2097 COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA CAPITAL PROGRAM & BUDGET HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, March 1, 1999 9:30 a.m. - - - Bill No. 990026 - Amending Chapter 19-1800 of The Philadelphia Code entitled "School Tax Authorization". . . Bill No. 990027 - Amending Chapter 19-1800 of The Philadelphia Code entitled "School Tax Authorization". . . Bill No. 990028 - Amending Chapter 19-1800 of The Philadelphia Code entitled "School Tax Authorization". . . PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNA C. VERNA, Chair COUNCILWOMAN AUGUSTA A. CLARK COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL COUNCILMAN DAVID COHEN COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN MICHAEL A. NUTTER COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO COUNCILMAN ANGEL L. ORTIZ COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL COUNCILMAN RICHARD T. MARIANO COUNCILMAN W. THACHER LONGSTRETH COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO CHARLES MCPHERSON, Chief Financial Officer - - - VINCENT VARALLO ASSOCIATES, INC. Registered Professional Reporters Eleven Penn Center, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 561-2220 2098 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. I N D E X David Hornbeck, Superintendent of Schools 2099 Floyd Alston, President Board of Education 2099 Gerald Santilli, Acting Associate Managing 2133 Director of Finance Ted Skirski, Acting Director of Design. . . . 2203 and Construction John Lombardi, Director of Transportation . . 2208 Germaine Ingram, Chief of Staff . . . . . . . 2213 Tom McGlenchy, Acting Assistant . . . . . . . 2222 Managing Director for Business Operations Jack Meyers, Director of Financial. . . . . . 2232 Planning and Analysis Naomi Gubernick, Family Resources Network . . 2314 Jackie Sparkman, General Counsel. . . . . . . 2320 John McLees (position not identified) . . . . 2364 Marjorie Adler, Human Resources . . . . . . . 2375 2099 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. P R O C E E D I N G S
Good morning, everyone. This is the continued public hearing of the Committee of the Whole. Today we will hear testimony regarding Bill No.'s 990026, 990027, and 990028. Good morning, Mr. Hornbeck. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Thank you very much, Madam President. My name is David Hornbeck. I'm the Superintendent of Schools. And with your permission, I would like to turn the opening comments over to the President of the Board of Education, Mr. Floyd Alston.
Good morning. Good morning City Council President Verna and members of City Council, friends and guests. I am Floyd W. Alston, President of the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia. On behalf of my colleagues on the Board, it is a pleasure to be here once again to give you a brief overview of the operations of the 2100 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. School District of Philadelphia, a sort of state-of-the schools summary. I will leave it to our superintendent, David Hornbeck, and his senior management to provide a more detailed look at what is going on in our schools. Before I begin, I'd like to introduce my colleagues who have joined me here today for this presentation and who, like myself, will make themselves available to answer any questions or address any concerns. Behind me, I am pleased present: Pedro Ramos, who is the Vice President under the Board; Miss Chris Brown; Andrew Farnesi, Esquire; and Mr. Jack Lurie. Oh, I'm sorry, and Miss Dorothy Rush is right behind me. Any others that I don't see? Thank you very much. These are our very hard-working Board members. Since we were here last spring, our district has continued to make many positive changes on behalf of the students in this city's public schools.
Excuse me, Mr. Alston, can we have a copy of your testimony? 2101 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
You know, we had requested anybody testifying today to have copies of their testimony in my office a minimum of 48 hours prior to the hearing. And I come in this morning and see testimony, and I don't even know -- from Mr. Santilli, and I don't know whether it was distributed to everybody. Does everybody have a copy of Mr. Santilli's testimony? I don't believe anybody received that either. If we have copies of Mr. Santilli's testimony, I would like copies of his testimony to be distributed. Do you have it? Councilman Cohen, do you have it?
I've just been advised by 2102 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. my staff that copies of testimony are en route right now.
Well, I suggest that you proceed, but as I said, in the future, I would really appreciate it if we could have the testimony a minimum of 48 hours prior to your testifying.
I appreciate your comments, President Verna, and we'll be sure to take that into consideration. I apologize for them not being here timely.
Since we were here last spring, our district has continued to make many positive changes on behalf of the students in this city's public schools. I remain optimistic about the future of the school system and know that a lot of hard work has been done. I believe we have developed positive momentum and that we must keep moving forward for the sake of our children and the City. We have made enormous strides in difficult times and amid daunting challenges. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. This board strives to keep its eye or eyes on the prize -- an excellent education for every student. Within an environment of inadequate funding, a very public debate, and an increasingly intense political climate, we know that to achieve meaningful long-term success, our children must a great education as their foundation. That is what we have been trying to provide for them and for future generations. I want to acknowledge the multifaceted support that the City Council has provided our schools and our children over the last year. We look forward to that continued partnership, realizing that we may not always agree on the details of how to run the schools, but also believing that we share a common goal. As we fight for an education system which prepares children to be decision-makers of the new millennium, this board and administration have had to throw out the status quo. We have sometimes brought criticism and controversy to our doorstep, and we have been put in a decision where we had to make some very tough decisions. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. this big and implement systemic reform, you expect that it will produce challenges to every member of the broader community -- educators, business people, students, and parents. Sometimes we have struggled with those challenges. We know that we have made the decisions that some members of City Council have questioned us about. And to be honest, sometime in that fight, we have made mistakes. I can say, however, that we have tried to do what is best for the students. The budget we present today represents that commitment. It is a work in progress, and we remain flexible to make changes as we open up our budget review process to the broader community. Over the next month or so, our board will offer several opportunities for the public to make comments and offer suggestions about our spending plan for the next fiscal year. As we incorporate helpful suggestions and react to situational changes, there may be some adjustments and fluctuations in our numbers. You may have read last week, for example, that our current deficit figures have increased. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. commitment to giving public charter schools a chance to develop as alternatives to traditional public-school settings while we work to improve this educational system for all children. This board has approved the most operating charter schools in the State, and a dozen more applicants may receive final approval to open this coming September. Next year's total cost to operate all of these schools will be $40 million. This money comes from the same operating budget without offsetting savings. I'd like to take a few minutes to talk a bit about some of the things we have continued to work on over the past year. There's substantial evidence which clearly confirms that we are headed in the right direction. Philadelphia is one of the few urban districts which has made significant strides in improving academic achievement. Test scores continue to improve across the District as more and more schools and students are improving their performances in the core areas of reading, math, and science. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. achievement is being reflected, not just our own citywide achievement tests, but also on a statewide test. I notice a feeling of excitement when I visit classrooms all over the City, and both teachers and students are feeding off that enthusiasm.
