Committee Hearing, May 10, 2010

COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, May 10, 2010 10:20 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL COUNCILMAN DARRELL CLARKE COUNCILMAN BILL GREEN COUNCILMAN WILLIAM K. GREENLEE COUNCILMAN CURTIS JONES, JR. COUNCILMAN JAMES KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILWOMAN MARIA D. QUINONES-SANCHEZ COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS BROWN COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO BILL 100119 - An ordinance amending Chapter 19-1800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "School Tax Authorization"... BILL 100120 - An ordinance amending Chapter 19-1801 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Authorization of Tax"... - - - 2

Good morning. We thank you all for coming and for your patience. We are now convening the Committee of the Whole on the School District of Philadelphia budget. I'm Jannie Blackwell, Chair of the Education Committee. Again, we have a quorum, and we are happy to begin. The Chair notes the presence of Councilwoman Augusta A. Clark. We welcome her. (Applause.)

Very, very nice to have you. And we will have the Clerk read the title of the bill, and thereafter we will ask our Superintendent and Chairman of the SRC to come forward. And we thank the SRC members and all our friends from the School District for being present. Clerk?

Bill No. 100119, an ordinance amending Chapter 19-1800 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "School Tax 3 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 Authorization," by amending Section 3 19-1806, entitled "Authorization of Realty Use and Occupancy Tax," to further authorize the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia to impose a tax on the use or occupancy of real estate within the School District of Philadelphia; and Bill No. 100120, an ordinance 11 amending Section 19-1801 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Authorization of Tax," to further authorize the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia to impose a tax on real estate within the City of Philadelphia, all under certain terms and conditions.

Thank you very much. Again, we thank you all for being here. We will begin immediately with our testimony, and certainly we invite Dr. Ackerman and Mr. Robert L. Archie, Jr. to come to the witness table 4 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 to present their testimony. (Witnesses approached witnesses table.)

Again, thank you, members of the SRC, School District and members of the public who are here. Please identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony.

Good morning. My name is Robert Archie. I'm the Chairman of the School Reform Commission. I'm here to testify in favor of Bill No. 15 100119 and Bill No. 100120. On behalf of the entire School Reform Commission, including Commissioners Johnny Irizarry, Commissioner Denise McGregor Armbrister and our newest Commissioners, Joe Dworetzky and Commissioner David Girard-diCarlo, and I thank you for providing this opportunity to share what we feel are the considerable achievements and noteworthy innovations that the School District of Philadelphia has 5 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 accomplished under the School District's current exciting and dynamic leadership team. In our Superintendent's testimony, Dr. Ackerman will describe how the School District is forging ahead with a sense of urgency to serve our students and their parents. Before I introduce Dr. Ackerman and the Chief Business Officer, Michael Masch, I would like to take a moment to thank Governor Rendell, Mayor Nutter and every member of City Council for your leadership and ongoing support that is provided the School District. Trust me, it's been very -- it's very much appreciated, especially in light of the challenging economic climate that the City, State and the School District have all endured. Now I invite Dr. Arlene Ackerman, Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, to review how collectively we plan to continue the 6 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 intense pace that we have set for achieving the ambitious goals laid out in our strategic plan called Imagine 2014. Following Dr. Ackerman's testimony, the School District's Chief Business Officer, Michael Masch, will outline the School District's proposed Fiscal Year 2010 to 2011 budget and how the School Reform Commission and the District intends to be careful stewards of the financial resources that the City, the Commonwealth and the Obama Administration have provided us. I thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Good morning, Councilwoman Blackwell and members of the City Council. I'm Arlene Ackerman, Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia. Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with a status report on the state of education in Philadelphia and the context for the 7 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 2010-2011 School District budget. To begin, I'd like to express my sincere respect and gratitude for your support of our District-operated and charter schools and for your clear commitment to give our youth the education that they so deserve. From City Hall and throughout the entire community, we are working together to build a system of great schools where all children have equal access to the opportunities they need in order to succeed in life and to achieve their dreams. Last year at this time, we were in the early stages of implementing our five-year strategic plan, Imagine 2014. This plan engaged the wider Philadelphia community and reflects our shared vision of a world-class educational system for our children. My testimony today will focus on three areas: what we have accomplished in Phase One, the challenges 8 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 we face, and our plans for moving forward into the next form of our reform agenda. Let me start with the accomplishments. I came to Philadelphia in June 2008 with five core beliefs. Then and now, these core beliefs guide us in everything that we do. What we believe helps us to envision where we're going and then helps us plan for how to get there. The five core beliefs are simple and straightforward, that children come first, parents are our partners, victory is in the classroom and facilitated by a strong instructional leader in the principal's office, leadership and accountability are the keys to our success, and that it takes the entire community to ensure the success of its public schools. Built on the foundation of our shared beliefs, the City's five-year strategic plan, Imagine 2014, identified five goals: student success, quality choices, great staff, accountable adults, 9 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 and world-class operations. All of our programs, projects and initiatives are designed to support these goals. Our primary goal is clear, that student success is what we want. The sooner we close the District's opportunity and achievement gap, the sooner we will reach our goal by 2014. While the District is proud to report seven years of steady incremental growth in test scores, if we continue to make progress at this rate, it will take us until the year 2123 -- yes, 2123 -- to get all of our students to a level of proficiency in key skill areas. We know that this is unacceptable. We already know everything we need to know about how to educate children well, and we know that we must do this with a sense of urgency. We know that growth -- the prison growth in this state is projected by officials looking at third grade scores, reading and math scores in Philadelphia. So we share a 10 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 deep sense of urgency, and we recognize that incremental growth is just not good enough. Our children have, I believe, a civil right to an equal opportunity for an education now, not next year or ten years down the road. For them, we must do whatever it takes to accelerate the progress. So let me give you a mid-year report on Imagine 2014 to show that we've made some significant progress in a relatively short amount of time. Under Student Success, we've put in our empowerment schools -- and that's 95 of our lowest performing schools -- new supports and systems. We monitor the progress and to strengthen what happens for students. This includes parent ombudsmen, student advisors, more nursing services, social service liaisons, as well as corrective reading and math, which are now standard interventions in all of our empowerment schools.

