Decision on school privatization delayed another month by state

The decision on privatizing Philadelphia's public school system has been delayed a month, as Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker has requested more time to become acquainted with the issue.

Edison Schools Inc., a for-profit education company hired by Gov. Tom Ridge in August to develop a solution for Philadelphia's debt-ridden schools, was supposed to present a report to the governor on Saturday.

But with Ridge resigning this Friday to become head of the new Office of Homeland Security, Schweiker needs time to learn the details of many state projects.

Schweiker will now receive the report on Oct. 29. He will then have a month to reach an agreement.

City Education Secretary Debra Kahn said that Schweiker's request for more time is valid, but stressed that the delay must be short.

"As we've said all along, we could not have a situation where there would be an open-ended delay," Kahn said. "Given that this is a reasonable request of just 30 days, we didn't have a problem complying with the request."

If no agreement is reached, the state will take over the schools.

According to Gretchen Toner, spokeswoman for the State Department of Education, the decision to request extra time was made by both Ridge and Schweiker.

"It really was a mutual decision between the governor and lieutenant governor to request the extension," Toner said.

According to Toner, the state understands the need to move as quickly as possible.

"We share [Mayor John Street's] sense of urgency to complete the study and complete the plan for the Philadelphia School District," she said.

Schweiker has already had conversations with Street about the issue of privatization, and officials say that the two will soon arrange a formal meeting. But Luz Cardenas, Street's spokeswoman, said that the conversations between the mayor and Schweiker have been productive.

"They've been very positive conversations," Cardenas said. "The new governor has restated his commitment to help the city focus in on this issue."

Cardenas would not say when the more formal meeting will be held, but stated that the city is "looking for it in the very near future."

In the meantime, Edison will be working with Schweiker to bring him up to date on their findings. According to Adam Tucker, an Edison spokesman, the company met with Schweiker early last week to discuss the report.

"I think our focus is going to be on making sure that Schweiker feels up to speed," Tucker said.

Tucker added that Schweiker needed time to make the final plan "his own."

Toner would not speculate on the differences between Schweiker's plan and the plan Ridge would have formulated, but did say that "philosophically, they agree."

According to Tucker, Edison will also use the extra time to put finishing touches on its analysis.

"It may give us a little more time to do some work that we just didn't get to," Tucker said.

Edison, whose central office is in New York, had its work disrupted by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The company originally planned to visit 32 of Philadelphia's public schools, but had visited only 11 by Sept. 10.

The purpose of the visits was "going and talking to folks about what support they were or were not getting from the district," Tucker said.

Tucker said that most of the schools had been visited, and that the few that were missed did not affect the final report.

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