Actually, I had a host of questions I haven't gotten to yet. Secretary Barnett, thank you for your testimony. On September 28, 2006, Mayor Street created the Philadelphia Education Advisory Task 191 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. Force. I was at the press conference. Do you recall at that point the Mayor turning around acknowledging me at the press conference and saying, We're going to need more local tax dollars, and asking would I commit to that?
At the point of that press conference, was it your anticipation that there would be new local revenue needed to support the school system?
We always anticipated that there would be additional funding necessary for the School District. What that amount would be was not determined at that point. The Task Force was charged to look at what additional reforms would be necessary and the price tag for those reforms.
At what point was the Task Force supposed to issue a report?
The goal was to have it issued three months out from the initial date, and it was in many ways hobbled by the fact that we were trying to get an understanding, as the Chief of Staff has said, understanding of the finances.
The report was supposed to be due before the end of 2006; is that correct?
Correct. And so when we began to look at the finances, as has been stated before, we were not clear as to the magnitude of the debt that we 193 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. would be incurring. So in order to have a report that fully took in the understanding of the finances, we thought it prudent to ask Secretary Masch to come and help us understand the finances. At that point, we did.
You're jumping ahead, Secretary. When the Mayor held a press conference creating the Education Advisory Task Force, he said a report would be done by the end of the year.
Then on December 30, 2006, the Mayor delivered his New Year's radio address. He said the Task Force report would be available within a month or so after that.
He set a new timeline in January or February. He did 194 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. not meet that timeline either; is that correct?
Okay. There were further comments made in the Mayor's budget address on February 22, 2007. He said that Council should wait until the Education Advisory Task Force issue its draft report, which was supposed to come at some point in March at that time; is that correct?
The Mayor since that time continues to tell us to wait for this report. When is the report coming?
Sir, let me backtrack a bit with your timeline. On December the 20th, 2006, we sent a letter to the School District asking them for additional understanding of their finances, and this letter was actually 195 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. penned by Secretary Masch stating that five years had gone by since the Commonwealth and the City had entered this bold historic agreement --
Secretary Barnett, I was not privy to that correspondence.
I'm dealing with public statement. There was a public statement on September 28, 2006 that said the report would be done by the end of the year. It was not done.
There was a public statement and radio address by the Mayor on December 30, 2006 that said the report would be done in January or February. The report was not done. In 196 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. the Mayor's budget address to City Council on February 22, 2007, the Mayor said that it would be done within the month, by the end of March. It was not done. When is it going to be done?
When you needed to understand the District's finances in September, how were you going to reach that goal, and did you see the need to call Michael Masch at an earlier point?
At the time, we did not anticipate that we were going to ask the Secretary to specifically come and look at the District's finances. The Governor's Office always had agreed to participate with us, but as we became aware of the deficit that continued to 197 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. grow, we thought it prudent, particularly since the state is our partner, to have them to come and take a closer look. Clearly, as the fact that Secretary Masch was just getting ready to issue a report on the District's finances, we didn't want to have a report that would not reflect with any sense of accuracy or the state weighing in in a way that provided information that had been requested.
So what has the Task Force been doing since September?
We have been working alongside with Secretary Masch to look at the finances.
Well, he just came on recently. What happened from September to December?
No. In December, the Secretary asked for the additional information of the finances, because when I spoke with him, he said -- I said, We don't have the additional information 198 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. that is necessary. He said, I'd like to continue to work with you and to partner with you to get the District to provide that information. And since that point, he has, and we have been meeting, as Mr. Vallas and the Chairman have talked about, along with other members, to look at the District's finances.
What was your plan in September to review the finances of the School District to meet the goal of December 31, 2006?
What was your plan? How were you planning to look at the School District's budget and determine what your report would be by December the 31st? What hampered you from doing your report?
Understanding. The way in which the District's finances were organized and projected were not 199 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. clear to us, and so upon receiving quite a bit of the information, we still were not clear and as, again, sort of talked with Secretary Masch about it, and he agreed and has since created templates that are completely different than the ones in which he has reviewed.
So you spent $350,000 to develop a report that depends on Michael Masch?
One portion of it does. There are five sections in it, and we thought it critical to understand if there were reforms that were necessary, to know how much they're going to cost, and we did not want to give an inaccurate number.
We paid a 200 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. consultant that held public town hearings. We did focus groups. We actually did the research and sort of looked at the history and the state of the School District and the progress that has been made to make projections and recommendations moving forward.
So when you had the town meetings and forums, what were the goals? What were your goals to have those forums and what did you glean from those forums that would help you understand the School District's finances?
Right. Those things are embedded in the report in which we will share, but certainly the Mayor has always been prone and privy to public process. And we learned quite a bit with regard to class size. There are other things around professional development that are also a part of the report.
Thank you. 201 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. Any other questions from members of Council? (No response.)
Thank you very much. Mr. Jerry Jordan. Good afternoon. You know how this runs.
These hearings run. You want to state your name for the record, please, and begin your testimony.
Yes. Good afternoon. I am Jerry Jordan, Vice-President of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, which represents 17,000 teachers and school support staff. Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the School District budget. Philadelphia's public school students can boast of many achievements over the past five years, and the PFT is proud of the many contributions our 202 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. members have made.
Excuse me, Mr. Jordan. Mr. Nevels, you're not leaving, are you?
But after five years of reforms in Philadelphia, a majority of our students perform at or below basic levels. Despite what has been described as the most ambitious school reform program in the nation, 59 percent of Philadelphia's children leave the third grade reading at or below basic levels and only a third of Philadelphia's 11th grade students are proficient in reading, a figure that is virtually unchanged since 2001. In a technology-driven global 203 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. economy, the rate of academic progress is too slow to guarantee that our children will be prepared to enter the workforce and lead productive, successful lives. We need a Marshall Plan for education that combines political will with strategic investment of public funds directly into the classrooms and education programs that are proven to accelerate academic achievement and provide opportunities for disadvantaged children. We have become complacent about education policies and funding by accepting a status quo in which the students who need the most from public schools receive fewer resources and opportunities. It's easy to raise academic standards, says Stanford University Professor Linda Darling-Hammond in The Nation, but it's far more important to ensure that the standards and conditions under which students are educated are 204 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. also raised. As Gloria Ladson-Billings, former President of the American Educational Research Association, has noted, "the problem we face is less an achievement gap than an educational debt that has accumulated over centuries of denied access to education and employment, reinforced by deepening poverty and resource inequalities in schools. " With the imminent change in the School District's leadership, we have an opportunity and responsibility to turn this equation around by investing wisely in classrooms throughout the City. We cannot move forward, however, without accurate budget information. Over the past three years, we 205 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. have been fed a steady diet of half truths when it comes to District finances. Educators, parents and the larger community have a right to transparency and fiscal accountability from the District, which has wasted millions of dollars on private contracts and, at times, a bloated bureaucracy. The District's lack of candor on budget matters over the past three years is irresponsible. Budget mismanagement resulted in a 30 percent reduction in extracurricular spending in Fiscal 2006, a $73 million deficit this year and a projected $186 million deficit in Fiscal 2008. The deficit has grown despite the District receiving millions of additional city and state revenue since 2001. In fact, if one totals the additional increases given in each of the last five years, new revenues totaled over $1 billion. The deficit remained even after 206 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. the elimination of 175 School District jobs last December and the demotion of scores of District employees who were forced to accept pay cuts of percent. 6 Ninety percent of those laid off and 7 demoted employees are Philadelphia 8 residents - teachers, secretaries, clerks 9 and other bread-winners who support 10 learning in our schools and families in 11 your districts. 12 Still hemorrhaging money in 13 January, the District eliminated 26 new 14 teacher coaches, leaving hundreds of 15 first-year teachers without mentors to 16 help them develop their skills and become 17 effective, confident teachers. 18 billion budget for the 2007-8 20 school year, which includes another $100 million in budget cuts, including teachers. Without additional city and state funds, the District will have to cut another $85 million from the budget to balance it. 207 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. It's clear that this budget will not move education reform forward.
Money is not going directly into the classrooms in order to lower class sizes; support struggling students with quality extended day, summer school and tutoring programs; improve professional development for staff; increase the number of children in our early childhood education programs; repair or replace dilapidated schools; provide safe and orderly learning environments; restore art and music education; or reopen dozens of closed school libraries. Instead of investing in classrooms, the School District is squandering resources on outside contractors. According to a study by Research for Action, under the SRC's leadership, the District spent 500 million, or one-quarter of its operating budget, on contracted services in Fiscal 2006, up from 380 million in 2003. The 208 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. number of contracts in excess of $25,000 doubled from 2002 to 2003 alone. We believe the School District's budget proposal deserves close scrutiny by Council. We urge Councilmembers to demand that the District reduce the number of costly outside contracts and spend more money on direct services to students. Although we believe the budget requires more scrutiny, that doesn't mean the District does not need additional money. Despite increased funding from both the city and the state during the past five years, Philadelphia schools remain vastly underfunded compared to surrounding districts, particularly when one considers the large percentage of students who require extra services to overcome economic, social and educational disadvantages. 's bill to dedicate additional tax millage 209 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. to public schools. Councilman Goode's legislation would provide an additional $19 million a year. We do not, however, support giving the District a blank check. Rather, we urge City Council to require the money be provided for research-based programs, proven to help children succeed. PFT members have seen firsthand this year how budget cuts hurt students. Over the past two years, class sizes have increased dramatically despite overwhelming evidence that reducing class size improves student achievement, raises graduation rates and college attendance and decreases student discipline problems. This fall, PFT members reported more than 500 oversized classes. Some classes, at Carnell Elementary, for example, contained as many as 42 children. As of mid May, the District had 205 classrooms in which the number of students exceeded contractual limits, 210 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. which at 30 to 33 children per classroom are among the highest in the Commonwealth. Seventy-one teachers were assigned to teach split classes in which they teach children in two different grades simultaneously. With the No Child Left Behind requirement to raise student achievement, assigning elementary school students to combined grade classes deprives children of the individual attendance and academic support they need to be successful. The District's 2007-8 budget will do nothing to alleviate overcrowding. In fact, the current budget calls for maintaining classes at the contractual maximums, hiring fewer teachers this summer and eliminating a number of instructional positions permanently. This guarantees that schools will open in the fall with hundreds of overcrowded classrooms. The District announced in its 211 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. budget highlight that this strategy will save $9 million, an example of saving money on the backs of our children. Even before tragic attacks on PFT members this year occurred, our members were telling us that they did not feel safe in their schools. In an online survey of nearly 600 Philadelphia teachers this year, 55 percent said they do not feel safe, 45 percent said they have been victims of crimes in schools and 27 percent reported being discouraged from reporting or documenting disciplinary cases by their principal.