11 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 We reduced class size in grades kindergarten through third grade. They are now down to to one (sic). They 5 were at 20 to one. We've added resources 6 for ninth grade students to keep them 7 actively engaged and on track to 8 graduate. And we've lengthened the 9 school day to give teachers common 10 planning time. M. This office offers a full day 15 of instructional and enrichment 16 opportunities for our students. This 17 summer we expect to welcome 50,000 18 students at 115 school sites. That's 19 12,000 more students than last summer. 20 We've hired 200 new counselors 21 and we've decreased the student ratio in 22 our secondary schools, and we've 23 implemented an in-school suspension 24 program, along with a student-led campaign to tackle truancy. 12 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 Efforts to engage our parents and community partners more effectively have yielded great results, thanks to our Office of Parent, Family, Community and Faith-Based Partnerships. For example, the District's Parent University opened in the spring of 2009. Through April 2010, we have enrolled more than 7,000 parents. Almost 8,000 parents have taken classes in our Parent Universities. There's some 38 sites across the District. Through partnerships with our local colleges, we're now offering skill-based and professional certification classes, as well as Associate Degrees in our Parent Universities. More than 5,000 parents have attended a total of nine Superintendent's Roundtables, and a record number of more than 3,000 people have utilized the Parent Resource Center, which opened about a year ago. And as new immigrant families are arriving almost every week, 13 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 our Center for Translation and Interpretation is also busy, and we are expanding the services for next year. Outstanding among our accomplishments this year is the District's contract agreement with PFT. It's referred to as groundbreaking by national policymakers and the news reports across the country. The new contract provides us with flexibility to address the most pressing needs in our struggling schools, provisions for a longer day, a longer school year and Saturday classes. The new contract provides pay for performance to all members of a school staff when there is dramatic achievement for students. The new contract provides -- or ties teacher evaluations to student outcomes and strategically rewards individuals and schools for high performance. It also provides incentives for teachers and principals to take on the most challenging and critical assignments in 14 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 schools with the highest needs. This agreement also showed the nation and this community that a school district and a powerful teachers union can come together and make the pieces fit without pulling each other apart. I believe our collaboration was a major step forward for school reform. The second goal was quality choices. Building a system of great schools means providing quality choices and options for families. So far, we have a system that includes traditional neighborhood schools, empowerment schools, charter schools, EMO schools, vanguard schools, which are our highest performing schools, Renaissance schools and Promise Academies. In a focused effort to turn around our lowest performing schools, in January 2010 we launched an extensive parent-driven process called the Renaissance Schools Initiative. Using a School Performance 15 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 Index, we identified 14 schools as Renaissance schools. Approximately nine will run as charter schools and five or six will become charter schools -- I mean, Promise Academies. Advisory Councils, made up of a majority of parents, will make a recommendation to the Superintendent and SRC this week of the provider organization who can best meet their school's educational needs.

Our School Advisory Councils from the Promise Academies are now engaged in community forums. They're visiting high-performing school sites and they're looking at different components of the Promise Academy Model. Come September, Renaissance schools and Promise Academies will be still in the neighborhood, but they will look very different. People are excited about this initiative and they see it as a rebirth of opportunity for their schools and communities. With our great staff, the 16 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 Office of Talent and Development deserves credit for several accomplishments this year. We opened in September 2009 with only teacher vacancies. That's the 6 lowest number of teacher vacancies in 7 more than ten years. 8 We've implemented an 9 accelerated hiring timeline and we're 10 enforcing a policy to submit their intent 11 to retire or resign by a designated date 12 early in the school year. 13 On Friday, we will open our new 14 Office of Teacher Affairs, and this 15 office will address the needs of teachers 16 from the time that they're hired until 17 the time that they resign -- I'm sorry; 18 or retire. 19 As far as accountable adults, 20 Philadelphia's Office of Accountability 21 has built a performance management system 22 and a data infrastructure unlike any 23 other across the country. 24 We are now producing and publishing annual school report cards 17 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 that show the measure of progress made on a number of indicators, including student achievement, school operations, parent and community satisfaction. The District data is more transparent and accessible to the public than ever before. We've implemented a new performance index, which allows parents and the community to look at schools as they rank across the District, but also as they rank compared to similar schools with similar student populations. Under the World-Class Operations, we're paying much more close attention to procurement, especially the District's plan participation in minority and women business enterprise, M/WBE, which increased from two percent in 2003 to 27 percent as of December 31st, 2009, thanks to our careful monitoring of the District's anti-discrimination policy. We are very pleased that the District has implemented the Weighted Student Formula, and a pilot is currently 18 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 underway with 57 vanguard schools and non-empowerment schools. Finally, the District is embarking on plans to implement a five-year -- develop and implement a five-year facility plan which will determine capital improvements, programs, modernization and school closure initiatives for the next decade. There are challenges, and in my many years of service as a school Superintendent, I've never seen so many programs implemented and so much change happen in such a short time in a district. Many of these initiatives are not glittery and they're certainly not newsworthy, but they are changes that lay a foundation for accelerated and sustained growth and student achievement, and we all know in the end that's really what matters. This fact alone presents numerous unexpected and expected challenges. We know that we need to communicate more effectively with greater 19 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 efficiency so as to build trust and understanding both within the District and outside of the District. We know that we have a challenge to implement these major reforms, that we must do them with a sense of urgency in a system where the infrastructure is often broken and neglected, and in many cases a district where mediocrity and just good enough are the mainstay rather than the exception.

We know we must be good stewards of the public dollars in a difficult economy, and we know that our buildings, which are on average more than 100 years old, must be modernized with the proper instructional resources and technology so that our children can receive a 21st century academic education and be ready to compete with their student counterparts in neighboring suburban school districts. Philadelphia we know, like other high-poverty districts, face the 20 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 challenges that are reflected in the larger community. Issues like violence, hunger, homelessness, as well as access to quality health and social resources are needed. The lessons of research and experience tell us that within the blessing of diversity comes the challenges of multiplicity. So no state or school district today is immune to the devastating impact of youth violence, and while the number of incidents are down by percent this year and the number of 15 prevention programs are up, we know that 16 there is still much we must do to promote 17 pro-social behaviors, and that we must put in place more protective factors to strengthen families and create learning communities that are safe from violence. As an optimist, I believe that within every challenge there is an opportunity. Think about it. The harder we are pressed by challenges, the more we're pushed to think in new ways and to 21 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 build better schools for our children. In moving forward, the journey to 2014 continues. In the face of critical economic challenges, initiatives for the next phase of Imagine 2014 may look leaner, but we are still anticipating great results. The year 2123 is not an option for our children. Our children all over this city who have tremendous capacity, natural talent, innate intelligence and a hunger to learn must be given the opportunity to do so. We've come a long way in a very short amount of time, but we still have a very long way to go to ensure that every child has an early start in life, that every child has a great teacher with high expectations, that they have counselors to guide them, and that every child has a fair chance to succeed in life by getting a quality education from the Philadelphia public schools. Thank you, Madam Chairperson. 22 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120

Thank you.

