Okay. Let me ask both of you about what seems to be somewhat of a theme stated in different ways in both of your respective testimonies. Mr. Ramos, your testimony says on the bottom of , going into 3: Second, since the total State allocation to the District is not very 133 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 sensitive to increased enrollment, when our charters bring us additional students, historically, we receive only about $420 per student in additional State funding, whereas we are required to pay the charter school $5,558 per student from the District budget for each regular-education. And then you go on to talk about special ed.
Miss Kahn, on of your testimony, you say: However, because our State funding barely recognizes enrollment growth, we are forced to spread already-limited funds around to more students. Now, does this go back to some kind of funding formula change? And I mean, these things only kind of come up periodically, so I have to admit that I can't always remember completely what the specifics are. We don't get a per-student allocation from the State. And, I mean, I know the answer is no, and on the City side, it's all driven by tax rates and the like.
I mean, what is the formula and how are we going to respond to that?
I'll answer and if my answer's too general, then we can call somebody up for more specifics 'cause I can only give you to my kind of level of understanding of the issue. Back in 1992-1993, the State changed its basic educational subsidies to (indiscernible). People called it the ESB.
And up to that time, there was -- as Philadelphia grew, you have proportionate increases in funding. What happened then was that the -- in effect, what happened was that the funding was frozen at that level of enrollment, and every year, you get, you know, every year, it's almost like a grant-type of process where you get additional funding that, and that formula changes. And the net effect of that is that when you take the increased enrollment and get your 135 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 additional new dollars divided by additional new kids roughly, rather than getting what you would think you get intuitively, which is the per-pupil revenue from the State is -- I don't know what it is, $4,000 or $3,000 -- that you would get that amount. Under the funding formula over the last eight or nine years, we don't get what amounts to the average per-pupil expenditure; you get, you know, some fraction of whatever's put in that year, and that average for us around 420. It's not a uniquely charter-school problem. I mean, the point is --
The point is that while most of us, you know, we want to build a constituency appear for public schools over time, and one of the challenges we have, one of the pressures we have working the other way is, as you increase the public school enrollment, and charter schools are helping to do that, the funding 136 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 mechanism isn't keeping pace because it's not enrollment-sensitive, although intuitively, you would think that it's a lot more enrollment- sensitive. So what happens is, you get more and more students, and (indiscernible) each getting, including the existing charter schools, each getting thinner and thinner slices of the pie because of this problem that affects all Philadelphia public schools.
And when you combine that, and this goes back to the other question Councilman Kenney was asking earlier too, the amount that gets paid out to charter schools is based on student spending, not revenue.
AND so if we already have a hole, in effect, we're not getting dollars in for so many of those students, because it was when that formula changed that our enrollment growth really occurred in Philadelphia. Now it's occurring for other reasons really as a result of charter schools. There are a whole bunch of schools -- maybe 20,000 or so -- for whom we're 137 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 essentially not being, you know, provided really adequate revenue.
All the other districts are facing the same situation?
Well, the formula obviously changed for all the other districts, but depending upon what their enrollment situation is -- I think that Philadelphia is somewhat unique in this. Because of the composition of our different school structures with the parochial system, etc., I don't think that as big a proportion of students going into charter school are coming from non-public schools as they are in Philadelphia. I think we may be somewhat unusual.
But you laid that out as some distinction, which I think I'm not completely kind of picking up. I mean, what difference does that make and --
I have a slightly different answer, Councilman, which is that other high-growth school districts have a similar issue, because part of the problem -- you know, if we had 138 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 not grown, we wouldn't have that part of the problem. If the formula changed right before Philadelphia grew by 22,000 students at a time that the City population went down by over (inaudible).
So other districts are dealing -- I would say the issue of the stranded overhead, any district of any significant size has that in different degrees. And high-growth districts are more likely to be in the same boat as us with respect to not having the dollars keeping pace with enrollment.
Let me ask this question? If we'd never had charters and the public school population grew by the same numbers during the same time period because we had miraculously somehow figured out how to increase as opposed to decrease our resident population and they just brought with them or, you know, once they got here, they enjoyed the place and started having more kids. So it wasn't a charter thing, it was a pure population children growth, there was a boom in our population, and the kids were 139 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 just, you know, kind of running around all over the place, would we be in the same position?
On that one part of the two parts, yes. I mean, part of this is just enrollment growth regardless of whether it's coming from charters or not.
Could we have been affected more positively or more negatively by, again, just a -- let's say our population had declined, our population actually grew, and those people either brought with them or had more kids during that same period and our --
I mean, I think that there is a distinction when it comes to the stranded overhead issue stranded, but the issue you're raising, which is just enrollment growth, period. Regardless of the source, it's the same issue. I mean, it's our point, which is that charter schools are as negatively affected by the flawed by the State funding formula as other public schools in the city, including the School District (inaudible).
And, you know, I think -- I mean, we can't obviously answer that question 140 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 entirely, but you're certainly -- I mean (indiscernible). The answer is, would our deficit situation be, you know (indiscernible), the answer is clearly yes, you know. It would depend on --
Is clearly yes. But it would depend on, you know, how much better or worse we would be, depending upon where those students came in, what age they were, where they went to school.
And here, we're actually paying out dollars to all of these new school buildings as well, which say you get those same economies.
I understand that, and I want to talk about that as well.
But, I mean, part of the reason I asked the question was initially, quite honestly, just to understand it. And, two, I think we are -- on the City side, I think we do have some notion in our various minds that we are 141 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 going to try to increase or population as opposed to just kind of gracefully and with a smile growing smaller. And so I want to try to anticipate if we did have a population increase, and I think the Mayor laid out even recently somewhat of a goal, the 5 percent resident increase.
Which indicates to me that there are going to be more kids 'cause when you have more people, you have more kids.
When you talk about -- I mean, I -- the one number I have pretty consistently in my mind, unless you guys, you know, build a new building recently, is that there are 258 school buildings; is that correct?