Over the past several years, the District has cut non-teaching assistants, school employees hired and trained to control students in corridors, stairwells and other places where misconduct is most likely to occur. A decade ago, there were nearly a thousand NTAs to keep schools safe. In Fiscal 2005, there were 409 NTAs. This year, there were 226 NTAs. A review of this 212 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. year's school budgets reflect that a further decrease of 50 NTAs will occur. As a result, approximately high 5 schools will have no NTAs next year. 6 When math teacher Frank Burd's 7 neck was broken by students at Germantown 8 High School, there were no NTAs on staff. 9 When music teacher Ed Klien's jaw was 10 broken by a student in November, no NTAs 11 were assigned to monitor that floor at 12 West Philadelphia High School. 13 We believe the increase in 14 assaults on teachers and staff is a 15 direct result of the reduction of NTAs. 16 Therefore, we urge City Council to 17 recommend that the District restore 18 funding for NTAs. The responsibility for 19 the safety of students and staff requires 20 it. 21 It is equally critical that 22 every school have enough counselors, 23 nurses, psychologists and social workers 24 to connect students and their families 25 with services they need. 213 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. Further, school principals and regional administrators must provide consistent support to teachers working with disruptive or violent students. There must be an effective, communicated disciplinary policy at every school that supports teachers, staff and students and provides a range of interventions for violent or chronically disruptive students. Philadelphia's Comprehensive Early Learning Center Program has for 50 years has provided high-quality programs for pre-school children and after-school care for elementary children. Studies show that well-designed educational programs are wise investments. They help children improve their thinking, social and learning skills, which improves academic performance and behavior. Disadvantaged children benefit most, but in Philadelphia, not enough three- and four-year-olds are enrolled in 214 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. high-quality pre-schools. If the School District's goal is to educate children, it must expand and reach out to Philadelphia's families so that every at-risk child is enrolled in early childhood education programs. Finally, I would like to address the sad state of learning and working conditions in our schools. Last fall, a window at Creighton Elementary School slammed shut on a teacher's hand without warning and severed three of her fingers. At Middle Years Alternative School last month, students were evacuated after a classroom ceiling rained down on a teacher, injuring her. The PFT had warned the District about defective window balances a year before the Creighton teacher was injured. To date, the response has been to screw 40,000 classroom windows shut. So when temperatures outdoors reach 80 degrees next month, think about the thousands of children, teachers and staff who are 215 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. being asked to do their very best work in rooms where temperatures will climb as high as 95 degrees. Other health and safety issues abound in Philadelphia's aging schools. Poor ventilation, mold, leaking ceilings, crumbling staircases and floors, extreme temperatures, rodent droppings and vermin are among the unhealthy and unsafe conditions that plague some of our schools. We tell students that we value them. Yet, we send them to buildings that can injure them and make them sick. Philadelphia needs a long-term plan for repairing and replacing schools. Instead, the District's proposed budget calls for a limited second phase capital improvement. In conclusion, the PFT hopes City Council will invest in the success of our children. We urge you to allocate money to reduce class sizes in kindergarten through third grade.
We all 216 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. agree that class sizes are too large. What we need is the political will and the money to do something about it. Insist that early childhood programs enroll 100 percent of at-risk three- and four-year-old children so that every child is prepared for kindergarten. And demand window replacement and other safety and health-related work is done before new construction projects are started. We ask you to work with the District to create long-range maintenance and construction programs that will provide adequate, safe and healthy public schools for our children. Children should not have to learn and teachers should not have to work in unsafe, unhealthy environments. Encourage the District to restore new teacher coaches, who help inexperienced teachers become successful educators. We cannot improve teacher quality and retention without providing one-on-one mentoring and assistance to 217 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. bright, talented newcomers. Insist that schools have sufficient numbers of counselors, psychologists, nurses and social workers and advocate for research-based programs to reduce violence in our schools and our community. Finally, there is an imbalance between what we expect of school staffs and students and what is offered them by way of support. Rather than handing the School District a blank check and hoping it will make its way into our classrooms, we urge the District to earmark new revenues for the programs mentioned above. If we are serious about helping students succeed, we must increase spending in the classrooms, where it counts. We don't mind being held accountable, but we must be provided with the tools we need to be successful. Thank you for your attention. )
Thank 218 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. you, Mr. Jordan. I would like to say that I haven't heard you talk about a Marshall Plan before or that I haven't heard you talk about a plan for disruptive students. You've done it many times in Council and certainly many times before the Education Committee. It is unfortunate that we're still there. I know of a child right now in West Philadelphia, a seven-year-old, who stabbed another youth with a pencil, who threw a chair at a teacher, who has all kind of mental health issues, along with a brother, and who is out there wreaking havoc on a school. She's almost blind and she broke her glasses. She just threw her glasses away. All kinds of things. So the whole issue of disruptive kids, you know how I feel about ADHD and have for some 20 years, that we don't deal with it as an issue. All the issues you mention are very, very 219 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. important. I only regret where you talk about demanding that the School District support Wilson Goode's bill but demand that the School District give us -- that the money be provided for research-based programs. Unfortunately, the law allows us to pass the budget, but we can't tell the School District how to spend it. We would love to.
But you have a tremendous amount of influence. I ask you to urge your influence in determining exactly how the resources are spent on the kids.
Well, let me say thank you. We agree with your statements, as always, and thank you for the excellent job you always do for the children and everyone in our City. Thank you.
Our next witness is Shelly Yanoff. 220 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC.
Good afternoon. I want to start by congratulating you all, successful last Tuesday. I'm Shelly Yanoff, Executive Director of PCCY, and this is Sheila Simmons, who is the Education Coordinator. She'll give our testimony and then both of us are available for questions.
Thank you. The impact of schools not having enough money is felt in a number of settings: overcrowded classrooms that face even larger class sizes in the fall; teachers forced to manage two grades simultaneously; schools with libraries and no librarians; counselors who have no 21 time to counsel; and a population of children who suffer disproportionately from asthma and lead poisoning sharing their school's nurse with another school whose students' health needs are equally 221 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. as great. Our school children feel the impact of their lost funding today. Our city will feel it tomorrow, with increased dropout rates, more unmanageable court dockets, further entrenched neighborhood poverty and a larger unskilled workforce. At this critical juncture in Philadelphia's future, when we can capitalize on long-awaited school progress or stumble back into the hopelessness of the past, we as a city simply cannot afford to let the chips fall as they may. In recent years, a new infusion of state and local funding coincided with academic progress that on a number of fronts outpaced the state. Children whom critics insinuated simply could not learn in some cases gained national attention for their double-digit improvements in reading and math. Now lack of financial discipline and a long-accepted structural problem once again threatens the 222 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. potential of each child whose future is entrusted to us. Progress that was so hard to come by will, in all probability, reverse direction in next year's test scores. Schools across the District, long respected elementary schools that have served devoted, hard-working middle income families and long overlooked high schools that struggle to educate their poverty-stricken communities, are cutting deep into bare-bones budgets. So we come before you today underlining the importance of textbooks and paper, art classes and music teachers. We ask that each school have a single nurse, counselor and librarian, necessities in neighboring communities, but optional in Philadelphia. At some point, our priorities have to match up with our realities. Ever since a Germantown High School math teacher suffered a broken neck in an assault delivered by an underserviced 223 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. student traumatized over the circumstances of his life, the headlines of our major newspapers have, on an almost daily basis, reported on school violence. Yet, we also know that when we continue to rob schools across the City of needed staff, the possibility of achieving a good school climate becomes more and more remote. Funding public education is a state role. It's an argument we've heard before. " As advocates, we understand that funding responsibilities and public revenue burdens are a delicate balance. But when compared with other school districts in the State of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia's contributions come up short, a fact that earns us little compassion in Harrisburg, particularly from officials who represent communities with similarly underfunded school systems. If we compare, in equalized mills, the revenue local governments 224 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. 8 equalized mills. 6 equalized mills. 5 million below the state median. 4 million more a year that would make up some of that difference. We urge you to support it. I would also like to note that if there is another proposal on the table that would also net similarly $20 million, we would probably support that as well, but I think it deserves a question of where is it. We note that mayoral nominee Michael Nutter as well has endorsed the Goode bill and stressed the City's need to put up what could be part of a state-match funding proposal. We expect all our important members of local leadership to work with the state toward providing more funds to 225 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. all of its school children.
But our kids need your action today to help stave off another round of unacceptable cuts. We cannot thrive as a city with schools that begin to succeed and then fall back with large class size, unstaffed libraries, little music or art, inadequate support across the board. Leveraging our own increased contribution through the proposed millage transfer will strengthen our chances to save our schools and our city. That's a much better option than merely letting the chips fall as they may, because they will fall on our kids and our future. Thank you. )
Thank you very much. You know we have agreed for some time on the whole issue of split classes. We all know that's a disaster, especially if your kid is in the lower grade. Then the kid loses a whole grade. Very, very important issue. Thank you. 226 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC.
Oh, okay. Are there any questions from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Actually, if you've given me the opportunity, I would say that the School District also could secure additional help in addition to the millage transfer by having its trash picked up by the City, by supporting -- by not having to pick up police during non-school hours with school police expenses. There are a lot of different ways that the City could support the schools in addition to the $18 or $19 million that we're talking about. So we urge you to consider those. 227 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. Thank you.
