And I also want to thank the African American Charter School Coalition for bringing over 120 families and students up to Harrisburg to really sound the alarm on this issue. And one of the things that my colleagues and I know in the General Assembly is that people are constantly watching what is happening in the City of Philadelphia, particularly around the issue of education. The way that Philadelphia goes is often times the way that the Commonwealth goes. So when we don't get something right, that is held over our heads. When we're having conversation about education funding, when we're having those conversations about equitable funding, given the recent Commonwealth court case, so this is a real opportunity right now to recognize where we could be doing better, where we are working in the right direction and how we can work collaboratively together to address some of these issues and challenges. And I say that from personal experience. So in my District, I represent the 192nd Legislative District as well as the Philadelphia Delegation Chair. But I represent sections of West Philadelphia where I recently experienced in this school year -- well, actually last school year, last academic year, the closure of two Black African American-led charter schools, and that was Daroff as well as Bluford Elementary School. And to see the disruption not just with the families but with the community, with the vendors was very difficult to navigate. So I can only imagine what the other charter schools that have recently closed have gone through. And we're in a very difficult climate as Dawn Chavous identified. When we're coming out of COVID-19 which completely disrupted our system, to have this come in the aftermath of COVID-19 has been very difficult to families across the City of Philadelphia. So again, we have an opportunity in this moment. I want to thank the Board of Education for your willingness to listen to, as Dawn said, the consumers. The parents are speaking with the education system that they are choosing. And as a direct result, you produced a report with some great recommendations which leads into my question, because one of you all's City Council colleagues constantly says, if it's not measured, it's not managed. So I want to hear from the Board Chair how specifically you will be implementing a series of the recommendations. Talk to me about a timeline and let's have a conversation as to how again this conversation cannot just hold you accountable but be collaborative in this effort as you implement the recommendations. Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you, Rep Cephas. I think before I allow folks to respond to Rep Cephas's question, let me allow Senator Saval to give a few brief remarks and then we'll open the floor to Board President Streater and others to respond to Rep Cephas's statements. Senator Saval. SENATOR SAVAL: Thank you so much, Chair Thomas. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be here with my colleagues from the Statehouse with Chair Cephas and with the Leader of the Black Caucus, Napoleon Nelson. So again, I'm Nikil Saval. I represent the 1st Senatorial District. I'm Chair of the Senator Delegation, Philadelphia Senate Delegation, serve along with Morgan and I just wanted to -- I unfortunately cannot stay longer for this hearing, but I just very briefly appreciate all the testimony, appreciate all the passion and the diligence in trying to secure a system that is free from bias of any kind, intentional of course but systemic and structural being the most sort of pressing. And I would ask I guess -- I had meant this question to be for Dr. Maranto, but I think it can be answered by anyone, which is among the recommendations -- the recommendations of course in the report but also in addition any other recom -- I know there have been recommendations here offered in terms of, for example, surrender clauses and the like. I'm curious based on your experience in the comparison of other state experiences, my understanding if I recall correctly there tends to be a disproportionate number of Black- led and founded charters generally closed and Philadelphia's is quite high, but whether across states which have different sort of policies with regards to charter authorization, et cetera, whether those policies seem to have a measurable impact on reducing those disparities, if that question makes sense? What policies have you seen that work that tend to be more successful in reducing disparities and closures? That would be my question. And thank you again for having me.
Thank you, Senator. Before you respond, Doc, let me give Board President Streater an opportunity to respond to Rep Cephas's questions. And then, Doc, if you can respond to Senator Saval's questions, and then I'll open it up for other questions that may exist for this particular panel. Board President Streater.
First, I just want to say thank you for the spirit of the question. To me it's forward-thinking. I think we can all debate for the next hours 5 around facts, perspectives and 6 things like that. Again, this is 7 not meant to diminish the thoughts 8 and feelings of people who look 9 like me. I'm also a product of a 10 parent who chose choice, right, private schools and district schools. I understand what it means to find the right place for your child. But what that's saying is the Board is willing and wants to do is to have a forward-looking conversation, we include more voices, right. Yes, it's very important that we take the thoughts and recommendations of this Coalition seriously and that's why we've met with the Coalition. We've had, I thought, productive conversations as well. But we signaled to them in those meetings and we're signalling now that we're wholly interested by being better and continually better. I think it's also important to note that the history of charter authorizing has evolved. I think we need to find a way to parse out what hasn't worked and what is no 10 longer in place where some of these allegations kind of flow from. But also what we're doing now and what we're trying to push toward, right. But as it relates to the recommendations and things like that, we believe that it would be governance malpractice without engaging with the community, with the village, with experts, with parents who have children in District and Charter schools who matriculate within the year, and with those who made the allegations and feel and have the feeling of the impact that we do it that way. But with that being said, there are things that I've mentioned in my testimony as it relates to certain topics that are being implemented. For example, the diversity training. I've heard people say, well, that's low-hanging fruit. Well, I don't think it's low-hanging fruit. I know for a fact that the CSO right now under the leadership of Peng Chao is engaged in doing a more effective job of pointing charter schools to resources that they need. We now have professional learning communities. That was something that didn't occur during the time that many of these allegations occurred, right. So again, there is movement and I'll just say it just may be still anecdotal. The Board of Education could have closed four charter schools this year who did not meet the standard, but the Board decided to take a more nuance discussion. So I will say this Board is not tone-deaf, I am not tone-deaf, but at the same time we have to ensure that there are no 6 unintended consequences with big shifts to a system of education that we want to ensure is a part of the whole system of education that educates to 65,000 students. I would also like to note on the record as well that the School Board since coming back to local control and is not SRC has approved 2,000 additional seats, even knowing that there is 7,000 empty seats for charter schools right now. And of those 2,000 seats, about 40 percent of them have gone to BIPOC schools. Again, I think the facts suggest that we're more nuanced in our approach and I think we're trying to balance the entrance of obviously the operator, but ensuring that all children are given tools and the requisite educational experience to ensure that they can navigate systemic discrimination that exist in society so they can be equipped to dismantle it as adults. That's our goal. And maybe we're too focused on students, but I don't think the Board would want to apologize for a student-centered approach to governance. With that being said and to answer the question, yes, there is a process that will be done where we include more voices with the Coalition having a seat at the table, with all other operators having a seat at the table, because what matters to us is that everybody is educating our babies, right. And I think that irrespective of the race of the founder of the charter school, all voices should be heard.
I'm not saying one voice is bigger than the other, but that is something that the Board is contemplating moving forward. I would ask that everybody on this call to join us and be part of the solution, and also recognize that we have come a long, long, long, long way from a Charter School Office that had three people in it to a Charter School office that has over individuals who 13 are educators, some of which have 14 worked in the charter sector, some 15 of which are former principals as 16 well and really trying to find that 17 balance of ensuring that how can we 18 help with our learning communities 19 and things of that nature and 20 having the grace necessary to engage with our operators, because educating children is I think the most highest vocation in the world. And I think having that grace while also ensuring the adults are held accountable is something we want to have a really good balance with. STATE REPRESENTATIVE CEPHAS: Chair, can I follow with another question?
Rep Cephas, sure. And then we'll move on to the good doctor. STATE REPRESENTATIVE CEPHAS: Thank you. Well, in your response you didn't really talk about timeline. And as you're still currently using the existing framework that I believe you, yourselves, have acknowledged has some challenges. What's the timeline on bringing stakeholders together? Because as you continue to move forward with the existing framework around nonrenewals, it's almost as if you're not moving forward with the recommendations and you're still moving down the process. So can you just talk timeline on when the engagement is going to take place?
I don't have an exact date right now. STATE REPRESENTATIVE CEPHAS: Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you, Rep Cephas. Doc, if you can answer Senator Saval's questions.
Yes, I'd love to. These are great questions and I wish I could tell you more. I know some people to ask and get a fuller answer in a day or so if you want to shoot me an email, and particularly my former grad student Ian Kingsbury has a (inaudible) but he could probably answer it too. One thing I can answer straight away, a lot of our research finding very inequitable outcomes, we found that a huge driver of that was automatic surrender provisions where the state law said if you don't hit these four markers or three of the four or something, you automatically give up your charter without any nuance, without any consideration of improvement, without any consideration of who the kids were. The inequities in states that had those provisions were huge. And what worries me a little bit when I read this report is it feels like through accumulation of smaller actions what the CSO may have done was what ended up being sort of something like those automatic surrender provisions. And so, that was sort of an accumulative effect of all those requirements. And so, I think they work in that way. So I think that was something I found very concerning. I'd say an additional thing on that to get in maybe somewhat controversial territory, two of my collaborators, Michelle Garvey at Columbia who now's at SUNY Stony Brook and Craig Frisby has done a lot of work on this. Implicit bias training, diversity training generally when I was in government working with the Clinton Administration, I was a big promoter of it in the '90s. We've got years of 12 evaluation since then. It doesn't 13 seem like it works as well as 14 people like me had hoped. And I 15 feel like a lot of times 16 organizations rely on that and 17 other forms of training when they 18 don't really want to do something. 19 They say, hey, look at us, we're 20 training, it's all good. And I 21 think that sometimes can be sort of 22 a distraction from making real 23 changes. 24
And if I can 25 add just in the context of Philadelphia County and why we have surrender clauses. Surrender clauses were not created to be a retribution, holding a gun to the head, which I think some of the terms of art that have been used in having this conversation. Even for schools where there have been attempts to work with the school and it hasn't worked and instead of -- and there might have been a charter term where it could have been nonrenewed but a school wasn't nonrenewed, and this was a final attempt with trying to work with a school in a way where the school could either decide not to go to the surrender clause route or take the surrender clause with terms it agrees to and then agree to another five-year term. So typically at that time, there's a two-way path. Either the Board of Education or the SRC or what have you would be willing to go the nonrenew route after many iterations of attempts to support the school or try to find a way out or go the surrender route. As we all know when we do have to unfortunately make the tough decision -- I'll also make a point on the record too. No Board member that I know wake up in the morning and say, yes, today is the day we're going to close any school, whether it's District side -- in 2013, the District closed about 20,000 -- schools, 15 right. We know the impact that it 16 has on the system. 17 When that decision is made, 18 it's often done -- well, it's done 19 with an understanding that can the 20 school be salvaged, right. And maybe if the Board has gotten it wrong, it's gotten wrong. But that's been the attempt. And often there was a previous charter term where there were conditions that did not have a surrender attached to them and those conditions weren't met, right. And then typically after that type of situation, there's the question of should a surrender clause be used. So I just want to give you the context of what it is. It's really meant to be a lifeline. Maybe it hasn't felt to be a lifeline, but that's what it is. It's typically an issue where there's substantial underlying issues with the school of which if the Board decided to go to CAB, it's highly likely that that opinion would be upheld. So instead of putting all of us through that, let's have a surrender clause in here to say, all right, let's give this school another chance. That's the point -- and since we're talking about systemic discrimination, it does matter what the intent of things are and why those things were put into place, especially because the report was asking legal questions around discrimination and stuff like that. So, Senator Saval, I thought it was important for me to give you context of what it is and perhaps there could be another mechanism in its place. But it's typically when we have a school such as some of the schools that were mentioned, I'm not going to say them by names, where there's worry that the school is going to collapse due to the financial issues. They may have one day or two days or three days worth of funding on hand when the golden standard is 45 days of money on hand for a school, and understanding that there's other things that worry the Board, that if we give a school an unfettered five-year charter, something could happen when the school collapses. And we all understand what happens when a school collapse. Chair Cephas talked about it. We were all running around like crazy people trying to figure out how to place the students in the two schools that collapsed last year or the year before, and (inaudible) such a shock to the system so the Board of Education believes that it should try to do what it can on the front end while also making sure that maybe in the previous charter term when a school could potentially have been closed, that the Board of Education tries to figure out the types of conditions, right, to give the school kind of a second shot. And that third shot is typically where you get that surrender clause.
So I don't know how they're used in other jurisdictions, but I thought it was important for you to understand why they're used in Philadelphia.
Question: Do we have any data around surrender clauses? So, for example, is there a disproportionate number of Black charters who receive surrender clauses compared to White charters --
That's what the report indicated -- I'm sorry. I didn't know you were -- sorry.