There are 264 schools, and there may be more buildings 'cause some buildings have annexes or multiple --
School District-run 142 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 schools.
Go into another 6. I mean, what are the provisions for maintenance and capital improvements related specifically to the charter schools? I mean, what's that story about and who's -- and, again, kind of going back to my opening question, who's in charge of these places in the first place just on the academic side? Who's responsible for the buildings? And, you know, are they up to code and what's going on with them? And the roof is leaking and who decides when they get a new roof versus when they put a new boiler in and all those kinds of issues?
I mean, where do 143 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 those dollars come from?
I mean, those are questions really for our charter school board members because they're --
I understand that. (Unintelligible, parties talking over each other.)
Right, but they run 'em and have oversight. I mean, charter school board members are public officials subject to -- you know, they sit where I sit except for one school. But one issue, though, I mean --
So each individual school has their own policy as it relates to maintenance and upkeep?
Yes. I mean, they have to comply with code and they should have valid certs, but they're responsible. We're very -- I mean, there are a couple things that, in our experience, because charter schools need more help than they're getting on facilities issues in a couple ways. One, the time period that we have for approving 144 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 charter schools makes it a rush to try to get a building and get a building ready.
The other is the financing opportunities available for charter schools and capital improvements. You know, there is not enough, and we care a lot about the quality of those buildings because they are, you know, housing our kids.
Yeah, I mean, notwithstanding the ones who come from other places.
So we would be supportive. I mean, as we do stuff, you know, we're not forgetting about those needs too, and we will be advocating for those types of changes.
Lastly, again, on the District side, unless you're going to tell me that each school does this individually. Who is responsible for any kind of evaluation, test scores, and all of that array of things that every school, every traditional public school has to go through the 21st and the Parkway and all of that 145 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 operation? How does that happen in the charter schools?
Well, I mean, there's basically two levels of responsibility. The Board, the School District, the Philadelphia School District has a chart -- has a document with charter schools that are chartered, and in there, it has requirements about what we -- about standards of performance. And so charter schools are providing -- some, you know, are doing some things in essence to comply with their charter. And in addition to that, charter schools by their own policies under the oversight of their own boards, you know, have, you know, don't have to limit themselves, and in fact don't often limit themselves to that. I mean, they have their own educational objectives.
To those things that are required, either the PSSA and, in our case, the SAT-9, they can do more.
More, different, but there's but some -- 146 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131
And their board -- you know, I would assume that a charter school board is setting academic standards for the school and creating some internal accountability mechanisms, and that is separate than whatever mechanism exists between the School District and the charter school, which is really an issue of, you know, compliance with the charter. I mean, there are two different -- you know, we would be looking at it from, are you doing what you've committed to do. That -- and the charter school board wants to make sure that they've committed to what they -- that they're doing what they've committed to the School District, but presumably, they're doing more than that, as they, you know, as they set goals for their schools.
Thank you very much. I appreciate your time and I know you were late for a meeting, but thank you, I appreciate your --
Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I 147 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 said I was going to have a follow-up on successes and challenges; I think we've covered a lot of it, so with your indulgence, I'm going to just submit it for the record.
Thank you very much for your testimony. Thank you. Sharmain Matlock-Turner Dr. Gail Meister, John Skief. (Witnesses come forward.)
Thank you so much for waiting. I appreciate your patience; I know it's been a long day.
Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to come in and have an opportunity to discuss this very important issue on educational reform in Philadelphia.
Sharmain Matlock-Turner, President of the Greater 148 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition.
I was going to say "good morning," but I think it's "good afternoon."
That happens in here. It's like a time machine in here; it just transports you.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to talk with you today about charter schools in Philadelphia. The Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition, also known as GPUAC, and our Education Children and Youth Committee has been very active over the last four years in taking a look at charter education in the City of Philadelphia. The committee is made up of citizens, business leaders, members of the School Board and the Mayor's Office, and charter operators to talk about this very important issue. Through the work of this committee, we have been educating the public about charter schools and advocate for the removal of barriers that will enable these schools to succeed. We 149 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 believe that charter school are an opportunity for parents, educators, and the community to serve as equal partners in the education of children. Charters are an option of educational reform that work especially well in Philadelphia, and many community-based organizations have launched charter school and are supporting their growth. " The study was supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and it was designed to better understand what factors help and hinder the implementation of charter school in Philadelphia and to recommend solutions for Philadelphia's next generation of charter schools. And we brought copies with us today which we have distributed to the Councilmembers. The study speaks to many issues, including the relationship between the School District, the State, and charter schools. The major findings of the study were in two areas: One, what are some of the tough issues that charter schools have to face in getting started; 150 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 and, secondly, what are some of the successes and what are some of the things that need to be in place for them to be successful. And these findings were garnered from conversations and surveys with parents, students, the School District, administrators, and charter operators. What hinders the successful implementation of charter schools are: Clearly issues around funding -- funding to get started, funding for buildings; Certainly unclear policies, and I think you've heard the discussion here today with everybody trying to figure out who's responsible for what; Also, the difficulty of recruiting and training certified staff. Charter schools are in the same position as the District in many instances in trying to find teachers for their schools; And the lack of affordable and appropriate facilities, which you've talked about; And strained relationships in figuring out how to relate between the School District, the State, and the charter operators. 151 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 What was found to really be successful for charter schools that were starting up was: The ability of the chief administrative officer to communicate the school's vision; Also for their to be strong support from the student body; And an active and supportive board of trustees; the support of elected officials and community-based organizations; Access to supplemental funding; And the parents' motivation to get involved in their children's schooling. To address the financial issues raised in this study, we have gone on to take a look and have commissioned two additional looks. David Thornburg, of the Pennsylvania Economy League, is working with us on a study around the per-pupil allotment, and this report is being supported by the School District as well as GPUAC to try to get to an objective view of where we really are as it relates to the funding that is transferred between the District and the charter schools. We expect that this study will be out sometime in June, and we will be glad to share our findings with you as 152 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 you continue to take a look at this issue.