Madam Chair, good morning. My name is Michael Masch. I'm the Chief Business Officer for the School District of Philadelphia. We have submitted written testimony. We've also provided you with our detailed consolidated budget document and our budget in brief, and I'm not going to cover all of that, but I thought I would just start with a highlight before we turn to questions. I want to note that our funding is complex. We receive funding from the federal government, we receive funding from the Commonwealth, and we also receive local resources that are authorized by the Mayor and this Council. And we are grateful to all of our funders, and most particularly we are grateful to you, the members of the Council, for the funds that you have entrusted to us. Our commitment to you 23 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 is that we will use them prudently. We will maintain a balanced budget. We will drive efficiency, and we will invest in the achievement of our children. I'm pleased to note that of every dollar that we spend, over 94 cents are spent directly in schools in Philadelphia. Even broadly defined, our administrative costs are only six percent of the total budget. The budget that you have before you for Fiscal Year 2010-11 will support 265 District-operated schools, 67 charter schools and 46 alternative schools and programs serving over 202,000 students. The budget provides two and a half billion dollars -- that's 87 percent of the total -- to support District-operated schools and District-managed alternative programs; 527 million, 16 percent of the total, to support charter schools and other non-District-operated educational programs that will serve over 38,000 students; and, finally, about $182 24 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 million to fund the administrative support services for the entire school system. 6 billion, for classroom instruction in our pre-K programs, K to 8 and elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, plus extended-day and summer programs, alternative programs for students who are struggling to stay in school, additional supports for English language learners, gifted students and special education students. We want to note that we faced some challenges in constructing this budget. We have now negotiated new labor contracts with four of our five collective bargaining units. Those contracts had many important non-economic terms. They did provide for the continuation of health benefits and for a modest wage increase for our employees, 25 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 and that will increase our costs by about $35 million this year. What we have budgeted for charter schools supports both the State-mandated increase in per-student payments for existing charter schools. That's about a six percent increase that we anticipate. It also provides for anticipated enrollment increases, both enrollment increases that are permitted under the initial charters that were granted by the School Reform Commission and additional growth and enrollment under the School District's new enrollment policy, which provides for additional enrollment increases for academically successful charters. The total cost of all of those changes for charter schools is about $40 million. More next year, about a 12 percent increase. We also face some other significant changes. Our State-mandated pension contributions will increase 72 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 percent. We will receive some additional support from the Commonwealth, but we will still have a net increase even after State aid in our charter payments of over $13 million. With the advent of the lifting of rate caps on electric utilities, like all large enterprises, we will face a likely increase in our electric rates, which we think will be no less than a $5 to $6 million increase. 7 million, as the Superintendent noted.

We are dealing with decades of underinvestment and deferred maintenance in our facilities and have to strike a balance in terms of how much we borrow and the burden that that puts on the operating budget, but we have to continue to invest in the reconstruction and the rebuilding and sometimes the replacement of our very extensive physical plant, which comprises over 300 separate properties. 27 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 In order to do all of those things, this budget contains in it a $76 million reduction in basic expenditures, largely derived by central administrative offices taking a six percent across-the-board reduction in those budgets under their direct control. The budget provides for extensive investment in the implementation of the strategic plan, 119 million for the continuation of Phase One initiatives that were launched last year and an additional 61 million for new and expanding initiatives. This is, I don't have to tell the people in this Chamber, a very difficult, very challenging time for all state and local governments. We recognize that because of the state of the economy, our local revenues are projected to be basically in a zero growth condition for the coming year, just as they have been in this year, and we are able to accomplish what we are in 28 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 this budget largely because of two things. The Governor has proposed a $95 million increase in the basic education subsidy in this budget, as is a standard for the School District. In anticipating State revenues, this budget is based on what the Governor has proposed. Even more significant for the School District in this year and the coming year is the provision by the federal government of significant funds through the economic stimulus program. We have received this year and will continue to receive next year substantial aid from the stimulus program in Title I, about $82 million; in IDEA, which is special ed funding, IDEA stimulus funding will be $22 million. The State provided us this year 120 million of State Fiscal Stabilization funds, which was given to the State in order to support school districts. In addition to that, this year ahead will be the first in which we 29 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 anticipate receiving competitive stimulus funds in addition to formula stimulus funds. The largest source of those funds will be stimulus funding for the federal School Improvement Grant program. We are preparing applications to the State now, but based on our discussions with them, we have budgeted about $52 million in support for our highest needs, lowest performing schools. I just want to say again that we deeply appreciate the support we receive here. We recognize that the leadership of this Council has helped us to achieve what we have in recent years, and we anticipate the continuation of that partnership going forward, and respectively request that you vote in the affirmative for Council Bill 100120, which authorizes the imposition of the annual tax for School District purposes on real estate within the City, and Bill 24 100119, which authorizes the imposition of a tax for general school purposes on 30 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 the use and occupancy of real estate within the City. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank God for President Obama and stimulus dollars across the board, housing, education, homelessness, foreclosures. We are very, very happy to hear about that. I'll hold my questions and go immediately to my colleagues. Councilman Jones, you're first.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Once again, good morning. (Good morning.)

It's good to see you all again. I'm going to start out by citing a couple of truths. When I first heard Imagine 2014, my immediate knee-jerk reaction was, Here's another plan from another Superintendent and here we go again. But I'm actually cautiously 31 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 optimistic about its progress in a couple of respects. Number one, a vision without an action plan usually results in a nightmare. And you took bold action in my district particularly and looked at the worst three performing schools, and with a stroke of a pen and with decisiveness, you went after them and said they're going to qualify for Renaissance. The respondents to the RFP are good, better and best. I mean, we have nationally acclaimed charter school providers going after these schools. And I won't name who they are, because it's still a fluid situation with the contract not being in hand, but the only thing I can see is good, better and best. If the worst of them, perceptionally worst of them by myself, gets it, it's a step above what we had. The other indication is that a lot of parents have become engaged in the 32 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 process. They're coming out to Home and School Associations. They're asking tough questions and are engaged in and invested in this process. So if that's any indicator of what the ultimate product will be, I'm cautiously optimistic about what's going on. So I want to thank you for that. Two people on your staff pretty much kept me in the loop and well informed are Joe Meade and Rodney Oglesby, and I want to publicly thank them. Whenever I have a question and you're too busy -- and if you call every Councilperson back, I'm wondering who you're educating. But these people have been right Johnny and Jannie, in some cases, on the spot. When I have questions, I get answers from them. It's not always the answers I like, but at least they are answers. So I thank you for that. On this, I wanted to talk about these Renaissance schools a bit and ask 33 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 that in each of the contract provisions, there is a capital infusion to the physical plant that they have to make and that is negotiated with the advisory groups, and can you explain how that will work?

Thank you for being not only complimentary of the Renaissance program, but being really knowledgeable about what's going on, because it is really exciting to see the parents so engaged in determining what's going to be best for their school community. With the Renaissance schools, they will all be subject to initial changes in the facilities. They'll also be included in the long-term -- get priority in the long-term master facilities planning process. But over the summer, all of those schools will go through renovations, paint, some simple renovations outside. They're going to be beautification projects. And then they 34 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 will get priority in the five-year plan. Because we know that to change the inside is one thing, but you want an environment that's conducive to learning. So they'll get extra technology resources are coming to those schools, and you'll see some of those changes immediately, over the summer.

Well, I mean, if you look at the -- when I first ran for office, one of the research components I did was to look at how the schools in my district were performing, and I was stunned that the 7th may be the poorest district in the City of Philadelphia, but it wasn't the most underperforming district in the City of Philadelphia, and so, therefore, I immediately was concerned about it. But if you take those three underperforming schools out and then replace them hopefully with really performing, it changes the dynamic almost immediately. 35 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 My question becomes, next year can we anticipate that happening again, taking the underperformers if they fall below a certain guideline and considering them for a similar process? Is that our expectation?

Absolutely. We're going to systematically eliminate the lowest performing schools while pushing all the other schools to become vanguard status. So being a top performer isn't limited where you have sort of a bell curve. We're pushing the schools that are in the middle to move to the vanguard school status, and every year until we eliminate all the schools that are low performing, there'll be a Renaissance school program.