How many charters that were given a surrender clause have actually provided some type of remedy for the issue compared to those who haven't? Chair recognizes Dawn. Go ahead, Dawn. You can communicate --
I'm sorry. I don't do these hearings often so I forget the protocol. I was just trying to answer your question. I'm sorry. Thank you for recognizing me, Chair. In the report that was done and commissioned by the Board, it specifically stated that the surrender clauses were used at a disproportionate rate for Black- founded and led schools, minority- led schools, than any other type of charter school. And maybe Dr. Maranto can talk to surrender clauses or Dr. Marshall about what's happening in other jurisdictions around the country. But I will say I know that President Streater is newer to the scope of time we're talking about regarding the surrender clauses being used, and the disparities that Black-founded and led schools have felt over the last 12 years. And I'm glad that he has a willingness to want to fix some of these problems. I think the concern that school leaders have had around the surrender clause is that it's not really felt like a lifeline. It's felt like your rights are being taken away from you because you no 7 longer have the right to appeal a decision that's made by the Board. And so, it makes it easier for a Board to close the school. So even if they give you a one-year or two-year renewal with the surrender clause in there, it means that you don't have the right to appeal the decision. And so, the question is, is it better to just nonrenew or renew the school and then decide if you want to revoke it for violating whatever -- if there are some type of egregious violations rather than taking a school's right away. And the school has the ability to decide whether or not it wants to sign that into their agreement, but a lot of times schools feel like they're under duress because if they don't sign it, then they don't get their renewal which has other implications for their school. It could impact their financing. It could impact their different insurances and things that they're trying to do to continue to teach and learn. But I would love for Dr. Maranto and David Marshall to talk about this -- because I think the question that Senator Nikil Saval asked was what is happening in other parts of the country since this is not an issue that's just unique to Philadelphia.
Before we move on, I want to recognize State Rep Nelson. State Rep Nelson hasn't had an opportunity to ask any questions. State Rep Nelson. STATE REPRESENTATIVE NELSON: Thank you so much. I mean, I think one of my major concerns as was mentioned with the approach and ability for a school that has received nonrenewal or terminated their license to appeal, that's what to me gets specifically into I'll call it the jurisdiction of the state legislature. The CAB Board as was mentioned is fortunately being reconstituted, had been dormant for some time and was not really of service, surrender clause or not. I think what's really concerning though is the approach. And I look forward to hearing in the next panel the implications financially to a nonrenewal or from a nonrenewal initial determination or even a one-year or a two-year kind of probationary period, the implications that that has on enrollment, on the ability to secure educators, the ability to secure financing. And so, one of my questions, Dr. Streater, for you and the School District is how do you all assess and take these considerations as you all are revising or revisiting the framework and the processes? Again, you all are the largest district that operates and provides oversight to charter schools throughout the Commonwealth but you all are not the only. And as we think about both the approach that the CAB Board should take, which is again closer to our jurisdiction specifically but also ensuring that Philadelphia's providing leadership to the Commonwealth, if we're not getting it right in Philadelphia, we're probably not getting it right anywhere else in Pennsylvania. So how do you all understand the implications on operations and financing from even again a one- or two-year delay in a full five-year recertification and where should we in the legislature continue to take these operating considerations into play from grants or something like that for our standalone charter schools so that they could be more successful both in Philadelphia and throughout the rest of the Commonwealth?
I think the underlying concern is I believe what the report really bears out is that charter schools irrespective of the -- if you just think about a charter school objectively, if a charter school comes to the table and is chartered and is not as well-resourced as another even independent charter that has resources, a board that operates it a certain way that's conducive to fundraising and things like that, on the back end when it's time for renewal time, there are going to be issues that come up, right. And at some point, there is a line where, okay, at what point does the state, does the City, does the Board of Education take into account that it's just really tough to run the school versus a school that it believes based upon its experience over the last years that a 14 charter sector's collapsing, right, 15 or things of that nature. 16 But to answer your 17 question, the Board isn't saying 18 when it makes decisions that a 19 charter school -- when we make this 20 decision, we're not thinking about money, right. I just want to get that out there. We're not thinking about money in any aspect. But we do think about, I think what is something that is considered is what is going to happen, are the students getting the education that we see based upon the indicators and, two, whether that space under the organizational compliance mechanism or through a financial piece is a stable place, right. So I'll just also let you all know this as well. I think there are two charter schools that a surrender clause has been triggered. One of them is not a Black-founded and led charter school and the other one is. So again -- so I think that's an important factor to say here as well. What I think from my perspective is that certain charter schools are going to need more resources on the front end, right. And I think the fundamental question that we have to answer in the City and in the state is whose job is it to ensure that a Board has the requisite skill sets or the assortment of individuals to actually do their duty under state and local law to ensure that the charter school is healthy and safe, and what point -- and whose role is it to ensure that that charter school gets more resources other than what is allotted under state law per pupil to the school. I think that's another question. And if that's the question, then I think there are things that we have to consider on the front end when we authorize charter schools. And I think that's what the Board of Education does and things that you have to consider maybe some warning signs around Year or Year to kind of trigger the conversation maybe earlier on, which I think that's what the Board is thinking about, to say, hey, y'all, there's something going on with your school if you continue down this path, maybe a tough decision happening in the fifth year. So I know that's kind of a convoluted way to answer the question, but I do think it's an issue of resources. But the question is, is it the District's role, is it the state's role, is it the City's role to invest in those charter schools based on their race of the leader at the front end to ensure that the charter schools comply with state law, federal law which (inaudible) best practices as well. And I think that's kind of where I -- I think that's the disconnect. And I think the framework is so big and so voluminous because it's trying to capture all of that. It's trying to capture all of that in the framework. And I think if there is a disparate impact, not saying there is or there isn't, well, is it the laws that we are forced to ensure that are being complied, that are being complied by entities and organizations that happen above me where these are laws and things that we can't -- that we are forced to consider. So I think it's an issue of resources coming to the table personally, and I think it's not just economic resources.
I think it's also intellectual capital too as well and people with institutional knowledge and things like that as well. So that's what will be my take, State Rep. I think that you can think about resources and supports and where they should come from, I think a lot of the questions will be answered and you will see different outcomes on the back-end and -- STATE REPRESENTATIVE NELSON: Sure.
-- I think the Charter School Office does not contemplate that level of nuance, and that's why we're doing the best we can as the Board of Education working with everybody in good faith trying to figure out how we're going to figure it out. Not saying it's an excuse, but maybe it's something that we could figure out that could be expanded through the state. But I think the warning sign is if it's a small independent small person trying to start a charter school or if it's a charter school that is an independent, lean, mean, versatile, doesn't have a lot of bureaucracy charter school, how do you get that charter school resources on the front end so on the back-end the Board of Education doesn't have two paths. One, do we allow the school to stay open worrying that the school is going to collapse in five years or some other problem that may occur in five years or, two, do we do a five-year with a condition and then maybe if it doesn't work again, then do another renewal with the surrender clause as well, which again I know that's a hot topic conversation that requires more nuanced conversations. STATE REPRESENTATIVE NELSON. We appreciate that and look forward to working with you to build that. It feels like the heart of what equitable educational investments look like. So thank you for that.
Thank you, State Rep. I want to close out this panel by giving each one of the panelists an opportun -- oh, no, I'm sorry. Chair recognizes Councilmember Lozada.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate everyone's testimony this afternoon. But before we close this panel, I just want to express my frustration, right. Thank you everybody for being here. Thank you for the conversation. I've been on the Education Committee now for about a year. And I feel like that I am and we are exactly where we were last November when I came in, in the Special Election. We're having exactly the same conversations that we have had for a year now, and I'm just trying to figure out at what point do the beautiful speeches and the great testimony, when does that end and when do we actually put what we are saying we know is absolutely necessary to improve education to ensure that there's equitable education across the board? When do we put those things aside and when do we get to really doing the work? I heard often times about the African American charter schools, and I've mentioned this to everybody multiple times, Latino charter schools are experiencing exactly the same thing. And while I understand that we have a lot of work in order to get them together to form a coalition to be able to fight for themselves or to come together with the African American Coalition to be able to work collaboratively to be able to change what is happening as it relates to charter schools, I know we have work to do with them. We still have to understand that there has to be some kind of a foundation, right. We have to figure out how do we fix what is happening right now before we bring more people to the conversation and just make it worse, because I think bringing another group of charter providers to the table without moving the needle is going to cause a bigger problem. And so, I just want to know there's been a lot of recommendations that I've heard over the course of the last year. I never get to hear, okay, so we heard this recommendation in the last Committee hearing, we took that recommendation very seriously, we did our due diligence and this is where we are, this is how we've acted upon that recommendation. When do we move forward and how do we move forward. Right now the School District -- my regular public schools in the 7th Council District are struggling and I said that before too, right. And you try to work with the charter schools and the School District gets pissed off because you're supporting the charter schools. Like, what are we doing? When are we really going to give our children an opportunity for an equitable, quality education? When is that going to happen?
Councilmember Lozada, I really appreciate your comments and those are my sentiments. And I believe that we're trying to get to where you would like, where you believe that we should get to. One, I think what I do believe, the thing that the report does is it does give us eyesight, eyesight into things that the Coalition has raised, right. And it's now in a document that's easily accessible and things of that nature. But there are some recommendations that will impact Latinx schools, other schools that are part of the BIPOC mosaic of charter schools that we have and other schools, right. I believe that it would be again governance malpractice to not engage around certain big things that are going to impact those schools tomorrow without them being heard, right. So again, we are committed to moving forward the conversation to hear from -- so that table will include BIPOC schools, right, Latinx schools, the Esperanzas of the world, right. That will include that, right. And I think that if we don't do that, we're actually making decisions blindly, right. And I think that's the concern that I have. But again, in my opening comments I did mention some of the things that we have done and some of the things that we are doing. And I have mentioned some of the nuance perspectives that we've actually taken on charter schools. Once again, there are four charter schools that could have been closed this year, right. So I know that's a band-aid. It's not a fix, but there has been movement on things, right. Four charter schools could have been closed. We decided to take a more nuanced perspective on it. One of which might decide to close on its own at the end of the year, which we're feverishly working on behind the scenes to figure that thing out as well. So we believe the best pathway forward is to set the table, which I think is the energy right now of the City, to set the table and have as many voices as possible come together and let's have a strategic way of looking at this instead of playing whack-a-mole. I do believe that that way is the way that might take a little bit of time, a little bit of angst but that's how you get that ounce of prevention that's worth the pound of cure. We could prevent things that I believe could occur if we were to decide to take everything out of executive session. So, for example, one of the recommendations was to take everything out of executive session. I'll just explain for the public that don't know what executive session is. Governing bodies have the right when it comes to certain decisions to talk about things not just to decide on them but to kind of talk about them and engage on certain topics in a confidential space, right, and then have the conversation in public. And the conversation is likely different and decisions are made in public. One of the recommendations was to have that conversation in public. I've heard from charter leaders as well that say, well, if you have it too much in public, some of the same things that come out in a nonrenewal hearing anyway which impacts our ability to get bonds, impacts our ability -- people might start unenrolling in our schools, comes to light because some of the dirty laundry or it might not even be dirty laundry, but some of the underlying issues can have some of the same as well. So if we were to decide to take everything out of executive session without talking to the whole sector, right, I'm just saying we can create another problem, right. So I think that's just an example of, yes, I hear your anger, I hear your frustration, I'm there 100 percent with you. But I believe that we have to do it in a way that's strategic. And again, this is not saying that -- and I know there were statements earlier saying that the Board took a victory lap. I don't think that's accurate. I think the Board said what the report said as its findings but it still said it raised certain issues that need to be addressed, right.
That is what the pathway forward is but including more voices, right, not to replace any voices that's already here, but to add more voices, right, and not in a way where we're just trying to hear. That's true engagement. If I was to come out here today and say, look, Philadelphia, the Board of Education has solved it, that's not engagement, right. That's not engagement. So that's what we're trying to do, and we have a laser focus on doing that, right. Looking forward trying -- that's why I didn't come up here trying to say everything is wrong with what other people have said or some facts have been misconstrued. I'm not doing that. What we want to do is move the conversation forward and have one system of education where we have quality seats no matter what because we know the City of Philadelphia would be stronger if we continue to look at our system of education as one system of education. So you won't hear this us versus them from me or the Board of Education, but we have to make sure that we engage. And I do believe that now the report is out it was an albatross around all of our necks. And now that it's out, the work begins. So, yes, it took a long time because it has taken a while. So with that being said, I appreciate you 100 percent. We talked to I believe City Council last year at the Mayor's address. And I think that again you have the Board's commitment to increase the seats at the table, have a more public conversation, which I think is another thing that is -- I think the charter issues in Philadelphia is shrouded in a haze because maybe we all need to do a better job of having more public conversations that are honest about what is actually going on and then putting the greatest minds together in the City, and people outside the City, I remember you guys from the spring, so we can have something that works for all of our kids, the perspective of who's in the seats of leadership. So that's what we're looking forward to and that is something that the Board is committed to doing. As the Board Chair, I am 100 percent clear in saying that and this is something my (inaudible) ratio is high on this type of stuff and it will be high here.