The second issue that we're looking at and working with the reinvestment fund is to take a look at the whole issue of facilities financial and how there might be some additional opportunities to make sure that there are dollars available for those who want to start up charter schools. The federal government last year passed legislation with a small appropriation for facilities financing for charter schools, and we are hoping that we will be able to combine some State support and private funding to put together a pool of dollars that will be available for charter schools and their facilities and their facility needs. Our committee, the Education Children and Youth Committee, will continue to work on many of these issues, and we stand ready to work with you, City Council, the School District of Philadelphia, and those who are actively working in their communities to develop charter schools to make sure that we will have the best schools that we possibly can in Philadelphia. Thank you. 153 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131
Thank you very much. We will take the testimony of all of witnesses and then have questions. Doctor, please identify yourself for the record and proceed.
My name is Gail Meister, and I am the Associate Director of the Drexel University Foundation's Technical Assistance Center for Charter Schools. " It contains information about of 20 the 25 charter schools that were operating in '99-2000 in seven areas that are of particular interest to people who care and want to know more about charter schools, in the area of: accountability, facilities, finance, governance, personnel, program and students. 154 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 Such information as -- this was designed not to be evaluative, very carefully not to be evaluative, but to be descriptive for each of the charter schools, and then provide 6 summary information across the 20 charter schools 7 as to: 8 Accountability. What types of measures 9 do charter schools use to test their progress on 10 students and the school as a whole. 11 Facilities. How many sites is each 12 charter school in. Do they share a site. What 13 are the interior features for buildings: for 14 example, do they have a parent room, do they have 15 a gym. What are the exterior features: do they 16 have a playing field, do they have parking. What 17 kind of renovation work has been done. 18 Finance. What percentage of revenue 19 comes from various sources, including 20 fund-raising. Also what staff salary ranges. Those we reported only in the aggregate, I believe. And are bonuses available to staff. Governance. What types of parent involvement do those charter schools have. How many trustees do they have and how frequently do 155 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 they meet. Personnel. What kind of experience in terms of years do the teachers have and where did they teach before the previous year -- charter school, parochial school, etc. And program. The student computer ratio. Transportation. How the kids get to the school. And students. The number of student days per year, student enrollment, racial ethnic break down, etc. And this CD will be available in a few weeks. I'd like to take some time to talk about charter schools in the context the community-building and accountability. Charter schools are still, as you know, a relatively new type of public school that provide innovative educational opportunities for students, meaningful choice for parents, and benefits to the communities they serve. Charter schools really represent a fast-track both for education reform and neighborhood renewal. Charter schools are 156 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 part of a strategy to help revitalize communities and, as has been mentioned, a number of community-based organizations in Philadelphia have stepped up to sponsor and support charter schools. And in the written testimony, I provide a list of some examples. But another way that charter schools are community-builders is that parents and other residents themselves can create charter schools, as you were discussing earlier. This is an opportunity for them to build on and build up the human capital and social capital in those communities. I conducted a literature search a few years ago for the Aspen Institute's Roundtable on Comprehensive Community Initiatives for Children and Families that will be available in a few months, which identified five ways that communities can intervene or have an influence on education in their communities, and I identified five different ways that this could happen. And communities running schools was really the most intense and direct way that could happen, and charter schools are really the chief examples of 157 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 ways that communities run schools. This kind of activity on the part of communities does lead in theory and in many places has been shown to lead to stronger communities. Philadelphia has a very fine opportunity already to build on its leadership in approving charter schools to go even further.
There's more latitude under the Empowerment Act to create charter schools and independent schools, which might also have similar effects on building of community. Charter schools are more accountable than other public schools. As you know, they're designed specifically around a mission and goals that are spelled out in a detailed application, and these goals you were speaking of a few minutes ago are academic goals, non-academic goals for students, as well as other goals for the school as a whole, as an institution, which are spelled out in the application and are looked at by the District in the approval process and in the renewal process. They are also accountable to the State for certain kinds of operations and results. Charter schools have a built-in fail-safe switch 158 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 so that if parents fail to choose it or if it fails to function successfully, it ceases to exist. The evidence that we have that charter schools are working is not as full and detailed as we expect to have in a few years, but for the present, we have indications that parents certainly are choosing to enroll their children in those schools. Schools conduct lotteries because they have too many students for places. Parents keep their children in charter schools. ) and Nelson study of Pennsylvania charter schools showed that there are waiting lists at most charter schools, and the data in the CD would support that as well. Parents are satisfied and they are willing to wait for the other results. They do seek a quality education option, they want to get involved with schools, they want in many cases an alternative to District schools, and they find this in charter schools. I'm sure you're aware that real reform takes real time, and in many ways, charter schools are still very young and very new. Estimates of 159 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 what will really make a difference in the education world, one estimate in the empowerment plan indicate that it will really take years or 5 a whole generation of students for systemic 6 reform. Other experts have estimates from 7 to 10 7 years or to years. So we're still early in the charter school -- in terms of evaluating charter schools, but the more complex and the more comprehensive a reform, the longer it takes. There's some special issues that charter schools, especially here in Philadelphia and in the State of Pennsylvania, are dealing with that would have us be patient. First of all, charter schools in this state tend to be from scratch. To date, they have not been conversions of an existing public school to a charter school, so there are sort of developmental issues of where they get on their feet and grow as they continue to do for a number of years until they can really claim to have -- and it would be fair to look at them and see them as fully functioning and meeting their missions. There are additional challenges that charter schools face, and Sharmain alluded to some 160 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 of them. Just keeping these in mind. But despite these challenges, there is other evidence that charter schools remain something that parents want and that do build up communities. There is some early data from Pennsylvania charter schools that would indicate some promise for improved student achievement. There's still a tremendous interest on the part of parents and other community groups to create new charter schools. You've heard a lot about the 27 applications for the past school year in Philadelphia, but the out of the 35 planning grants that were awarded by the Commonwealth in this past winter are four groups that intend to develop charter schools here in Philadelphia, so there's a tremendous unfilled appetite still. Charter schools are good for education, for public education.