My question -- and it's a part of the black box theory that people have known, which is -- I see you, Councilwoman. There is a theory that by the time young endangered, at-risk youth get 36 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 in the ninth grade, there is something happening that creates the high dropout rates. Are you addressing that, A? And, B, are we looking at these Renaissance schools being in the middle school areas to try to combat that, but what high school -- does all of that kind of work for naught if you're not addressing the high school experience as well?

Well, this year --

Thank you, Madam Chair.

-- we actually took the lowest performing schools, middle and high schools and elementary schools. What we're trying to get to next year are feeder patterns, so that we get an elementary, middle and high school. So we're going to be looking next year at this geographical pathway, so that young people who are in a Promise Academy elementary, we look at the middle, we look at the high school of 37 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 their choice in terms of geography. As you -- what was the first part of your question? I'm sorry. Because I had a good answer.

The first part of my question is, you mention in your testimony about the high dropout rate and you focused in particular on the ninth grade. Is this a part of a strategy to combat that black box theory?

Well, this is one of the strategies to address underperforming schools, but the larger strategy, as I talked about in my testimony, is to get to these young people and make sure they don't leave third grade without strong reading and math skills, because I can tell you as a former middle school teacher, if a child leaves the third grade without strong reading skills, strong math skills, they're going to struggle unless intervention happens. And what we see with young people who don't -- who come 38 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 to the ninth grade without those skills is, that really is where they make the decision to drop out. We also put more of our new counselors at the ninth grade. The counseling level at -- student-counselor ratio at the ninth grade now is down to about 250 to one, and they're going to follow those students, so they'll have them for four years. Each of the ninth graders this year we put in place with their counselors an academic learning plan. By the first quarter, the second quarter, third quarter, the counselors were having conversations. We know exactly who the young people are who are in danger of not going into the tenth grade. We've made adjustments. They're going into summer school. That's the kind of one-on-one intervention you have to have for these young people. And then you have to have intervention courses. So we've 39 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 extended -- added another period to the day. We're going to add a zero period, because if you're behind, you have to have more time to catch up. And all of this is part of a larger plan to address the serious dropout rate that we have, especially for African American and Latino young men, 49 percent for African American men, and they make that decision at ninth grade, 59 percent for Latino males. So this is -- the Renaissance Schools Initiative is a large -- is a part of a larger initiative that we focused on critical key grades to make sure there's personnel there. We also hired 77 new reading teachers to address and to intervene at the third grade, between first and third grade. All of these, we believe, will then produce -- begin to stem that tide. Remember, I said they look at the third grade reading scores of young people in Philadelphia to determine the 40 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 number of new prisons. There are three being built now, so that tells you why we have to seriously tackle this.

Madam Chair, thank you. Councilman Bill Green last year talked about the national priority, and he's right --

Councilman Jones, you know your time has been up.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Councilman Greenlee, you're next.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, everyone. (Good morning.)

I want to touch a little bit, Dr. Ackerman, on the violence issue that you talk about in 41 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 your testimony. And I know South Philly High has gotten a lot of the publicity, but I know there's a lot of issues out there, and I know you say -- and I saw the numbers that the violence incidents have gone down, but talk about the need for more prevention programs. Can you go into a little bit in what, under your leadership, you've been able to do in that area?

We've put in prevention programs, in-school suspensions, which are to me important, not new. Again, not sexy, but they're needed for young people to keep them in school and not out of school for even short amounts of periods. We put in place new programs that address the issues of violence, single-school culture programs that focus on not only having a structure for rules and consequences, but incentives for young people to promote pro-social behavior. 42 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 But in the long run, I think what we've tried to focus on is putting in place the kinds of things that we know keep children, young people interested in school. In the schools where our children are achieving at high levels, you see lots of enrichment programs before school, after school. You see music, art. You see lots of athletic programs. We're trying to systematically make sure that those programs are in place at all of our schools. The schools where we have high incidents of violence and disciplinary incidents, we see schools that don't have libraries, we see schools that don't have athletic programs, music, art, journalism classes. I believe the way you treat the treatment for strong -- I mean, for disciplinary issues is a direct -- is directly related to the kinds of enrichment programs that we have in place. And they shouldn't even be enrichment, they should be a part of the 43 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 core curriculum. You have to make school more interesting than the streets, and you have to do that by having the programs in place, which we haven't. So in some ways, you know, you have schools where they don't have these programs and the kids go out and they get in trouble, and we've had our share of those. But you have to have not only a structure inside of the school day, but you have to make sure that there are a variety of programs for young people where they're engaged throughout the day and after school.

Thank you. You talk about the challenge of reaching a goal of racial and cultural harmony. In this violence issue, have you ever checked out how much percentage of the violence is related to cultural or ethnic issues?

We have, and I don't have the numbers here, but I can 44 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 tell you that most of the violent incidents are not across cultural and racial lines. It's within black on black, Latino on Latino, very -- it's a small number when it cuts across the -- which is why I said it's a larger issue and we got to focus on what are the issues that cause children to see violence as the only way to resolve a conflict.

Okay.

We can give you those numbers.

If you could get them to the Chair, I'd appreciate it. Lastly, if I could, you talk about the Translation and Interpretation Center. Can you give us a little detail on what that does?

Well, when I came less than two years ago, we didn't have translation services. They got done by people who could read or write in a 45 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 certain language, and it was not done very well. We have now hired translators for every language that we have, and we're expanding it because we have so many new immigrants coming into the City and into the school system on a weekly basis. We're now going to put the translators into what we're proposing for next year, our Parent Centers, which are in the community, so that parents -- sort of a one-stop shopping for parents. They can go, they can get the services that they need to enroll their children, to have them assessed, and then get a school assignment, all in the community, and that's different. So we're expanding those services now. I think we now have 30-something translators, and they are going to be able to do even more as we add -- I don't know how many more, but we're adding them so that they can go into the Parent Resource Centers, which will be in the community. 46 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120

Great. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Doctor. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Councilman. Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning. Let me first commend you on this comprehensive testimony that you provided, Superintendent, and say to you that the one paragraph I am most inspired by is on where, Still I am an optimist and I believe every child is an opportunity in disguise. I'm going to run the risk of losing my five minutes quickly. I'm very much interested in knowing what departments are represented here with you today. So if you could just share with us on the record the many departments that are in the audience, as a starter. 47 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120

Okay. Let me look back and have them stand up. Just tell me. Okay? Because I don't want to mess up. So let's stand up, everybody. Let's start with the back row first and identify who you are and what department. (Witnesses speaking without microphone.)

Dennis Creedon, Director of Arts Education.

Arlene Groveman, Office of Early Childhood.

Fran Newberg, Educational Technology.

I'm sorry. We're going to ask you if you would take a mike. The stenographer can't get it. I'm sorry we have to ask you to do this, but the stenographer can't get it. Hold on, he'll bring one to you.

They're looking nervous. They shouldn't look nervous. 48 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 They could be up here.

That's right.

Well, we know it's a huge organization with many important departments, and we in Council have to do a reach often, so it's helpful to know faces with names that we see on the paper. (Microphone handed to audience members.)

Thank you. Could we begin again.

Joe, why don't we start with you. You got a compliment, so people should know who you are.

Joe Meade, Office of Government Relations.

Dennis Creedon, Comprehensive Arts Education.

Arlene Groveman, Early Childhood.