Thank you so much for your response. I'm looking forward to figuring it out sooner rather than later and being a part of moving quality and equitable education forward for all of our students. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilmember Lozada. I appreciate your advocacy, and of course you know I love working with you. I want to close this panel out. This has been a robust dialogue that has taken place for well over an hour now. So I just want to give every member of this particular panel an opportunity if you can take just 60 seconds or so to offer your final remarks. And then, Madam Clerk, we're going to try our best to move on to the next panel unless there are questions from members of the Committee. As it relates to final statements, that's going in the same order of which people testified.
I feel like I just kind of gave my final statement, but I just want to say on a human level this is tough work, y'all. Like, I can't think of another thing in our society that requires the care and concern of our future, which are our babies. And I say babies because I'm a dad, right. I am a father. And this Board is full of grandmothers, mothers, fathers and while I'm the only man on the Board of Education, eight women who have children who have matriculated through public schools, charter schools and things like that, so just know that this Board of Education, especially this Board of Education, does not take this conversation lightly. That is why it chose to investigate itself, right. I think that is a huge fact here, right. We could have said, nah, we good. And then it was during the pandemic. We could have found other things to muddy the waters, but this Board engaged in good faith, right. But this Board has a laser focus on students, right. We do understand that adults are the preeminent thing that we need to ensure are well- supported to educate our children. But the Board, maybe people don't agree with it. We look at the students first, right, and see what the outcomes are, and maybe that could be wrong-headed and maybe that's a discussion for another day, but this is a theory of action. And if we do that first, then our decisions will be guided as such, right. I don't want to get too philosophical here. I am a civil rights attorney here in Philadelphia on the Plaintiff's side helping people and have done some discrimination work. And I think we often think about the Brown v. the Board of Education decision, right. And that decision talks about a separate but unequal education system. But I think it also mattered about the outcomes. I don't think the Brown v. Board of Education opinion said that we shouldn't focus on the out -- I think it focused on the outcomes. Children weren't getting educated in substandard spaces that were not financially permissible. Student outcomes were not where they were with their White counterparts in districts. And I think the Board of Education tries to use the framework and the CSO does it to ensure that the outcomes are going to determine whether our children are getting what they need. So when they graduate from law school, when they're working as a social media influencer, they have all the tools they need to circumvent the actual discrimination that exists in the world. And the only way we can do this is to arm our babies with the lived experience with African-centered or Latinx-centered education where they're proficient in the things they need to do to actually be the ones to change the world. That's how we change the world. And I think -- and I didn't hear anything from Ms. Chavous or anyone that contradicts that. And I think that's why we need to have this conversation. Then we can come together as these groups who all care about children to figure out what does that mean for Philadelphia. I cannot wait. I am so excited and I am optimistic of the fact that we are going to get this right as a city. And I believe that we're going to do everything we can, all of our powers to make sure that our babies are educated in a way where they love themselves, they know where they come from. But also, if they want to become a bartender like me, they can do it, right, and be successful when I was younger. But if they want to pivot and become a lawyer like I was able to do, they have the underlying lived experience and the academic outcomes to do it, right. And it's sad that it appears that we've been pitted against each other. I'm over it. I'm done with it. We can do this, y'all, I'm telling you. So that's my closing. I'm excited. And I love children and the Board of Education loves children. I think everybody that we've talked to tonight I can tell love children. So I appreciate y'all and I'm looking to continue to push this thing forward.
Thank you, Board President Streater. Can we -- if everybody can just take about a minute or so, about 60 seconds, to give your final remarks. We have to move on to the next panel. And technically we're supposed to end this hearing at 3 o'clock. I don't know if we're going to make it to that point because we still have a whole other panel to go. I'm also being told that your names are not visible on the screen. So when you're giving your final remarks if you can start by stating your name again for the record, giving your final remarks, try to keep it as close to about a minute as possible. And then we can transition to the next panel unless Councilmembers have any questions. If there are no questions, we can proceed in the same order that folks testified.
I can speak if that's okay. Robert Maranto. I just have three quick things to say. I like a lot of the energy in the room. It makes me really miss Philadelphia. It's a wonderful place. I lived there a long time and I need excuses to go back. The second thing I want to say is that I do worry that involving an awful lot of voices can sometimes cut back on some voices that have been underserved in the past, in this case especially, a lot of Black parents, a lot of Black and Latino charter operators. And I think that's a concern I'd raise. And the third thing I'd say is to sort of agree with all the panelists, maybe especially Councilwoman Rozada -- I think it's Lozada, I'm sorry, I'm not good with names. It really is time for action. A new Mayor is coming in. Folks have been studying this for a while. I think there's a lot of great concrete actions that can be taken that can make Philadelphia a model in trying to have an equitable charter system. So thanks so much again. Huge honor to be here.
So again, David Marshall. Thank you for having me be a part of this panel. I too miss Philadelphia as a former resident and teacher there. And, you know, one of the things I think I've heard that I think is probably a helpful step forward for being forward-thinking is maybe some increased -- whether it's the Charter School Office or whether it's a new independent Board that is supporting charter schools, whatever the system of the future looks like, having increased interactions and engagement between charter schools and the support systems and these regulatory bodies have more often intervals would probably be helpful. That's something I found helpful as the head of my authorizing board here. And I'm reminded of the old adage I learned very early on in my teaching days was, you never wanted the first phone call that you made home to be one that was negative. You wanted to have an established positive relationship that you have with that parent first, and you wanted that first phone call home to establish that relationship. So when you did later have to make that phone call home inevitably with some of your students, they knew you were coming from a place of support. They knew you were coming from a place that wanted to help that student. And I think the same thing, that's true for life and I think it's certainly true with regard to supporting schools. So I think that having more engagement on the front end so the back-end doesn't seem so punitive when and if you do have to have challenging conversations, it will probably go a long way, the old ounce of prevention adage rather. But those are my remarks. Again, thank you for having me.
So again, just for the record this is Dawn Chavous speaking on behalf of the African American Charter School Coalition. I would like to thank all of the members of Council, especially Councilmember Isaiah Thomas who chairs the Education Committee for giving us the opportunity to even have this dialogue and conversation for today's hearing. I think it is extremely important and necessary. I wanted to just respond to a couple of things that were said earlier and also give my closing remarks as was asked of us. The report, while you know it took two years to get, it has a lot of information in it. And one thing I would like to stress to all of the members of Council and state legislators that are here today and those that are watching online to please read the report because there is a lot of information in there. And I've had to read it numerous times because every time I'm finding something else. In some of the comments and conversation that happened around the surrender clause earlier, I just wanted to point people to of the report because the investigation team said that some interviewed -- and these are School District employees that were interviewed, said that the Board considered surrender clauses to avoid the cost of litigation. Okay. Also within the report around executive sessions, the investigators indicated that there were decisions made by the Board that they directed the Charter School Office to take action on before public votes were taken. Okay. And I've already highlighted in my comments and my testimony earlier other issues that were raised within the report, so I'm not suggesting that anybody's doing a victory lap. But what I am saying is that we need to own the issues, and that starts first with the Board, right. They need to own the issues. And rather than protecting and defending the system, wouldn't it be nice if we were using that same energy to protect and defend the children and families that we all represent and serve? I am just as frustrated and disappointed as Councilmember Quetcy Lozada. I share her same energy, because I too feel like we were here a year ago and it was former Councilmember Maria Quinones-Sanchez who asked us to submit recommendations even before the report was released to try and begin the process of fixing many of the problems that exist within the charter evaluation and Charter School Office, which is why we submitted a one-page document. We submitted it during public testimony at the Board, we submitted to Board members. We've talked about it. And to not get a response on of the 6 recommendations that we submitted, 7 things that could be handled 8 immediately if the Board had the 9 political will to do so, number one 10 was the School Board members should 11 hear directly from the school or 12 allow them to present counterinformation to the Board before a final decision is rendered to begin the nonrenewal process. We were saying that because the Charter School Office was filtering information to the Board members who were ultimately making such a high-stakes decision on nonrenewals for charter schools, and that one recommendation is still floating. It's not a yes. It's not a no. It's just hanging out there. And so, I don't like the fact that we're having the same conversation we had a year ago, but I also know we don't have the power to make the changes without there being political will and leadership on the other side. There has to be a spirit of collaboration and a willingness to put the recommendations into an actionable plan with timelines like State Representative Morgan Cephas said. I 100 percent agree with her, what is the timeline around putting all of these things into place. And to me it is unconscionable we are still using a framework and a process that this report that was independently done, which was said by the District, is saying is flawed and doesn't measure the intended outcomes, that it has the disparate outcomes for schools of color.
Why wouldn't we put a moratorium and immediate pause on using that framework? That doesn't mean schools don't get evaluated, which we know is problematic. We're not going to continue to use it because it's going to continue to produce the same outcomes. So the fact that you had four charters that you could have closed that you didn't, it's not surprising to me because you're using the same framework that the report said was flawed. So of course you're going to get to the same outcomes. We have to stop and put the plans together. We need a timeline and we need specific actionable steps. We want other stakeholders at the table. If that's what it takes, then let's set the meeting and tell us who else is going to be there. We'll show up. But it can't just be the same regurgitated conversation over and over again. And that's why we're here today because we're asking our state and local officials to step in and help us move the process forward, because I would like to be forward-thinking but I would also like to be forward-moving and taking actionable steps to change and make a transformational change so that there is a more equitable bias that is above reproach. So again, thank you. I'm sorry for my energy. My passion is guided by the fact that I am a parent and I know what -- I know what nonaction does to a school, to a community and to a family and it is just not right. It is not right that we are not taking actionable steps to fix the problems that we know exist. And we waited two years for a report and now that report has been out since August. It was released publicly since October and there's no plan. That's unacceptable in my opinion. So thank you again, Councilmember Thomas. Thank you to all of your colleagues and to the state officials who are here. And I hope and pray that we can move forward in actionable steps to resolve and fix many of the problems that currently exist within the charter sector.
With that, we'll begin with Panel 3. First up in Panel 3 we'll hear from Dr. Andrea Coleman-Hill, Larry Jones. And Naeemah Wilson, you're up on deck afterwards. Dr. Hill, if you're connected, if you'll state your name and begin your testimony.
I am Dr. Andrea Coleman-Hill. I'm the CEO of the Laboratory Charter School as well as an Executive Committee member of the AACSC. Chairman Thomas, Committee members, state officials, fellow speakers and all in attendance, thank you for hearing my testimony today. I come before you because of this independent investigation, because of this framework, because of how this framework impacts Black- founded and led charter schools in Philadelphia, including the Laboratory Charter School. While the School District of Philadelphia publicly contends that the investigation has not revealed any evidence of intentional overt racially discriminatory acts by any SRC member, Commissioner, Board of Education, Charter School Office employee against a charter leader, the District officials failed to acknowledge that the independent complaints raised by charter school leaders raises issues that corroborate systemic reasons for the concerning disproportionate rate of closures of Black-led charter schools in comparison of other schools. Please also note that the language dismissed intentional overt racially discriminatory acts towards Charter leaders, but not towards the schools or charter organizations. In reading this 119-page report, the word bias is mentioned 112 times. I make this point because the practices and policies clearly demonstrate that equity is at the bottom of the apex while bias and inequity is at the top when dealing with Black-led charter schools. This is evident when a Black-led school outscores a White- led school with a 10-percent minority population and 10 percent economically disadvantaged rate for five years while in the same renewal cohort using the Charter School Office framework, with the result being the Black-led school is nonrenewed and offered a surrender clause while the White- led school receives a five-year renewal without conditions. Equity, accountability and autonomy should be the guiding principles of charter authorizing for all charter schools, not the inequitable bias lens used to target Black-led schools in the School District of Philadelphia. The report also states the relationship between the CSO and the charter schools shifted around 2015 when the CSO transitioned from a support model to a deficiency model. Additionally, the report states that the School District became aware of inequitable treatment of Black-led charter schools and the targeting of schools with Black-led leaders 2017, but did nothing to intervene. Rather than use this as an opportunity to support charter schools in equitable ways, the School District in its role as authorizer designed, provided oversight and implemented a racially inequitable system leading to further bias and inequitable treatment. This treatment consistently leads to closures and recommended closures. Charter authorizings play a crucial role with the oversight and management of charter schools. The CSO has a responsibility to ensure that charter schools adhere to an established set of standards and that schools deliver a quality of education. This does not mean that Black-led schools should be targeted and profiled through an inequitable lens and illegal regulatory practice that currently exist as well as subjectivity. And subjectivity is the difference between A and A-. Their difference is A and F. That is uncalled for and it targets Black schools. Black-led schools are often labeled and profiled as subpar, needing technical support, not having money, followed by false narratives, to the voting body approving or denying charter renewal with no recourse or rebuttal allowed from the school. While written rebuttals are always suggested, there's evidence to support that the voting body never receives or reads the rebuttal information prior to the critical votes on nonrenewing of school or closing a school. Any nonrenewal with conditions, delayed renewals, one-year renewals cause a chain of events that leads to the dismantling of the school.