There are opportunities for 20 collaboration, and a number of Philadelphia 21 district schools have collaborated with charter 22 schools in a number of ways. One example is in 23 going in together for the highly competitive 21st Century Community Learning Center Grants for extended-day programming. 161 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 Charter school are supposed to be, they're designed to be by law a proving ground for the development of innovation and best practices. And ideally, these can then be shared with other schools. Philadelphia's position as a leader in charter schooling really sets it in a good place to take advantage of the opportunities that charter schools afford to improve education for all of our students.
Thank you very much. Sir, could you please identify yourself for the record.
My name is John Skief. I'm the Chief Administrative Officer of Harambee Institute of Science and Technology Charter School. It was one of the first four charter schools to be authorized in Philadelphia. It has recently won its five-year renewal, I guess, about two months ago. I was also the founding president of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools. And presently, I'm the vice president of the 162 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 Philadelphia Alliance for Charter Schools. Harambee Institute has been in existence ever since 1973 as a result of a school strike, when students got together and formed alternative schools. And since that experience, we have been operating since that time both as a private school and later on as a cultural center, and then finally, followed the charter school bill. You know, I can say that hearing the testimony of the School Board members, it's a refreshing change from what existed four years ago with the attitudes. To hear the idea of the backing of school choice for parents and the idea that charter schools have expanded the base and that we are bringing in students whose families had simply given up on the public schools and charter schools have now given them another option for education. It's always been evident to me since I've sent my own children to the Philadelphia public schools and found in my neighborhood schools that my children would do very well, but when it came to standardized testing, they would 163 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 not do well, and that in many cases, it really depended on what neighborhood you lived in which determined the quality of education. It was almost like educational apartheid, so to speak. It was important to me that my children have a place to go, a school to go to in their own community that has the same type of ideas and the same type of expectations as any other school in any other community. Thus was the reason why I decided to do pull away from the public schools and start my own charter schools. I will say that I was also a part of the Philadelphia Schools Collaborative, that movement in 1989, to reform and reconstruct the Philadelphia high schools, and I was a school leader in that at West Philadelphia High School, but I always found that there was a difference between what was said, particularly on the Board level, and what was actually carried out on the School District level. And I find that today; that whereas the Board has a much more progressive view towards charters, the School District, that is the bureaucracy that runs the School District and many times kind of lags back. 164 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 We had a bad start in 1997. I mean, we got our planning grant before the bill was passed, and once the bill was passed, then the School District had to set up an office for charter schools. We were authorized on August 21st of 1997, and we were to begin school on September 15th, so we only had three weeks to get the staff, students, building, and what have you. But fortunately, three of the first four charter schools were already schools in existence before and had some type of reputation. When we started that first year, we had a very hard time getting Title 1, very difficult getting special education. We were told that we will be given nursing services, we were told busing, and we were denied both of them. Busing has now been given to us in the past year. But I say that to say that it was very, very difficult for the first schools, the first four schools in 1997 to exist, because there was not that feeling of collegiality. And I remember speaking for Floyd Alston when we first got authorized, and he said, you know, it's a shame that we're losing a good teacher. And I was 165 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 saying, you know, well, you know, we're just expanding things. I even went to my cluster leader and said, Well, I want to be the first charter in your cluster.
But, of course, that was very naive of me because I found out that there was very, very strict lines of delineation between charters and the School District, thus beginning part of the problem. Because charter school are public schools. And if we had that movement of cooperation from the beginning, at least one of the schools that had problems being reauthorized, I guess, a couple months ago would not have had the problems that it had. Because we were all crippled in the first year, and we were just by an audit about what happened in that first year. And so it was difficult for us in the beginning, but things have changed. But most of the problems that we had with the School District when we first began -- and still, these problems exist with us today and we heard a little bit of it in the conversations with the School District -- revolves around money and funding. 166 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 And I would like to base my testimony on a different frame of reference, and that frame of reference is when we put the children first, when we put the children in the center of the argument of education. When that happens, then the School District and charters would work together. And how does that cooperation play itself out. It was brought out that we get approximately 75 percent of the allotment that comes in from the State. And if we get 75 percent of that per-student allotment, and at the same time the School District is losing money, then something is wrong in the way that they deal with their finances and set up their pupil allotment. If we cooperated and put the children first, then we would be just like another cluster in that our numbers would be put in an aggregate number, so there's no need to figure out what you're losing or what you're gaining because we're all in that same pot. A couple months ago, I visited Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I saw some examples of a school system, a public school system, that 167 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 embraces all types of options, which includes contracted schools, school choice, vouchers, charter schools, as well as the regular school district. The fact of the matter is, since they all work together, they save money because they were working collectively. If we put the children in the center and we work cooperatively, then maybe some of those empty school buildings could be filled by charter schools. If we put the children in the center of this situation, then maybe our school staffs would be able to benefit from the Philadelphia funds staff development. As a teacher in the public schools, I used to get paid -- or at least I got a stipend to take staff development, but my charter school teachers now are locked out of that, and they now have to pay for staff development. If we put the children in the center of this argument, then charter schools would be available and know about the various categorical funding program that come through the School District that, in many cases, we do not see. Once again, if we put the children in 168 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 the center of the argument, then when it comes for the renewal process or reauthorizing our charter, the School District would not have to sit in their office and try to figure out how they're going to judge the effectiveness of my school, because if you're just looking at test scores, you're missing most of the argument. It seems to me since we were like a learning lab, the School District officials should be in my school all the time. There should be regularly-scheduled teacher observations from the School District into these schools to see what are some of these different and new and innovative and, many times, successful approaches to learning. But that doesn't seem to happen and it needs to happen. If we put the students in the center of the argument, then we would see the funding that comes from the State as money that belongs to the children and not to the School District.
