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Heard a presentation about the Renaissance Schools initiative, the District's new effort to bring about school turnaround. Benjamin Rayer, chief officer of charter, partnership, and new schools, and David Weiner, chief accountability officer, identified the process and measures used to determine why 14 low-scoring schools are on what is called the "Renaissance Eligible Schools" list of schools targeted for overhaul.
These schools are in the bottom tenth of District schools on a school performance index and are in line for the most drastic interventions. Another 12 schools, labeled "Renaissance Alert Schools", are also in the bottom tenth and will move into the District’s Empowerment Schools program to receive extra resources and supports they were not getting previously.
The final list of Renaissance Schools will be announced in March. “Turnaround teams” consisting of either District personnel, charter management organizations, or education management organizations (EMOs), will be responsible for overhauling the schools. School Advisory Councils will help in the provider selection process. After the presentation, the SRC voted to approve Renaissance Schools Initiative Policy #012, detailing how the District will implement and administer the initiative.
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Voted to approve a three-year collective bargaining agreement between the District and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. The contract, heralded as “historic,” will give teachers a 3 percent raise in March and another in January 2012. It will give schools more control over hiring, overhaul the teacher evaluation process, provide more focused professional development, and may provide additional compensation to staffs working in high-performing schools.
The contract also calls for forced transfers of staff at the Renaissance Schools and requires the turnaround teams that operate the schools to implement a longer school day and school year.
Each of the SRC commissioners made statements, some prepared, expressing their satisfaction with the work done around negotiating the contract. “I am very pleased about the power, potential, and tone of the partnership and collaboration that this agreement symbolizes," Commissioner Denise McGregor Armbrister said. "I feel really confident that it will support continued and really accelerated improvement in student achievement and support for our teachers which can only lead to more victories in the classroom for all of our children.”
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Heard testimony from several members of Parent Power, the District’s newest advocacy group, voicing their support of Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. State Representative Tony Payton, Jr. also expressed support of Ackerman and her Imagine 2014 strategic plan.
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Voted to approve a $225,000 contract with Prime Directive Consulting Group to provide diversity awareness training for employees at South Philadelphia High School. The program will serve as a pilot at South Philly High, later expanding to more District schools this year.
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Voted to approve a $255,000 contract with Kids First LLC, the Boyer Group, Philly Project PRIDE, the Max Group, Corporate Alliance for Drug Education (CADE), and the After School Activities Partnership (ASAP) to help support violence prevention/intervention initiatives in District schools.
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Voted to approve contracts worth more than $3 million with 13 vendors to provide mentoring, educational support, employment preparation and internships, and school climate and case management to seven comprehensive high schools: Bartram, FitzSimons, Germantown, Lincoln, Overbrook, University City, and West Philadelphia. Some of the vendors providing the services include, Boys and Girls Club of Philadelphia, EducationWorks, Philadelphia Education Fund, and Philadelphia Youth Network
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Voted to expel 23 students.