In Black-led charter schools, more than 95 percent of the student body is African American. And a nonrenewal is equivalent to putting a knee in the neck of the school and suffocating the school until there is no breath left. This is an intentional power dynamic of systemic microaggressions and interactional injustices inflicted by the CSO. Injustice and inequality at the interactional level bleeds into the procedural level culminating in these systemic inequalities. One of these systems is the surrender clause in exchange for a quiet reversal of a publicly voted-on nonrenewal, schools are offered a conditional renewal with the agreement that the School District can nonrenew in the future and the charter school gives up the right to due process and surrenders the charter. In this case, the knee is moved from your neck and your chest and you still can't breathe while the systematic and unfair dismantling of the charter school continues at a slower pace until the school is underenrolled, financially drained, not able to compete for high quality staff and thus, not sustainable. The CSO then uses these systematically created reasons to move the knee back to the neck to kill the school, uprooting children and families who are without a school. As stated in the Ballard Spahr investigation report, Black- led schools are forced to do more with less resources. The report discusses inherent conflicts of interest, inherent conflicts that lead to a lack of resources and funding, and that is a major conflict. Mr. Monson, the former Chief Financial Officer of the School District of Philadelphia and now the current Budget Secretary for the Commonwealth has made several problematic comments in his role with the School District that are incorporated into court opinion on fair funding, particularly regarding the impact of charter schools on the District. He has highlighted issues with the calculation of charter school tuition for special ed. students and pointed out the existence of stranded costs when students leave the District for a charter school, but does not discuss the reverse because students often do change charter schools, especially under the dismantling nonrenewal process. The current deficiency model framework used to evaluate schools is wrought with problems, starting with the subjectivity of scoring Black-led schools, putting this framework at the forefront of the systemic bias towards Black-led charter schools while the framework is reviewed from the biased lens of subjectivity. Examples of subjectivity is requesting and evaluating different evidence for schools in specific categories in an effort to target those specific schools, scoring schools differently, refusing to correct framework errors for schools being targeted and using the subjectivity to create false narratives to the voting body and public. This subjectivity equates to systemic bias and discrimination towards Black-led charters and is supported in the Ballard Spahr investigation report. This deficiency framework should be removed and a strength-based model should be used that focuses on best practices, equity, accountability and autonomy. This framework should be executed by independent authorizers with educational experience who are competent and experienced in finance, governance and academics. There should be systems in place to ensure equity, accountability and consistency focused on eliminating systemic bias and discrimination as it does in the current framework. Interestingly enough, in 2015 at a time when the Charter School Office was in a supportive role for charter schools, the Charter School Office created an authorizing quality initiative. This initiative focused on equity, accountability and autonomy and is interconnected and interdependent principles and charter authorized. Equity serves as the anchor principle, guiding the discussions and decisions and actions of authorizers and promoting fairness and reducing disparities.
The accountability ensures that equity goals are met by holding schools responsible for their performance, including their commitment to equitable practices. Autonomy empower schools to implement innovative approaches that can address specific needs of students, thereby supporting equitable outcomes. When these problems are aligned, they create a virtuous cycle. Equity is the guiding principle that informs the establishment of accountability measures and ensures charter schools prioritize equitable practices. In turn, granting autonomy to schools enables them to explore innovative strategies and promote equity and ultimately enhance student success. In the context of charter authorizers, the principle of equity, accountability and autonomy are essential for fostering equitable educational opportunities. Equity serves as the anchor principle driving the focus on reducing disparities and promoting fairness. This report supports this also. Accountability ensures that charter schools adhere to equitable practices, while autonomy allows for flexibility and innovation to meet the needs of students, which is the basis by which charters were formed. By upholding these principles and nurturing the relationship, charter authorizers can play a pivotal role in creating a more equitable educational landscape, one, that is currently not seen in Philadelphia. While there is excessive accountability and excessive overreach in Philadelphia and excessive regulatory reach, equity is minimized due to a lack of implicit bias training for School District and CSO individuals. There's also inherent conflicts of interest as the School District views charters as having a negative impact on their budget. That is corroborated in both the independent evaluation and the finance report. While Black-led charter schools are targeted in alarming numbers in comparison to other charter schools, the question should be asked if this is by design in order to balance the School District budget because finances are the biggest conflict of interest. Systemic bias and discrimination is, in fact, a civil rights issue. Intentionality is not the issue here. Consistent evidence of systemic bias, inequitable treatment, inequality and conflicts of interest as well as organized organizational injustice is the issue. The Ballard Spahr report corroborates these injustices in 119 pages. When will the suffocation of Black-led charter schools end? Where is the recourse? When our voice of silence and the only option we have is to protest in order to bring attention to the injustice, systemic bias, discrimination and organizational injustice faced by Black-led charter schools to a governing body that seemingly believes that Black lives don't member. Thank you for allowing me to offer my testimony.
Thank you, Dr. Coleman-Hill. Councilmembers, do we have questions for this witness right now or should we move on to the next witness? (No response.)
Hearing and seeing no questions in the chat, we'll move on to Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones, if you'll state your name and begin your testimony.
Nothing. Can anyone out in the audience hear Mr. Jones? COUNCIL TECH SUPPORT: The audio is still off.
Mr. Jones, we will go to another witness while you work out your audio. Ms. Wilson, if you will state your name for the record and begin your testimony.
Perfect. My name is Naeemah Wilson. Thank you for having me. I'm a parent of four children who are a product of African-centered education. Three of my children were attending Imani Education Circle Charter School at the time of its closure. The abrupt closure pretty much interrupted my children's educational process and impacted us negatively in multiple ways. The school Imani was very good in trying to identify other opportunities for us in terms of other charter schools where our children might be able to attend. I believe that there were also meetings where there may have been some representation from the School District to try to support families in identifying a second option or an additional option. Myself I have an elementary school child, a middle schooler and a rising 7th grader, so trying to identify a school that would fit all of their needs was a struggle. We had application processes. We had MG IEPs. We had 504 plans. There were travel challenges. There was just culture shock and new norms, purchasing of new uniforms. It was all a nightmare, things that folks don't typically consider when a school closes suddenly. Imani was a great foundation for my children in terms of the academic rigor that they received as well as the sense of community in school that my children received as well. My one son, his introduction to African- centered learning outside of our family started actually before Imani at the Mary Meringue Shoelace School, which was a preschool that was founded by the founder of Imani, Dr. Fulton. Children learned about self-determination. It was pretty much Kwanzaa 365 days a year in terms of creativity, unity, collective work and responsibility corroborative economics, purpose and faith. In addition to the academic rigor, those principles were expected and integrated into our young people but also extended to us as parents because the expectation along with the school children were maintaining peace, balance, order and harmony, that expectation was also placed on parents, okay, so we all had to come correct when it came to addressing challenges and both success that our scholars were experiencing at Imani. I can say confidently that the educational foundation that my children received at Imani is what has created successful citizens today. My two youngest children attended Sankofa Freedom Academy after Imani's abrupt closure because we were really trying to identify a school that had a similar mission, norms, smaller classroom size, that we would get some continuity in learning and in expectation, again a community-in- school's feeling. So my two youngest children had the opportunity to attend Sankofa Freedom Academy. However, it still posed a severe challenge in travel because Sankofa was at another end of the City that we were not familiar with. My son couldn't catch the yellow bus but my daughter could, so I ended up driving them to school and picking them up every day which posed a challenge to my employer because I had to rework my schedule to accommodate my children's arrival to school and their pick-up. Consequently, my other son, my oldest son had the opportunity to attend a special admit school in the Northwest where we had a really good experience, but it was still not the same family-based, faith- based, strength-based level of support that we received from Imani. My two younger children attended Sankofa for two years and then ended up going to West Oak Lane Charter School. West Oak Lane Charter School is not African-centered and it is not African-founded. There was a vast difference in the energy and the support and the communication. I've had the opportunity to engage the Charter School Office as a result of some challenges that I experienced at West Oak Lane Charter. Challenges that I was blessed enough not to have had in terms of bullying and things like that at Imani and Sankofa because the culture was just not there. Again, it was just not the norm. It was really each one teach one.
The beginning of the morning started with a harem-based circle where children were encouraged, motivated, just invited to have a great start of the day, and that's how every day of learning started for the scholars. My children are now at Imhotep Institute Charter School. My oldest son graduated and he is at Howard University on a full scholarship. My son Mussah is currently a senior at Imhotep Institute Charter High School. Mussah is a STEM ambassador at Imhotep. And although he has a bunch of creativity, he reminds (inaudible) he is a scientist, and that is because of the foundation that he received at schools like Imani and that he continues to receive from schools like Imhotep that are African-centered where all of the subject areas pretty much have a foundation in Africanity. My son Mussah has had an opportunity to address water crisis all across the world, in Mississippi, in Atlanta, in Ghana this April, and he's going again this coming April to address clean water crises across the world. African-centered education is so important because our children need representation that looks like them. They need the momma and the poppa at the school that's also going to benefit them outside in the community. What I've learned about receiving African-centered education is it's child-focused or child-centered but it's family- focused. The entire family typically benefits from whatever the youth is experiencing at the school, whether it be a communiversity where during the weekends or in the evenings there's something offered for the parents and other children, whether there is some art that is integrated into the regular schedule to support youth that may not be so technology savvy or where math and English might not be their strong suits. There's an opportunity for you to cater kind of learning to each youth's unique learning style because the classes are typically smaller and the (inaudible) in my opinion is typically larger. So that's my testimony. I thank you all for your time and have a great afternoon.
Ms. Wilson, thank you for your testimony. The Committee would like to extend to you and your Howard University scholar, Go Bisons.
Okay. Good afternoon, distinguished members of the media. I'm Madison Brown, a 7th grade scholar at Global Leadership Academy Charter School West. I've attended since kindergarten and my twin brothers have also been a part of GLA since 1st grade. Why do we believe in charter schools? Charter schools like GLA West offer a unique experience in a nurturing environment. Besides my studies, I'm also treasurer for the GLA West Scholar Council and values the leadership roles provided to me. Yet over the past decade 85 percent of charter schools the School District closed down were Black- founded and led. This isn't just about closures, but opportunity. The District has repeatedly denied Black charter school applicants. They crushed our hopes for a GLA high school after 8th grade. While Black-founded schools face closure for minor issues, some White-founded ones continue to operate with the same problems and even get enrollment increases despite their challenges. If my school fell victim to the District's attack on Black- founded charter schools, where would its 1300 students go, to overcrowded and unsafe District schools? Many of us come from families below the federal poverty line. They cannot afford to shell out tens of thousands of dollars for private schools. They need public school choices. GLA offers invaluable learning experiences. We just don't learn from books, but real- world interactions. Our school's motto is preparing future leaders of the world. The staff here are genuine mentors too. They know us, our background and our aspirations. The School District of Philadelphia can uplift or suppress our dreams. Every closure decision impacts young scholars thriving environments that nurture our talents. By targeting Black-led institutions, the message here is our success is a fantasy, not an expectation. I stand with the African American Charter School Coalition. Let's halt school closures until we address the evidence of systemic racism in the District's process. Thank you.
Madison, thank you so much for offering your perspective as a student currently at a charter school in Philadelphia. We appreciate you taking the time to share with the adults what's true from the kids' and student's perspective. It's not always one we remember to capture. Committee members, do we have questions for Ms. Wilson or Madison? (No response.)
