Two West Philadelphia charter schools may soon be forced to close their doors following a vote by the city's School Reform Commission earlier this month.
Both the Renaissance Advantage Charter School, which serves kindergarten through the eighth grade at 1712 South 56th Street, and the Center for Economics and Law Charter School, a high school at 6615 Chester Avenue, were denied renewals of their charters. As two of the city's more than 40 charter schools -- non-profit public schools that are run independently but receive funding from the school district -- their continued operation is subject to approval by the local Board of Education or State Appeal Board.
But recently, the Reform Commission took the rare step of citing them for failing to live up to academic and attendance requirements set by the state.
Though the decision may possibly go to a public hearing before any action is taken, the administrators at the Center for Economics and Law said they were angered and disappointed with the decision.
"I was not aware that we would not be getting a renewal," Center for Economics and Law Chief Administrative Officer Curtis Andrews said. "I was just as surprised as anyone else."
Andrews expressed concern that the problems cited by the commission, including a failure to provide required information about student achievement and a loss of some students and staff, were untrue.
"I would have thought that if we had a problem, someone would have informed me," he said, adding that officials from the commission had never even visited the school to evaluate it.
Andrews noted that the school district "talks about due process" but questioned, "in this case, how can the school district talk about the process... and not tell a charter school" of its deficiencies?
"I think that's political," Andrews concluded.
Officials from the School Reform Commission or the school district could not be reached for comment, but Andrews did add that there continues to be debate regarding the future of the school.
"We're in the process of having ongoing discussions," Andrews said. "It is our hope... that we will have addressed any concerns they have raised."
The Renaissance Advantage Charter School also failed to gain a renewal of its application due to outlined goals in the original charter that the school failed to meet.
At the same meeting, the School Reform Commission also renewed the charters of nine independent charter schools.
Four of the charters were approved as presented, but the remaining applications must wait to be approved based on academic performance and certification of teachers.
With the recent five-year renewal of nine charter schools, the total number of charter school applications approved this year now stands at 12.
Also announced at the meeting was a new, more time-intensive process for evaluating charter school applications.