Not only teachers, but parent and principals now have more meaningful input into designing what teaching and learning will look like within their school buildings. Since we know that the jobs of the future will require computer literacy, we have continued to increase access to the information highway by putting more and more computers in schools and classrooms. Our students-to-computer ratio has been cut in half over the last several years. We battle the perception that our district is a bloated bureaucracy. Reducing administrative expenses continues to be a primary focus our decision-making. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. tighter management, productivity enhancement, and squeezing every penny's worth of value out of every dollar we spend. The latest evidence which shows our commitment to actual progress in managing our budget is contained in a letter I recently received from Richard Smoot, Chairman of the Greater Philadelphia First Partnership for Reform. Their analysis shows that the audit commissioned by the State legislators overestimated potential savings in extreme proportions. As you know, this district has been audited time and time again at the District, City, and State levels. GPF's independent analysis of the Price Waterhouse report showed that a reasonable savings impact would be $81 million, $50 million of which our district has already included in its planning. GPF's independence goes a long way to clear the air of unfair tax on spending by the School District. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. the Price Waterhouse report would severely undercut our mission to educate children. If I could cite just one example, it would be the recommendation to save up to $20 million a year by eliminating school health services. This recommendation suggests that we instead pursue voluntary donations the health-care industry to cover those costs. Research has consistently shown that children who are not healthy will not learn as well as children who are. When children come to school hungry, have chronic diseases which remain untreated because their parents have no health insurance or have to worry about where they will lay their head each night because the family is homeless. They are not going to perform at the high academic levels. Yet, it is precisely these types of problems which our school health professionals address on a daily basis. When you talk about taking away those services with no firm commitment on how to replace them, what kind of message are we sending to our school children and their families? /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. the school buildings? We might save millions of dollars, but how many children might we lose in the process? Another area of challenge for the District is a teacher shortage. These dedicated professionals on the front lines of education reform are a critical part of achieving our goals. Yet at the same time, our student population continues to grow. We face a shortage of good people, especially in some hard-to-fill positions. Our district must aggressively compete for best and the brightest students graduating from colleges and universities each summer. Teaching as a vocation must compete with other potential career choices. For the young men and women who do choose education, we must compete against point surrounding districts which pay higher salaries and are perceived to provide fewer classroom challenges. Every year, we must fight the battle of finding enough qualified teachers to stand at the head of the classrooms. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. teaching force of 12,000, to the parent of a child who has a series of substitutes throughout the school year, even one vacancy is too many. This is just one of the many challenges we face. Yet the consequences of our failure to speak out and work on behalf of our children are grim. The generation of children in our schools now is one which will grow up to determine the course of this city in the next century.
We have all had to work together to ensure that they are prepared to step into those leadership positions. Children are this city's most vulnerable, most voiceless, yet most valuable citizens. They are depending on adults like us to be their safety net. If we don't speak out on their behalf? I believe the best way to ensure that success for all students becomes a reality in our lifetime is to work together to continue the job we set out to do, to bring fruition to a vision of educational reform. In spite of the challenges we have faced, we continue to believe that all children can and will achieve. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. lost confidence in the ability of public schools to ever change, this administration, with a lot of help, including your help, has taken this system and turned it into moving in the right direction. With your support, we must continue that progress. Our children deserve nothing less. Thank you. I'd be pleased to address any questions or comments you may have.
I think perhaps we can hear from Mr. Santilli and then from Mr. Hornbeck, and then we will proceed with the question-and-answer portion of our program.
Thank you, Madam President and members of Council. For the record, my name is David Hornbeck, and I am Philadelphia's Superintendent of Schools. I am pleased again to join you on behalf of the 213,000 Philadelphia school children. At the District, we have one fundamental objective, and it is that 95 percent of our students reach world-class achievement standards within one student generation so that they can be successful in college and/or in the 21st century jobs. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. necessary in order for our city to sustain the economic turnaround that we've seen in Philadelphia in recent years. In pursuit of our objective, we set down specific performance targets every two year for the District as a whole, our clusters, and for each of the District's regular schools. This permits us to know whether we are on target and to report how we are progressing to the community. No school district in America of any size other diversity has a more ambitious achievement goal, nor a more open process for keeping the public informed. As we pursue this challenging but vital objective, there are two myths that are significant obstacles to full success. The first is the myth of low expectations; that is the widespread belief that poor kids and youngsters of color, students for whom English is not their first language, and children with disabilities cannot learn at high levels. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. sums of money on administrative and other costs rather than focussing resources on instruction. I begin by commenting on our students' achievement. The goal of 95 percent of our students achieving at world-class levels within twelve years, one student generation, is at least as ambitious as President Kennedy's goal in 1960 of reaching the moon in ten years. Two years after the President set that goal for the nation, NASA successfully sent John Glenn into space, a necessary first step toward the ultimate goal. We too have completed our first two-year period, and we exceeded the District-wide performance targets set by the Board in 1996. Just as there was numerous space flights and other milestones en route to America's being the first nation to reach the moon, we have numerous milestones in front of us en route to our goal of being the first big American city in which virtually all students achieve at high levels. We have provided you with the details of our student achievement. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. had a very large increase in the students taking the test, a phenomenon that usually drags scores down. Moreover, we are pleased to note that the improvement was experienced even by students with home school districts historically failed. There was a very large increase in the proportion of both non-native English-speaking students taking the test and students with disabilities; and in both instances, very significant -- even dramatic -- increases in achievement. Moreover, 63 percent of our highest poverty schools exceeded their performance targets, and 63 percent of the schools in which there's relatively little poverty also exceeded their performance targets. The facts bear out our conviction that all children, regardless of color, language, income, or disability, improve their performance based on what goes on in the classroom. A total of 241 of our 249 schools in the accountability system made achievement improvements. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. examples here and across America of students, classes, and schools succeeding in spite of challenging personal circumstances. But nowhere has success been brought to scale. Our students, teachers, and principals are en route to making that happen. 145 of our schools exceeded their performance targets, and those 145 schools have more than 103,000 students and 6,000 teachers. As wonderful as the individual stories are of the performance of individual students, classes, and schools, the real story is that our teachers and principals in those 145 schools brought success to scale by their hard and smart work.
, Boston, or Denver. That fact is the most important indicator of District's dramatic success to date. The most potent time tools we have to establish this kind of success are careful assessment of student progress and the willingness to bring real accountability to public education. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. specific student academic performance targets for its districts, clusters, and schools, but also in having an accountability system of rewards, supports, and penalties that flow directly from how well the District, cluster, and school teams measure up to the targets. Surprisingly, there has been controversy around accountability and even criticism of the test we chose. Against that backdrop, there are three additional points to be made regarding student achievement and our system of accountability: The first point is to note the Philadelphia results on the Pennsylvania State System of Assessment. Those results are important because they provide an independent measure of the District's progress, using an independently- developed test and method of assessing progress. The PSSA results from 1996 through 1998 show the same trends as our SAT-9 data. There are dramatic increases in participation. These large participation increases make our increased achievement, again, especially noteworthy. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. State test results for Philadelphia students show a pattern of increased achievement across grades and subjects. Indeed, the same schools showed progress on both the State's and District's assessment system. The second point is that the SAT-9, which is a key part of our accountability system, is increasingly the test of choice across the United States. , Tucson, Washington, and in the states of California, Virginia, West Virginia, and Arizona, to name a few. We were one of the first districts in the country to adopt the SAT-9. The City can be proud that we are frequently in the vanguard of many school reform initiatives, which are leading to measurable improvements in student achievement. And, finally, the third point I want to make is that the District has convened an independent review panel of nationally-recognized testing and accountability experts to ensure that we continue to improve our accountability system and to assure data integrity. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. conclusions: "The general goal and approach are excellent. " "While initially only educators are being held accountable, the plan is to hold both student and educators accountable simultaneously for the achievement that they produce together. Many other states and districts do not have this type of symmetry in their approach to accountability, holding either educators accountable and not students, or vice versa. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. who are not tested pose a threat to validity in any test-based accountability system. Experience with many accountability systems in the past have shown that results can be inflated by the selective exclusion of students from testing. . Student non-participation in assessment and accountability is often a tremendous problem in large urban areas. " The final point I would make on the achievement front is that no school district in American is making more progress than we, and few are making as much. " Chicago, for example, is often cited as a model to which other cities can aspire. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. the past years. However, many people are not aware that while Chicago's achievement growth is positive, Philadelphia's gains at the elementary level are even greater in important ways. To illustrate, over the past three years at the elementary, the proportion of students at or above grade level has increased by 34 percent in reading and 43 percent in math; while the increase in Chicago measured only 11 percent and 19 percent in math. Our rate of increase has more than doubled that of Chicago in those all-important early years.
