The pro-charter Philadelphia School Partnership has offered the School Reform Commission $35 million to expand the number of charters in the cash-strapped district.
“The one-time gift, to be given over three years, would consist of up to $25 million for charters and a separate $10 million offer to expand strong district schools.
“It is not clear is whether the School Reform Commission will approve any new charters or accept the stunning sum, which was offered late Wednesday, and came as news to many and proved immediately polarizing.
“Applications for 39 new charter schools now await an SRC vote, which could come as early as next week. District officials have said that approving more charters would mean taking money away from traditional public schools, and no new stand-alone charters have been approved for seven years….
“Behind closed doors, Gov. Wolf has said he wants the SRC to approve zero new charters because the district can’t afford them, sources have said, adding that both sides have threatened the SRC’s existence if things do not go their way.”
Parent activists for public schools are furious at the offer.
“Lisa Haver, cofounder of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, was aghast.
“PSP is a very influential in this school district, but it doesn’t look out for the best interests of all the students,” Haver said. “It’s shocking to see they have $35 million while schools are hanging by their fingernails to survive – schools that don’t have staff, full-time nurses and full-time librarians. And now, out of the blue, this nonprofit group says, ‘Guess what? We have $35 million.'”
“Haver, a retired district teacher, said the SRC “should reject their offer because one small group of people who are not elected officials and meet in private should not be making that decision based on how much money they have.”
It is curious that business and civic leaders remain starry-eyed about charters when there have been numerous charter scandals in Philadelphia. See here and here and here and here and here.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Money talks and we are up against a huge amount. We can only hope that “you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free” will work in the long run AND we must persevere. Thank you Dr. Ravitch for leading that fight. Paraphrasing: I would rather fight on the side of right and lose than on that which is detrimental to us all.
“It’s shocking to see they have $35 million while schools are hanging by their fingernails to survive – schools that don’t have staff, full-time nurses and full-time librarians. And now, out of the blue, this nonprofit group says, ‘Guess what? We have $35 million.’”
If charters (and their privatization backers) are the rising tide that lifts all boats, then every single penny of that $35 million should go to public schools.
And they should answer the question: how can you claim charters are being starved of money and resources and support when you have that much money to throw around?
I can’t hear you…
😎
I think it’s a real end run around the representative/democratic process to pay the costs of “start -up” with the continuing costs then shifted to the public.
Everyone who made this deal will be down the road in three years when the public bill comes due, and then it will be impossible for the public to get out of continuing funding.
This isn’t a gift, it’s a transaction, and it should be treated with the same due diligence that any other transaction entails. What’s the benefit to the public of accepting the duty to continue this past three years? They’ll be stuck with the bill the next 50 years when the current politicians and philanthropists are long gone, so someone should ask on their behalf.
The one-time gift, to be given over three years, would consist of up to $25 million for charters and a separate $10 million offer to expand strong district schools.
How long will $25 million last? Once new charters open, where will the $ to sustain them come from?
The state government is probably too short sighted and/or stupid to look this gift horse in the mouth. I’ll be surprised if they turn the $35 million down. After all, most of the states didn’t turn Arne Duncan’s bribes and blackmail down regarding Common Core.
The charter advocates here must be getting nervous and are pushing this “offer” now just as the new Governor, Wolf, and his new Education Secretary, Pedro Rivera, are talking about doing away with the SRC, returning local control to the Phila. School District, and making a top legislative priority the adoption of a fair funding formula for public schools in Pennsylvania which would help alleviate the funding crisis in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, York, etc.
These charter crooks just never miss a beat.
Update: People are giving PSP’s claims for this “gift” closer examination and finding it is based pseudoscience just to promote charters. http://goo.gl/C6f3pa
Just as the Tea Party co-opted words like patriot, the privatizers, take claim to words that suggest community/democratic involvement, like partnership. What better way to achieve autocratic design, than to steal the language of cooperation?
The ed. reformers did the same with words like, achieve, excellence, high standards. They’ve taken the words and hired PR firms to assemble them into easily recognizable logos, e.g. E4E. Branding our children, both in a figurative sense and physical sense, is next. An imprint on the brains of the young, using oligarch-funded “Knowledge Management,” is part of an all-encompassing attempt to return advanced societies to a economic feudal period.
Absolutely right, Linda.