Agreement reached on city's ailing public school system

After months of negotiations, Philadelphia Mayor John Street and Governor Mark Schweiker finally came to terms on the takeover of the city's ailing public school system, meeting the Dec. 21st, 2001 deadline imposed by the state.

Operation of the district was turned over to the newly created School Reform Commission on Dec. 22, 2001 at 12:01 a.m. This commission replaced the city's Board of Education, which was appointed by Street two years ago.

Three of the new commission's members will be appointed by the governor, while two will be appointed by the mayor.

Street and Schweiker announced their agreement at a joint press conference held on Dec. 21st.

Schweiker appointed an interim chairman for the School Reform Commission as well. James Nevels, a local financial and investment expert, will serve as chairman for 30 days until a permanent chairman is agreed upon.

"Today is the end of a long negotiation and the beginning of a dynamic new partnership," Schweiker said in a statement released by the Mayor's office.

Schweiker and Street were at odds throughout the fall over what should be done to help the city's public schools, which suffer from a large debt and poor test scores. The state initially planned to take over the schools on Dec. 1, 2001, if an agreement had not been reached, but Street adamantly refused Schweiker's initial plans to privatize the district.

Schweiker then agreed to keep all but the city's worst schools public, allowing discussions with the mayor to move forward and pushing the deadline back to the end of the month.

Even though this temporary agreement has been reached, Luz Cardenas, Street's spokeswoman, stated that Street's goals have not yet been accomplished.

"We're still waiting for a lot of things to fall into place," Cardenas said.

The prospect of bringing in a private firm to control the schools was the most controversial aspect of the recent negotiations. Most of the focus has been on New York-based Edison Schools, Inc, a for-profit company that has been involved in privatization efforts in other major cities.

Under the new partnership between Street and Schweiker, the School Reform Commission has the authority to select such a company in an open, merit-based process. The commission will also be in charge of determining the terms and costs of the contract with the selected company.

Debra Kahn, Philadelphia's Education Secretary, said she is cautiously optimistic about the partnership, adding that much of the agreement's success is up to the members of the School Reform Commission.

"[The agreement] offers an important opportunity to create better education in Philadelphia. Now we need to go to work in making it happen," Kahn said.

The outcome of the negotiations is still garnering criticism, though, and one of the most outspoken opponents to the agreement is the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

"There's very little evidence of state takeovers improving student performance," PFT spokeswoman Barbara Goodman said. "There are reforms that work. They should have tried math and reading programs, making the schools safe and orderly and providing smaller classes."

Finances have also been one of the major issues facing the district. The agreement between the state and the city will make $45 million more in funding available to the school district.

Despite this increase in funding, Street stated that he has no plans to increase taxes on Philadelphia's residents.

While the PFT readily admits the district needs additional funding, they remain doubtful over whether this new money will actually reach the classrooms, given the involvement of a private, for-profit management company.

"We want to make sure whatever [the commission] does is serving the students, not corporations," Goodman said.

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