Today, more than 40 percent of Philadelphia's fourth-graders read at or above grade level compared to percent of 16 Chicago's third-graders. We simply don't have to 17 play second fiddle to Chicago. 18 The District will continue to work to 19 refine our assessment and accountability system. 20 Meanwhile I hope all citizens of the City will 21 join in celebrating the progress of our children. 22 How have we managed to achieve our 23 significant progress? It didn't happen by 24 accident. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. system, and initiatives like full-day kindergarten and more books and more computers. I want to express a very explicit and warm thank you to you, the members of Council, for the significant you've played in the accomplishments of our students. Two years ago, the Mayor and City Council supported the School Board and this administration in refusing to make further school-based cuts in response to continuing underfunding. This took courage and resolve that is remarkable. Last year, you stayed the course. There is no way that the achievement growth in the past two years could have happened if we had continued the turmoil and agony of further cuts each spring. I applaud you for your leadership. We could not have done it without you. Having presented the evidence against the myth of low expectations, I turn now to address the myth of wasted resources and bloated bureaucracy. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. area; that is, the other 61 school districts in Southeastern Pennsylvania. These districts are able to spend, on average, $1500 more per student than we are; that amounts to $45,000 more per classroom when comparing opportunities for our children with those available to suburban children. That places us at a decided disadvantage when recruiting teachers, administrators, and other staff. Our children have fewer computers and books, our facilities are in worse shape. Thousands of our children must purchase tokens for bus transportation, spending about $9 per week per child from often very meager family resources. Our classes have many more students. We are unable to give the extra academic assistance to many children who need it, either during the school year other during the summer. Then there's the question of how we spend what we have. Our commitment is to place more dollars in instruction where they impact on students, and fewer dollars into other expenditures. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. books, computers, staff training, leadership development, and more time for school-based staff to work together. We have taken many steps towards those goals. We went to Greater Philadelphia First and asked them to analyze our non-instructional expenditures and to recommend us where we could save money or otherwise use resources more effectively. The Management and Productivity Task Force they established recommended $45 million worth of savings that they thought could be achieved over five years. After two years, we were ahead of schedule, having saved $29 million. The Task Force is about to issue their third-year report on our accomplishments. It will not quite reach the full $45 million, but it will come close in three years, not five. A second illustration of our administrative cost-cutting efforts is the letter to which President Alston referred a little while ago related to the Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) operational review. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. combination of reducing costs and through the collection of additional revenue. After an independent review of the PWC findings, the Management and Productivity Task Force has informed us that the potential is about $81 million, not $577 million over the same five years. It also notes that the School District has already incorporated $51 million of the $81 million into our budget projections. That leaves only $30 million to be achieved over five years on average of about $6 million for year. Now, 30 million is a far cry from 577 million. Nevertheless, 30 million is 30 million.
Every time someone has made a legitimate suggestion that helped save money, we pursue it. And to that end, before this budget is adopted in May, we will find several million dollars more through additional administrative savings. A third major fact about our successful efforts to manage the financial affairs of the District more effectively is revealed in a recent report, not of the District, but of the Pennsylvania State Department of Education. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. Philadelphia spends more of each dollar on instruction than is spent on average in the other 500 school district in the Commonwealth. Moreover, we also spend more of each dollar on instruction than is spent on average in the school district comprising Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties. And that's true despite the fact that we have expenditures such as our 350+ police officers, major transportation responsibilities for non-public schools, and significant maintenance costs resulting from aging facilities that far outstrip needs among our suburban colleagues. The above facts provide clear evidence that the myth of wasted resources and bloated bureaucracy is very different from the current reality. Over the last four years, the District has experienced audits from the City, State and 20 courts, in addition to the ones conducted at our 21 request by Greater Philadelphia First and the 22 business community. We have been diligent in 23 responding to any recommendations that were feasible. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. our '99-2000 budget itself, let's take a quick look into the future. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is whether students are able to read better, do mate more proficiently, know more science, graduate on time, and go successfully to college or to a 21st century job. As the numbers tell us, we have made dramatic progress towards those goals. We are ahead of schedule toward meeting the most ambitious goals set in any school district in the United States. Nevertheless, we have a long way to go. More than half of our students, 52 percent, can now read at the basic level or above -- and that's up from 40 percent just two years. And we celebrate that, but that means that 48 percent cannot. We are changing that. In 1996, 48 percent of our 12th-graders graduated on time. Last year, that number had climbed to 52 percent in just two years. And we celebrate that difficult achievement, but that still means that 48 percent did not. We're changing that. There is a lot of good news. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. lies ahead. Let me mention six of them. The first and more important challenge is continuing to instill the fundamental believe that "all" means "all," that our commitment is to all children, that the barriers to learning that individual children face are ones that we must overcome, and they must not be used to excuse either the child's failure or ours as educators. The best strategy to meet this challenge is to continue to use the belief that all students can learn at high levels as the standard against which we measure all we do and say. A second major challenge is what I characterize as moving through basic to proficient. Increasing numbers of our students now, as noted above, more than 50 percent in reading, are at the basic level of performance or above. There is evidence that breaking through the ceiling to achieve at the proficient level will require teaching and learning by both teachers and students that is qualitatively different -- a difference in kind, not just degree. We must help teachers help students make that leap from basic to proficient or advanced. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. A third major challenge is both providing reduced class size for students in kindergarten through grade 3 and in pre-kindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds and finding the space to do so. The Board has already identified these two program initiatives as essential to the success of all students.
A corollary will be finding ways for our schools to accommodate the programs. It will require alternative school calendars, including year-round schools. Alternative school calendars will also provide the opportunity to attack summer learning lose through summer programs and to, in other ways, supply extra academic and social support for students who are struggling to meet the high standards of performance. A fourth major challenge will be identifying the hundreds of new teachers and principals required next year and in the years immediately ahead. The increased requirements are a result of more retirements and initiatives such as reduced class size and pre-kindergarten programs. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. example, mathematics, science, and world languages. Not only are the sheer numbers that are required a challenge, but the quality of teachers necessary for the much higher standards is equally, if not more, important. Our compensation system, the way in which teachers are assigned to schools, recruitment tactics and incentives, new-teacher mentoring, and the daily level of support we must provide teachers and principals will require our careful review. We must leave no 13 stone unturned in ensuring sufficient numbers of quality teachers for our children. A fifth major challenge arises from the so-called welfare reform. More than half of our students receive public assistance. Indeed, more than half of all the students in the entire state who receive public assistance are in our system. That concentration of poverty makes it exceptionally more difficult to reach all children. But this week, it will get worse. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. system, will hit their two-year limit for TANF benefits and will be at risk of losing those benefits. Tens of thousands of our kids already survive under lousy conditions. Now they're on the edge of grotesque deprivation that will challenge them even more. We must continue to reject poverty as an excuse for our not succeeding, but there is no doubt but that our job will be harder. And, finally, we need additional funding. We do not need money alone. Indeed, we've already produced results beyond our expectations without additional permanent resources. I predict that we can continue to meet our ambitious targets for the current school year and the next with relatively little real increase in our level of spending. Working harder and smarter can probably carry us through the next two years of continuous improvement, especially if teachers, parents, principals, and students have reasonable hope that in the end, adequate resources will be forthcoming. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. need at least as much as others already have available. While Mr. Santilli, the Acting Associate Managing Director of the School District for Finance, will provide you with a detailed presentation on the budget, I'd like to make two final observations. Because of the speculation and anxiety in previous years, let me say that while we cannot yet identify the specific sources for the funds, I fully expect that the schools will operate in the normal fashion for the entire 1999-2000 school year. Before the spring of 2000, I expect additional revenues from the government, local State, and/or federal. I also expect to raise additional funds from foundations and other private-sector sources. This budget reflects our continuing commitment to raising student achievement, increasing graduation and promotion rates, and eliminating social promotion. There are two important new features of this year's budget that strengthen our ability to meet student needs in these areas. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. in the Fair Opportunities to Learn standards that the Board of Education approved in conjunction with the graduation and promotion requirements last spring.