And then we'll see ways in which we could make sure that that money works for them, because to this date, charter school children get 75, or percent less 24 than School District -- regular School District 25 children. So we're put at a disadvantage as 169 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 charter schools. We need to be a part of the insurance programs, since charter schools must offer the same type of insurance programs that the regular school teachers enjoy in the public schools, then why cannot we be a part of that large group. It's killing us with the insurances that we have to provide for our teachers. Why don't we be a part of that aggregate number and enjoy the economies of scale that Dr. James was talking about in terms of purchasing of books. There's a lot of ways in which we can cooperate to make sure that education works for our children and to ensure equality for our children, because right now, that is not what we have. And because, because there's still this stigma around authorizing new charter schools and loss of revenues for the school system, to me, that really results in a conflict of interest, and maybe there needs to be another authorizer for charter schools; other states have it, and we need to look at other means of authorizing charter schools. 170 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 Basically that's all I have to say.
Thank you very much for your insight. How many students do you have in your school?
Okay. And when you started out five years ago, were you -- did you go 1 to 8 immediately, or did you --
And we have always had a waiting list as large as our student body. Next year, we'll have a larger building and we'll be able to expand.
We're moving to the Overbrook -- we're in Wynnefield now, 54th and 171 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 Wynnefield Avenue, and we're moving to 66th and Media, and we have a property in which we are building a prefabricated, modular two-story school building.
All right. Thank you very much and good luck to you and thank you for -- Any questions? Councilmember Miller.
Good afternoon. One of the questions I had, and maybe someone already asked this -- I'm not sure -- but you're one of the few schools that have been around for five years. And one of the questions that many of us have are outcomes and results. Can you talk a little bit about your outcomes at your school.
Well, we've always looked at our own. We give pre- and post-tests, but we look at a number of outcomes. We look at student participation, the level of student participation, as well as parent participation, and I think that that's one of the things that must be looked upon when you judge a charter school. Because for some of these schools, this is the first time parents have come to the schools on a regular basis. For 172 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 many of these charter schools, this is the first time that students come every day. As far as Harambee has been, we have done very well with the standardized testing. We take all of the field tests that come down from the State. From Year 1 to Year 2, we recorded a 17 percent increase in the SAT-9 tests. The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News have reported that we constantly better the school system both in the PSSA standardized tests as well as the SAT-9 test that's given in the City. But that's their test and, you know, it really didn't surprise us to do better in that realm. Where we wanted to do better is in terms of the students understanding that they have the power to change the conditions of their community, and that's that we're seeing. Those are the kind of outcomes we're looking for. We're also looking for outcomes in which parents come to parent meetings in en masse, and these are the kinds of outcomes that we see where students see our school as a liberation zone, that teachers are willing to stay overtime and teachers feel comfortable and teachers feel a 173 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 part of the educational process. So the testing is what the State and the School Board ask for, and we have been able to, you know, really master that. But there are even more important outcomes to us, and that is that the children leave our school understanding who they are and where they come from and what they need to do when they leave school.
Let me ask you a question about parental involvement. Do you as part of your contract or part of some requirement require specific parental involvement, or is it simply encouraged?
We require it, we require it. We say that it is impossible for us to properly educate the children when we're going one way and the parent is going the other way.
Which form do you use -- how do you use -- how is it required? Is it a contractual requirement or just a --
And we can't make anybody actually enforce it, but we do remind the parents that this is a school of choice, and this particular choice means that the parent has to be an equal partner in education. We require parents to take four hours of parenting seminars, and that's broken up into two sessions, before we even look at their application. And these parenting sessions have to do with communications between the school and the parent, discipline, the philosophy of our school, and the frame of reference of our school, 'cause it's important that parents understand where we're coming from so that we can both work together in terms of educating the child, and the parent is very clear in terms of what we ask. We also ask in a parent agreement or a compact that parents spend at least one or two days in the school during the year, that they must attend one parent meeting per month. And these are things that we demand. And for the most part, we get that from our parents.
In the instances 175 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 where people either refuse to do that or refuse prior to admission to do the tutoring or the seminar course of four hours, or during the course of the school year, just refuse to cooperate, what are the actions that you can take as an administrator of the school?
Well, we don't look at any application whose parents has not attended the parenting seminars; we don't even entertain them. For those parents that do come to the parenting sessions and, you know, they successfully go through the interviews, but they choose not to be cooperative with our method of discipline or come to parent meetings, we simply ask them not to apply next year.
Do you see any reason in the world why the traditional public school could not be implementing the same standard when it comes to parental involvement? Since they're both are public schools, what would keep the public schools, in your opinion, from doing this?
Well, it's not much but I think it has a lot to do with the connection with 176 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 the community and the agreement, because as a part of our orientation, the first thing we do is ask the parent, What are the need of our community? and then what do you think our students should know when they finish our schools? What should our students know that would allow them to live out the dream or the needs of our community? And, you know, that's the point right there, that we are together in this. And I lost my point for second, you know, as far the School District is concerned, but when the School District decided that they would use the standards, the national standards, as a new curriculum for education, those standards effectively raised the bar for what our children should know in order to graduate. But in many cases, the floor was lowered. So I was a trainer for teachers and for other schools in my cluster for the education of the standards to the teachers, and one of the most important things that I heard was "opportunity to learn," that if you're going to hold children at a higher standard of education, they must have the opportunity to learn, because these tests, the 177 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 SAT-9 and what have you, are the tests that will determine whether they get into the so-called magnet schools and, in many cases, you know, the schools that will allow you to get into college. So if these students do not have the opportunity to learn because there's no order in the classroom or teachers are not teaching, then they're being held at a disadvantage. And in that way, I think that all schools have the right to ensure that parents are in cooperation with the children that come in -- I mean, parents are in cooperation with that school. So it really has to do with the type of standard that that school sets. Because, see, magnet schools set that standard. And you can't cut the fool at your better schools, like you do in West Philadelphia High School. So those same standards need to be set, but there needs to be some type of trust with the principal or CAO of that school and that community, because they have to come to an agreement as to what it's going to take to transform that school as well as transform that community.