In that case, we'll move on. And our next witness is Danielle Dunn. Ms. Dunn, if you're connected, please state your name for the record and begin your testimony. Mr. Jones --
Good afternoon, Chair and Education Committee. My name is Danielle Dunn. I stand before you not just as the Dean of Students at Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School, but also as a parent of two young adults who I raised in this community. I began my journey here at Southwest Leadership in September of 2012. Over the years I've had the privilege to serve many roles. Each contributed to the betterment of our community and most importantly our children, from launching partnerships with the University of Pennsylvania's CityStep program to initiating mentorship programs both inside of the school and in the community. All of these initiatives were designed to transform the lives of our young students. During my tenure here at SLA, I've received training in restorative practices, relational aggression, crisis, de-escalation and mentorship. I've seen firsthand the impacts that these practices have on our students. I've watched them grow from their first day of kindergarten to their graduation in 8th grade, overcoming the daily challenges that accompany attending a school in our community. Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School is more than just a school. It's a beacon of safety in an otherwise challenging environment. Did you know that currently there are gangs, sets 16 or neighborhoods which operate as 17 gangs in the area surrounding SLACS 18 alone? 19 I remember asking a small afterschool group what they wanted to do as a culminating activity for the end of the year. Their simple request was to visit the corner store, a small luxury they felt was beyond their reach due to safety concerns. This stark reality highlights the importance of our school and other charter schools in dangerous neighborhoods as a refuge, a place of (inaudible) and camaraderie. Staff at our schools have built healthy relationships with our students. We've created bonds that extend beyond the classroom. It is these connections that make our school a home away from home for our students. It is these connections that I have spoke with other schools and I've noticed that they've made their school a home away from school -- a home away from home for their students. Our students at SLA form deep relationships not only with each other but also with the staff, and the proof of this lies in the fact that our former students often return, seeking to revisit the place that had such a huge impact on their lives. It's not uncommon to see one or even three of our former students visiting or attempting to complete community service. With that being said, I need to speak about Black-led charter schools and how they've been the long pillars of our community. These institutions were led by dedicated Black leaders, educators and parents. But yet it's these very institutions that are failing and falling -- I'm sorry, that are falling and are affected by the nonrenewal of their charter. This isn't merely an attack on these schools, but it feels like it's an assault on our community and on our children's dreams and on the principles of educational equity that our society hold dear. The ramifications of shutting down these schools are far-reaching and deeply profound. When we close these schools, we aren't merely shutting down buildings. They are planning to close doors of opportunity, blocking evidence of success and dismantling community centers that have become lifelines in our neighborhoods. The ripple effects of these closures extend far wide touching each corner, every child and every dream within our community. But the tragedy doesn't end there. The closure of these schools sends a devastating message to our students and our children. It tells them that their education, their dreams and their future hold no value. It tells them that they are not equal and they're not deserving of their opportunities.
The decision by the CSO to revoke a charter and close their doors will cause a hardship for the children, their parents and teachers and will also be a loss of a community resource. Our children will be forced to attend schools in an unfamiliar and unsafe area where learning becomes secondary to worry about their personal safety. I urge you as decision- makers to take a moment and consider all the implications of closing our school and any other charter school. I urge you as decision-makers to take a look at the framework surrounding the charter renewals. We must keep the door open not just for the sake of education, but for the safety of our children and the betterment of our community. Thank you for your time.
Thank you, Ms. Dunn, for your testimony. Mr. Jones, if your audio still works, let's run to you quickly before it stops.
Well, first of all, thank you for allowing me to be here. And I wanted to talk about the framework and the process --
Mr. Jones, could you state your name for the record. It's mostly for the
That's not a problem. My name's Lawrence Jones. I'm with the Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School and the African American Charter School Coalition. If you read Dr. Maranto's article about barriers to entry, he talks about overregulation and the impact that it has on schools. Also, there's an article that talks about school closures that does the same thing. We came last year over two years ago and we talked about a broken process and framework. The 191-page Ballard Spahr report identifies the process and the framework are broken. So in the first panel you heard a number of statements about whether or not a school should be closed or what work was going to be done to tweak a process, but we didn't hear any acknowledgment that the process is broken. And so, if you're using a broken tool to evaluate the schools, you're always going to get a bad outcome. It's kind of like when we had poll tests and we would say that people were not qualified to vote because they couldn't pass a test that was rigged and was bad. So we have a problem here, and I don't think there's a better way to illustrate that problem than to express it from personal experience. I have the unique experience of being the only charter school I believe in the state that has undergone expansion issues, a one-year renewal, a surrender clause and then a subsequent charter renewal. And these things may sound like we made it through and it's a success story, but it is actually a horror story and it points to the bias that we find in this process. So I'll be very quick, but I'll start in 2012 when our school sought to get a high school expansion. We would have been the first blended high school of cyber and brick-and-mortar in the City. When we applied for our expansion, there was another nonminority- operated charter school that was looking to get a high school also. 5 percent in math. They got an expansion. We didn't. In 2015 despite our school having seven consistent years of making AYP, increasing test scores, phenomenal financials, our school was given a one-year charter renewal. A one-year renewal is used when you don't have enough academic data to support a school. We had almost years of academic 14 data. It didn't make sense. 15 The School Board, at that time the SRC, never made a decision so we languished for almost two years until they put us through what we deemed to be an illegal subsequent charter renewal. At that time we were recommended for nonrenewal, and there was a vote on our charter in October of 2017. When you read and you'll see that typically a charter school gets a hearing in about to weeks. That should have happened for us some time in January. We heard nothing until the end of June when we were told that we would have a hearing. We submitted evidence to the School District at that point and detailed bias in the process. We raised allegations at that time about disparate treatment for minority charter schools, and we were quickly offered a settlement that had a surrender clause. We felt that we had no other feasible option. The financial plus the stress on the school and the chances we saw that that surrender clause was potentially the only way. But don't get it wrong. That was not a lifeline for us. That was every bit of a gun to the head. As a matter of fact, one of the Board members at the time said that they would vote on our settlement agreement because they didn't believe we could meet the standards, which included making the annual state growth marks in every content area for three consecutive years. This past year will be our fifth consecutive year of making those standards, so we actually made it through. So that would seem like it's good news. But in 2020 and 2021 we had to do a full charter school renewal again, so this would be our third renewal. At that time we received a draft report from the School District of Philadelphia for the organizational compliance. We were told that we did not meet standard.
That did not make sense to me. It didn't make sense to my 19-year-old daughter, so she and I together read through almost 80 charter renewal reports that were all evaluated under the same standard, and here's what we found: When it came to the English language learner section, there were two nonminority charter schools that had the same or more deficiencies that we had, but they got a higher rating. When it came to personnel, there was one nonminority charter school that had the same deficiencies, higher rating. Timely reporting, three nonminority charter schools that had the same or more deficiencies with higher rating. Governance, one nonminority charter school. And fiscal management, two nonminority charters. We brought this to the attention of the Charter School Office. At first they tried to explain it, but then they looked at the materials and they had to make the changes, which changed us from does not meet standard to approaching standard. So keep in mind that if you get a does not mean standard, that means your school closes. We were told that no one had ever done that level of research and had never gone back and checked for these things. So how many charter schools, Black- operated or others, have been falsely deemed does not meet standard. Our school ultimately got a five-year charter recommendation, but we still don't have a signed charter because they want to put us through another renewal in the next year or so. That will make 10 charter renewals in -- I'm sorry, 4 charter renewals in 10 years. The impact that that has had on our school community is a loss of staff, loss of students, inability to productively plan, inability to engage in leasing of materials, inability to refinance our debt for the building, inability to do long-term capital projects, inability to take care of maintenance projects, diversion of resources to renewal and renewal processes in an ongoing stress on the community. There is something wrong with this process and until we decide that we are going to overhaul the process, nothing will happen. We can continue to make tweaks and fixes like we've done going back to 2008, but unless we can have the School Board of Philadelphia and legislators finally look and say that there is a problem and the system is broken and needs to be fixed, we're not going to have any true process. And then finally, I'd like to point to the issue when we talk about technical assistance. There is an arm for technical assistance right in Philadelphia. It's the Intermediate Unit. Every charter school student partially funds Philadelphia's Intermediate Unit. They've been doing it for years, 5 but yet we get very little to no 6 services or technical support. How 7 much money have our students funded 8 that Intermediate Unit with? We 9 can't get an answer to that. It's 10 got to be in the tens, perhaps 11 hundreds of millions of dollars. 12 So if you want to have 13 technical assistance for charter 14 schools, we should have a charter 15 school intermediate unit. If you 16 want to have equity and 17 transparency, we should overhaul 18 and put a moratorium on closing any 19 charter schools until we have a 20 fair process. It's something that 21 can be done and it's something that 22 needs to be done now. Thank you 23 very much. 24
Thank 25 you for your testimony. I've been having some technical difficulties. Can you hear me? Tech team, can you hear me good?
Yeah, the technical issues. Yeah, I blame you. Question: Are there any -- Madam Clerk, is there any other witnesses to testify for this particular panel?
Okay. Let me open the floor up for questions for members of this particular panel from members of the Committee. If you have a question, please put that in the chat feature. But before I open it up for questions to members of the Committee, the panel that we have right now, you all got an opportunity to listen to some of the other testimony. We've listened to some of your experiences as well. We listened to nine recommendations that we know are still out there pending that was produced by the Black Charter Coalition. I'm wondering based on what you heard earlier as well as the testimony that we've heard thus far, what recommendation do you have for our state partners as well as the City legislators as it relates to the direction that we should be going in? Clearly, the nine recommendations is something that I support. We're in constant dialogue with the School Board and its leadership as it relates to what we need to do. But let's hear from this particular panel as it relates to the direction that we should go in. And also, I know Mr. Jones spoke about this briefly. It's important that we note that the report itself did not examine anything outside of the renewal process, right. That's important. And the report also didn't compare and contrast some of the scores that we've seen from Black charter operators to non-Black charter operators when looking at scores that are actually the same, similar to things that this panel talked about. So I'm wondering if any of the panelists on this particular panel can discuss or answer the questions that I just presented. Mr. Jones, please feel free.
Sure. So a couple of things. You're absolutely right. First of all, the report did not talk at all really about expansion and the report also didn't talk about new charter applications. In Philadelphia there has not been a minority-operated new charter school accepted since 2010. The crazy thing about it is there's been eight nonminority- operated charter schools that have been accepted and they serve about 5,000 students. In that same time frame, there's been 11 Black- operated charter schools that were closed and they served about 5,000 students. So I think we see that there's a systemic problem. I think the only way that you move forward with it is you recognize that the system is broken. You stop and say for the next year or two, every charter school is going to have to be renewed that's up for renewal based upon its annual report, its publicly published certified audits and the review of files. And in that time frame, you need to get together and create a new way of authorizing charter schools that may actually be helpful, not actually just in evaluating charter schools, but District schools as well.
Thank you. Would anybody else on this particular panel like to respond?
I would like to respond just by saying that in order for us to move forward with --
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Whoever's -- I'm having technical difficulties so I can't tell who that is. But I just want you to state your name for the record and then you can proceed with your remarks.
Okay. This is Dr. Coleman-Hill from Lab Charter and the African American Charter School Coalition. My response to the testimony is that in order to move forward without the frustration that we're hearing, I think we have to own the issues and come up with some real timelines. When I hear things like we're concerned about the finances of these small schools or these independent schools and supporting them but we should support the regular public schools as opposed to the charter schools, that's problematic. That thought process is problematic. When we're talking about coming to the table with support, we need a plan, we need a timeline, we need actionable steps. We need to come to the table ready to support each other. In Philadelphia we all serve the same children, the same urban children in an urban population. We should be looking out for the children's best interest. And if we're truly putting children first, why are charter schools excluded from levels of support that we need? Why are we paying other IUs for services we already pay IU-26 School District of Philadelphia for? Why are we not included in things that -- in PD, we see a little bit of inclusion in professional development now. But we're not adversaries and enemies. We serve the same children. We need to come together as such and make sure that all of these children still have a place to go every single day so that moms don't have to face what Ms. Naeemah described, driving kids across the City, so that no child has to face being uprooted from their school and that no school has to be dismantled systematically because you can, because you are exercising illegitimate power to do so without being checked. We need to come together to stop the framework, the subjectivity of it, the collection of information, the regulatory nature of what's collected. And we don't have time to get into the nuances of it, but it is very extreme what they collect from one school versus another. And we collect the data on this, so we have evidence as proof. We have to get rid of that framework and bring in something that's more supportive of schools, parents and scholars. Thank you.
Thank you. Are there any other members of this particular panel who would like to answer that question? (No response.)
I do have one more question so don't feel obligated to answer that question if you don't want to. And, Madam Clerk, I'm going to need your help with this because I cannot see if someone raised their hand or if they are in the chat feature.