These include most notably summer programs for those students in the 3rd, 7th, 9th, and 11th grades, who, absent additional help, will likely fail in June 2000 when we eliminate social promotion and our higher standards for students take effect. The second new initiative is lower student-teacher ratios in kindergarten and first grade in at least one elementary school per cluster. This is a down payment made possible with anticipated federal funds dedicated to reduced class size on another system-wide requirement of the Fair Opportunities to Learn standards. That requirement is a student-teacher ratio of 1-to-17 or better in kindergarten through the 3rd grade. Mr. Santilli is prepared to place the details of the budget before you. And with your permission, I'll ask him to come to the table to do so.
Please. 2133 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam President. (Gerald Santilli comes forward.)
Good morning, Mr. Santilli. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning, Council President Verna, City Council, and concerned citizens. My name is Gerald Santilli. I am the Acting Assistant Managing Director for Finance for the School District of Philadelphia. I am here today to present testimony in support of the School District's proposed operating budget for Fiscal Year 2000. 8 million more than our estimate for the current year's expenditures. I will highlight the reasons for these changes later in my presentation. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. Fund. Our preliminary comparative statement of operating budget revenues, obligations, and changes in fund balance is presented on and 2 of the supplemental charts. This statement has been modified from the one contained in the budget document. This modification reflects the Board of Education's charter school approvals last Monday. Going from left to right, the first column presents the current year budget as adopted on May 29, 1998. " The third column, labeled "Estimated 1998-999" represents our estimate of results for the fiscal year. The "Adjustments" column in between shows the increases and decreases in revenues, obligations, and other financing sources and uses that have been identified since the May 29th adoption of the budget. The last column presents the proposed budget for the next fiscal year. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. financing sources and uses from this fiscal year to next fiscal year. As the data indicates, the School District estimates that it will end the current 1999 fiscal year with a small fund balance of $142,600. million. million in Fiscal Year 2000. 8 million of capital expenditures and equipment from the General Fund to the Miscellaneous Capital Projects Fund. These funds, which were received from insurance settlements, are legally unrestricted. This will leave the School District with approximately a $100,000 fund balance at the end of the current fiscal year. I would like to call your attention to the graph in the supplemental charts on . /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. 1 million. The first supplemental chart on indicates how our budget revenue will be derived for the next fiscal year. The percentages of revenues are as follows: 59 percent from the Commonwealth, 37 percent from local taxes, and percent from local non-tax sources, primarily the City's renewal of its $15 million grant. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. administrative support; and percent for debt service insurance and other costs. The revenue projections for 2000 are based on amounts contained in Governor Ridge's proposed budget and from local taxes at current rates. The cost projections for 2000 are based on the assumption that the School District will continue to provide all of the educational programs currently in place. The School District will make several program changes which are reflected in the Fiscal Year 2000 Operating Budget. million, which plans to provide kindergarten to all students at their local elementary schools will be established. 8 million. 3 million. The most significant impact on the proposed Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2000 is the costs related to charter schools. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. 1 million, which is $27 million over the current year's estimate. in the supplemental charts provides a summary of charger enrollment and the cost to the School District. One of the most useful ways to track Operating Budget costs is to review the Schedule D reconciliation found on of the supplemental charts. Line numbers are reflected on the left side of the page, which refer to major items of change in both the budget for this year and next year. Line 1 reflects, by category of expenditure (also known as "object class") the current year budget as originally adopted. Line 2 reflects changes made to our accounting code structure to confirm to the State accounting codes. Line 4a shows the net decrease to this year's budget resulting from a variety of events and/or activities implemented subsequent to budget adoption.
6 million, are detailed on Pages B-3 and B-4 of the Budget Document. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. Line 4b reflects the accounting treatment necessary for the refinancing of general obligation bonds, which occurred during the current fiscal year. This cost is fully offset by bond proceeds. Line 5 represents the current year budget as we see it today, and the numbers are the basis for comparison to the proposed budget for the Fiscal Year 2000. Lines 6 through 19 reflect the categories of change between the two years. Each line item is detailed on Pages B-5 through B-13 in the Budget Document. Increases in salary increments total $11 million. These increments represent the annual wage increase that employees receive for each additional year of service. 3 million for Fiscal Year 2000 are primarily attributable to collective bargaining agreements. 2 million. 8 million of this account. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. million resulting from higher debt service costs in Fiscal Year 2000. Another significant change is noted on Line 18. million. Growth in revenues from both the Commonwealth and local taxes have been minimal. The Commonwealth's Equalized Subsidy for Basic Education, also known as "ESBE," has been virtually frozen at 1991-'92 levels. 9 million of additional revenue. 1 million, virtually closing the gap. These losses of revenue totaling $592 million are recapped on of the supplemental charts. of the supplemental charts presents a history of revenues from the Commonwealth for 1991-'92 through 1999-2000. /BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. since 1991-'92. At the local level, the assessed value of taxable real estate has been essentially flat since 1992. of the supplemental charts shows City tax revenue if it had grown merely 2 percent each year since 1991-'92. A history of revenues derived from each individual tax from 1993-'94 through 1999-2000 is presented on of the supplemental charts. This anemic picture of revenue growth, combined with substantial growth and enrollment, has resulted in less revenue per student. The School District continues to seek additional sources of revenue and search for expenditure savings we achieve from operating efficiencies without making instructional program reductions. Thank you for your time and attention, and I'll be happy to answer any of your questions.
Thank you very much. Mr. Hornbeck, is there anyone else that you wish to testify?
No, thank you, Madam 2142 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. President.
Fine. Before we get into our question-and-answer period, I would like Councilmembers to know that we'll have five minutes to ask questions, and then we will have a second go-around. Mr. Hornbeck, can you tell us how many teacher positions are vacant at the present time?
About 125. And I also see in your testimony that 1100 teachers and administrators are eligible to retire under the 30-and-out window.
How many do you think will really retire? Do you have any indication?
It really is a flip of the coin, but more than normal. Traditionally, just to put this in context, Madam President, historically, the School District has hired 4 or 500 teachers a year. In the last two years, we've hired roughly 800 a year because the tenure of our staff is getting older all the time. 2143 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. This next year, we face two issues. One is the 30-and-out. If they go ahead and close that retirement window, there are those who will be eligible who will want to get out. And the other is our opportunity to hire an extra 235 to 250 teaches for purposes of reducing class size. So altogether, we expect to have to hire between and 1500 people for September. 10 With a lower number in this last year, for 11 example, we opened school with about 300 12 vacancies, and we've run an average of about 150 day. And, as I say, today, I think there's about 125.