Thank you. Thank 178 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 you very much. Thank you. Councilwoman Miller.
I have a follow-up to the parent involvement discussion here, and certainly one thing the public schools cannot do is not accept an application if the parents have agreed or have not decided to participate in your orientation. But I do think that that's really an excellent idea to offer, for public schools to offer a parent orientation. You know, many parents don't wake up in the morning and take a breath and know how to be involved in their child's education, and it would be great if that type of orientation session is offered to parents when their children are entering kindergarten and 1st grade or 1st grade or any of the entering grades, because many times, we have to work with parents so that they can understand how to be an advocate and how to be supportive and how to be actively involved in their child's education. It's not just something that we already know. I know I've had two children go through public school, and no one has ever offered me a 179 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 four-hour orientation on parenting as it relates to education. So I think that's really a good plan that you have there. And I see it's working. Okay.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, Mr. Skief, I did want to make sure I took down -- and I'm certainly very proud to have Harambee presently in the Wynnefield community and soon to be in the Overbrook community. We had an opportunity to work together on that, and as long as you stayed in the district, that was the most important requirement as it related to Harambee. Did I understand you to say -- earlier did I take this down, did you say "cut the fool"?
That's what I thought. Yeah, okay. I wanted to make sure the stenographer got that and that there was complete cultural translation on that.
Right, absolutely. 180 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 On what we'd be talking about. Let me go back to Miss Matlock-Turner. I thought I took down a note very quickly on your testimony. Did you talk about a report maybe recently done by Pew? Did you say that?
No. There are a couple of reports. The one you received today is a report that was done by Foundations called "Facing Challenges, Forging Solutions," which is first study of charter schools in the City of Philadelphia specifically around issues around start-up.
What were some of the barriers and what were some of the supports that were there for start-up.
And you'll notice that Harambee Institute is absolutely featured as a part of this study.
Exactly. This was funded by the Casey Foundation. 181 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131
However, there are two additional reports that are in the process: One Gail talked about, which is the profile study, which, again, is to really let City Council know that there are citizens in Philadelphia who are clearly paying attention to these issues, who are talking to all of the people who were involved in the process to make sure there's public information available. So this will be available in libraries. We're hoping that it's going to be available online, and it will be an interactive tool so that parents, legislators, and anyone who's interested in what's going on in charter schools will be able to compare what are some of the standards that have been stated across various schools.
Right. 182 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131
It will probably be a couple more weeks that that's available, and we'll make sure that's available for City Council. And then --
A third study will be out in June, which we're currently completing, is taking a look at this while issue of funding and financing, which certainly John has talked about it from the charter school perspective.
Which is clear that the charter schools are operating at a different number as far as the per-pupil allotment is concerned, and then the School District is saying the aggregate effect on them is this number. And so we have commissioned the Pennsylvania Economy League to take a look at that 183 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 information and come back with not only what does that really look like, what are some solutions, and then what's happening in other states as it relates to that, and we will also make that available to City Council.
That would be great. Again, I was going to ask for that. We have both of the chairs of the joint committees here, and any of that kind of information that you could forward to us through the chairs of the respective committees would be very, very helpful, whether it's, you know, the written or the CD form, or if you can point us to, you know, something that's on line, or any of those kinds of resources, I think it would be very, very helpful to us.
Let me go back in a more serious way and to talk to my friend John Skief about this -- you're what I guess amounts to a part of either an application review or admission criteria possibly with regard to the parental involvement. I think, as Councilman Miller indicated, one, it's quite intriguing to 184 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 me; and, two, when you said it, I began to have the same thought that I'm sure she had and Councilman Kenney, which is, why can't we have -- what do we have and why couldn't we have something like that for the public -- for whatever anyone considers to be the traditional public schools? Now, my initial thought was that the District would probably say, Well, in the charter school situation, even though they are public schools, they're different and they're independent and the student has, I guess, ultimately somewhere else to go, similar to either the magnet schools or any other kind of public school. If for some reason, you're removed from those places, I guess the fail-safe for that student is always back to their local neighborhood school. I mean, that would be a generally legitimate response. On the other hand, I seem to recall, back when Mr. Hornbeck was the superintendent, I know that in some budget hearing, I raised a specific question about what do we require of parents? At the time, there was a lot of discussion about what we are going to demand of students and what we were going to demand of 185 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 teachers. We were going through this whole accountability phase, and I had asked the question back at the time about the parents, 'cause I thought they were also an important component to the students' educational attainment and performance levels. I was told that we needed to work on the student part, and then we had to deal with the teachers, but that there was going to be something for the parents. In the intervening years, I don't like what those items were, what was ever laid out for the parents, and I'll probably take a little bit of advantage of the fact that Chairman Kenny is not here and Chairwoman Miller is talking to a staff person and maybe generally ask the District, 'cause I'm going to ask this question, who's going to be responsible for trying to respond to the question of what are the current requirements on parents and what would be the problem in having a somewhat similar criteria for entering public-school students on the parental accountability, whether it's participating in parenting classes, compacts with parents, or anything else. 186 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 But I'd love to get your perspective again on the traditional public school because of your experience. And what kinds of things should we be requiring of our parents to be able to send their kids to the public school system?
John, could I -- I'm sorry, Councilman. I have another meeting and I'm sorry to be interrupt to interrupt before John, but if I could be excused. Again, we'll be quite happy to either come back and also we'll definitely make sure we share the additional information with the City Council when it becomes available.