All right. So here's -- again, the scope of the investigation did not talk about comparing and contrasting schools when they're evaluated, looking at schools who have the same score but the Black school has been -- I'm sorry. Looking at schools who have the same performance, the same issue, but the Black schools have been disproportionately impacted. Mr. Jones, you talked about it briefly. I'm wondering if you could elaborate a little bit more specifically about experiences that might not be related to your school that the Coalition has found where a minority-led school will commit a violation and a school that's not a minority-led school will commit the same violation but the penalty will be different. I just want to get those narratives on the record, because again this is another example of discrimination that we feel like it's a systemic part of the problem because the process is so subjective, that I just want on the record so we can understand things that have happened in the past so it can inform how we move forward. So I know Mr. Jones talked about it. I'm sure Dr. Hill can also jump in as well too or anybody else who's a part of that conversation. Can we put that information on the record as well too?
Sure. So there's two things that I can quickly think of. The first is that we've heard anecdotal reports multiple times of a situation where the outcome is impacted. So, for example, if I turn in a file and there's something missing, my file 15 is marked as incomplete. Whereas we have evidence of schools that will say they turned in a file and it was incomplete and they get a phone call that says, hey, you know this file is incomplete, and then they turn in the subsequent data and that is not marked against them. I think one of the most egregious things that affects not only minority charter schools but all charter schools is part of the framework allows the Charter School Office to at their discretion identify any small issue as egregious. So if they decide that one thing that you've done is egregious in any category, then that category becomes it does not meet standard. And so, that is highly subjective. So these are some of the things that we looked at. And again, I apologize. When I went back and read all of those charter renewal reports, I just did that for my school. I didn't have the time or bandwidth to do it for every school, but that might be something that the Charter School Office should do. And I will say that when we presented to the Charter School Office, the then Executive Director said that they had never done such an audit before. I find it odd that an entity that has 20-something employees of taxpayer dollars had never been audited.
I would. This is Dr. Andrea Coleman-Hill again. When we talk about the ratings and the subjectivity of the ratings, the needle changes as Ms. Chavous stated. For example, you can submit something and they say it's a problem because you submitted this witness. And then the next year you submit it without what they said was the problem and now it's another problem because you didn't submit with it all of those other things. So it seems like it is arbitrary what they'll accept or not. They'll request things from you like bylaws. Why are you requesting bylaws. Well, you're requesting bylaws so you can target, and that's in my case. You know, you had a Board member that went over their term. Well, we're in the middle of COVID. You can't really recruit Board members in a global pandemic that expire. Well, we're going to vote you down for that or statements of financial interest are due on May 1st every year. We all know that. If May 1st falls on a Sunday, they're due on Monday. But the CSO says, no, you get a down arrow, we said they're due on Sunday regardless of what the state says. These nitpicky kind of things you'll see on ACE reports. When you look at an ACE report for someone who got a five-year renewal that was outscored by a Black school that got nonrenewed and offered a surrender clause, that's pretty incredible. The evidence there is overwhelming, and there's no correction to those things. Well, you just go through renewal again like Mr. Jones stated. And again, you get into these perpetual renewal cycles that African American charter schools historically have been a part of. When does it stop. When do we right the wrongs, because all of that dismantling creates harm. And then we hear but now you're financially not where you need to be. Well, your finances are used to fight nonrenewals. And that's a part of the dismantling. But we don't see that with schools that are not Black-founded and led. We don't see that with other schools. Not only that, they typically have more resources. And no one's going to battle with someone with a war chest of money. But it's easy to dismantle a school by putting out false narratives by saying things like when parents call the Charter School Office, well, we don't know if that school is going to be open. And then they say, oh, but we're just being honest. That's not being honest. That's part of the problem. That's not coming from a place of support. It's coming from the deficit- targeted systemic bias model. All of these little things are easy to correct if, one, that we had a framework that worked and was not subjective. You should not, for example, call outside of a window and say, oh, now, I want all of your clearances. Well, my person has COVID, can't give them to you. Well, just give me what you have. And then report publicly that we're not collecting clearances. That should not be allowed, but it is and what has been. I don't know if it will be in the future with this new transparency. But we need to stop the subjectivity that is targeting charter schools that are Black- founded and led. And these ACE reports are online. We all have printed them all off and collect evidence from them and look at these ratings so we can prove that these things are happening. We're not just saying that these things are happening. Thank you.
Thank you, Dr. Hill. Thank you for your service to our children. Thank you, Mr. Jones. As we close this panel out, I just want to give Ms. Wilson an opportunity to have the final remarks for this panel as a parent and as someone who I consider our supervisor, right. All of us that's here today, all of the dialogue at the end of the day we all work for you. We are the ones who are responsible for making sure that parents and families in the City of Philadelphia have an opportunity to have access to a quality education no matter where they live or what type of institution they decide to go to. So, Ms. Wilson, based on what you've heard thus far today, based on your lived experiences, can you just give us a few final remarks as we close out this panel and prepare to transition to the next part of our hearing today?
Yes. Again, thank you for inviting me to hear my testimony. I really appreciate it. I'm somewhat uninformed because although I've always felt in my spirit based on my own experiences that there's been an attack on African-centered education, to hear just what you all have gone through to kind of support and bring light to some of the challenges that African- centered and founded institutions are experiencing, I just appreciate the work that you've done and I'm going to ensure myself that I do stay more informed and engaged. Speaking of engagement, I think that's really important across systems, right, that we're not working in silos, that everyone has a voice at these tables, that there are supports in place to support our schools, that there are systems in place that are going to help manage our charter schools, that funding is available and that engagement with the parents, with other stakeholders and community, with politicians as well is continuing to happen. So I think that everyone is on the right track. We're moving towards action and accountability. I think that our children will benefit from it. It truly does take a village to raise this entire community. And that's why I think that African-centered education is so important. I also want to highlight that while we were on the call there was a communication over social media about a charter school in the Northeast area, Philadelphia Academy Charter School. And the communication is saying that there are some White children that are walking around in black face and that the Black students don't feel safe. Safety is very important for our young people to be able to even grasp educational concepts. If they don't feel safe in their environment, you can forget about everything else. This is one of the reasons why I advocate and support for the continuation of Black- and Brown-led schools so that situations like this where our young people are experiencing racism by their peers and the people that are responsible for educating them is minimized. So I thank you all for your time and I hope you have a great afternoon.
Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Wilson. Those were great remarks. I don't think we can could ask for a better perspective to be able to close out this particular panel. Before we transition to the next phase of our hearing, are there any questions from members of the Committee or our state partners that are listening to our conversation today for this particular panel? (No response.)
Madam Clerk, I hear none, I see none. So I think we're okay to transition to the next part of our hearing; is that correct?
Madam Clerk, I will follow your lead. Thank you to that particular panel. Thank you for your service to the children. Thank you for your passion. Thank you for your patience. It's been a long hearing. We're over two-and-a-half hours now, but an important hearing and an important conversation. So, Madam Clerk, Tech team, I will follow your lead so we can begin the public comment.
Excellent. The first public comment is Fred Scott. Mr. Scott, are you connected?
That's all right. I spoke over you. Mr. Scott, can you please state your name and begin your comment.
Absolutely. My name is Frederick Scott and I came to say today, number one, I have to leave. My daughter is getting home from school so I will be leaving, but I have enjoyed this. Thank you for the invitation. I support Black-led and Black-founded charter schools. So much so that I sent my children to a Black-founded and Black-led charter school. In fact, all of my children went there. One -- my oldest son, he went to Harambee and Laboratory Charter School. My youngest son went to Laboratory and New Media Technology Charter School. My daughter went to West Philadelphia Achievement Charter Elementary School. And I want to say this right here: When my sons moved out of the District because we had to leave at a certain time because New Media closed down and I was not going to send my sons to a public school, so we went to a different district. But when they went into the other district, they went in culturally competent and academically capable. They went into a district that was 94 percent White and 2.5 percent Black. And both of my children, both of my children received scholarships. One received a full scholarship. My other son received a partial scholarship. Both of them went to grad school. And if they were here today -- and I wish that they were -- they would tell you that the difference for them was the education that they both received at a Black-led and Black-run, Black-founded charter school. They say -- I talked to my son last night, and he said that was the thing that made the difference. Both of those guys right now, one is a marketing executive for a major company. The other one he went pre-med and he's a nurse. I can guarantee you that they tell me all the time everybody that graduated with them, especially at Laboratory Charter School, is doing as good as they are doing or better, and they always attribute their success to what happened at a Black-led and Black-run, Black-founded charter school. So that's what I want to say because my time is short and I have a bunch, but at another time I hope I can talk to some people.
Can we move to Khadijah Amon. Khadijah, are you connected? (No response.)
Okay. Until we get her connected, we can move on to Natasha Pini. Are you connected, Natasha? COUNCIL TECH SUPPORT: I'm actually calling her right now. Sorry. That was my --
Hi, Khadijah. Thank you. Could you please begin your testimony?
Yes. Hello, everyone. I urge you, friends, Americans, Councilmen, lend me your ears. I've come to shine the light on what many want to keep in the dark. We, the people, are the present and the future. We are the foundation for the future. Our children we will leave behind in this world. They will set the norms, the new status quo. We must support, encourage and instruct them to do so in an environment in which they will thrive. We want the world to thrive globally. First, we, the people, must flourish in our school, in our communities and in our nation. In our homes we are in support of school choice, charter schools and more specifically but not exclusively African American- led charter schools. My husband and my older daughter Aurora have recently come to West Philadelphia Achievement Charter Elementary School from a local public school. I can attest that in less than one month Aurora is being challenged way more academically. Her homework reflects what she has learned throughout the day and week, and it is a booklet rather than a few papers that are stragglers. Aurora is socially acclimating fairly quickly. I believe this is due to the attitude of acceptance and reverence of the African Americans in our every shade. In times past, Aurora was misunderstood because of her head coverings and foreign lunches. Aurora was upset by comments made to others that those of light skin are better than those who have darker skin tones and that heavy- set students were ridiculed for their weight. But at WPACES, Aurora is enthusiastic and grateful, especially for programs that were not mandated at the previous public school she attended. Performing arts is a passion in our home and she does often come home very happy to share what her class has learned that day in performing arts. I'm thankful that she is able to be elevated in such an environment and is not bound to the neighborhood school nor by the disrespectful and intolerant behaviors that are being bred in that environment in which she has escaped. Our younger daughter Celeste is in her second year of attendance at WPACES. She has teachers who we are thankful are educators and that they have chosen to stay the course. I know it's not easy to be an educator, especially with the nominal valuation the society places on them. We are ever grateful to have teachers who understand our children, honor them and are intrigued to learn from the families that they serve. Being able to see teachers that come in, in every complexion is integral. Diversity is life. It is even more powerful to be able to see leaders and executives who look like us. I am very pleased. The students of African American- founded and led charter schools have such an example. Some of the students may not realize this yet or are not yet able to verbalize this, but it is still a huge grace of confidence which will enable the students to become stronger and stronger knowing our important worth in this world. Our children will walk uprightly with their heads lifted ever looking forward to what great feat it lacks. Moreover, I love the school spirit at WPACES. I have recently come to notice that the sportsmanship and encouragement of the Board and values of the school year are stronger than at many other public schools. In addition to the Pledge of Allegiance, the students daily recite the Afrocentric creed by Dr. Molefi Asante. The Afrocentric creed is a solemn vow of belief in one's self and the goodness of others. A vow to be present and put forth one's best effort and self, to love, to learn and to take accountability. These doctrines are universal and if we lawfully strive for mastery in these doctrines and do good, we will succeed any and everywhere by the grace of God. According to the United States Census Bureau, the population in Philadelphia County was 1,603,707 in 2022. 6 million residents identify as fully or partially Black or African American. We are 42 percent of the population and we are a substantial part.
With this much representation throughout the County, it is a shame that African American-populated schools are underfunded because of our presence. Unfortunately, our African American-led and founded charter schools have been closed readily due to prejudice. There are 83 charter schools citywide. According to the Philadelphia charter school investigative report, African American students make up 60 percent of the charter school population. Yet African American-led and founded charter schools make up less than 30 percent of those which are currently operating. We are being stifled in ownership and operation and we know this is not by chance. Liberty, justice and school choice are important to all, important for all. A learning experience unique to our scholars palate and in order to refine their palate is key to achievement. We should be striving for excellence in the world, in our communities, in our homes, in our children and in our dealings. Our time, energy and work needs to be dedicated to break oppression, quell ignorance and uplift the downtrodden. In African American-led charter schools, there is a chance to truthfully focus on this type of justice and to be nurtured and accepted in a way that is necessary for our future. So I ask for equity in funding our African American-led charter schools and really every school. Show us our lives matter. Also, create a nonbiased system for oversight and expansion opportunities for our schools. Lastly, please protect parents' and caregivers' options to choose the learning environment that is best for our school and best for our scholars. And in doing so, you secure our future and secure the future for a better world. Thank you for your time and thank you for your service.