Apparently, the problem of teacher shortage is not unique to Philadelphia. I was watching television yesterday morning and I saw that in Chicago and in Florida, they're not only having problems trying to hire teachers, but they're having difficulty in hiring substitutes. You cite various reasons as to why the district is experiencing teacher shortages. What are you doing in the areas of the District hiring process, assignment of staff to schools, and 2144 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. training administrators to welcome and support new teachers?
Well, in terms of -- you've hit on two or three of the really important things. And we're doing training with administrators to create that more welcoming atmosphere; and more than that, creating opportunities for young teachers to have mentors in each instance so that there's somebody to whom they can turn, because every new teacher to teaching faces really major issues. And having in a sense a buddy system, if you will, is an important piece of that. So both the training of administrators and the kind of mentoring. In terms of the assignment of teachers to schools, that will be an issue that we will want to discuss extensively with the Federation of Teachers a year from August as we go into the next round of collective bargaining, because that assignment process is one that is tightly and strictly controlled by the collective bargaining agreement and can only be changed at the moment through exceptions. And once in a while, you'll have a particular situation that an individual 2145 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. agreement can be reached, but it needs to be dealt with across the board.
You mentioned the hard-to-fill positions. What positions are they?
Well, the traditional hard-to-fill positions are ones like special education, the higher levels of mathematics, the higher levels of science. But as you note, the issue of teacher shortages is becoming one that not just we face, but school districts all across the region, the State and the nation face. And what we're beginning to see now is, for the first time, serious shortages in places that historically have not been hard to fill. For example, I don't think, until this year, we've ever had vacancies in grade teachers -- that is, people who teach 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th grade. And while the shortage there is significantly less than like physics teachers or music teachers, we are beginning to see that around the edges.
Is the District's starting salaries for teachers competitive with the suburban districts? And do 2146 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. you think that this may be one of the reasons why people decline to work in the District?
It is one of the reasons. We start -- I think it's at $3,000 less than the average in the suburbs. And during the course of the career of teachers -- Philadelphia versus the suburbs -- we find ourselves, I think, 61st out of 62 in salary levels. And, yes, that is a definite impediment. In fact, it's one of the three top reasons that people give for not coming to work in Philadelphia.
A second one is the one that you mentioned -- the lack of flexibility in the choice of schools. And the third one is the residency requirement. But in the reverse order; it's residency, selection, and compensation.
How much federal funding do you expect to receive for class-size reductions in your 1999-2000 budget? And what are the grades that you will be reducing the class size in? 2147 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
We expect to receive about $13 million, and the grades will be kindergarten and the 1st grade. And we expect to be able to change the student-teacher ratio, lower it in at least one elementary school in each of the clusters with the use of these funds. 8
To the best 9 of your knowledge, will this be an ongoing federal 10 program? And if it is not, what happens next 11 year? 12
Well, at least to the 13 best of our hope, it will be an ongoing program. 14 We can't, of course, guarantee that, but our 15 expectation is that it will extend next year and 16 beyond. 17 The Board, last July or June, when they 18 passed the graduation and promotion requirements, 19 also passed a series of Fair Opportunities to 20 Learn standards, and a copy of that document is in 21 your material. And one of the elements in that 22 document is reduced class size, kindergarten through the 3rd grade. That series of things in that document are what we believe will be necessary in the end to bring all youngsters to 2148 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. that very high level of achievement. So in a sense, our ability with federal funds this year to do a down payment on that is an important first step, and is in a sense a year earlier. Now, what happens if the feds don't do it or that we don't get the money? Then that will simply be one element of the School District slipping back into the morass that has characterized the failure of education in Philadelphia for decades, to provide good services for kids.
Thank you. The Chair now recognizes the Chairperson of the Education Committee, Councilwoman Miller.
My question is related to teacher vacancies. On the question of teacher vacancies, do you have any hard evidence that all the steps you've taken to recruit teachers has worked?
We have hard evidence that all the steps we've taken to recruit teachers 2149 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. has not worked. The evidence we find literally on a daily basis. Like these 125 vacancies. Despite hiring more recruiters; making more trips further away to more places to hire; bringing bus loads of young people into Philadelphia to introduce them to the School District; increasing the number of student-teachers that we supervise, in the hope of keeping them; creating new programs, for example, for people whose first language isn't English at Community College and at Temple to, in a sense, grow our own; many, many, many, many, many initiatives. But today, as I say, we have roughly 125 vacancies. And if you think of there being 30 kids in each classroom, what that -- what that basically means is -- what is that, that's a little over 3600 students sitting in classrooms today without a permanent, regularly-assigned certified teacher.
Well, do you think that we're going to have enough students to open the school -- I know to open the schools, but to fulfill a lot of that vacancy in September? And what are the plans for filling those vacancies 2150 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. from now through June for this year?
Well, we will continue what we've been doing and accelerate it further. We are sorting through other initiatives; like, for example, what other school districts are doing, are paying bonuses, assigning bonuses. They won't be the $10 million that they pay the 76ers to sign, but something more modest than that. We are looking at the possibility of support for subsidized mortgage, for example, to attract people. There are one or two districts that have done that across the United States. I think that -- I think we've got -- I think everything's got to be on the board. It's my hope, in fact, that when the hearings are over, that we may in fact be able to put together a group of people comprised of a couple of vice presidents for human resources in some of the major corporations in Philadelphia, perhaps with a couple members of Council, together with some of our human resources people, and really see all of the various options, including initiatives that Council might be able to take, like related to 2151 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. mortgage subsidy and so on that we could do. Because right now, I think that we will likely again in September open school with vacancies. And let me say that one of the terrific things that could happen -- and we've been working on it, but I don't know how much success there is, and if any member of Council could be helpful in this, it would be great. If we could keep that retirement window open in Harrisburg, we believe that that could save us several hundred vacancies come the fall because we have people who are, you know, 53, 54, 56, 57 years old, they've got 30 years, and they don't particularly want to retire, but if they think this June 30th is the last shot at retiring before they're 62 or 65, then they will take it. And so any assistance that we can get on that front would be terrific.
Okay, thank you Mr. Hornbeck, Madam Chair. I have questions I'll ask later.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Madam President. 2152 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. Dr. Hornbeck, the testimony of the $1500 gap between per-student between the suburbs and Philadelphia is really not in dispute; I think we all agree that that is, in fact, the case. And also what's not in dispute is that 60 percent, 58.9 percent of our city's school system budget comes from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania today. Even if we all agree in the room that there is an inequity here, do you believe that your approach to both the governor and to the legislature has been effective or ineffective, productive or counterproductive in getting us where we want to be considering that I think that we've been a thorough failure in our lawsuit to bring this issue through the courts? And what is it you can do into the future to salvage what seems to be a very nasty relationship?
Well, I think that it has to be the case, it's sort of like the vacancies. The fact that the Commonwealth, after 30 years, continues to treat our children unfairly is a fact, and so the City's approach to Harrisburg, for at least 30 years, has been a 2153 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. failure. And I'm -- I don't know all of the strategies that those of us in the City, whether we're elected officials or officials at the School District, could take that would be more effective. There has tended to be, over the years, two themes that have played in Harrisburg, and they are two themes that we have responded to in unusually positive ways. One is that Harrisburg -- and not just this administration, but previous administrations have said, What good does it do to give Philadelphia more money? When we do, it doesn't seem to change achievement. And so one of the things that we've done, and rather successfully, is to change achievement. Kids can read and do math and do science better, and so we have responded to that challenge, and I think that's been a very good strategy -- responding specifically to their challenge. Secondly, they have repeatedly made the observation that, as I suggested in my testimony, that we are a bloated bureaucracy that wastes large sums of money. And one of the things we've done again is to take management steps that have 2154 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. shifted money from administration and other costs to instruction. So that compared to our colleagues in Southeastern Pennsylvania, compared to our colleagues statewide, we do better than they do. So that at least, in a relative sense, we've also met that challenge. So that on the two primary points that 30 years of governors and legislatures have put in front of the City of Philadelphia, I think our strategies of better management and higher achievement have been very effective. How we can put together a strategy in Philadelphia between City Council and the Mayor and the School District and the wider citizenry that will be effective not only on behalf of Philadelphia but on behalf of poor children in rural school districts, I don't have that answer. And I would look forward to work with you and others on City Council and other elected officials to design such a strategy.