Fran Newberg, Educational Technology. 49 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120

Kelly Colden, Office of Government Relations. MR. McKINNEY: Theos McKinney, Office of Talent Development.

Benjamin Wright, Office of Alternative Education.

Frank Pombar, Attendance and Truancy.

Majeedah Scott, Multiple Pathways to Graduation.

Delia Reveron, Attendance and Truancy.

Jim Scott, Office of Parent, Family, Community Engagement and Faith-Based Partnerships.

John Lombardi, Transportation Services.

Francis Dougherty from the Chief Business Office.

Pat Henwood, Capital Programs.

Jeff Cardwell, Facilities and Operations.

Leroy Nunery, 50 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 Institutional Advancement and Strategic Partnerships.

Jenny Woo, Office of the Superintendent, Strategic Planning.

James Golden, Office of Climate and Safety.

Joe Antonio from the Superintendent's Office.

Linda Chen, Teaching and Learning.

Stephen Brady, Office of Empowerment Schools.

Good morning. I'm Kimberly D. Williams from the Office of Talent and Development.

Linda Williams, Office of Specialized Instructional Services.

Dawn Lomden, Office of Talent and Development.

Latifah Phillips, Superintendant's Office.

Rodney Willis, Government Relations Department. 51 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120

Estelle Matthews, Chief Talent and Development Officer.

Evelyn Sample-Oates, Chief Communication Officer.

Pamela Brown, Interim Chief Academic Officer.

David Weiner, Chief Accountability Officer.

Tomas Hanna, Superintendant's Office, Chief of Staff.

John Frangipani, Chief of School Operations.

Good morning. Miles Shore, Interim General Counsel.

Good morning. Ben Rayer, Charter and Renaissance Schools.

Good morning. Danielle Floyd, Superintendent's Office. (Witness speaking without microphone.)

On this side, Wilfredo Ortiz, Office of Counseling and 52 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 Promotional Standards.

We'll bring the mike over, because the stenographer can't get it clearly enough to record. Thank you. (Microphone handed to audience members.)

Wayne Harris, Budget Office.

Wilfredo Ortiz, Office of Counseling and Promotion Standards.

Did we get you all? That's quite a bit.

It sure is.

Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Ackerman.

Thank you very, very much. My questions come in no 23 particular order, and I'm going to start first with follow-up raised by others. You indicated that you have 53 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 moved to alter the number of young people per counselor, with greater intervention at the ninth grade level. Share with me briefly the thinking around that, when we know that we actually begin to see signals of truancy around sixth grade when we're discovering that they're not reading to learn. And how is that reconciled when the signals start to appear at sixth grade, but the intervention happens in a greater way in ninth grade?

I focused on ninth grade because that's where we see the actual drop-off. But when I talked about hiring 200 new counselors, secondary was inclusive of middle school. So the counseling ratio at the middle school is down to somewhere between 250 and 300, depending upon the school. It's way down than it used to be. So we did focus on -- the secondary school was sixth through 12th grade. We have early warning systems 54 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 programs in place at the sixth grade. So that's another preventive program that we have in place where we can look at a child and begin to plan prevention programs when we see them at the sixth grade. I didn't talk about that. But the ninth grade was -- we were talking about that because that's when they drop out. So it's at the sixth grade and the ninth grade that we put lots of additional counseling resources.

Okay. All right, then.

And we're adding the counselors in the large elementary schools.

Yes. We're adding counselors in the large elementary schools also.

Okay.

But we focused all of our resources on the sixth and ninth grade.

Consistent 55 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 with the Mayor's -- two of the Mayor's primary goals around schooling, one of course being the dropout rate, and knowing that you say 49 percent of those dropping out are African American boys, what strategy or thinking have you given to exploring raising the number of African American male teachers so that young people, boys, have those type of models in their world during the teaching process?

Well, we are aggressively going after minority staff members, new minority staff members. We're working with -- let me give you some statistics, because I think it's important not only for minority -- I mean, males but for minority staff members. More than 80 percent of our student population are children of color, and almost 70 percent of our teaching and administrative staff are -- it's about 70 percent. So we -- we have a lot of work 56 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 to do just to -- when we look at teaching and administrators. We're working with a program called Call Me MISTER at Cheyney University, which is a wonderful program to target young African American men who are in college, and we're working very closely with them. We're hoping to expand that program to Lincoln also. We believe we're going to have to grow our own, which is why we now will have three high schools that are Urban Academies. We believe that if we can get these young people identified at the ninth grade, to get them interested in becoming teachers and educators and then get scholarships for them and then promise them jobs -- that's another big part of this initiative with the Urban Academies, is to ensure that not only they get through the 12th grade, but that we have scholarships for them in universities that will work with us so that we get them through college and back 57 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 into the Philadelphia school system with a guaranteed job. So there's a short range. We're working with -- we know we need to do more, and we haven't done as much as we needed to do with both Cheyney and Lincoln Universities. So we're aggressively trying to work with them now while growing our own.

Sure.

And actively recruiting for teachers of color. I mean, the problem we have with trying to get teachers of color, which is why this big incentive where teachers go to come into the school system, what we pay them is really important. Some 40 years ago when I graduated, there were very few options when I graduated. So we had lots of men and lots of women, very talented, who went into education. Now these young people have more options. So we are going to have to grow our own and to tap them while they're in school and make it 58 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 worth their while, or they will go into other occupations where they can make more money.

Okay.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)

Councilwoman, your time is up.

On the next round. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Councilman Clarke.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, how much time do we have? Five minutes?

I'm supposed to give two or three, but we've been letting it go for five. But you probably only have one or two questions, so you probably don't even need it.

That will determine what question I ask first. 59 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120

You're fine.

First of all, good morning.

Good morning. How are you?

I had a question about utilities, and I'll come back with my other question. I guess it's for Mr. Masch, because I notice it's referenced in his testimony. As you indicated, Mr. Masch, as we now all know that the termination of the rate caps is quickly upon us and we in the City are starting to wrestle with that and have been looking at some potential challenges as we come down the pike, and the School District is also in the position to have to figure out how to deal with the potential emerging energy costs as it relates to electricity, and I notice the reference in your testimony. I guess my question is, is there currently a process underway to either 60 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 aggregate or look at energy choices in terms of purchases of supplier -- the supply side of that? Can you just briefly tell me exactly what you all are doing?

Councilman, we have actually been in discussions with the Mayor and his Administration about the potential for our coordinating our purchases. Those are preliminary discussions, but we think that that's a worthwhile avenue to pursue. The larger the amount of buying power that we can aggregate, the better that will be. It's always better to have more buying power in the market, even though we are dealing, for the most part, with regulated utilities and competition is more limited than we would like. Our major focus in this coming year is going to be on conservation. We spend about -- we estimate that we will spend around $75 million on utilities this coming year, and what we're struck 61 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 by is that 61 of our buildings -- now, we run 265 schools. Sixty-one of our buildings consume 50 percent of our energy, at a cost last year of about $29 million, and that's because, as the Superintendent noted, we have some older buildings and we have a lot of deferred maintenance. So what we are looking at is what some other governments have done, which is, because capital dollars are also short, is to secure the services of what are called energy service conservation organizations, which are private entities that will invest their capital in energy improvements in exchange for shared savings. Usually you're looking for about a three-year to a maximum of five-year return on investment in terms of the investment that you make on shared savings. So we think that there's significant potential there. If we could reduce energy consumption just by five percent, that 62 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 would be close to $900,000 a year.