Brian Armstead is our next witness. Is he here? Good afternoon, sir. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Brian Armstead. I am the Director of Civic Engagement for the Philadelphia Education Fund. I am here today to encourage you to support Councilman Goode's proposed Public Education Reinvestment Bill and to create additional funding streams for the School District of Philadelphia. For the last years, the 19 Philadelphia Education Fund has provided 20 direct service to Philadelphia students 21 as one major strand of our work. Through our College Access Program, we serve students throughout the City in almost all of the Council districts. Most are youth in 228 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. neighborhood high schools that often have the highest dropout rates and lowest college attendance rates. The College Access Program motivates, supports and guides students so that they graduate and are prepared to enter and to succeed in college. Our programs complement services that the District provides. Through our Scholars Program, the Ed Fund has distributed millions of dollars towards Philadelphia students' college tuition. Most of the recipients have been the first in their families to attend college. This year alone we will distribute about $1 million. We know firsthand how necessary it is to support middle grades and high school youth. We also know that because of budget cuts, the District has been forced to close down significant segments of their college and career services to youth. It is because of our long history of direct service to youth that I ask you to increase the City's 229 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. contribution to our schools now. The problem is too dire for City Council to play a game of chicken with the state. I urge Council to avoid saying, I'll give more after they give more. Philadelphia youth need Council to be the bigger legislative body and increase funding to the schools first. In another strand of our work, the Ed Fund provides professional development for teachers. We see both the tremendous dedication of many of our teachers, as well as the tremendous need for high-quality professional development and teacher coaching. But it costs money to provide good, consistent training. Faced with budget cuts, the District has had to reduce the number of teacher coaches, lessening the teachers' impact on the children as well as their own job satisfaction. More money is needed from both the city and the state to ensure this city has the highest quality teaching force. We need you to take the 230 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. first step. A third strand of our work is research. Over the years, our researchers have examined factors that affect school improvement. We know small class size is vital if we want to make sustained serious improvements. For several years, the District had resolved to lower class sizes and we had been seeing results. Then the District's inevitable structural deficits caught up to all of us. For the last two years, we've seen class sizes ballooning in the wrong direction. Schools have complained of a return to the bad old days of large classes, split grades and late leveling, and the District is looking to cut up to 250 more teachers in '07-'08. This promises to further increase the size of classes and exacerbate an already troubling situation. Most kids can't learn in crowded classrooms. Most teachers can't give students the 231 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. individual attention they need and deserve in crowded classrooms. It costs money to give teachers and students the class size they need and deserve. We need Council to make the first move and increase funding for the schools. A fourth strand of our work, civic engagement, joins us with a multitude of advocates working to improve public policy around public schools. We know the state has been unwilling to seriously address the underlying funding inequities in this Commonwealth.
We know that many state legislators refuse to support us because they say that we in Philadelphia do not even support ourselves at an appropriate level. We need Philadelphia to take the first step in order to leverage more money from the state. The Public Education Reinvestment Bill can be that act of good faith and, not inconsequentially, would provide a much-needed infusion of revenue. These are funds that our students need right 232 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. now. We at the Ed Fund are also residents, neighbors, employees and concerned members of the Philadelphia community. We know that the City could be and should be doing more to support public education. From this vantage point, we also urge City Council to allocate more funds beginning, as I said, with Councilperson Goode's bill. Thank you.
It does appear that these bills have overwhelming support and it is my understanding that a couple of Councilmembers do have other commitments. So what I'd like to do is recess the public hearing, go into our public meeting and then we will resume the public hearing again. So at this time, we will recess 233 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. our public hearing and go into our public meeting, and the Chair recognizes Councilman Goode regarding Bill No. 5 070015.
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Bill 070015 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation, that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next Council session. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Bill No. 16 070015 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation; further, that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session of Council. All in favor will please say aye. (Aye.)
Those opposed? 234 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. (No response.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell -- (Applause.)
The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell regarding Bill No. 070118.
Thank you, Madam President. I move that Bill 13 No. 070118 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation and, further, that the rules of Council be suspended in order to permit first reading at our next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Bill No. 21 070118 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation; further, that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next session of Council. 235 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. All in favor will please say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Again, the Chair recognizes Councilwoman Blackwell regarding Bill No. 12 070119.
I move that Bill No. 070119 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation and, furthermore, that the rules be suspended in order to permit first reading at our next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
It has been moved and seconded that Bill No. 22 070119 be reported out of Committee with a favorable recommendation; further, that the rules of Council be suspended so as to permit first reading at our next 236 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. session of Council. All in favor will please indicate by saying aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. That concludes our public -- (Applause.)
-- meeting. We will now return to our public hearing, and our next witness is Michael Churchill. Is Michael Churchill present? (No response.)
Do we have Parents United for Public Education? Good afternoon. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good afternoon. Thank you for allowing us to 237 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. present today. My name is Aisha Richardson. I'm President of the Samuel Powel Home and School Association. I'm a member of Parents United for Public Education and I'm a member of the Mayor's Education Task Force Subcommittee on School Climate. I wanted to commend Council for supporting the School's Reinvestment Act. That's a wonderful first step in securing permanent funding for Philadelphia's public schools. I just want to talk a little bit about Powel School. Last year during the School District's initial budget crisis, Powel School lost a great teacher, a librarian, a new aide and an SSA, and so began organizing and we brought our kids out to City Council to testify. We brought parents to the School Reform Commission meetings and we partnered with other parents, and as a result of our organizing activities, over 100 teachers that have been cut from schools were 238 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. returned, and four days of public hearings of this were held. This year Powel is going to lose two more teachers. And so one of our teachers this year is on a medical leave, our music teacher, and because of his absence, that means no music classes, no prep for teachers, no annual spring concert. So we have a small school with only teachers. If one person is 12 absent, all 250 children are affected. 13 Next year our school will lose 14 another two teachers and another SSA. And so we're asking how much more does Powel need to tighten its belt before our school is strangled to death. Council has a unique opportunity to increase more funding for education, and this was a very excellent first step, and so I want to make sure that there is some emphasis put on reducing class sizes, supporting academic excellence and not supporting mediocre education management organizations. 239 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. I just wanted to thank you again for passing this bill and I want to turn it over to my colleagues.
Good afternoon, Madam President and Chairwoman. My name is Harry Levant. I am the current President of the Home and School Association at Shawmont and one of the parent leaders of Parents United for Public Education. There are two dynamic women to my right and my left, and months ago 14 the three of us were Parents United for 15 Public Education. Because of the 16 severity, the crisis that our schools 17 face, we have grown to include schools 18 all across the City. We're nearing, say, close to 100 parents who are involved and we're growing every week. I wish we weren't growing the way we are, because the reason we're growing is because how severe the crisis in our schools really is. I need to acknowledge that our 240 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. Mayor, Mayor Street, met on Monday with a group of parents from schools across 4 the City and we brought our concerns to 5 his attention. I thank Council for the 6 first step that was just undertaken in 7 moving the Goode bill forward. However, 8 I listened to Mr. Vallas' testimony and 9 testimony from other witnesses this 10 morning and I have come to the conclusion 11 that there is a dangerous disconnect 12 between what is happening at the SRC and 13 what our elected officials seem to 14 understand or don't understand. I have one horse in this race. The horse has three heads. Those heads are my children, the 600 children whose families I represent as a Home and School President and my concern for children all across the City. If I wasn't concerned, I wouldn't be sitting here. I wouldn't be dedicating the time that I and others dedicate to coming forward and testifying and attempting to bring to your attention and the attention of others the severity 241 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. of the problem. To highlight this, I must tell you what has happened at Shawmont in just the last three months. We were promised by Mr. Vallas and the SRC that there would be no additional cuts in discretionary spending. This promise was made on April the 11th. On April the 12th, we had $102,000 cut from our budget. If this money is not restored by the time the budget is approved on May the 29th, we stand to lose our fifth classroom teacher. That's five classroom teachers in two years, with an enrollment decline of 12 children. That has mushroomed the size of our classes. We stand to lose all of our kindergarten support, which means in September, in September, we will open with two kindergarten classrooms, each with the contractual maximum of 30 five-year-old children and one adult in that room. Our kindergarten SSAs are no 25 more, gone. Thirty five-year-olds, one 242 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. teacher in the room. And we're going to lose our entire mentally gifted program. My children has north of 75 children in the mentally gifted program. This is a dynamic and mandatory program for our highest achieving students, and it's being cut. So this morning when you heard that we're not touching the schools, it's not accurate. Something needs to be done to make sure that the money that is there now and hopefully the additional money that's on its way to approval will get to the schools, because the cuts that we have absorbed over the last two years are dangerous, and the ones that are about to happen are nothing short of Draconian. We need some help. Our teachers need some help. There are dedicated parents out there. We're tired, but we're going to continue to push forward because we believe in our schools. We have our children in the Philadelphia schools because we want them 243 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. there and we care about the children across the City. Please get more actively involved, both with finances and with knowledge, so that we don't have the type of cuts that Shawmont is absorbing.
And please look into my particular issue at our school so that these funds can be restored by May the 29th so that when my school opens in September, we'll be able to function at an appropriate level. Thank you for your time.