Well, I guess my situation is one of while I may agree with you in theory or philosophy, the reality of the situation is that the Governor's attitude and the attitude 2155 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. of his staff does not seem to be at this point to be conducive to providing substantial new money for Philadelphia; that the legislature, despite your efforts or your suggestion that administration has been cut and that achievement has improved, does not seem to be moving. So I guess railing against the unfairness doesn't seem to work, and there seems to be maybe a new approach that needs to be taken with that governmental body, that simply saying, "We need more money" and "You've been unfair for 30 years" has not worked. And what I thought when we agreed to move forward with budgeting, despite the fact we didn't have the money, that somehow, we were going to be saved by the courts doesn't seem to be the case -- even though we may appeal our court case being thrown out. I would just suggest maybe a new and revamped approach as opposed to one of the adversarial unfairness argument that somehow we try to figure out a way to meet them on some common ground to get maybe not exactly what we think we deserve but what is available. 2156 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. I mean, as our situation relates to Harrisburg, I think it's done nothing but deteriorate, and I think it's not in the best of interests of our students that that situation exists.
Well, there's no 8 question but that we're not getting what we need or we frankly aren't even getting what's available. And I would be more than open to suggestions around which we have any reason to believe that they might be more effective. I -- if it were the case that 10 years ago or 20 year ago or 30 year ago, there had been effectiveness in this way, then one could simply adopt one of those strategies. But, clearly, that was not the case either. And I worry a little bit that there has been this sort of history around Philadelphia, around simply not -- for whatever set of reasons -- wanting to provide the funds to Philadelphia that would provide adequacy and equity.
My time is up, but I'm just going to state the obvious. This governor has just be re-inaugurated for another 2157 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. term, the Democrats are ten votes short in the Senate, and we don't control the house. I think the reality of the situation is we need another approach. And that's my suggestion.
I would very much look forward to working with you to try to design that.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Nutter.
On the first of your testimony, the second paragraph, there is a statement that says, "It is that 95 percent of our students reach world-class achievement standards within one student generation." And then in parentheses, you have "12 years." Was that the initial goal upon your arriving here in Philadelphia?
Yes. Ever since one was established, that's been it. 2158 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
Okay. And when does this one student generation or 12-year period of turnaround begin?
'96. And how far along toward the 95 percent level do you think we are at this point?
The best way to -- I mean, there are a couple of ways you could answer that. We have divided things into six 2-year parts so that we can't afford to wait 12 years to see how we're doing; we've got to make at least one-sixth of the progress every two years.
And this last year was the end of the first of those two years, and we were substantially ahead of where that one-sixth was. Now, you would define that for reading, where 52 percent of the kids are now up from 40 percent above basic and above in reading. It's a little lower for math, and it's a lot lower for 2159 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. science. So we're at different steps.
Is the basic measurement a part of the 95 percent of students reaching world-class achievement levels or is that some higher level?
No, it's higher than basic. We believe that proficient is the level. And to translate that into terms that people have talked about more often, basic is roughly at the 50th percentile -- half below, half above -- and that's the way we historically in the United States have talked.
What does that mean, they're reading at grade level -- 50 percent are reading at grade level?
Well, proficient would be 70 percent, so it's a very high standard of 2160 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. achievement that we have set.
Proficient is the 70 percent. Advanced must be 95 percent, and I do not expect, nor do our children on average need to be at advanced in order to be successful in college or be successful in a genuine 21st century job.
I can't spout that off the top of my head. There's actually material in your --
Why don't I get the staff to look a that while we're talking, and they can point that out to you.
Okay, no problem, 2161 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. thank you. What in your view are the essential components of a good school? And the context of that question is, I guess, about a month ago, there was a Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer piece that showed performance index levels for all the schools in Philadelphia, and I think also some comparisons with the four or five counties around us, and then how the schools performed on the state tests. Is that the PSSA?
Okay. One of the schools seemed to stand out fairly significantly, even on the State measurements. It was the Mantua School, which is not in my district, but it did very well on all the tests. What is going on at that particular school in comparison to the other 256 schools?
Actually, Masterman, if I remember correctly, was number one in the State.
So it not doing "just well"; it was really a stunning performance. I think that there are -- 2162 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
I served it up that way so that you could brag about it.
Thank you, sir. I think there are two or three things going on at Masterman. I think they've got a fine faculty, I think they've got a fine principal. I think they have high expectations of the students; when the kid walks in the door, the faculty, the principal, the other staff expect kids to do very well. And they also have a very rigorous selection process that basically means that the students have to have scored, I think it's like at 93 or 94 as a precondition of being selected. So you take a good principal, good teachers, and already highly proficient children and high expectations, and it produces what you see.
On of the 2163 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. supplemental chart, looking at the breakdown of the funds by function, how does the projected deficit affect each of these sections with the $80 million deficit?
It really doesn't affect any category because we budget a composite budget, so it could affect each of those categories if we were to make eliminations equally across the board; or if we're targeting a specific area, it could affect that particular area. So it really doesn't affect one particular category of type of expenditures.
I wanted to ask you about the charter schools. Do we get any State funding for the charter schools?
We get a very small amount of transitional cost for non-public school students. There's a million dollars budgeted Statewide, and Philadelphia expects to get about $600,000 of that million dollars, but that's the only money that we're getting specifically for 2164 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. charter schools.
In your testimony, it says that most of the charter schools are in Philadelphia; is that --
That's correct. In this school year, we have operating -- and if memory 8 serves, there are 29, I think there are 29 9 statewide. We have almost half. We have a little 10 more than half of the students in the charter 11 schools. 12 Next year, the Board has just approved 13 12 additional charter schools, and I don't know what's happened in the rest of the state, so I don't know what the relative posture is, but there's no question but that we will be at roughly half or more of charter schools and --
Is there a limit on the number of charter schools that you can approve or you can just go forever?
There is no limit. And indeed, this year, for the first year, any applicant for charter school status that is denied a charter by the local school board may appeal that denial to a State Charter School Committee. 2165 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. And we had applications for charter school status, and we approved 12. What proportion of the 13 we'll appeal or will appeal successfully to the State, I don't know. So it is at least conceivable that in -- sometime in the summer, maybe even in the late summer, that if the State were to approve additional charter schools, that the impact, the net impact on the School District budget could grow significantly.
Are the students 13 in the charter schools a part of your testing 14 process? Do they have to take the SAT-9? Are 15 they accounted for in the overall achievement of 16 all of the students in the public schools? 17
They are not counted as 18 part of the accountability system. So when I say 19 that 52 percent of our students can read at the 20 basic level or above, that does not include 21 charter school students. 22 What the Board did do, however, is, as 23 a precondition of granting charter status in each 24 instance, the charter school is required to have 25 their students take the test so that parents in 2166 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. Carter schools, the public at large, Council, whomever, are able to see how a specific charter school is doing on the same basis that they can determine how one of the Philadelphia school District's public schools is doing. But charter schools, under the law, while they are public schools, they are, in effect, independent local education agencies. And so they are separate from the Philadelphia -- they are separate school district is what it amounts to, each one by itself.