Right. In terms of energy purchases, it was actually during a conversation with members of the PUC there was actually some recommendation that we look at potentially aggregating opportunities outside the City of Philadelphia proper to some external counties utilizing if in fact -- I guess I'm not supposed to talk about this, because it's pending legislation. I'll just reference it and hope I don't get in trouble. The potential implementation of the Philadelphia Energy Authority, which we are moving down the path. And so do you have and the School District any relationships to some of the school districts in the surrounding counties as it relates to shared purchasing power of materials, vehicles or anything that can subsequently possibly be used as it relates to purchase of energy?

We do not at 63 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 present. Remember, our scale is very different from the other districts. You would have to aggregate a lot of them for it to make a difference for us. The average Pennsylvania school district has about 5,300 students compared to our 200,000 students. So as I say, we think the greatest potential in fact is in making this one of the -- an additional area in which the City and the School District are partnering with one another.

No. We hope that we can pull that off.

Councilman Clarke, we have -- the School District has joined something called a coalition of state-related agencies here in the City of Philadelphia. We've entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Philadelphia Parking Authority, the Delaware River Port Authority, the Philadelphia Housing Authority, Temple University, all State-related agencies, and what we're looking at is basically 64 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 how we can adopt and share best practices. One of those practices would be a bulk purchasing of utilities among those agencies here in the City of Philadelphia. The School Reform Commission authorized and we executed the Memorandum of Understanding. I'm sorry. Also included in that coalition is also the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority. We've looked at to see whether or not SEPTA has been made an offer, at least got an invitation to join, and that is still pending. But those agencies are now meeting on a regular basis, hiring an Executive Director and seeing how we can share best practices, including the acquisition of goods and services to those State-related agencies.

Great. That's great. Okay. Sounds like you all are moving down that path. At some point if and after we complete our process about the 65 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 legislation that I'm not supposed to be talking about, we would like to be in a position to have a point person from the School District to talk about possibilities, because beyond simply aggregating energy purchases for the here and now, I think one of the most important aspects of the potential of this is to look at alternative sources of energy, and we want to get very aggressive and creative in utilizing water, our rivers, utilizing solar, all of the opportunities, methane gas. There are a number of things that we found out that could potentially be of benefit to not only our public facilities but somewhere down the line, assuming where the State legislation goes, conceivably even our residents. So we would really like to be in a position to have a person from the School District designated to be a part of those discussions.

So noted. 66 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120

Will do.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll come back.

Thank you, Councilman. Councilwoman Tasco.

Thank you very much. Good morning. (Good morning.)

I just want to go back to a question of, I think, Councilman Jones. You talked about the disparity of programs in some of the schools. You just got here, but what is your thinking in terms of how we might have decided that some schools should have programs and other schools shouldn't have programs, don't have programs, and where did the commitment to total education for every child go awry? And you did talk about how you're going 67 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 to try to put that back on point so that all of the students have access to sort of like the same programs. I hope I read you right or heard you right.

That's exactly what we're trying to do. And I don't have the history here, but I can tell you some of the things I've seen happen here, and the conditions are similar to other big city school systems. And one of the problems I think is what Councilman Jones said, without a plan, which is why one of the first things we did was to put a plan in place, without a plan, then it's who can articulate and argue for their school, their community the loudest, and that's where it happens. So I think there was a lot of that going on. So somebody would get to whoever the powers that needed to be and that's how it would happen, whether it was at the school site, at the District site or at the community site. And I think one of the reasons Imagine 2014 is 68 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 so important is because it lays out what we're going to do and who we're going to do it for, and to me, there should be no 5 exceptions to that. And it's another reason why the master facilities planning process and the plan will be so important, the five-year plan. I can't tell you how many people come up and say, But I was promised or my school was promised, and there was no rhyme or reason for how this community got new resources or modernization as opposed to another, other than one had the political wherewithal or the influence to make it happen. And what happens is what happens in schools often where you don't have parents who can advocate for their children, the schools that can, get, and those that don't, you won't see -- you'll see those kinds of disparities. And so what I'm trying to get the school system to do is to be transparent in what we do. And I say to 69 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 people almost once a day, I know you were promised that, but here's the plan. And when it comes to what they want us to address, I say we're going to have a five-year plan. You know, be a part of this planning process, but be a part of it, and we're not going to make decisions outside of that. So it's really hard, but it is very much what I have seen in other places. Them they got, get, and those that don't, don't, unless there's somebody there to articulate a vision and a plan and then the School District sticks to it. But that's what's happened over the, I think, years here in Philadelphia, and in many ways it's, I believe, Councilwoman, it's shameful, the discrepancies in terms of what we see in some schools. We actually have schools where there are no libraries. The libraries are in lockers. We actually have schools where the restrooms would 70 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 be -- would not be a place that any of us would even want to have to use. So some of the discrepancies have happened because -- and it's why I'm so big on empowering parents, because parents have the most invested in a school, and the fact that they're engaged in these processes -- in the process of changing their school is really important. It's why I spend so much time with parents, because I believe that when they push, things will happen in a school, and they won't -- we won't have these blatant disparities that we see. So part of it is having a plan. Part of it is making sure that those who have the greatest investment, parents, are engaged in the process so they push the system to get better for all children. But it's happened over time and it's happened because -- you know, a lot of Superintendents come in and don't want a plan, to tell you the truth, because then they can sort of wheel and 71 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 deal, but in the long run it hurts the least, those who have -- who can least afford to not have somebody advocate for them. So putting in place all these programs, whether it's athletics, counselors, all of those things, are leveling the playing field. It's not always popular.

It's certainly not, again, newsworthy or noteworthy for some people, but in the long run, I think parents and communities are beginning to see that the District is really serious about addressing this issue of equity.

Thank you very much. Can I have one more question?

Okay, Councilwoman.

You don't have me on the clock, do you?

That's all right. We'll allow this question.

Let me 72 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 just ask you one other question that came up from a parent regarding special needs students. How are they assigned to the various schools? Do they have to -- say some students qualify to go to Girls High or Masterman or something like that. Do they have to meet the same qualifications as all other students or are they assigned based on the need for the School District to have a diverse population, which also includes students with disabilities?

Right. Well, that has been a problem we've tried to address now in our report cards and our performance targets, because it is true that some of the special admit schools have not been admitting students not only who have special needs but are English language learners. And because you don't have English as your first language or because you have a special need doesn't mean that you don't qualify and can be successful in a special admit school. I 73 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 think some children have been left out because that may have been the culture. We are tracking that now to make sure that all children have access to those schools, because it's been an issue, and I can see why some parents have complained about it. They have complained about it, and it's true. It's kind of a little dirty secret, but these schools now have performance targets that they must meet. So that we are making sure that children with special needs aren't locked out. The other thing we found that we can do is related to program placement. Maybe these young people -- some young people don't meet the qualifications or the criteria for admittance, but if you can put the programs, some of these programs, into those schools, they get the benefit of interacting with some very talented young people. So we're also looking at where our programs are placed. Sometimes you 74 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 have a school with six or seven programs for young people with special needs. I believe they need to be evenly distributed throughout the City and that they need to be placed in all schools where there is space.

