Thanks to the Keystone State Education Coalition for sending daily updates, invluding these.
Governor Wolf complained that Philadelphia public schools could not afford the loss of revenue to charters. The public schools have an $80 million deficit, and more charters will increase rhe deficit. Charters complained because they wanted more approvals.
SRC feels heat for adding five charters
KRISTEN A. GRAHAM, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Thursday, February 19, 2015, 7:59 PM POSTED: Thursday, February 19, 2015, 5:31 PM
The School Reform Commission continued to take heat Thursday for its decision to approve five new charter schools, with critics from both sides railing against the action. Mark Gleason, executive director of Philadelphia School Partnership, said he was “deeply disappointed” that the SRC approved only 2,684 seats Wednesday, rejecting proposals by qualified schools.
PSP, a well-funded, controversial nonprofit dedicated to expanding strong schools, had offered $25 million to help defray new-charter costs, but for now, that money is off the table, Gleason said. Advocates of wide charter expansion cited pent-up demand for strong charters, with thousands on waiting lists for the schools, which are paid for with public dollars and run by independent boards but authorized by the Philadelphia School District. Others, including Gov. Wolf and the teachers union, say that any new charter seat strips children of needed resources in the already financially desperate district.
SRC blasted from both sides on charter vote
SOLOMON LEACH, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER LEACHS@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-5903 POSTED: Friday, February 20, 2015, 12:16 AM
ELECTED OFFICIALS and education reformers yesterday voiced frustration with the School Reform Commission’s decision to approve five of 39 charter applications.
The commission voted during a raucous meeting Wednesday to grant charters to Independence, MaST Community, KIPP, Mastery and Freire. The approved applicants are the first stand-alone charters granted in the city since 2007 and will provide an additional 2,684 seats by 2019.
Despite the measured approach, those on both sides of the issue were unhappy with the outcome.
Gov. Wolf decries Philadelphia’s charter school expansion
York Dispatch by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS POSTED: 02/19/2015 01:23:42 PM EST
PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission has approved just five of 39 new charter school applications, but Gov. Tom Wolf and a teachers’ union say any new charters will be a financial strain on the city’s public school system. Wolf issued a statement after Thursday’s vote saying the district, which projects an $80 million budget deficit next school year, can’t responsibly handle the approval of new charter schools.
The commission granted conditional three-year charters to: Independence Charter School West, KIPP Dubois, MaST Community, Mastery and Tech Freire.
Mike Turzai “Very Disappointed” Philadelphia SRC Only Approved 5 New Charters
Pa. Speaker of the House says there could be financial consequences for the Philadelphia School District.
Philly Mag Citified BY HOLLY OTTERBEIN | FEBRUARY 19, 2015 AT 11:39 AM
Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Turzai says he is “very disappointed” that the Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted Wednesday night to approve only five of 39 new charter school proposals. The Allegheny County Republican made clear by Thursday morning that the SRC’s vote could have consequences: He says it “makes it tougher” to have a discussion about reinstating the charter reimbursement line item in the state budget. The phrase “charter reimbursement line item” might sound wonky, but it represents a potentially huge amount of money for the Philadelphia School District. Former Gov. Tom Corbett eliminated the line item in 2011, cutting more than $100 million annually from the city’s schools.
Public school advocates and education reformers alike have urged GOP leaders in Harrisburg to put the line item back into the budget. Many see it as the most feasible way to persuade Republican and rural lawmakers to provide more money to Philadelphia’s schools.
Turzai originally told us the SRC’s vote “negates” the conversation on reinstating the line item.