How do you calculate the funding for each charter school?
The law contains in it a definition of what is to be counted in the total cost of a school district, and then we divide all of the non-special education students into an amount of money, and that comes out this year to the tune of around $5300. And then we take the amount of money that's spent on special-education students and we divide the special ed. kids into that, and that comes out to $10,200. And then we give to the charter school the $5300 or whatever it is times however many non-special ed. students 2167 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. they had they have, and we give to them then however -- $10,200 times however many special ed. students they have. And that's -- it's fairly straightforward on the non-special ed. students. The special ed. formula in the State law is another place where the State law needs revision. Because when we total our amount of money spent on special education students, it, by definition, includes the money that we spend on severely and profoundly handicapped kids. And that can be ten of thousands of dollars. I think I'm right that there is not yet a single charter school that has a severely and profoundly handicapped student. Yet the amount of money that the charter school gets for each of its handicapped students is based on a formula that includes severely and profoundly handicapped kids. And so it's hugely inflated as a consequence.
I'm sorry, Councilwoman, your time has long been over. The Chair recognizes Councilwoman Clark. 2168 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
Thank you, Madam President. I'm particularly interested, Mr. Hornbeck, in your comments that deal with the 145 successful schools.
You say these 145 schools in the aggregate constitute the 23rd largest school district in America -- bigger than Washington D.C., Boston, or Denver. You say this is your most important indicator of the School District's dramatic success to date. Now, I know you need a chance to expound on this, and so help me understand it a little bit better. If I had you in a court of law and asked you for an offer of proof that this works, what would you say is evidence that's compelling and persuasive, that some intervention instituted by children's achievement is having this kind of dramatic measurable effect? Now, let me throw in a buzz word, then I'll hear your answer.
For about the last 2169 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. or years, the buzz word in education has been "accountability," and it's meant at least as many things to folks as there were speakers using the term. Tell me how you have put accountability into your formula and how you measure its effectiveness.
I'd be glad to, 9 Councilwoman. 10 On the number front, there are six 11 things that we look at in each school: how the 12 kids do in reading, how they do in math, how they 13 do in science, student attendance, and staff 14 attendance. And then for schools that have 15 kindergarten through the eighth grade in them, the 16 promotion rates. And for schools that have 9 to 17 12 in them, the graduation rates. 18 And we evaluate how much progress each 19 school makes on each of those things and then we 20 create a formula so that we can put those things together. So a school in a given two-year period could do a lot better in reading and not as well in math and still come out as having 'cause then they can set priorities and give focus to one or the other. 2170 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. Now, the reason that I say that these represent -- that this represents dramatic progress is in two ways. One is what in fact has happened. And by that, I mean, at the elementary level, the point increase in reading, the 12 in 7 math, the 15 in science; at the eight grade level, 8 10 points in reading, 10 in math, 13 in science; 9 and even in school, where we saw a 48 percent 10 increase in the participation of kids, which 11 normally drags scores down because the new kids 12 getting tested are the kids who most often are the 13 ones that don't do very well. We saw an 8-point increase in reading and 4.5 in math and 3.6 in science. So in those terms, just the sheer progress. If you go around the United States, as I pointed out in the case of Chicago, for example, our progress is hugely greater at the elementary level, for example, than Chicago's. And you can see those same things as you go around -- you go around the United States. And then there's the fact that some people thought, Well, those are going to be the schools where the least poor kids go to school, so 2171 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. we went and looked to see about that. And it turned out not to be so. The least poor schools met the performance targets in the same proportion as the most poor schools did -- leading me to the conclusion, anyhow, that it's not whether you're rich or poor or black or white or you're a native English-speaker or your not; it instead depends on what happens in the classroom, and you can create space and place for kids no matter what their family background or color or language or anything else that can help them succeed. We then have had this independent test and measurement set of experts to come and look because there were those who said, you know, the superintendent must be cooking the books because you couldn't possibly have all these little poor kids achieve at high levels any other way. And that's the reason that I cite some of the --
Well, that leads to one other question one other thing and I thank you for your answers.
Can you tell me why we don't have 100 percent of students tested? 2172 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. I don't think that Philadelphians understand the concept that some kids go to school but are not in the group who are tested. So could you briefly explain why some students are not tested?
In the -- there are two ways of answering that. We tested in '96, '97, and '98 for accountability purposes only in the 4th, 8th, and 11th grades, to take sort of the temperature from the accountability point of view of how the elementary school was doing, how the middle school was doing, and how the high school was doing. We also tested last year in four other grades but we didn't include it in the accountability stuff because we wanted to do apples and apples. Now, in the second round of accountability, we will combine 3 and 4, and 7 and 8, and 10 and 11, and compare them in two years the way we have done with 4, 8 and 11 in this first round. The other reason that kids don't participate, however -- and it's the one we went after -- is that there are a lot of kids who stay home on testing day. In fact, too many of our 2173 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. kids stay home on more than testing day, which is one of reasons that we put attendance in there and we've taken such strong truancy initiatives.
Councilwoman, I'm sorry, your time has been up. If you don't mind waiting.
Thank you, I'm sorry. The Chair recognizes Councilman Ortiz.
Thank you, Madam President. Superintendent Hornbeck, the story about -- there's a lot of folks and you mentioned Chicago, and I've been to Chicago, and I've gone to Roberto Clemente School in Chicago, and I know a lot of the teachers, principals, and individuals. And the climate at the Roberto Clemente School, at one point, was a very positive one; and during the last year and a half, it 2174 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. really has deteriorated. But the story of Chicago keeps being put forward as the example that we should follow in the City of Philadelphia, and I don't think that story -- our story and their story has really been compared, so now I'd like you to give us a snapshot of the differences very clearly so that we can begin to understand what they have achieved, what we have, and what are the differences.
I think the question's very well taken, and I did begin to speak to it in my testimony. And I do so not to denigrate at all the accomplishments in Chicago, because I think that they've gone through two reform cycles -- one that began in 1988, when they passed this remarkable piece of state legislation that created local school councils around every single school in Chicago and elected a majority of community people as the governance of the school and gave them the power, for example, to hire and fire principals. That didn't by itself produce the kinds of changes that they were looking for. And so in 2175 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. 1995, the Mayor and the business community came together and got another law passed that transferred the powers of governance of schools to the mayor and a so-called strong mayor type of governance. And over those years, they have made some progress. And so I don't want to take anything away from them. The fact is, for example, using the data from elementary schools, which I think of as the real comparative data because we've only been at work at this for three years, and they've been in their new system for three years. If you use grade level as the comparison point, what you find is that in Philadelphia, we use the 4th grade, they use the 3rd grade, so that's what I'm sharing with you. We increased the proportion of kids at grade level by 34 percent in reading over these last two years, the same time period. They increased their student at grade level not 34 percent but 13 percent. Now, 13 percent is good. It's just 1/3 of almost 34 percent. In the case of math, we increased the 2176 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. proportion of students by 43 percent in math; they increased by percent. Again, 19 percent in the 4 world of school reform out there, and if I were in 5 Chicago, I would say this is really terrific. The 6 difference is that we've just done almost three 7 times better. 8 Then the question would arise, Well, 9 but percentages can get a little squishy. You can 10 get big percentages off of a low base. So then we 11 looked at, Well, what absolute proportion of 12 Chicago's kids are at grade level and what 13 absolute proportion of Philadelphia's children are 14 at grade level in the elementary school, and the 15 fact is that 40 percent now of our 4th-graders are 16 reading at grade level and above. And that's 17 compared to 25 percent of Chicago's. 18 So I don't want to take anything away 19 from Chicago. I just keep hoping that as we have these great debates about education, that we would do it on the basis of fact.