Hello. My name is Helen Gym. I'm a parent at Powel Elementary School. On behalf of parents that worked very hard to lobby for Councilman Goode's bill, we very much thank and are grateful to the support of Council. We will definitely hold you accountable for your vote, especially if there is any chance of a mayoral veto on this, but we believe that this Council is standing firmly beside Councilman Goode's 244 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. bill and we are very deeply appreciative. But I want to be clear about one thing, that nothing in this District comes easy. Councilman Goode's bill is a start, but we are here to talk about the years ahead and the years that have passed under our watch. We have cut 2,000 teachers from our School District, classroom teachers from our School District since 2004, at a level of 500 teachers a year. We have more split grades than we ever have had. We have parents who talk at Disston Elementary about 38 to 40 kids in a classroom, 31 fifth-graders in a half size trailer. At the end of the day in Powel School's budget, we will have $5,000 for the 250 children at our school, less than $20 a year to cover for their books, their art supplies, field trips, any extracurriculars and, God forbid, a graduation ceremony to remind them that they are loved in this world. We are losing a special ed 245 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. teacher, and after the Philadelphia Inquirer's amazing two-day story spread about the decline of services to special ed, we had to wonder how does this make academic sense. We want to talk about the School District's budget plan that is coming up. Next year there are 250 teacher cuts planned in the School District's budget. There's $100 million in cuts next year alone. There are 13 school closings that they are banking on. 14 Are they in your district? Do you know? 15 Would that make your constituents upset? 16 They have not told us this. And the 17 almost total elimination of de-seg 18 bussing. 19 There is a Five-Year Plan for 20 the District. It consists of one page, 21 PDF, online. We do not believe that is 22 enough detail to talk about $100 million in cuts to our schools. The SRC's budget plan will raise class size because it includes 246 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. teacher cuts that have nothing to do with enrollment. Although you may not be able to earmark the dollars from Councilman Goode's bill, you certainly have the power to raise the public voice and demand a public process on the upcoming budget cuts. A Philadelphia Public School Notebook study shows that the ratios of student to teachers has actually increased since 2002. The budget plan that we have does not adequately support a quality teaching and learning environment. There's been no opportunity for review of the Five-Year Plan of the School District's budget. It barely provides any detail. There's been little public conversation and very little public questioning of the fiscal and academic theses or theories on which it rests. The budget plan eliminates proven initiatives, like reduced class size, but yet assumes that there is 247 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. certain questionable financing for the next five years for EMOs, private contracts, consulting contracts and even the SRC's burgeoning staff. We have to ask these questions now. As parents, we have come here time and time again only to ask for a public process, only a chance to ask why are the things happening as they are to our students at this time. We believe that a lot of the surprise of anything that happens with the School District's budget is largely because of the lack of public process that has taken place and the lack of parents being at the table in the decision-making process. Last fall, Chairman Nevels promised parents that we would be involved in the development of the District's budget as it was being developed. The SRC reneged on that promise.
And for those reasons, we are asking you to join us in rejecting the 248 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. SRC's budget plan, not only for next year but for the Five-Year Plan on which it rests, only for the three reasons of this: Just to ask that no budget cuts be implemented until an emergency process has been called for and involve substantial and substantive parent and community-based review, as was promised to us; that the SRC hold public hearings for detailed questioning by the public of the Five-Year Plan and its financial and academic implications for the long-term future of our children; and that there be an opportunity for parents and community representatives to meet with the District budget staff to come up with an alternative set of cuts, not for the typical list of our teachers, of our nurses, of our librarians, of our counselors, of our academic programs, but instead to review once again private contracts, staffing, EMO funding that continues to be on the table despite four separate independent studies that have 249 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. confirmed that they perform no better and cost our District $90 million over the last five years, and as well consulting contracts of retired administrative personnel. We ask you to give your money to our schools, but we ask you not to pat yourselves on the back as you give the money, but to take responsibility for the money that you give, to take initiative and demand some questions, a public process, and answers that will definitely impact us as parents, you, your constituents and the children in your district for many years to come. Thank you. )
Madam President, I brought something I'd like to hand up today, if I may. I brought an article 24 that Chairman Nevels published in Forbes Magazine in March of 2005 when we still 250 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. had reform. In this article, Chairman Nevels writes about hiring teachers, teacher coaches and the mandate for reduced class size, and he, Chairman Nevels, attributes in Forbes Magazine the improvement in our Philadelphia schools to these three initiatives. This is just over two years ago. We have lost all of these initiatives. I'd like Council to read this closely and ask the SRC whether the very things that Chairman Nevels wrote about two years ago are still being enacted in our city, and if they are not, we need a return to them and we need a return to them now. I respectfully submit that article and ask that members of Council pay close attention to the writings of Chairman Nevels and hold the SRC accountable to what its leader said we need, because they have taken from us.
Thank you very much. 251 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. (Applause.)
Good afternoon. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
My name is George Ricchezza. I'm the President of Local 1201. Good afternoon again, Madam Chair and Councilmembers. I represent 3,000 non-teaching School District employees. I have been 252 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. an officer of Local 1201 for nine years, but I have been a School District employee for 34 years, and as a result, I can say I am very familiar with how the non-academic part of our District works. The vast majority of our Local 1201 members are black and female. They earn about $28,000 a year. They are an older group of employees who will find it exceedingly difficult to find new employment if their jobs are eliminated. They are your constituents. Nearly 100 percent of our members live in Philadelphia. They pay Philadelphia taxes. They vote in Philadelphia. I sit before you to ask for your support and for your understanding of what is currently taking place in the operations of the School District of Philadelphia. I would like to address two issues: school cleanliness and school safety. First, cleaning. My members clean the schools. When they leave at 10 253 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. or 11 o'clock at night, the schools are clean. The challenges they face daily are daunting: graffiti, vandalism or kids just not paying attention to the rules that are not enforced. But they get the job done even if it requires them to stay late or work extra hours to complete the work of absent co-workers. They are proud of the job they do. Let's be clear. We make no 13 claim that our schools are spotless, but within the system designed by the School District, the system that the School District demanded and negotiated over an 18-month period in 2003 and 4, our members have more than met the challenge. The major problems that exist in the cleaning process are not the employees, but the system itself. In the last contract, the District demanded that each cleaner be assigned square footage requirements that were too high for the number of staff 254 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. assigned to do the job. We gave the District evidence that its square footage cleaning requirements were well above the industry average. We told the District that forcing the square footage cleaning requirements would lead to burnout and absenteeism. On the subject of absenteeism, we made numerous offers to work with the School District to reduce absenteeism. They ignored our offers. Then to add insult to injury, the School District privatized the cleaning of 14 high schools, eliminating over 200 jobs in our bargaining unit, over 200 jobs of your constituents. In the last two years, the School District has spent over $14 million on this outside contract, including $600,000 in management fees for this year alone. I should note that the management fees have now been eliminated given the current budget crisis. But this is a typical example of the 255 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. District's reckless and run-away spending patterns in the last few years. The District employs over 5 FACs, field area coordinators, who are 6 responsible for supervising the cleaning 7 and maintenance of all school facilities. 8 The District did not lay off one FACs 9 when it privatized the schools. The 10 District did hire outside managers to 11 supervise cleaners. They paid hundreds 12 of thousands of dollars in additional 13 fees or, should I say, profits for 14 additional layers of management that were 15 not needed. 16 Next let's talk about these 17 schools. Are they cleaner? They may be, 18 but the fundamental question is why. 19 The answer is simple: staffing 20 levels and adequate supplies. In the 21 contract last negotiated between the 22 District and our union, we agreed that 23 buildings would be staffed with one 24 cleaner for every 32,000 square feet of 25 space, plus one additional individual. 256 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. So, for example, if a building had 100,000 square feet, there would be four cleaners assigned to the building.
Has the staffing level been met? Absolutely not. On the contrary, if an individual retires or resigns or is terminated, the District has simply not filled over 350 cleaning positions alone. As a result, most buildings are permanently understaffed. Moreover, in 2004, we negotiated the creation of a relief cleaning crew so that if, in particular, one building several cleaners are out due to injury or illness, bodies could be assigned on a temporary basis and the building would be properly staffed. As of today, the relief pool are permanently assigned to buildings. In contrast with the private contractor, the District demanded that a specific number of hours be worked in each privatized school. The contractor must provide that number or be in breach 257 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. of the contract. If a contractor's employee is out ill, the contract simply provides another body. As a result, in the privatized buildings, the cleaning staff is always a full complement. In our schools, it is not. In short, we are not competing on an apples-to-apples basis. Next let's turn to supplies. In the privatized schools, the contractor must provide the supplies with which to clean the buildings. Not so in our schools. The District is supposed to provide the supplies, but I guess to have money, the District either underorders or doesn't order at all. Just yesterday I received a call from a general cleaner at one of our schools who was advised to go to a different location to pick up paper towels so they would have them in their bathrooms. There's over 600 students and an inordinate number of employees in that building that had to go without supplies for the day. 258 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. This is just the tip of the iceberg in the area of cleaning. Next let's look to safety. Our union also represents the building engineers and maintenance mechanics in the Philadelphia School District. Our engineers, who are licensed employees, are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the schools. Our maintenance teams include electricians, plumbers, painters, carpenters and, in total, individual crafts. 14 But at the end of the day, to 15 pay for outside school managers and 16 underperforming charter schools, this administration and the School Reform Commission have cut the workforces in both these categories to the bone. And let me cite just one of the egregious examples of the District's cavalier attitudes towards safety. In May of 2006, over one year ago, the issue of the dangerous window conditions was brought to the attention 259 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. of the then facilities manager of the District. He was specifically asked about the situation with new windows at many schools in which the weight of the windows and their state of disrepair posed a very serious safety hazard. The issue of broken balancers was also brought to his attention. His response, he said that he was unaware of the problem and that it was one that he inherited. He said that the cost of fixing or replacing all the windows was prohibitive. He said that the District would conduct a survey of the windows in the District and the District would try to ensure at least two operable windows per room in every area without air conditioning. I should also add that the dangerous windows in question weigh between and 70 pounds and are quite 23 heavy. It has been reported to us that 24 within a very short time of installation, 25 from several months to a year, the 260 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. balancers, the spring and weight systems designed as counter weights in double-hung windows that allow them to be safely and smoothly raised and lowered, started to fail, resulting in a serious safety hazard from failing windows.