“If they’re not going to provide the charter schools for the parents and grandparents that want them,” Turzai said, “I think that negates the discussion.” Jay Ostrich, a spokesman for Turzai, later walked back his statement, saying the speaker “misspoke” and meant that the SRC’s vote makes the conversation more difficult.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Gov. Wolf really deserves the respect of all public education advocates and supporters for his stand against the SRC during his campaign, his strong stand for fair funding of Pennsylvania public schools and an end to state control (the SRC) of Philadelphia’s schools, and his clear position against the granting of any new charters in Philadelphia while public schools are operating on less than bare-bones budgets, without counsellors, nurses, librarians, or adequate staffs of teachers and aides and supplies (I know, my wife is one of the Philadelphia Public School teacher-heros who has had to deal with these awful conditions in her school for years, while I teach my 7th graders 10 miles outside the city with all the resources and supports I need). But he seems to be a lone voice of reason and compassion in his party which is very sad. What if our President and his Education Secretary announced a suspension of all Race to the Top testing mandates, teacher evaluation mandates, common core mandates, and other directives which are wasting the precious dollars our urban districts need so badly? What if Obama came to Philadelphia, toured the district schools, Saw the devastation for himself, and announced his support for public education and the kinds of policies which would improve the lives of poor students and their families, instead of more and more corporate reform nonsense? What if? Unfortunately, I think I know where Obama’s heart is, and it is not with Democrats like Wolf – he just endorsed Rahm Emanuel in Chicago, and I am fairly certain that when he next appears in Philly, probably at the DNC next year, it will be at the invitation and expense of his kind of people, David Cohen, Comcast chief executive (Comcast doesn’t pay a fair share of taxes in Philadelphia which is a major reason for the school district’s deficit, and he is a major charter supporter. I am proud to say my wife and I picketed his Comcast offices with The PFT when the SRC announced the closings of 23 schools and layoffs of 4000 teachers two years ago).
He’s also one of the dwindling numbers of Democrats who won a governor’s race.
They’re down to something like 20 states. You’d think at some point they’d wonder about that, but I guess the goal is to lose some more states like, I don’t know, Illinois? Wisconsin? Michigan? Someone should alert them that they’ve lost nearly every Great Lakes state because they’re offering the same policies as the Republican but the Republican promises to cut taxes.
and some Democrats, like Cuomo and Malloy, aren’t even Democrats!
If you keep bleeding one patient to help another patient live, eventually the first patient will die.
I see a lot about charter schools and as a NY state public school teacher, my main question is this…Who will staff these schools?
Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone
The problem is charter school expansion is that it is a top down, anti-democratic process. The public is not clamoring for more charters. Commissions are appointed by compromised governors or mayors to rubber stamp new corporate schools. Kudos to Gov. Wolf for taking a stand. If charter school supporters believe in what they are doing, why not put the decision in the hands of a democratic vote? Government should not be complicit in favoring corporate schools, destroying public education or the vilification of public employees.
I love it, “…Government should not be complicit in favoring corporate schools, destroying public education or the vilification of public employees.”
Corporate schools are corrupt by their very nature, because they serve a business interest.
Public education is not a business it is a community.
Agreed!
“Tech Freire”
Everytime I see a charter school named after Paulo Freire, I truly cringe, because invariably, when I look at reviews of the school from their “scholars” and parents, they often complain about all the tough rules. I think no-excuses charter schools, which typically implement the banking method of pedagogy that Freire so opposed, are the opposite of what he would support, because they epitomize what Freire described as a system of dominant social relations which creates a “culture of silence that instills a negative, silenced and suppressed self-image into the oppressed.”
It’s the same as casting CCSS and associated testing as the “civil rights” struggle of our era.
Of course the charter chains want more. Their model is based on greed and rapacious growth.
The 1997 Charter Law in Pa is antiquated, it is not serving the best interest of MOST Pa public school students. Historically Pa has had a good Public school system. The state funding needs to be addressed. Schools in Pa must receive funding to serve the needs of the school districts and student populations. This should be a priority for Governor Wolf and the legislators. Most charters in PA do not perform better than the district school system. PA taxpayers can not afford a duel school system. The charter law should be repealed. It is time for the lobbyist to swarm elsewhere.