And do we have any number as to the expenditure per student, dollar expenditure per student in the Chicago system and the Philadelphia system? 2177 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
I actually do not have that, but I could get it for you pretty easily.
In terms of success, of children achieving, and specifically in the area of dropout rates, what is the -- what has been the experience of students leaving the school system in the area of -- (Five-minute timer goes off.)
Last question -- in the area from the 7th to the 12th grade?
And do you have numbers in terms of Latinos, African-Americans, and so on down the line?
I'll get you that breakdown, Councilman Ortiz. I don't have the 7 to 12. I have the 9 to 12. During the -- again, the '96, '97, '98 first accountability cycle: in '96, 48 percent of our students graduated on time. In '98, 52 percent graduated on time. And 2178 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. I will get you both the to 12. I will also get you the breakout based on -- desegregated by language, Latino --
And I'd like to see 6 it by high school if possible -- Edison, Olney, 7 Kensington.
One of the nice things, and it's why I think I accurately claim that we've gone further than just about anybody in providing the world out there with the data, is that we can do it by school and we can do it by race, we can do it by language -- we can do it -- I mean, the fact is that on a four-year graduation rate that's segregated by race and ethnicity, Latino, it went up by 1.9 points -- that's in contrast to the citywide 4 points. And it's --
No, no, I'm sorry. I always look at it not in terms of dropouts but in terms of graduation, so I was doing it the other way.
So 35.2 percent of 2179 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. Latinos in '96 graduated on time; 37.1 percent in '98.
Mr. Hornbeck, on that issues, can you refer to , please. It would appear that --
Yes. I know that you said that 52 percent graduated.
On time. What happened to the other students? I see that in the 9th grade, there were 18,000 that enrolled and 9,000 apparently graduated. What happened to the other students who did not? Did they have to repeat a year, were they simply dropouts?
What 2180 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. percentage were dropouts, what percentage had to repeat the year?
Most of them ultimately drop out. I can get you sort of absolutely accurate data, but let me tell you roughly the situation. As I said, 52 percent graduated on time in '98. But another roughly 5 or 6 percent graduated after five years in '98. And roughly 11 percent graduated after six years. So that we 12 give most emphasis to on-time graduation, but we 13 also track the numbers for a 5th-year graduation and a 6th year. And a 5th- and 6-th year graduation happens in a couple of ways. One is that a student will spend an extra year in the 9th grade or the 10th grade or the 11th grade; and the other is that a student will return and then graduate. But if you do your arithmetic, you still come out with roughly 30, 35 percent of the kids who actually drop out -- less than used to, but still one of those things that looms as a very major issue for us.
Thank you 2181 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. very much.
Superintendent Hornbeck, you stated in your comments and in the materials that you passed around that students are performing better. Are the higher test scores isolated in certain schools, in only a few neighborhoods, or in only certain grades?
They are neither isolated by neighborhood, nor are they isolated by grade. We had improvement at all three grade levels in all three subjects. The greatest gains were in the elementary and middle schools. It went down in high school a little bit -- the gain went down, we still made a gain. The gain went down for at least two reasons. One is that we had a huge increase in the kids taking the test, and so we took lots of kids who weren't doing very well in high school, and we lured them back into high school to take the test. And so that inhibited the growth. And the second thing is that a kid in the 11th grade last year had only been subject to 2182 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. the Children Achieving agenda for four years; while a kid in the 4th grade last year had been subject to it basically his entire school career. So across the board -- reading, math, science -- grades 4, 8, and went up. 7 Then the question does revolve around, 8 Well, did only kids in higher-income areas beat 9 the performance target? Or did only white kids, 10 or did only Latino kids, or you know, etc. And 11 the answer is that across the board, we saw gains in each -- in each racial language breakdown. Now, it's not uniform. Like I just said in response to Councilman Ortiz's question, the increase in the proportion of Latino kids who graduated on time was less than the increase in the proportion of African-American kids who graduated on time. But in each instance, there was growth. And one other thing, which is related to that question, Ms. Miller, is that we picked 13 schools by virtue of poorest performance, least progress in '97, and gave them additional help and support. By '98, when we looked at how those 13 schools did, 7 of those 13 not only regained their 2183 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. original level of performance, but they performed so well that they exceeded their performance target. Of the remaining 6, 4 improved their performance, leaving only 2 that continued to require strong support.
Okay, I'd like to ask for information regarding what is the 145 schools that did well.
You will be happy to know that every single Council district has several of those schools.
All right. I have another question. On of your testimony, you make mention that 241 of the 249 schools in the 2184 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. accountability system made achievement improvement.
The accountability system is our identifying a specific performance target for every single school -- in effect, every single year, but counting it only every two years, because the accountability cycles are two-year cycles. And if a school exceeds its performance target, then that school receives a reward. And we have -- the 145 are the ones for whom that happened.
For schools that are struggling, they get extra help, and those are those 13 schools that I mentioned a moment ago.
And schools that persistently or dramatically fail will ultimately, after two accountability cycles, be the schools that are subject to reconstitution. And that's the accountability for educators. 2185 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST.
Now, the new tough graduation and promotion requirements represent the accountability system for students. And the Fair Opportunities to Learn standards that we've laid out -- I was talking a while ago about reduced class size and pre-K, for example, those represent in our definition the accountability system for citizens or for taxpayers.
-- we, the general, public should hear a different type of report. We hear reports now that a lot of our graduates cannot pass entrance exams, or that they don't qualify for apprenticeship programs in, for example, the trade unions. And do you think that that failure to achieve is related to social promotions?
Absolutely. I wouldn't pick social promotion out in a sense by itself because it's all the pieces that the educational system has not yet met, but social promotion is 2186 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. one of the manifestations. I mean, you come along and you've got a kid who finds himself in the 12th grade, he graduates, and can't read. And then he goes off to take an apprenticeship test and he can't read that either. And that's really -- when I referred to 21st century jobs several times, for example, I'm talking about kids coming out of high school, and every single one of them, if they want to take an apprenticeship test, they'll be to pass it. Every single one of them, if they want to go to college, can go without taking those remedial courses. That's where we're going with this.
You know, most recently, the sheet metal workers union passed out a flyer, and they're recruiting people to their apprenticeship program, and I was very surprised to learn that their math requirement was trig. So are those kind of factors taken into curriculum development? When I think of trig, I think of kids that are on a college track.
And I never 2187 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. really thought of it. Maybe it's because I'm maybe not that familiar with trade unions and all those types of jobs. But is that taken into consideration for curriculum development?
Absolutely. Kids who would need the proficient standard in math tests, which is where we expect kids ultimately to be, will be able to pass that sheet metal workers test.
And that's what the expectation ought to be. I think you've put your finger on a really important point. In the United States forever, we've had this thing about college-going kids and non-college-going kids. And the fact is that increasingly, whether you go to college or you don't go to college, if you're going to have a job that you can support a family with, you've got to have high-level math, you've got to have high-level science, you can't get by with a strong back.
That's right, 2188 3/1/99 WHOLE COMM./BUDGET/SCHOOL DIST. okay. Thank you.