To answer your question, the idea of parent participation and support, rights and responsibilities provide a double-edged sword to many school districts and schools, because, yes, schools, in many cases, want parents to come in, help raise funds, have bake sales; but, no, they don't want parents telling them what to do. And I think that it has to do with how you view parents. And being a teacher at West Philadelphia High School, I have seen that school 187 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 eat up many parent associations, because parents can be thorn in the side of schools in general, because you have to be willing to listen to them and you have to be willing to respect them even though they may not have a master's or a doctorate degree. And I think that might be one of the differences with Harambee Institute, because we do invite parents to come to the school. We invite them to come and sit in the classrooms. And in most cases, parents can talk to me whether they have an appointment or not. So it has to do with the way you view these parents. Do you see them as an auxiliary part, a necessary evil, or an equal partner in education? And I think that's the main reason why you did not have, or do not have, the kind of across-the-board parental support. There are schools in the Philadelphia school system that have good parent organizations, and I think that those schools that have good parent organizations have good principals who respect the opinions of parents. And when you have parent organizations, you may have situations 188 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 where parents are coming in with other agendas, and I've had that situation too, but I don't squelch that, I don't squelch it; I allow it to air itself out. Because I think that the good that you get from having parents come up to you and air their criticisms rather than having to wait till they get all pent up the way they do and then rush to the school, you know, drink some alcohol and then come in 'cause they got to get their hearts up. I want my parents to understand that they don't need a parent association to bring issues to me. If they have problems with me, they can come directly to me for issues that deal with education. And the parent association is designed to look at the things that I cannot do for these children and help augment that, as opposed to be adversarial relationships, which happen between school districts and parent organizations. So a lot has to do with how you view that parent, and I think that that has been a part of the support and the success of my school, because I can't force anybody out of my school, 189 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 but parents will get tired of me badgering them about coming up to see their kid and how they are raising their child because their child is, "cut the fool" in classrooms.
But the key is that paradigm of seeing the parent as an equal partner in education. So it is important that you give the parent as much information as possible. And it's also important that you can sit up and listen to a parent who may not have finished high school, but understand that that parent has every right, and every legitimate right, to voice what they feel is best for their child, as I do. Because too often in our schools, parents and the children and the school is one neighborhood, but the people who come in and teach and run the schools live in another neighborhood. And it's important that parents see themselves and see themselves as people who have the right and the power to come into the schools. Many parents prevent are afraid to come into the school because they do not feel that they will be respected. And I think that that is one of the reasons why parent 190 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 participation has been inhibited in the public schools.
Just very quickly, Dr. Meister, any particular perspective on this issue of parental involvement and standards and responsibilities? And has any of your work touched on any of those areas?
The blue study that you have in front of you includes information from a focus group of "parents," and that's parents in 12 quote because it included some grandparents and a 13 great-grandmother who had children in seven of the 14 charter schools. This was in 1999. And the kinds 15 of concerns and aspirations they had for their 16 children, what were the things that got them 17 involved in charter schooling, and what were the 18 things that kind of kept them away from it. The things that kept them away have to do largely with the lack of information about charter schools and some sense that they are still somewhat untried. I can later point that out to you.
Sure, no problem. Thank you. Thank you very much. 191 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you very much for your insight and testimony. Is Dr. June Brown still here?
Deirdre Bailey? And Joe Proietta. (Witnesses come forward.)
Could you identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
I'm June Hairston-Brown. And before I proceed, I would like to introduce two of our students. They have something they would like to share with you, and it's only going to take a couple of minutes.
Please identify yourself for the record. MISS CABRERA: Jennifer Cabrera.
Could you 192 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 reidentify yourself for the record for the record and say your last name clearly for the stenographer.
(Addresses committee in Spanish.) I know that many of you don't understand what I have just said because you may not have attended a school that focuses on languages. I am very fortunate to have this opportunity at the Lab School to learn English, French, and my native language, Spanish. So let me translate for you. Hi. Good afternoon. My name is Jennifer Cabrera. Maybe you are wondering what I am doing here. Well, I'm here to talk about my school, the Laboratory Charter School. Everyone has different opinions about charter schools, but mine should count the most 193 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 because I attend one of them. I have witnessed the effort the school has put into the students, even though it opened three years ago. When I first started in this school, I thought it was too hard because of their high level of expectations. I was surprised about the languages they taught, like French and my native language, Spanish. Before, I didn't know anyone about French and I was starting to forget Spanish. The school started to open programs to help children with a variety of subjects. I practice French and finally started mastering it. Also, I was surprised because I final got to a school that taught Spanish. The school helped me maintain my accent and my Spanish culture. I am very happy to come to a school with a special mission. I believe that everyone should have this opportunity. Thank you.
Thank you very much. MISS HURD: My name is Maureen Hurd.
Could you say your 194 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 last name a little louder and speak directly into the microphone, please.
Thank you. MISS HURD: (Address committee in French.) This is the advantage I have had from attending a school that teaches Spanish, English, and French. For those of you that do not speak French, let me repeat that message in English. Hello. Good afternoon. My name is Maureen Hurd. I would first like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak about my school. The world is full of difficult situations and the Laboratory Charter School of Communications and Languages prepares children for these situations. For example, a large percent of the American population is bilingual, and bilinguals are sought out. Of this the Lab School is aware, and so the children that come here receive a head start. The Lab School's small class sizes enable children to learn and question more, 195 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 something that would be difficult in a traditional public school class size of 35 or 40. The Lab School is like a family. We all work together, teachers and students, striving to achieve the main goal: to learn. The teachers instill in us a love for learning. I know that I love to read and that the Lab School's jump-start program of reading books and doing reports has furthered this love. I am proud to say that I have maintained a 97 average throughout my three years as a student at the Laboratory Charter School of Communications and Languages. I hope that more charter schools are established so that other children will have the opportunities that I have had. (Addresses the Council in French.) I know that I will be a success and that I will owe that success to the Lab School. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you for your testimony. Dr. Brown?
Thank you very much for inviting us here and thank you for listening to our students.