Thank you, Khadijah. Can I call the next witness Natasha Pini. (No response.)
Hello. COUNCIL TECH SUPPORT: No, Natasha wasn't on. The next one was -- give me one second. I'll pull it up for you.
Hi, Ms. Simmons. Can you state your name and begin your comment.
Hi. My name is Malanna Simmons. I am a social work consult for People for People Charter School. I am a licensed social worker and a PDE-certified social worker. I'm one of only 182 state-certified social workers. I would first like to begin with stating the importance of Black charters in our community because what Black charters do for our community is they community-build and they're valuable and imperative. A strong supportive community within and around our school serves as the foundational element for addressing generational trauma and systemic barriers that have historically disadvantaged our students. Generational trauma often burdens our students due to historical injustices and systemic discrimination. These traumas can manifest in their behavior and hinder their ability to engage effectively in the learning process. By fostering a sense of community, we create a safe space where students can begin to heal. We develop resilience and ultimately our students tend to thrive academically. Moreover, systemic barriers such as unequal access to resources and opportunity have long hindered the academic success of Black students. Building a strong community within the school system enables us to pull resources, advocate for policy changes, provide additional support to dismantle these barriers. The collective effort is essential in addressing the systemic issues that perpetuate (inaudible), which brings me to my next point. Today I want to emphasize the profound importance of behavior in our educational system and its far-reaching impact on academic success, especially within the Black charter school system. As we delve into this critical topic, we'll explore how individual student behavior shapes the classroom dynamics in our K through 12 settings and how it intersects with the significance of social, emotional learning, adequate social and communication skill development, behavioral intervention, trauma-focused and evidence-based practices in the role of community in addressing generational trauma and systemic barriers. In the context of a K through classroom, behaviors 4 assume a pivotal role in shaping 5 the learning environment. A single 6 student's behavior can exert 7 profound influence either 8 positively by fostering a conducive 9 atmosphere for learning or 10 negatively by hindering academic 11 progress of not only that student 12 but also their peers. This is where creating a universal design for learning framework is crucial within our charters. A universal design for learning focuses on three core components: Engagement, representation, action and expression. The framework that's utilized in (inaudible) academics through strengthening understanding around the impact and the intersection of how our children self-regulate, how they comprehend their executive function, the way they express themselves and their ability to communicate. We've utilized these core components here at People for People Charter through a three- level system of intervention and targets social, emotional and behavioral concerns that greatly shift and impact the morale of individual students, the teachers, the classrooms and our families at large. This framework acknowledges that students have diverse needs and as such, tailors its support accordingly by addressing behavioral issues early on and systemically through our established framework. At People for People Charter where I'm a consultant we have collaboratively designed this framework to focus on trauma-informed and trauma- sensitive practices, social, emotional learning and behavior modification to assist with holistic student improvement. We're able to accomplish such speech through using our partnerships with Temple, West Chester and Bryn Mawr but provided us with interns who are vested in both their professional future and the future of the students here at our school.
Our aim is to establish an environment where every student has an equitable opportunity to thrive academically through attention to their basic social, emotional and academic needs while also nurturing the future of the profession through our partnerships. Furthermore, our trauma- focused approach is indispensable in addressing behaviors that may stem from past traumas. It's crucial to understand and to address these traumas as they significantly impact a student's behavior in their ability to engage in the learning process. Employing trauma-informed practices enabled educators to respond to students with empathy and support, effectively reducing behaviors to active barriers to academic progress. However, it's essential to recognize that the impact of the behavior reaches far beyond the classroom wall. Our students' behaviors are not confined solely to their school experiences. They're shaped by their (inaudible) ecological environment, encompassing their homes and communities. To comprehensively address behavioral challenges and foster a trauma-sensitive environment, we must consider this larger context. By understanding and addressing the ecological factors contributing to these behaviors, we can create lasting change that benefit both the student and their community. In conclusion, the nexus of behavior, community and academic success is undeniably crucial, particularly within the Black charter school system. By prioritizing behavior interventions and trauma-informed practices and fostering the support of community, we are establishing the necessary foundation for academic achievement. Behavior as a fundamental building block underpins the educational journey of our students and it's only by addressing it holistically and inclusively that we can truly empower every student to reach their full potential, break free from the cycle of disadvantage and build a brighter future for themselves and their community. This is possible with the flexibility that a charter allows to implement such practices. And that's why I think Black-led charters are important to community for cultural competence and representation of our students who get to actively see people embracing their culture and helping them grow along in their futures. Thank you. That's all.
Thank you, Ms. Simmons. I'm moving to Dr. Alex Shue. (No response.)
Can you go ahead and begin your testimony, state your name. Can you please keep it under three minutes. We have another hearing that is supposed to start soon. Thank you so much.
Yeah, I know. This is a lot of people speaking. Okay. Ready to go, right. So this is Dr. Alex Shue. I am an educational psychologist and I've worked in Philadelphia for years 8 in education research. Worked with 9 charter schools, public schools, 10 private schools, everything that 11 can serve a kid, preschools, 12 colleges, and I've gotten to 13 understand and love Philadelphia. 14 What I want -- and one 15 thing in particular, that we have 16 some of the greatest and most- 17 dedicated educators in the country 18 and I've been around the country. 19 I can tell you that for sure. And 20 I appreciate Councilman Thomas 21 having this hearing and having so 22 many people speak about the nature 23 of the education for the kids. 24 I did want to say since I 25 am a certified expert in charter schools and in educational assessments, that I have some insight into the framework that people have been talking about. The framework that the Charter School Office has used for the last eight years or so has some major problems with it, which we pointed out and a number of those things were pointed in the Ballard Spahr report. One thing that it doesn't take into account, the racial challenges of the population. There's no aspect that takes into account equity issues, and I think some other people pointed that out. There were no trained statisticians as far as we can tell in developing the framework. And yet you would want a completely fair system to be developed where we didn't necessarily have biases within a tool that's used basically to decide whether a charter school lives or die, in other words whether kids get opportunities or not. And then there was no 5 statistician as far as we can tell to look to see whether the implementation of the tool that actually caused bias against African American- or Hispanic-run charter schools, so the lack of the sort of digital analysis is a problem and needs to be remedied. And then as far as the way that the calculations are done with the framework that produces basically a number that's essentially out of 100 has an inherent bias against Hispanic- and Black-led charter schools because of the way that it takes into account attendance accounts and proficiency. If you want more information on that, we can certainly provide that. In other words --
Okay. So I'm just going to tell you a couple of things, which is I think we need a new framework which is independently verified. We need an independent evaluation system for charter schools and we need predictable goals so that charter schools know what they have to achieve two to three years ahead of time. Instead they tell them what they have to achieve in the year that they are trying to achieve them. So those things could be helpful in increasing the fairness of the evaluation system. And thank you very much for your time.
Thank you, Alex. I will call the next witness, Andre Williams.
Hi, Andre. Would you be able to state your name and start your public comment please?
Thank you. And if you can, just limit it to about three minutes.
Dr. Shue just wrapped up. Mr. Williams, are you still there? (Background interruption.) COUNCIL TECH SUPPORT: If you have the audio on the screen up, can you please turn that down so you can hear from the meeting.
That has been done. Thank you, sir. Hello. My name is Andre Williams. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to the Council. My (inaudible) in education in the City of Philadelphia started when I was honored to be the Director of High School Renovation and Development for the School District of Philadelphia. From there I transitioned to the Director of Operations and Acting Principal of People for People Charter School, which is a Black-founded and led charter school, and then was a Board member of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools. So this caused me to retire, but I'm now presently Vice-president of the Board of Directors of the People for People Charter School. Charter schools are a positive option for students and their parents. People for People Charter School nourishes children holistically and encourage them to have pride in themselves and the school and the community. The students, a tight-knit (inaudible), caring of citizens -- to be caring citizens of the world with an entrepreneurial mindset. We strive to awaken in them different levels of consequences about life and incite them to visualize and establish innovative, positive purpose for their lives so that they can survive the traumas of life. And I believe that many of our charter schools around the country are doing that. Children need all the resources available to become respectful contributing citizens, adequate resources to overcome the trauma that comes in their lives, has a hefty price tag, so we need to fund our schools properly. People choose to love themselves, love others, love life and they know the knowledge obtained from education leads to an awarding life in which they not only help themselves but more importantly help others. As I travel around the great city of Philadelphia with regularity, I am blessed with (inaudible) success stories and thankfulness for the care and the encouragement in which they receive at People for People Charter School. I pray that this message will instill in those who hear it and understanding that charter schools are a positive resource by educating and developing the minds and hearts of our students. The charter schools need your support in adequate funding and encouragement. Thank you. Have a great evening.
Hi. If you could please state your name for the record and begin your comment as well as keep your testimony to about three minutes. You can begin.
Yes. My name is William Basemore. Good afternoon, everyone. Yes.
I think you have us on the streaming and on Teams. If you can turn down your streaming device.
All right. My name is William Basemore. Good afternoon everyone. I currently work at People for People Charter School as the Director of Academic Engagement and Improvement. I have always been passionate about working with children and making a difference in my community. I have a Master's degree in clinical psychology and have over 15 years of experience working in two charter schools in different capacities. In addition, my children attend charter schools as well. Within my allotted time, I will discuss why my choice is charter schools, some changes and why having Black-led schools are important, impactful and helpful. My why I chose charter schools. Charter schools provide a safe, secure, nurturing environment where students can grow. Also, teachers take an active individual role in teaching the whole student. Essentially, charter schools become a part of the child's family and a part of the community. Staff are very accessible to parents and guardians. Charter schools show the importance of community and it takes a village. My why for Black-led schools: It's important for our innercity youth to be educated by Black-run schools. Students see Black leaders and become leaders and set goals and visualize themselves as leaders. In addition, students are given the high expectations and held accountable for academics, behaviors, social and emotional learning, community service and learning how to handle conflict in a positive manner. The changes I suggest, our charter school should be equally funded as public schools. Minority students have deficits that we try to overcome. Therefore, unequal distribution of local, state and federal funds for education should be distributed equally. We are all trying to educate our youth. Another change to suggest is more creative arts programs for students in charter schools. Due to the fact economics plays a huge role in the charter schools, many of our creative arts programs have been cut. So many of our children have raw talent but do not have a way to foster their talent. In closing, Black-run charter schools are a positive influence. The skills acquired in charter schools help close the achievement gap. They allow the community to have an active role. They allow students to see what the future can hold. But most importantly, it holds each and every student to the highest esteem, knowing that they will be able to achieve as we prepare them for our future leaders. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. Can I call the next witness, Darryl Seaford. (No response.)
Hi, Darryl. Could you please state your first and last name and begin your testimony. And if you can, please keep it to about three minutes.
Give me a minute. I am actually on the expressway. I just need to pull over. Is that okay?
Yes, I'm still available. No, I'm saying you want to call me back because I'm on the expressway so I need to get off and pull over.
Excellent. Thank you for joining. If you can please just state your first and last name and keep your testimony to about two minutes, you can begin.
Okay. Great. Good afternoon. My name is Ashley Redford. I'm the CEO of American Paradigm Schools. Thank you for your time today. We appreciate the work of the African American Charter Coalition to make sure these concerns are addressed, and we thank City Council for taking interest to review this. Systemic biases have been impacting Philadelphia's student's education in one of the most serious ways by causing disruption to schools and school communities. Surrender clauses disproportionately target minority- led charters requiring to relinquish their charter without the possibility of appeal if the School Board deems conditions to be unmet. Furthermore, this report shows that (inaudible) with the District employees and School Board consider the use of surrender clauses as a way to avoid the cost of potential litigation and costly appeal processes. We want to call attention to the parallel stories that echoed the concerns about bias and conflict of interest and anecdotally support this report. In particular, as we support the African American Charter Coalition, we also want to highlight ways that the process and the surrender clause have impacted schools that serve a primarily Latinx community. Memphis Street Academy is a charter school with a surrender clause that was recently invoked. Our school community has a higher percentage of students in poverty, minority students and English language learners than the District. During the pandemic, we heeded the call from the City to provide as much community support as possible. Our school has a school-based health center for students. We provide mental health support. We provide community food distributions. We had vaccine clinics, testing sites and English language classes for adults. None of these metrics appear in the ACE framework for renewal. Through the renewal process, Memphis Street met standards in compliance, fiance and governance. Memphis Street was recently acknowledged as a beating- the-odds school for exceeding the national average in academic growth for reading and math. There are heavier burdens in the ACE framework against schools that are addressing different levels of student learning, English language learning services, high poverty and high special needs populations. We are counting on the leadership of City Council to help correct the concerns that have previously been unaddressed at the School District level. Further disruption of schools in the most vulnerable communities will only cause more burdens in other sectors of the City as stability and wellness is threatened. We should pause current closure of charter schools, especially through the use of surrender clauses until we can have a remedy to the biases and the renewal framework. We appreciate your time today. Thanks.