We have been led to understand that because of the type of windows purchased, the way it was handled by the District in the bidding, contracting and installation process and the lack of attention of routine maintenance over the year, warranties were voided and windows presented real dangers. And the result? As I am sure you are aware, in February 2007, a tragedy occurred involving one of these windows. A member of the PFT, protecting a child, lost three fingers on one hand as one of the windows in question came crashing down on her. Do we have to endure yet another accident to an employee or, worse, a child before this issue is addressed in a comprehensive 261 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. way? Right now the District has a contract for $500,000 with a window maintenance firm to try to achieve the goal of having a minimum of three properly operated windows per classroom and would install a metal screen along the bottom of each of these properly functioning replacement windows so that this type of accident will not reoccur. The question is, why do we need an outside contractor? If the School District uses the carpenters on staff right now and supplied them some additional hours each day, we believe that we could save the School District $200,000 and have this job done by the opening of school. This is just one example of the mismanagement in the area of the facilities that impacts not only on the bottom line of the School District facing a terrible budget crisis, but on the safety of everyone involved. 262 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. These are not just the union's conclusions. These are also the conclusions of City Controller Alan Butkovitz, who under the City Charter performed the same auditing functions for the School District. We have provided each member of Council with a copy of that report. But I must quote from the summary. "As our limited inspections show, conditions at Philadelphia schools, from elementary to high schools, are less than desirable for students and teachers and, in some cases, pose a direct danger to the safety and well-being of students, teachers and other school personnel. "Conditions found ranged from something as simple as a missing doorknob to as complex as structural problems like falling support beams. Broken or inoperable toilets, vermin and insect infestations were noticed, yet the School District continues to decrease spending in the maintenance, engineering and 263 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. cleaning budget lines. 3 million in the Basic Cleaning Services budget line. On this total, there 526 building engineers, 424 maintenance and 1,805 cleaning service positions. 5 million for Contracted Maintenance Services. 6 percent of the workforce, a decrease of approximately $9 million in Local 1201. "These reductions were across all three categories. 6 percent; maintenance, 264 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. 8 percent loss of manpower. 5 million for contracted maintenance services, a $2 million decrease or a 44 percent reduction from school year 2001 and 2. "While the School District can boast that these decreasing numbers have saved millions of dollars over this five-year period, the lack of preventive and ongoing maintenance is not without cost. The resultant cost cannot be measured in dollars. Rather, the conditions discovered by the Controller's Office personnel clearly show that we are putting the welfare of our children and teachers at risk. " 265 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. The Controller's report is devastating and clearly shows the true cost of bad management and failed policies. It is not the road that the District needs to take in the future. Nor is privatization the answer. It is expensive and it just does not work. We need to stop enriching private contractors and see to it that money is used to provide the employees the supplies that are needed to provide safe and clean schools.
In sum, the students and employees of the School District are getting shortchanged by the failed policies of a CEO whose main achievement was to bring in high-paid consultants from out of town, to feather his own monetary nest, and to leave the District and the children with the highest budget deficit in history. The members of the School Reform Commission have a monstrous task before them. They must continue to 266 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. improve our children's educational opportunities, while at the same time balancing a budget that is woefully off kilter. The SRC's efforts at privatization, both in the academic area and the facilities area, must be reexamined and reexamined right now. We at 1201 urge this Council to appropriate every dime possible to fully fund our public schools. But we urge you to do so with strings attached. Yes, strings. We urge you to demand from the SRC that the EMOs, which by all reports are doing worse than our regular schools, be removed and that no contracts for outside managers be renewed. And we urge you to demand that the SRC end the privatization of cleaning and maintenance and restore those jobs to the people who live and work in this area and who are so intimately familiar with each and every school facility. Finally, we urge you to demand that the SRC fully staff the 267 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. cleaning, engineering and maintenance staffs of the School District. By so doing, the SRC can save money needed to close the budget gap and at the same time ensure the cleanliness and safety be restored to the School District. Thank you very much. )
Thank you very much for the excellent testimony. Are there any questions? (No response.)
Thank you very much. Thank you. Helen Matthews. I believe you submitted written testimony. Duane Ingram, are you here? (No response.)
I'm here. I'm Helen. 268 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC.
You're next. Thank you. Please identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony.
My name is Helen Matthews. Thank you for accepting my testimony. I want to thank Councilman Goode --
Thank you, Councilman Goode, for sponsoring this very important bill for our children. I urge you to support the Public Education Reinvestment Act. The 269 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. City of Philadelphia has a moral obligation to care for its children, including a financial obligation to educate them. Many Philadelphia school children live in poverty and social chaos, and their schools offer them their only opportunity to succeed and to survive. Providing an adequate education through high school for our children is the best crime-fighting tool that we have, as well as our best economic investment for the future. Funding education is the smartest financial move our City can make. The looming budget deficit projected for 2007-2008 will have dire consequences for my neighborhood school, Meredith Elementary, where I have a first-grader. Meredith Elementary is an economically and racially balanced neighborhood school in Queen Village, with academic performance equal to wealthy suburban schools and a very rich art and music environment. The school 270 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. has strong community and parental support, and many of us credit smaller class sizes for the school's success. Our school has faced budget cuts before, but this upcoming budget cut will be crippling. The 100 plus teachers to be cut includes our newest teacher, Ms. Slaughter, an outstanding teacher by any standard. The loss of this teacher will result in split grades and maximum class sizes at our school. The quality of the school will be greatly diminished and families, who previously bought homes to be within the school's catchment, will consider leaving the City. Families do not move to the suburbs because of taxes; they move because of schools. Passing this bill will help us keep our teachers. It will help us maintain our quality schools and work to improve our lagging schools so that all children can succeed and be productive in the City. Passing this bill also demonstrates to the legislators in 271 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. Harrisburg that Philadelphia does care about the welfare of its children and is willing to shoulder more of the financial responsibility to educate them. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Duane Ingram is next. (No response.)
Yes. This has Bethel. Welcome. Thank you. Please identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony.
Good afternoon. My name is Arenda Bethel. I am a member of the Home and School at Ada Lewis Middle School, also a group called the 272 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. Concerned Parents of the Ada Lewis Middle School. I am here to discuss not only the proposed closure of my school but the fact that something needs to be done at this time to get not only the financial piece of our City on track but also the educational piece of our City on track, because our children are the ones that's suffering at this time because of that. My name is Arenda Bethel. I'm a member of the Home and School and the Concerned Parents of Ada Lewis Middle School. It was cited for proposed closure as of March 6, 2007. The decision will be made on June 20, 2007 by the School Reform Commission. I'm here with an uneasy feeling about how and why our budget is in such disarray. It is clear that things were not handled the way they should have been. The problem that worries me now is who is going to suffer because of these mistakes. The answer to that are clearly our children. 273 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. These children are our future and, again, has had something taken away from them that should not have been. First, the incentive that used to perk other children once to go to school, like music, shop, or typing, were taken away like a thief in the night. These things are only available in specialized schools, with excellent grades needed to attend some of these schools. I don't understand why the people in charge of making the mistakes are not punished instead of our children. Each and every time there's a problem, our children suffer. Let's start making the people responsible for making the mistakes have to be punished instead of constantly having our children suffer. Why not just start over with an almost new Commission? Let's leave Mrs. Glenn in and add the necessary people to complement her in changing this system into a positive mode for our children. Fill the other four seats 274 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. appropriately and let a person from our community knowledgeable enough to be there if, for no other reason, but to observe what is going on. It seems that just like you heard, if you don't watch them, they will get away from you. It seems that this is a good enough time as any to get in there with someone who will be understanding, that the Mayor and the Governor needs to be on top of what is going on with the budget at all times as they are. Do not keep the communities in the dark about it either. Though we are there each meeting, we can't speak about what the Commission has already decided on. We need community involvement to help know what is going on in there also. I am asking you for a change for the better now while we can. This includes getting a CEO in there with a degree in education. The financial degree hasn't helped our children at all. Let's get someone in there to help not 275 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. only with finances, but with real education. I thank you for listening to me and hope you take my recommendations to heart to help our future, which is our children. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Thank you very much. Susan Blanc? Is Niel McDowell here? MR. McDOWELL: Yes.
I hear you. I hear. Next will be Mr. McDowell. Is Alison McDowell here? MR. McDOWELL: I'm afraid she's not.
All right. And Patricia Toy. 276 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. If anyone else is here who would like to testify, see Mr. Christmas, because that concludes our list. Welcome. Thank you very much.
Good afternoon. My name is Suzanne Blanc and I'm a Senior Research Associate at Research for Action, a local non-profit organization which has been contributing to the debate and knowledge about school reform in Philadelphia over the past five years. Thank you for the opportunity to address members of City Council today and thank you for your support, for the increased role of City Council in supporting the schools financially. The School District of Philadelphia has made important progress since 2002 when the current reform began. It can be seen in several ways, but most importantly in improved student outcomes, especially at the K to 8 level. We at Research for Action believe that the substantial increases in per-pupil 277 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. spending between 2002 and 2005 have helped to make this improvement possible. In planning for Fiscal Year 2008, the District is now faced with the dual challenges of continuing to improve student outcomes at the same time it's reducing costs. You have heard many other eloquent advocates, parents and non-profit organizations involved with the schools talk about the need for increased funding and the serious implications of the cuts, of proposed cuts. I'm just going to talk for a little while about some of the research efforts that we've been doing that substantiate the view of activists and parents. First of all, on the level of curriculum and instructional decisions, we've been doing research both quantitative and qualitative, which shows that teachers in the schools appreciate the resources that have been put into 278 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. them through the core curriculum and through the instructional management system that's now in place. They also make it clear, though, that those materials, while they're important, are not a replacement for content knowledge and professional development among the teachers. This costs additional money that -- additional money in order to provide professional development and training to teachers through their peer experts. Math coaches and literacy coaches are essential parts of what has made the District's increased scores on the level of K to 8. Without such support, student performance is in danger of stalling or even rolling back. What we've seen in our visits to schools is that teacher experts are essential to good use of the existing curriculum. The District has invested substantial funds in really good materials, but teachers can't teach just 279 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. on the basis of materials. They also need to understand the math and literacy that's embedded in those materials. And what we have seen is that it's teachers who are trained to use these who work with their peers in order to improve the performance. We've heard really eloquent remarks about what happens to kids when there's overcrowding in classrooms. What else happens is that teachers do not have time to improve their own skills. They need to be able to work with each other, and the people who have knowledge don't have the time to share their expertise with their peers when there's the bare-bones staffing which is now being proposed. So the reduction in teacher positions has a direct impact on students and it will also have a less direct impact on the ability of teachers to teach what they need to teach. We've also been studying small high schools. Many people know that 280 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. there are new small schools that have been created in Philadelphia since 2002. There are a lot of exciting things that are happening in these schools, but without additional funding, the schools cannot have the personnel or the time to meet their potential, which is to create individualized, personalized relationships between students and teachers and to create themes which make these small schools attractive to students.