I think that they are the ones that really have something to say, and they are certain a testament to what we're about in charter schools. I could do this any number of ways. I have some prepared remarks, but I also am a seasoned educator, having served in the Philadelphia School District for years first, 15 first as a teacher, as a special ed. supervisor, 16 as a director of special education, and later as a 17 principal of two schools in the West Philadelphia 18 area. I now serve as a CAO of a charter school, 19 the Laboratory School for Communication and 20 Languages, and I had an application in for a charter school that was denied at this last application process. I can give you my prepared remarks or I'll happy to respond to any questions that you might have about charter schools that you feel 197 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 that I could be helpful in a response to.
I think the most helpful thing would be for you to give us a little bit of a discussion about the charter school application that was turned down and what your experience was in the process and just what happened through that effort.
I would love to do that, if I can do that, because I'm not sure exactly what happened.
I completed the application as it was given to us, and I was very surprised, frankly, when we did not get approval. I'm not sure what happened. We did get some feedback on it. The feedback, unfortunately, was pretty general, and I did respond to it, and I am in that group of 13 that has asked for a reevaluation. I felt that many of the questions and statements that they had on there had already been responded to, so our response again was to please check or , or whatever it was. One of the things that was said there was, they felt 198 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 that we had asked for too many students, and I don't think they understood that process, and this has been something that has, I think, hurt charter schools. When we applied for a charter school for the Laboratory Charter School that is current existing, we had asked for 350 students, and we found that we had so many applicants for the school that we should have asked for more. And so I went back and asked for more. And they gave us an additional 60, but they would not give us any more. So I thought this time, I had better ask for more, and I did that based on the number of people who come into us making applications for charter schools. This time we asked to put a charter school in four different sections of the City, starting in the West Philadelphia area, because most of our applicants come from West Philadelphia. With the Laboratory Charter School, we have a site in West Philadelphia, at 54th and Lebanon, and we have a site at with 4th and Brown, in the Northern Liberties section of the City. We asked to start a charter school with 199 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 250 youngsters in West Philadelphia this year and to move sites in some subsequent years. We have been denied that. I'm not sure how we will make out on --
What's the theme of the school? Is there a special educational --
The proposed program would allow us to work with children in an ungraded setting in grades kindergarten through 3 to make sure that those children get a head start in education. And the reason that we did that is because we get so many children from the traditional public school system and even some from parochial systems that are so far behind where they should be, that we felt that by putting a program out there where children would not feel intimidated, that we could move children's levels up so that they would have a head start when they start into 4th grade, which is a very pivotal grade. So it's basically basic education in an ungraded setting. I felt that many of these children 200 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 might have been diagnosed as special needs if they did not receive this kind of education.
What are some of the suggestions that you could give us today as it relates to the District's process in evaluating and communicating and lending assistance to this process?
I hope this doesn't come off as a negative, because I don't mean it as a negative, but I do believe that in order to be fair about applications for any kind of job, that you have to have some knowledge of that. And I feel that maybe there should be more people on the School Board that have training in education. I don't think it's enough to just rely on staff. I have that problem myself: I get too dependent on staff. But I always try to find out -- for example, in finances, I need to know something about it before I go and try to look at my books and find out whether or not they're right. And I just feel that there need to be more educators on the School Board who have the power of a vote and who know what different learning strategies are and they know what has worked and what has not 201 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 worked. We have in education what we call "best practices," and best practices in education tells you what has been done and what has worked. And I think if people really know best practices, they will know a sound education when they hear one. At the Laboratory School of Communication and Languages, we are the only charter school that has accreditation to the new State Association of Colleges and Schools. I think that speaks very loudly because we had an organization to come in, and where people came into us for approximately four days. And for a period of two years, we spent time pulling information together on curriculum, on our contacts with parents, on our parent training, on our teaching strategies. And this group of people that came in were astounded at what we were able to do in two years, and I too am astounded at the progress that we have made with the children. We have very high standards for our children. Our teachers get a great deal of staff development. Built into their contract is an additional hour every day where they have staff 202 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 development and they are able to discuss with seasoned administrators and people who come in as volunteers who have served the School District and who have served in administrative positions to work with these teachers to try to teach them how to better serve these children. I felt that that should be something that should be considered when they looked at another program that we proposed.
Just a couple questions. How long have you been open, two years?
Okay. Can you tell us a little bit about your parent, the level of parental involvement that you have at your school.
I would say this, Ms. Miller: It's not what I would like for it to be. I have a great deal of concern about parent involvement. I didn't hear all of my colleagues talk about parent involvement, and I don't know 203 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 whether we share the same ideas about it or not. I am not interested in bake sales, I am not interested in candy sales, I'm not interested in running up and down the street to fish fries. I'm interested in parents coming in, looking at what is needed for their youngster at a particular grade level, looking at the skill development, and sitting down with us, saying, What can I do and what will you do and what can we do together? And this is what we are trying to move toward. We're starting a new organization -- in fact, we meet this week for the first time -- called "Academic Boosters," and our parents would be the academic boosters. We are having this day -- in fact, I left a meeting this morning with our prospective kindergarten children, we have one half at that meeting at the 4th and Brown School this morning, and we are having the other half as we speak -- where we bring in parents and say to them, While you're child is in kindergarten here, this is what your child will be expected to learn, this is what you can do to prepare that child for kindergarten. And we have given them booklets that 204 5/1/01 LEG. OVERSIGHT/EDUCATION RES. 010131 consist of perhaps 200 pages, page by page. They will have to color within the lines, they need to recognize these sounds, they need to recognize these letters, they need into to recognize these numbers, they need to know their address, their telephone number, they need to know where Mom works and it's not just *72 on the telephone, and different things that they need to know. And in working with parents like this, we have found that our children learn much more, they gain much more confidence, and the relationship between teachers and parents is very good.
We have that at each grade level, but we certainty spend more time with it at the kindergarten level because many of these parents are younger and many of them have been unexposed to any formal education for their children.