Anti-takeover petitioners lose in high court

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has bolstered supporters of the state takeover of Philadelphia's ailing public schools

The high court has denied several petitions, all filed by opponents of the takeover, but did not provide any reasons for the decisions. The petitioners responded with plans to file amended lawsuits.

The possibility of a state takeover of the ailing city school district has been a heated point of debate since former Governor Tom Ridge hired Edison Schools, Inc., to look into possible solutions for the district in August. Ridge hired the corporation after Philadelphia Mayor John Street asked Ridge for help last summer.

In December, the city and state reached an agreement that abolished the Board of Education and replaced it with the School Reform Commission.

Three of the five members of the Commission are appointed by the governor, while Street gets two appointees.

The Committee to Keep Our Public Schools Public is one of the main groups to file the petitions, which the high court ruled on last Friday. Other groups include the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and several city unions.

All opposing groups were trying to reverse the state takeover with these petitions and combat the possibility that some district schools would be taken over by a private firm.

One petition specifically targeted the New York-based Edison, claiming that a conflict of interest law would be violated should the firm be contracted to manage any of the city's schools. The conflict of interest would exist, petitioners claim, because Gov. Mark Schweiker's takeover plan was based on a report prepared by Edison.

An identical petition was filed last month in Commonwealth Court. A decision in this case has yet to be reached.

The second petition, filed against the state, claimed that the amendments to Act 46, which allowed the state takeover to take place, were unconstitutional, violating Philadelphia's Home Rule Charter. The court also denied a petition for review in this case.

The state was pleased with the Supreme Court's ruling despite the petitioners' plans to refile.

"The Commonwealth is very happy with the ruling," said Gretchen Toner, spokeswoman for the state's Education Department. "We have always said that Act 46 is constitutional and the reported conflict of interest does not exist."

The state also acknowledges that the Supreme Court's ruling will allow the School Reform Commission to move forward with its plans for the Philadelphia School District.

"It's [the petitioners'] right to refile, but the decision gives Philadelphia's School Reform Commission the opportunity to move on with the important work of transforming this school district," Toner said.

Among the commission's work is the responsibility of hiring an education provider to manage the city's schools.

The commission remains uncommitted to any one management firm, but is actively seeking the qualifications of such firms to work in cooperation with community groups. Last Friday the group announced that it is seeking qualifications of education providers interested in managing some of Philadelphia's troubled schools.

"The School Reform Commission welcomes any and all companies to submit their qualifications for consideration," commented Heidi Gold of Ross Associates, a firm representing the School Reform Commission.

Despite the recent legal actions by opponents, Edison is still seeking management of some of Philadelphia's schools.

"At this point we're simply responding to and proceeding with any and all petitions or lawsuits that are filed," said Adam Tucker, a spokesman for Edison. "We've been pleased with the several motions [that] have been denied. We're pleased with the court's decisions thus far."

Although the private firm says it is still too early to determine how many of the schools it would manage, the company plans to submit its qualifications to the School Reform Commission.

"At this point we're not planning, we're hoping," Tucker said. "We are submitting [qualifications] this Friday in response to the consulting role. We're also hopeful that the [School Reform Commission] will see fit to hire Edison to manage some schools."

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