Thank you, Ms. Redford. I'd like to call again Darryl Seaford.
Okay. Please state your first and last name and begin your comment to under three minutes.
Okay. Thank you. Hi. My name is Darryl Seaford and I am a father with one child presently enrolled at People for People Charter School and two who have already transitioned to (inaudible) High School. I wish to highlight the significance of Black charter schools in Philadelphia. My older children, now private in high school, and balancing work and responsibilities are a testament to the strong foundation they received at People for People. The lasting impact for People for People Charter School has had on both my children and me is remarkable. The school has taught my children a sense of confidence and strong work ethic, qualities that are serving them well in their high school and their working lives. For me, witnessing their growth and the school's role has been deeply gratifying and reinforced by the belief of importance of tailored education. One of the greatest advantages of charter schools is finding a school that fit our children's unique needs. In my experience, People for People offer a learning environment that was perfectly suited to each of my children. They received education tailored to their individual styles, which not only enhanced their academic performance but also ignited their passion for learning. The community aspect of charter schools cannot be overstated. My children were a part of a nurturing community, which played a crucial role in their development. They were more than just students. They were valued members of a close-knit educational family. And lastly for me, charter schools empower us all as parents. We have a voice in our children's education, making us partners in their learning journey. This involvement is empowering and has been a significant factor in the success of my children. Actually to sum it all up, Black charter schools like People for People are invaluable by providing personalized education, foster a strong community bond and lead in innovation. My experience as a parent has been overwhelmingly positive and I advocate for the support and recognition of the schools in our educational system. Thank you for your time and for hearing my voice about the Black charter schools of Philadelphia.
Hi, Lisa. Please state your first and last name and you can begin your testimony. And if you could keep it to about three minutes.
Okay. Good afternoon. My name is Lisa Haver. I am Cofounder and Coordinator of the Alliance of Philadelphia Public Schools. I've attended meetings of the School Reform Commission and the Board of Education for over 12 years. 13 At this time I would like 14 to ask which Councilmembers are 15 currently present at this hearing? 16
I'm 17 sorry. This is Councilmember 18 Thomas. This is a Committee -- 19 this is the Education Committee, so 20 the members of the Education Committee as well as the staff are the people who've been invited and are present at the hearing right now. So --
Okay. So all the current members of the Education Committee are hearing us. Okay. Thank you. From October 2016 to March 2017, the District then under the governance of the School Reform Commission invited charter operators to a series of secret meetings. There was no 9 public notice and no opportunity for public testimony. Charter administrators were there mostly to say what they wanted in their charter performance framework. That resulted in a deregulation and lowering of standards for charter schools. That could now score only 45 percent of academic and other categories and still technically meet the standard. The public only knows about these secret meetings because of it was reported after the fact by WHYY Radio. It's puzzling that one of the panels referred to the difficulties the Charter operators have in understanding the evaluations when they, themselves, helped to form them. (Technical difficulties.)
The legacy of secrecy remains. Charter operators have access to District and Board staff to conduct private negotiations for charter renewals. Like other districts in the state, Philadelphia's Board of Education holds no public renewal hearings. If they did, we might be able to avoid the pain and disruption that students of the Walter D. Palmer Charter School suffered years ago. And what students at Mathematics, Sciences and Civics are experiencing now, schools closed by their own CEOs, not by the District. In past years, APPS published two informational articles -- excuse me, in the past year APPS published two information articles on the City's charters. What it shows is most of the City's charter schools are underenrolled, some significantly. The length of the Charter waiting list is just that. The other report compiled some federal tax information, reports on the salary compensation of Charter CEOs and administrators. Our article questioned why schools need CEOs and why so many are so highly paid. At least three paid more to oversee one or two schools than the District's Superintendent. Many facts are omitted from articles and discussions about charter schools. It's important to understand the original history and stated mission of charter schools so we can see whether the privatization experiment of public schools has worked. Charter investors promised to make education better for the City's children. They said that charter schools would always perform better than public schools. Even beyond that, they promised to privatizing the City's public schools would create a ripple effect that would lift families out of poverty and lower the crime rate. Obviously, none of that happened. Charter expansion actually was promoted and funded by the Bill 13 & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Walter Foundation and other corporate interests. Their money resulted in years of hostile takeovers of neighborhood schools known as the Renaissance Program. Despite the pleading of students, parents and community members, not one of the schools put on that list was fair. The one time that the SRC allowed parents to vote from Ed Steel and Munoz-Marin Elementary School, parents overwhelmingly rejected privatization of these schools. APPS issued an analysis two years ago that showed that not one Renaissance Charter had fulfilled its mission to "effect dramatic change." One former Board member referred to the program as the most expensive failure in the District's history. Billionaire Jeffrey Yass is currently among the wealthy donors funding the pro-privatization PAC and the campaign of pro-school privatization candidates still pushing for the privatization of public schools, and now for vouchers both of which divert money from neighborhood public schools. The call for accountability for privately-managed charter schools is often misconstrued as being anti-charter. The original idea of charters wasn't to create a web of privately-run schools but to bring more innovation of flexibility to the public schools. With the increasing privatization of public schools came more standardized testing and (inaudible) prep. The promises of innovation and accountability no 8 longer referred to. PA charter law, the state's charter law in particular, made it too easy for real estate investors and contractors to profit. Many charter schools have been cited for barriers to enrollment and for expelling their students without legally requiring due process. It has been reported that a number of charter operators and organizations actually just walk away from schools, most recently Universal Daroff and Universal Bluford, with no consideration for the community and no consequence. We are asking the City Council --
Go ahead. I'm sorry. You can finish. No, please finish.
Thank you. I just have two more sentences. City Council should advocate for public hearings for charter renewals. Councilmembers should be calling on the Board of Education to end their speaker depression policy. Then we can consider all of the facts and have a more substantive discussion. Thank you, Chair Thomas.
Thank you. I just want to offer some context based on that testimony. I think sometimes what happens is when Black-led institutions begin to communicate, this isn't just an education thing. This is an issue that Black spaces have in general. I respect everything that that witness just communicated and I understand that there are issues with the dynamics of charter schools. But when we create platforms to have conversations around issues that Black-led institutions specifically are facing, it's disingenuous to then change that topic to talk about issues that all charters are facing. As the Chair of the Education Committee, I'm very well aware that we need regulations and guidelines as it relates to charter oversight. We're very well aware of other issues that charter spaces have had. We understand that there's been individual institutions who have done things that are unethical and in some cases, even illegal. But at the end of the day, today's conversation is not about charters. Today's conversation is specifically about Black-led institutions and how Black-led institutions are disproportionately treated, how we have a system that is in place that negatively hurts those institutions. Now, the recommendations made by that witness, I don't think anybody will disagree with those recommendations. But I think it's important when we ask for a platform for Black people to be able to communicate some of the issues and things that they have and want to talk about their lived experience, that those conversations don't get hijacked and the topic changes to a whole other issue. We have issues with charters. Today's hearing is not about charters. Today's hearing is specifically about Black-led institutions and the impact that the system that we currently have has had on those Black-led institutions based on the report that was commissioned by the School Board as well as the lived experiences from the panelists here today. So anyone in the listening audience, I just want to be clear for those that are still paying attention, for my Council colleagues that are still here, I just want the focus to remain hyperly on Black-led institutions and Black-led institutions' experiences working with the School Board, the Charter Office and other governmental authorities. Madam Clerk, will you please call the next witness to testify here today.
Hi, Tyheem. Can you please state your first and last name and begin your testimony to be kept to about three minutes.
Good afternoon. My name's Tyheem Bailey Taylor and I'm a current high school senior as well as the cadet for the Commander at the Philadelphia Military Academy. I have recently received the U.S. Army's Medal of Heroism, the (inaudible) Foundation Award and also received a Proclamation for the Pennsylvania Senate. I began my educational journey at the People for People Charter School back in kindergarten, marking the start of an incredible educational journey that has profoundly shaped who I am today. Throughout my years at the school, I've experienced extremely high levels of support and guidance. These opportunities have been instrumental in my personal and in my academic growth. The dedicated educators at the People for People Charter School not only provided me with the knowledge but also instilled in me invaluable values of resilience, determination and engagement. This school has been the cornerstone of my success, providing me with the skills and confidence necessary to navigate challenges and pursue my goals. The school's commitment to innovative teaching methods and tailored educational programs fostered in an environment where everybody ends up celebrating and diverse perspectives are embraced, this inclusive approach not only enriched my learning experience but also encouraged me to embrace my unique strengths and my interests. Beyond academics, the People for People Charter School served as a hub for fostering meaningful connectors within the community. The relationship (inaudible) has been headquartered in the shape of my identity and purpose. As a testament to transformative power of Black-led charter schools like People for People, I stand before the Philadelphia City Council to advocate for continued support and recognition of charter schools. They're not just schools. They are beacons of opportunity, empowerment and hope for countless students' pathway to success. My journey from kindergarten to where I am today wouldn't have been possible without the unwavering dedication of the educators, the innovative educational approach and the supportive community at the People for People Charter School. I urge the Council to continue keeping the existence and growth of these charter schools, enabling more students to access lifechanging opportunities I was fortunate to expand. Thank you for considering the profound impacts of the People for People Charter School on my life and the lives of many others within my community. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Clerk. I know I did this before. But, Madam Clerk, I just want to say congratulations to you. For those of the listening audience, our Clerk here today has just clerked her last meeting for Councilmember Isaiah Thomas. So I just want to let you know that your service and your work is very much appreciated. I know you're not going far. You're going to get accustomed to our office, so I know this is a very special day to you, a special moment. I just want to thank you for your service to the City of Philadelphia even though it will continue. But more importantly, thank you for your service to my office and working with my team, and I think more importantly for being my friend as it relates to our relationship and this journey together. So thank you, Madam Clerk. Before we conclude the hearing for today, I just want to make sure I echo the sentiments of my colleague earlier, Councilmember Quetcy Lozada. Councilmember Lozada first talked about the fact that not only is this an issue that Black institutions are facing, but Latino-led institutions are facing similar issues. And I think as we move forward into 2024 and we frame this conversation, we have to begin to include those institutions in this conversation because they're experiencing some of the same things that was discussed today. So I just want to thank Councilmember Lozada for her leadership and for her words today. And her words also resonated with me because she gave us a charge. She said, what do we do from here, where do we go from here, and let's be able to point to tangible things. We know that we've seen changes as it relates to the Black Charter Coalition. But what do we do from here, where do we go from here and how do we assure we move in a way that's productive, efficient and in the best interest of children and families across the City of Philadelphia. So with that being said, there being no further questions from members of the Committee and no other witnesses to testify, I would like to ask if there's anyone else present in this hearing whose name we have failed to call that wishes to offer any testimony or any remarks? (No response.)
Hearing none, I want to say thank you to all the panels, all the witnesses, all of the members of Council as well as the staff who's involved in our hearing today. I want to give a huge shout-out to our Tech team here on City Council. This hearing was well over two hours, actually well over three hours. And, Tech team, we appreciate you sticking with us. Council staff members, we appreciate you sticking with us throughout the course of this hearing. I know you guys have one more hearing coming up after this so I do apologize for the delayed start. But again, I just want to say thank you to all of my colleagues for all your passion, all the great work that's done in the best interest of the citizens of Philadelphia. And again, Councilmember Lozada, I'm inspired. You inspire me. We have work to do and the work will continue. So this concludes the business before the Committee of Education here today. And again, I just want to say thank you everybody. And for who I don't talk to and don't see, please have a happy holiday. Have a safe and a blessed new year. Thank you, everybody. (Committee on Educatin concluded at 4:30 p.m.) C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. __________________________________ TANEHA CARROLL