In order to be successful, 14 these small high schools need planning 15 time and they need enough staffing and 16 they need principals that are hired in 17 advance so that planning and 18 implementation in a realistic way is 19 possible for this initiative, which, 20 again, has already used substantial funds 21 to be successful in the long run. 22 Another area where we have 23 produced numerous reports is in teacher 24 quality. These are quantifiable 25 improvements that show serious progress 281 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. since 2002. The number of highly qualified teachers who are hired has increased substantially, and retention among new teachers has also increased seriously. However, attracting experienced teachers and highly qualified teachers to the schools that need them the most is still a serious challenge, and long-term retention is a serious challenge. Improvement in human resources is essential to moving forward in the District. Some specific recommendations, which some of these have been mentioned by others, is return to the funding for teacher coaches. This is funding which will -- it's an investment that will pay off very quickly with less teacher turnover in the future. Hire and train more minority teachers, who are shown to have greater success with minority students, and create strong incentives to attract more teachers to hard-to-staff schools. 282 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. I want to say one or two sentences about the EMOs, which other people have mentioned and which Research for Action has done numerous reports on. The RAND/RFA study noted that the EMO schools progress at the same rate as District schools even though they had greater investments. We also noted that choice and competition are not present in the current model of the EMOs. We have stated that EMO contracts should be renewed on a school-by-school basis where there is evidence of adequate improvement, and we also have stated that the criteria for these decisions need to be made transparent and need to be informed by research and there have to be ongoing criteria for holding providers accountable. In conclusion, the education of our City's youth is about the City's future. The interventions that I've mentioned have shown to be successful in improving both teaching and learning. 283 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. The District has made significant gains and deserves congratulations. However, the next steps are critical to keeping the momentum going, and it's very clear that appropriate interventions, as other people have said, are tied to dollars and are tied to improved achievement. Thank you very much. )
Thank you very much. Are there any questions? (No response.)
Thank you. Niel McDowell. Thank you very much. Welcome. Thank you for your patience. MR. McDOWELL: Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I am the parent of a kindergartner at the William Meredith Elementary School at 5th and Fitzwater in Philadelphia. Meredith is a public 284 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. school and a great school. Its halls and classrooms are warm and inviting, its teachers loving and skilled, and the children respond to this atmosphere of support by achieving. Meredith is an example of a public school that works, and my wife and I are thankful to be a part of the community there. Like every other school in the District, however, Meredith faces an uncertain future. Because of a reduced budget, the school stands to lose Ms. Danielle Slaughter, about whom you've already heard, a very talented new first grade teacher. Already in her first year, Ms. Slaughter has earned the respect and admiration of the students and parents who know her. If she were able to stay at Meredith, she could make a huge contribution to an already great school. But we are told she must leave because the school must cut a teaching position. As if this weren't bad enough, we have also been told that one classroom 285 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. will need to be combined, second- and third-graders together in one room. How is it possible to teach simultaneously two different curricula to a room of mixed second- and third-graders? How many other talented educators will Philadelphia public schools lose because of money problems? I ask you all to support Councilman Goode's bill, the Public Education Reinvestment Act. I am well aware that the new funds this bill would direct to the School District do not even come close to solving the school's financial problems, but they represent a gesture of good faith, of willingness on the part of the City to help find a solution. There has been a lot of talk recently about the public's desire for change. Philadelphia public school parents are tired of this game, tired of the endless cycles of cuts and crises. We're tired of the politics of it all. 286 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. We ask for a solution, and we ask you, our elected representatives, to take the first step. Show legislators in Harrisburg the way to filling the financial hole so that we don't lose our talented best, teachers like Ms. Slaughter at Meredith. We just want the schools to function the way they're supposed to. It really isn't asking too much. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thank you very much. And we assume you spoke also for Alison McDowell. MR. McDOWELL: Yes.
Thank you very much. Any questions? (No response.)
Good 287 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. afternoon. Thank you for your patience.
Good afternoon, Committee Chair Blackwell and members of City Council. My name is Patricia Toy. I am the parent of a seventh grade student at Albert M. Greenfield School and President of our Home and School Association. I was here in December to give testimony about Greenfield School and how the School District budget deficit this past fall affected our school. Basically, one of our fourth grade teachers was cut, which forced us to go from three fourth grade classes to two overcrowded classes, with no special help for our underachieving students. I am here today to tell you about our school and the problems we will face in our next school year budget with further cuts from the School District. These budget cuts will have a very negative impact on our school and our students. We will lose three 288 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. teachers from our staff. This will be four for this school year and next. These are three of our younger teachers, who have least seniority, but they are among the best at our school. They are bright, innovative, enthusiastic teachers and they are well loved by everyone at our school. To compensate for losing these teachers, our principal will shift three of four more senior teachers from their special teaching assignments and reassign them as regular classroom teachers. One of these is a reading specialist who has been working with students at our school who are reading way below grade level. Another of the teachers is a math specialist who works with two populations at our school, students whose math skills are way below grade level and high-achieving students to give them more challenging work in math to better prepare them for admission to some of the top magnet high schools. 289 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. Next year we will not be able to offer any of these special programs to our students. This will be a tremendous loss for them. Not to mention we have no 6 music teacher or librarian at our school. It has been many years since we've had one. For the past five years, our public school children have been used as powerless pawns in an unfair game of finger pointing by the powers that be, with no one taking responsibility for their part in the fiasco of our public school system. I think it is a gross injustice that the public school children in Philadelphia are shoved aside as unimportant and treated as second-class citizens who don't deserve the best education that other more privileged children in Philadelphia are fortunate to get. Are not all children entitled to a good education? Should we not be responsible and accountable for all Philadelphia students to see that they 290 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. get what they deserve, an adequately funded top-rate education from a school district, city and state that value each of them? When will City Council, the Mayor and state legislators get on the same page with the parents, teachers, students and advocates that have been pleading for more adequate funding for our public schools? We cannot afford to lose any more teachers from our classroom. We cannot afford to continue this downward spiraling effect of overcrowded classrooms. Although it is not a cure all, we ask that you support the Public Education Reinvestment Act. This bill, though a minimal first step toward improving long-term funding for our schools, will provide some additional financial assistance to the School District, but also it will send a message that our City, the Mayor and City Council 291 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. does want to do the right thing by our public school children, that they do value them and they value their future and want to make this important investment in their future. I have with me some additional petitions that were signed by students at our school and some of the parents and teachers. And we want to thank Councilman Goode for introducing this bill.
You have the support of Greenfield School, and we hope that you will have the support of every fellow Councilmen and Mayor Street. Thank you. )
Thank you very much. Any questions? (No response.)
Venard Johnson, Healthy Family, Healthy Life. After Mr. Johnson is Marsha Brown, President, Home and School Association, 292 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. West Philadelphia High School and a member of the Walnut Hill Community Association. Thank you for your patience, Mr. Johnson.
Hello, Councilwoman. It's okay. Good afternoon, Councilwoman.
So long that some Councilmembers have changed, even the Sergeant-at-Arms have changed, but the 293 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. conditions of the School District remain the same. It's ridiculous. I remember the conditions at the Franklin Learning Center when Rotan Lee, our friend, was President of the School Board. And we struggled and we struggled, and the Board struggled, and they authorized a new Franklin Learning Center, only for the property, as I understand it, to be sold. The people from Ada Lewis were supposed to have town meetings conducted by the School Reform Commission. I have a transcript of testimony here that we're going to present to our lawyers on Friday where the School Reform Commission held a hearing, but they weren't present. Held a hearing about the closure of a school. Here's the transcript. Those in attendance were School District employees. Not one School Reform Commission member at a School District hearing about the closure of a school. Here's the other transcript a 294 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. week later. They were there, but the public hearing was held at 440 North Broad Street, a long way from Ada Lewis. By the way, it was held at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. What I'm trying to talk about, Councilwoman, is process. A month or so ago your committee held a hearing on the impact of new construction in transforming communities, and I was happy to sit here and say -- because I felt real good. I had talked to Mr. Vallas and I had talked to Lee Whitaker, and there was going to be a meeting of all these community people, to include myself and other folks who agitate the system like me. There was going to be a meeting where we were going to discuss the budget. I came here and I said so. I have yet to sit in on a meeting. It hasn't happened. You were at City Council a few weeks ago and it was said, I guess, during the time that you were there that 295 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. the Home and School Council was going to conduct citywide hearings around the budget. It hasn't happened. Today I sit here and listen to Councilman Goode have an exchange with people from the second floor to find out that maybe they're thinking about raising taxes, without a conversation with the community. It has to stop somewhere along the line. The line has to be drawn. And so I just want to talk about process. There almost is no 15 process, with no offense to Mr. Brady. He's not an insider. He's been here six weeks. He's been here six weeks. That's not an insider. I thought I heard the Chairman say we wanted to hire an insider. Well, how far inside did they look? The rumor on the street is that Mr. Brady came here with the intentions of getting that position, that it was all a political move anyway. The rumor on the street. I don't know, but I'm saying 296 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. to you that there was no public discussion. An interim CEO could be around for two years, three years. Look at the interim President of Cheyney University. He's been there two years, just said last week he was going to leave. Two years. So that could be a very long time. So I don't consider Mr. Brady an insider. When I looked at Mr. Brady's credentials in the paper, Superintendent of Facilities. I mean, I respect that. He's got a big job on his hand. He helped us at Ada Lewis. When we wanted to take a walk through Ada Lewis, Mr. Brady was certainly helpful. But I didn't see anything that talked about his ability to lead this institution academically. Several weeks ago, there were some older professors that had a relationship with Cheyney University, went to the SRC and said to the SRC that they wanted to be involved with the 297 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC.