Thank you. I'll come back.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilman Green.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do have a number of questions. I'll get through a first and a few in this round and then wait until the end to, I guess, everybody address the rest of them.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Good morning.

I want to thank you for your testimony and say that 75 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 I've watched with -- I'm watching with great interest Imagine 2014. I've read the plan. I'm excited about a lot of the direction in it, and I also -- you mention transparency and how you've attempted to make the School District more transparent. I must say that this year's budget detail and the amount of information that's now available on the School District website is tremendous in terms of comparison to what we've had in the past, and I want to commend you for that also. The unfortunate downside of all of that information is, of course, that we now have some detail and it results in questions about that, but that's why we need transparency and information there, so that we and the public can hold people spending tax dollars accountable. So the budget includes $180 million to implement Imagine 2014 initiatives, and that's, I guess, going to be an annualized basis. I think if 76 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 we're going to have a five-year plan, one of the things we have to make sure of is that we don't start spending in the first couple of years and then hit a wall because we've run out of stimulus funding and other stuff. So how much of the -- it's not broken down in a way we could figure this out. How much of this money is grant funded?

Councilman, virtually all of the 180 million is coming out of one of the grant funding sources; that is to say, either Title I, IDEA, ADTECH or School Improvement funding from the federal government. I mean, that's where our growth has been in these past two years. The growth in funding that we received from the State has been -- we've been able to use to fund our growth in base operating expenditures. Keep in mind that we could only receive and use the stimulus funds for the introduction of new programs or the expansion of 77 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 academic programs. The funds are limited to academic purposes and can't be used to supplant existing funding.

Okay. So basically all of it. What happens when that funding runs out? Do we have a plan for much less -- for far fewer resources from the federal government and from the State government that will allow these programs to continue?

Yes, we do. Keep in mind that this is a period of time in which we are seeing actually a reduction in funding from the State government in terms of State dollars. The increase that the State provided us in basic education subsidy really was using the stimulus dollars, and that's what the State Fiscal Stabilization dollars were intended for. Other State funding is now actually seven percent lower than it was two years ago before the recession. As I've noted, the funding at the local 78 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 level also has not been growing. As we showed you in the budget in brief, our average growth in local revenues has been about four percent. Our average growth in State revenues has actually been about seven percent, and our average growth in recurring federal revenues has been about five percent. That's over the past decade. If we were to resume a four percent growth rate for local funding, a more modest than in the recent past five percent growth rate for State funding, and five percent growth rate at the federal level, we would have about $115 million more in growth a year. We didn't have that growth this year and we didn't have it next year. That's basically $230 million of what would be recurring additions to the base. So one of the things that clearly the federal government is hoping to see is that state and local governments will fill in part of the hole 79 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 in public school budgets, school district budgets as the federal money is withdrawn. So that's one of the things that we will need to see happen. There is, however, as I noted in my testimony, a second wave of stimulus funding coming, and that funding is not like the formula funding. The formula funding was for two years only. The new competitive grants are multi year. So the stimulus School Improvement funding that we will be adding to the budget next year is three-year funding. As you know, we are partnering with other school districts through the Commonwealth to apply in the second round of Race to the Top. Race to the Top funding is four-year funding. There are two other competitive stimulus programs that we are now preparing applications for, the Investing in Innovation competitive stimulus program and the Teacher Incentive Fund competitive stimulus funding. So a 80 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 second part of the strategy is to replace part of the formula stimulus funding with competitive funding, which not only can replace it, but will be sustainable for a longer period of years. Finally, we recognize that the other thing that we have to do is reduce our base operating expenditures, and as I noted in my testimony, we have done that in the amount of $76 million this year in base reductions. The increases that I noted in spending were actually greater than the increases that I've cited in revenue, and the difference between the two is reductions that we've taken from the base. We are committed to continuing to identify and implement initiatives that are going to reduce our basic expenditures. We have a systems improvement program underway --

Excuse me, Mr. Masch. I'm sorry to interrupt. My question is about the revenue side, so 81 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 I'd like to stay on revenue, if we can. So in order to replace this revenue, you're relying on competitive grants, I guess is what you're saying. Without winning competitive grants at the federal level, without a five percent increase in State funding and without the City returning to a four percent increase, we will not have the money to continue Imagine 2014 through the five years.

Right.

That's sort of the -- that's the implication of what your testimony is.

Yes, and it's important to note what an extraordinary period of time we're in. The local tax base has increased on a regular basis annually. That's been the normal state of affairs. The recession has been extraordinary. Because of the recession, that did not happen for a period of time. Now, I think a question we're 82 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 all asking ourselves is whether the federal government was correct in thinking that two years was going to be enough, and we are starting to see some positive change in terms of growth in the economic base.

Can I say something on that? Because I don't think it's correct to think that we won't be able to implement Imagine 2014. We may have to reprioritize some other things. But in a $3 billion budget, we ought to be able to carve out $130 million. We'll just have to look at what we're spending and rethink about it. So I guess I'm not willing to say we're not going to be able to do it. I think we'll have to reprioritize some other things that we're doing.

And I'm not suggesting you're not going to be able to do it. I'm asking you specifically how you're going to do it, because you're not going to get a five percent increase in 83 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 State funding for the next five years. In fact, this year you're not going to get what the Governor has appropriated, in my view. Is there a plan for this year? What are you going to cut if you don't get what the Governor is appropriating, and has any member of the Rendell Administration or General Assembly advised you that you're not likely not to get that?

Well, we actually put together a three -- I'm sorry; four, six and eight percent. This budget is built on six percent. We actually have a back-up budget of eight percent cuts. So we're prepared that if we don't get the amount that the Governor has proposed, to do additional cuts, and it would all be in central office. It would not affect the schools for this year.

Could you please -- do you have a copy of the eight 84 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 percent cuts?

We do. We can get that for you.

Could you please provide that to the Chair?

Yes.

Thank you. I will come back. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Jones.

Thank you, Madam President.

Can I be recognized?

Thank you, Madam President.

Councilman Kenney, did you have --

Am I on?

No, but, Councilman Jones, would you yield to your colleague, who hasn't had a chance? 85 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120

Absolutely.

And then we'll -- I'm sorry, Councilman. It didn't show up for some reason.