selection of the new Superintendent, not a CEO, because they thought that they needed to have someone grounded in education, grounded in academics, because Cheyney, an institution that traditionally takes the disadvantaged, the academically disadvantaged, was complaining about the quality of students that Philadelphia was sending them. My daughter is a Cheyney graduate, complaining about students in her class not prepared, not taking notes. Philadelphia students. We need a change, and we need a change real quick. I just want to hit a couple other points and I'm done, because it sounds like 1986 again. The Office of Specialized Services for the District, if there's going to be some money, they need to get some of it. We've been talking about nurses for a long time, Councilwoman. Fifteen hundred students to one nurse is 298 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. too much. I think the District has made some improvements, maybe have gotten it down to 900 or 800 or so. Our kids have some critical needs. We need a nurse in every building all day long, and whatever we need to be doing to do that, together we need to do that. I was at a meeting today, an interagency meeting today at a school in your district. Not only are the students not getting the services through the District that they deserve around behavior, but it came out today that the managed care -- that the behavior health companies who are supposed to be providing them with services are shortstaffed. I think maybe several months ago at a meeting with Mr. Vallas he talked about the number of referrals that his office has made to DHS, maybe 30,000. I don't know. It was a lot. That they were just sitting on, nothing was happening. And so the beat goes on. 299 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. Here's what's really interesting: In '86 and '96, it was the racially isolated schools that were in here crying. Today it's Greenfield. Today it's Powel. So the inequity is spreading across the board. It's absolutely spreading across the board. We haven't had books for years. We haven't had music for years and art for years and now they're crying they don't have it. It's got to stop somewhere. Summer school, how does a student at McMichael get to Lock? And they're on public assistance, barely making ends meet, and have to pay for tokens? There's a problem somewhere there.
They want you to pay twice for one 300 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. destination.
The conditions of these buildings are poor. We let Mr. Vallas alone for five years about the conditions of the buildings, Councilwoman, but the conditions of these buildings are poor. I'd invite you to visit Gillespie School. You were at West Philadelphia High School last night. The curtains, the drapes, they won't even take the drapes down and make the place look presentable. I thought I had heard from the last time that we were there the drapes were down and they had done something. I was there last night. It's a dump. It has nothing to do with the quality of people in the building. I'm not saying that, but I'm saying it's a dump. The rumor on the street is that there are fires in the building, that the students are setting fires in the building, but there's no evacuation of the building. What's going on? 301 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. Almost done, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Verna, how are you?
I don't think Audenreid is opening this year. I thought I heard the Superintendent say Audenreid was going to open this school year. Last time I passed there, the steel frame was just going up.
So what's that about? And I'm a supporter of Paul Vallas. I have been a supporter. I'm not going to say I hadn't been.
I'm going to stand here and say the last time -- one of the times I was -- the union was hanging out the rafters and me and my family was here and we almost had to get 302 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. our shit out the door, because we were for reform.
Well, I take that into locations in our area. Every star is going to come at me.
Some of the reform has worked. I'm not going to say it hasn't, but for the families that we work mostly with, they're still struggling. I'll close with this: A couple of -- maybe last year we went to Harrisburg. We went in our pockets and we took students from South Philadelphia, West Philadelphia to Harrisburg. And the point I'm trying to make here is that there's got to be consistency in the truth. We thought we were going to Harrisburg to encourage the state to free up $25 million that would come back to the District and be used in an equitable way. What we found out is, we went to Harrisburg and the $25 million that we thought we were freeing up was the $25 303 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. million that the EMOs were going to get. So when people come to the community and ask for help -- and we're the kind of people who will respond -- then be truthful with us. Tell us what you're actually asking us to do and we'll do it. Classroom size reduction, truancy prevention programs, music and art are critical. I'm done with this. My youngest daughter -- and you know her, the Council President knows my family -- is an artist by just her being. We sent her to all kind of public schools, charter schools, traditional public schools. She never had in her whole school experience music or art. When we started looking for -- we thought we were going to send her to Cheyney. She said, I don't want to do math. I don't want to do English. I'm an artist. I want to study art. So we had to start looking all around for her. In looking, we went over -- looking in 304 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. the paper, we went over to Drexel one night, the School of Design and something else. We saw --
Thank you. It was an auditorium full of people, five, six hundred people. I'll just say it the only way I know how to say it: We could look around and find the black folks. You could see them. Those kids are there on scholarships because they went to colleges somewhere -- I mean high schools somewhere in the country where they had art and design, and our kids who have a natural ability to do this aren't getting that here, so they can't qualify for those scholarships, because they don't have the portfolios, they don't have the experience, they don't have the background. So I'm going to just leave you guys with that, is that I don't know how the District puts together a committee, 305 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. an ethics committee or -- I said this at the last meeting, an ethics committee or finance committee, and don't have the people on the committee representing the institutions that they come to for the money. If they come to you for money, shouldn't you be on the committee? If they go to the state for money, shouldn't you be a part of the committee? All these years I just realized it wasn't in the law that allowed you -- doesn't allow you to track the dollars. Maybe we need to be changing the law. Y'all are lawmakers. There's lawmakers in Harrisburg. Maybe the laws need to be changed so that we can track the dollars. It was a disgrace, in my view, to have the Councilman talking about $325,000 for a consultant and town meetings that very few people knew about. (Applause.)
Marsha Brown. Thank you for all your efforts last evening at West Philly High and 306 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. being a great leader of the Home and School Association and being there all the time. Nothing like people who give of their time, energy and talent. Thank you very much.
Thank you, and thank you for giving me time today to come forth and represent the student population of West that has some voice, but not enough voice. Today I come to you with some dire news, some news of desperation, news of need. We need to be heard. Students need to be heard and need to be accommodated in our community. With the projection for the new West Philadelphia High School, there has come about a lot of different initiatives, different projects, recommendations. A lot of these recommendations come from people who do not live in our neighborhoods. They do not know our children. They do not have children that attend elementary public 307 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. schools or high schools in the area, in the community, but they feel as though it is their right to make decision-making -- to have decision-making authority over our children. The first part of my topic, I'll just basically start with what has happened with West in the last three months. As of -- I come before you today to question the wisdom of how we use the money in our current budget and to suggest that we do better with the money we have. Despite the way West Philadelphia High School has been portrayed in the media, West was experiencing academic success. These charts represent academic progress as reflected by PSSA test results from 2004 to 2006. percent below basic. 1 percent below basic. Those scores 308 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. 2 percent. This ranks West as number two in test score improvement when compared to other comprehensive high schools across the District. The reading scores rose from 79 percent below basic to 59 percent below basic, an improvement of percent. 11 This ranks West as number two in test 12 score improvement when compared to other 13 comprehensive high schools. 14 Student attendance rose from 64 15 percent, which ranked West last in the 16 City when compared to other high schools. 3 percent. 19 This ranks West number one when compared 20 to other high schools. Student attendance has gone down since the removal of Mr. James. Most of these increases in academic performance and student attendance were incurred during his tenure as 309 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. administrator at West Philadelphia High School. This data was shared with the leadership team that was created to focus on using data to improve academic achievement. Of course, as a parent representative and because the students of any school in the Philadelphia School District are the property and under the jurisdiction and care, providership of their parents, I was on that committee, and I thank him for including me in this process. After these improvements, the budget at West was cut because of the School District budget deficit. As a result, funding for top of the clock, a CBO, was cut from the budget of the District to the budget of the school. On top of having that budget cut, 300 new students were networked to West from Turner, which Turner School would normally feed into Bartram. This was an amazement to most parents and community 310 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. members, along with, I'm pretty sure, most of the staff, because that increased our student population without extra funding, without extra security, without those resources to attend to those students. This is what I mean by spending money wisely. Why would you remove the principal of one of your top-improving schools when it has shown improvement academically and attendance-wise, low incidence of student misbehavior and disciplinary problems? Why would you remove the principal of one of your top-improving schools and have to replace him with three principals? How much extra money did this decision cost? Just to pacify and to maybe avoid bad publicity and to justify the needs of a few teachers that -- a group of teachers that had disagreements with the principals. Now, I don't know if you have these charts.
I did give them to someone 311 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. to pass out. I gave them to Mike, I think, to pass out. And these charts will -- I have one I can give you and you can share it, but I gave them to Mike.