Thank you. The first should be last and the last should be first. I kind of want to go into a subject area for a minute, because if you were around here long enough, you get a chance to ask the same question over and over every year or make the same suggestion, and I don't think I made this to you before, but I'd like to raise the issue. New Jersey schools work. Why? Because they tell you every day on television that New Jersey schools work. Do they work in Newark or Trenton or Camden? I'm sure some do, but I'm sure there are a lot that don't. And over the years, people have become dependent on the fact that New Jersey schools work, and people have moved out of our 86 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 communities to go to schools in New Jersey. There are literally thousands and thousands of success stories in this system. We have our struggles and our troubles, but there are literally thousands of students, teachers, staff, programs that we could be just putting out there for people to see. Now, some folks may say, Well, you know, that's a frill and we have other things to pay for, but on many levels, I think it works. I think it works with our children because they see success stories, not just athletic success, but they see academic success and they believe that they can do that also. I think it helps our teachers feeling that their work is being recognized and they will strive to do better. I think it helps with our community people who live in the community and don't send their kids to public school by saying, Maybe I'll take 87 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 a chance on that local public school, things are happening there. And importantly also, it helps because of the distance that our network hits, that we hit all those people who vote on funding for their schools, to show them on a regular basis that people in our system are succeeding. We have a ways to go with some folks, we have to bring them along, and we have some schools that we need to fix through 2014, but I get very frustrated when I sit home and watch television and I see New Jersey schools work. Our schools work too, but we just don't tell anybody. Is there some way we can try to find a grant or something that would allow us to put that good story out there?

I agree with you. We need to do a much better job of communicating our story. I think that in this school system in particular, we've 88 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 relied upon the mainstream media resources to tell our story. I'm convinced after two years they're not going to tell it. So we need to find another way to tell our story, if it's going to the churches, if it's going to the small community-based areas, if it's getting parents to tell it. We're going to have to come up with a plan that addresses how we tell our story, because it's just not going to happen.

Nothing is as pervasive as that tube, and I think once people see it and hear it and see it and hear it on a regular basis, they begin to believe it, because there's a lot to believe in. And, again, it's just when I go around to these schools and I see these kids achieving, I see these teachers working hard, I see you trying to keep your facilities together and improve them, I mean, School of the Future, we should have that -- every suburbanite watching television should 89 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 see the success of that building and what's going on in our system. So I would just make that recommendation. I know money is short, but I think it would be very effective on many different levels. And just finally, I just want to publicly thank you --

I want you to look at Channel 52, because that's our own television.

But it's far down the channel.

I always stop when I go there, unless I'm on there, then I keep going. But I do think that we have to find an internal method to message our story, and we haven't done a good job in doing it.

Well, finally, I want to publicly thank you. We had a really rough patch down in South Philadelphia High School, and the cooperation that we've gotten from you 90 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 and the principal and staff and District Superintendent and the operations folks in trying to put together kind of a community down there of some of our newcomers to the country and kids that have been around the neighborhoods for generations has really been helpful. It's not perfect, but we went to the Museum of Art recently on a trip with our Sunny Hill and 50/50 Club, and those kids were wonderful. I mean, they just enjoyed it. As a matter of fact, the tour guides at the Museum were astounded at the level of questioning, at the behavior, their thank you's and please's. And we took them down to the Water Works and had a barbecue, and they were just wonderful. It was just a wonderful experience. And I know that it's been a lot of hard work and still a lot to do, but I do think in this short period of time, we began to address some of those longstanding issues and I wanted to publicly thank you for your cooperation. 91 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120

And I want to publicly thank you for all of the support you've given us, because you've been there from the beginning. And that's, again, not a story that's been told, but of the demands that were made by the 8 student group, we've done 22 of them, and 9 I'd like somebody to write the story that 10 you see and I see on a regular basis or 11 to go down and spend a day there. So 12 thank you for all your support. 13

My 14 pleasure. Thank you. 15 Thank you, Madam Chair. 16

Thank 17 you very much, Councilman. 18 (Applause.) 19

20 Councilman Jones, I told you you were 21 next, but at the end of our first round 22 is Councilwoman Sanchez. So we'll just 23 hold you up one more time. Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez. 92 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120

Thank you. Good morning, or almost afternoon here.

Good morning.

I have a couple of different themes, but I wanted to touch on the issue of English language learners first. So the question is, in addition to the Welcome Centers that you've established at the schools, what are we doing at the school-based level around services to the students and the parents?

I mean, we talked about the translation services, and that's been really helpful, I understand, from the schools to be able to call and to have people in a translation center who can come to the school. We are putting in place these Parent Resource Centers across the District for next year, so that parents don't have to go to individual schools to 93 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 enroll and then go to a different place to get their children assessed. They can go to one place, one Parent Center, where there'll be translators there for them. That's different even than the Welcome Centers for next year. And there'll be one in each region and strategically placed. Next year we're going to implement a full-blown new English language, bilingual program that focuses on students who are at different entry levels into our system. We've hired, I believe, 43 this year and next year another --

Sixteen.

-- sixteen. They know it better than I do.

Forty-three this year, 16 next year.

Twenty percent increase over two years.

So implementing this program with fidelity, making sure 94 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 that the schools are committed to making sure our children, without having to give up their home language, do learn English and move out of these programs, where some of our young people we know stay in them for six, seven and eight years. But I think focusing on the Family Centers, the Parent Centers, putting in place the new program, expanding our translation center is really important for addressing our immigrant families.

So does that mean your administration has chosen a philosophy around bilingual education? Because you talked a little bit. Does that mean -- because part of the issue with the bilingual programs have been every time a Superintendant comes, the philosophy changes. We go from maintenance to immersion to dual immersion. So where do you think the administration is going to be?

I think we have 95 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 definitely decided that -- I mean, there may have been these programs, but they were, as far as my observations, they varied from school to school, region to region. And what we've come up with is a comprehensive bilingual program. We actually went to several cities where there were large numbers of bilingual students or immigrant students and looked at the most successful programs and then came back, and given what we know our immigrant community looks like, we came up with a strategic plan for that. So we'll be happy to share with you what that looks like at three different levels, and we're implementing it across the District. So the schools and regions aren't making decisions about what it should look like.

Okay. As it relates -- because I notice there was an increase in funding as it related to ELL, so I wanted to get a sense, does that mean we're finally getting a plan 96 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 and some plan of action. I notice there was about million in additional funding 4 for ELL, and that's important. 5 As it relates to staffing and 6 you talked about 43 new teachers, where are we as it relates to your leadership team in terms of diversity and language diversity?

We are going to be -- we are now looking for a new Deputy Chief for -- we're elevating that position, first of all -- a new Deputy Chief for Bilingual Services in programs, and that position should be filled by July 1st.

And it's posted?

It should be.

So the bilingual program plan, is that on your website? Is that available yet?

It is available. I hope it's on the website, but we can give it to you. We made the presentation 97 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 to the SRC a couple of weeks ago. It should be on the website. If it's not, it will be. But we can definitely give you the plan.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much. Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller. Your turn is coming, Councilman Jones. I promise you.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, SRC members. (Good afternoon.)

I just have a couple of questions for now. And I do agree with Councilman Kenney, and I was glad to hear, Dr. Ackerman, that you don't advertise, that you need to do a better job of advertising your services. I found out about the Parent University when I was at a rally at Germantown and 98 5/10/10 - WHOLE - BILLS 100119 & 100120 Chelten, and people were giving out cards and the principal was also there, and that's when we found out things, but I never knew that. I mean, because we could help get the word out too if we knew about it. We do e-mail blasts and all kinds of things, but if we don't know about it, we can't help you. But I thought the Parent Resource Center was a really good idea. And I was just -- when I read your testimony, on in the second-to-the-last paragraph when you said that through partnerships we established with local colleges and universities, we now offer skill-based and professional certification classes, as well as Associate Degrees. Who is that for? Parents or for students?