And on these charts these charts represent the improvement. So not only are we still in bewilderment, we have never known and students don't know, parents don't know, community don't know, we are not aware of what the reasoning is behind the sudden removal of Mr. James, which caused chaos at West Philadelphia High School. We had incidents of serious fires because of this removal of Mr. James. I did address this issue to the SRC Commission. I will read that letter. "The safety of the students of West Philadelphia High School has been greatly compromised by not evacuating students during fires at the school, placing the students in a situation of 312 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. reckless endangerment. Without a safe climate in the school, there is no 4 positive learning environment. "After the removal of the former principal, these fires increased and there was a sudden increase in teacher absences. This led to very little or no academic instruction at all for students, which continues today. "These circumstances create a loss of continued academic improvement that had been accomplished in the last three years until the sudden change of principal occurred in March. Why is the safety and academic progress of the students at West Philadelphia High School less important than avoiding bad publicity and differences between administration and teachers? " Now, I was invited to a meeting with several members of the School 313 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. District: Mr. Golden; the School District Fire Marshal; Mr. Albert Bichner; Mr. Harry Gaffney, regional law office; Ms. Rashivitz. I think Mr. Trent was there. There were several School District officials who explained to me that they had had a meeting with the City Fire Commissioner, who determined that it was fine for them to place a delayed response fire alarm in our school. Delayed response means that we would have no knowledge of a fire unless they deemed that this fire was serious enough to let the alarm go. There was a 30-second delay on this fire alarm. So if there was a fire in the school, we would never know it once they would push that delay button so that they could determine whether they could put it out or not. So in the meantime, all students, staff and personnel are walking around assuming there's no threat. Our problem with that -- and I've discussed it with parents since this meeting with 314 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. those District staff members -- they are still not adequate. We want our children evacuated. We don't want chances taken with our children's lives. These are our children. We should have been at the table when the Fire Commissioner said that it was okay to have a delayed reaction for our children to be evacuated. Fire is very deadly. You can start a fire maybe with an incendiary device. Who says that any School District personnel, unless you're a toxicologist, is qualified to determine that they are not toxic fumes being emitted because of this fire, whether it's put out or not? I understand that they described nuisance fires to me, but that still does not mean that my child needs to stay in that building until your determination is, well, it's not a large enough fire for us to evacuate. There are several other things that I'd like to speak to today. These 315 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. are just some of the things that the community has felt, and parents. We have not gotten a proper reaction. We have got conversation. We have got reasons why. We have not gotten -- we have not come to an understanding of getting what we need for our children's safety, their academic progress and to promote West as a community school. Back to the new West Philadelphia High School that has been projected. Since that has been projected, there have been many recommendations about boundaries.
The latest boundary change occurred in 2006 in September where children that live on Chestnut Street a block away from the school are forbidden and cannot attend West Philadelphia High School. There is an additional proposal to further restrict the boundaries to 52nd Street, thereby excluding hundreds and hundreds of students from attending West Philadelphia High School. 316 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. We are parents and taxpayers and voters in that community. These are our students. That is their community school. They have the civil right to go to their community school. We are seeing deliberate means of disavowing and disengaging our children from their right to education in their community school. What we want for the School District to understand and for all our political advocates to understand is that we do not want these changes. We are not willing to accept them. There is no 15 reason why boundaries should be changed because we're projecting a new school in the area. There is no reason why our students should not be able to attend in the catchment area as it was. These are the main issues that concern us. We also have a question about the academics being projected and the student activities and the just normal day of business of administration at West. 317 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. Our students lately have been told that they cannot participate in a student activity that has gone on for at least a decade. It's a tradition that's called The West Jam. These students are told that they are not able to have this function at the school. By who, we're still trying to determine that, because we don't know if the principal actually has that authority just to make a decision offhand or if she has to call down to the Office of Secretary of Education. We're not sure of what that practice is. But what has happened is, it seems as though West Philadelphia High School is in some type of lockdown, subject to the decision-making process of an Executive Committee that was developed on behalf of the new West Philadelphia High School that has somehow been shifted into the current West Philadelphia High School, where community members are making decision-making policy concerning 318 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. budget, principal, hiring of staff and activities at West Philadelphia High School. Our community, our parents, we have spoken out against this. We have not gotten any response. We have got just a continuation of the perpetuation of this committee and their function, and they're actually making decisions at West beyond our control. We do participate on this committee as Walnut Hill Community Association, as we should, but our vote, our word and bringing that word from the community and from the parents seems to have no avail. We have said several times -- I've been in this process since 2003, since the concept of the new West was originated. This boundary question has been on the table for at least the last two of those years, and we adamantly and continually say we do not want these changes, but yet we hear that the School District has the right to change the 319 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. boundaries intermittently at will to accommodate whatever population that I guess they choose, which to us means that our children are deliberately being discriminated against, bottom line. There is no soft-spoken way to put that. If we're going to have a new school, then the school should be adjusted and manifested to attend and to accommodate all of the students in that community. So where are the students going to go? If the boundaries stick at 52nd Street, where will these students go from 52nd Street from Market all the way to Baltimore Avenue to 60th? What school will they attend? They all can't go to Sayre on 58th and Walnut, a smaller community school project. They have a cap. We already have students from Sayre who can't get in their neighborhood school, who live across the street, around the corner.
They can't all cross boundaries and go to Bartram. So where are these students to go? So we have 320 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. disposable students, people that we can just write off on a piece of paper? I don't think so. We are very concerned about the welfare and benefit of our children. They deserve the right to education. Our voices deserve to be heard. We come to this Council on behalf of them and ask for some sincere effort and action on our behalf as our political leadership to make some adjustments and recommendations to help us with this situation. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Brown. I mentioned some of these issues earlier and spoke with you last night. I'm requesting -- and, Mr. Bichner, whom I've known a long time, I would propose that some of us meet to discuss the -- you mentioned four issues: fires and that policy; the boundaries that for some reason changed this year when we're not sure where we're going next year; the academic program; and 321 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. student activities, for example, the West Jam that has been a tradition at the school, and associated with that the issue of a lockdown, whether or not there is a lockdown and this whole issue of boundaries from 52nd to 60th and Market to Baltimore. So I'm requesting a meeting. Some of us can meet in my office or in the Caucus Room, so that we can have a real discussion so we won't be -- I was very frustrated. I felt after the end -- after the meeting last night -- and I know also Mr. Armstead, I know -- several people came up to me last night and invited me and said, Oh, we're glad you're here and I'll invite you to a new meeting, as if I haven't been to other meetings. I would certainly call the principal, Ozzie Wright, whenever I heard there was a fire on the news. I mean, I do live in the neighborhood. So people who were new were inviting me to meetings 322 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. and that was their first meeting. But it's just the level of confusion is just overwhelming. It's very, very, very frustrating.
There's too much concealment. Everyone does not know what's going on at West. Yes, there are fires still going on with the -- to put three principals in place to replace the one principal, between the three of them they had no control over the school. The school was totally out of control. Students lost all interest in learning. They thought their voice was not being heard. They really wanted to know why Mr. James was removed. As I said before, students thought he had developed a very good rapport with these students, and as a black role model, it was very relevant for him to be there with them and to be effecting changes in policies that benefit them, and they thought that that's what they lost, their support, and obviously so, because now their 323 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. activities are being shut down. And we want to know who is in authority? Who is giving all these orders? When did West become -- what is this Executive Committee? Don't we have to vote as taxpayers to turn over a Philadelphia public school to a community organization, a group of community organizations? I mean, we can just have a few meetings and decide this is what we're going to do with the budget, with staff, with principal? We're just going to give a community's group whose viewpoints may not be and most of the times they are in contradiction to the best interest of the students? Parents have to be included on all these decisions, must be included. There must be no reluctance to bring them together. They don't all always come out, but they have representatives, such as myself, and other representatives. This change in policy, School District policy, concerning the budget 324 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. and the hiring of the principal with this Executive Committee we're not quite comfortable with at all, because we want to know when was that policy developed and why has it become a rule at West when it is not at any other Philadelphia public school, just like there is no 9 delayed response to fires. There is no 10 system installed to execute that process at any other Philadelphia public school. So West Philadelphia High has come under a lot of drastic changes lately, and it's time -- and the community is standing up -- to speak on them and to ask for change.
Absolutely. We certainly -- as I said, I would call Ozzie Wright, whom I've known a very long time, and many of the members of this Council know him, because they talk about him coming back from the Iraq War and being sent to the Iraq War, and then you learn he's gone, too. I was told he was leaving and we have two other 325 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. principals. So there's just so many questions, and as the President said earlier, it's a matter of communication, sharing and communication. So we really, really need to do that. I'm always available. I love my schools, and certainly this is a school that many of us attended. This is the school of Lucien Blackwell and many other members of our family, and we definitely just need to feel more comfortable about whatever this plan is, even where the plan stops, but we just -- it's very frustrating to feel that you're available for meetings and you get no -- and everybody is frustrated. As you know, Ms. Brown, people were passing me notes, "I'll meet with you, not here." Everybody wants to meet. Everybody has a different story. And we can't move forward together when everybody has a different story. It shouldn't be that way. 326 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. So I'll be in touch with you, Mr. Bichner, you and whomever else you would like, Mr. Brady or Lee, or I don't know who. I won't make those decisions. That's for you all to make, but certainly we really, really -- Mr. Thornton, we really need some help on this issue and we really want more communication. Thank you very much, and I'll be in touch.
Thank you for coming down. Jasper Jones. After Ms. Blum, is there anyone else? (No response.)
Thank you. So we will hear from Mr. Jones and Carol Blum and that will be it for our testimony today. Thank you very much. 327 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC.
Good afternoon, Council. I'm Jasper Jones. I'm representing 52nd Street and 60th Street Business Association. I was at that meeting as the business facilitator for West Philadelphia High School, and as a part of that process, an issue was raised that caused me to bring these two props, and, that is, the apprenticeship program. The businesspeople felt that the school was being managed based on ideas rather than facts. And a fact that we need to have a great concern over is the curriculum and that the school is, in effect, a de facto school, the prison system, as illustrated by this article in West Side Weekly where a graduate of West Philadelphia High School, unfortunately he did not make it to prison. He died from his wounds in a drug gun-related battle. And what the businesspeople are interested in is working with the School District to establish a school-to-work 328 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. program where they train young people to work in their business according to Department of Labor standards. I specialize in that. And I, in fact, have a letter from the School District about our program plan from 1996, which would have implemented as a national exemplar model an apprenticeship program based on individualized instruction to students using computer technology. That program is what we would hope to implement at West Philadelphia High School again so that we can have the school transform to work effectively with the small business community and other members of the business community, because during the session that we held, it was identified that there are jobs available in Philadelphia County that are not being filled because there are not people trained from the county to work in them. So we would want the School District to establish a program that's 329 5/23/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070015, ETC. based on facts and not ideas of this small school concept and all of that. That's fine, but it doesn't have any relationship to the reality of jobs that are available. And the fact that the small business community supplies most of the jobs that are currently available and they need the technical and training assistance, help, hands-on from the School District to be effective in providing school-to-work transition for our young people rather than school-to-prison transition, which is what is largely going on now.
Thank you very much, Mr. Jones. If you make that information available to us, we'll share it with the School District --