Expansion of School Advisory Councils: Popular idea, but devil is in the details
by thenotebook on Sep 04 2012 Posted in Latest news
By Paul Jablow
For supporters of extending School Advisory Councils (SAC) to all schools in the District -- and there is virtually no outspoken opposition to this -- the devil is in the details.
A coalition of community groups formally requested a School Reform Commission resolution mandating this in July. And speakers at the August SRC meeting kept up the pressure for the body to go on record in favor of extending the concept from its present 38 schools to every school in the District.
But as the school year gets underway, District officials say that thin staffing due to budget cuts could make moving ahead difficult.
SRC Chair Pedro Ramos voiced general support for the SAC concept at the August meeting but was noncommittal about when a resolution might be introduced. District spokesperson Fernando Gallard later said that Ramos was unavailable to discuss the subject.
Speaking glowingly about what the SAC has accomplished at Jackson Elementary School, Adriana Arvizo, parent organizer at JUNTOS, told the SRC in August, "We want to see the same results we saw in Jackson in every school in the city."
"We're looking for September," said Sylvia Simms, founder and president of Parent Power, in a later interview. "The sooner the better."
Simms acknowledged, "We do know that the District doesn't have enough staff."
"We were disappointed" that the SRC took no action, said Jesse Braxton, parent and school organizer for the community group Action United, "but we're going to push ahead." Braxton added, however, that it would make no sense for the SRC to pass what amounted to an "unfunded mandate."
There is clearly little support at District headquarters for a resolution that doesn't go beyond words.
"For me, sustainability is everything," said Claudia S. Averette, deputy chief of the Office of Parent, Family, Community Engagement and Faith-Based Partnerships. "That's critical. We have not always done a great job on sustainability. You put in all this work at the front end, you can't just stand up and walk away."
Averette said that the District's goal remains to expand SACs this year from the present 38 -- not counting Renaissance charters -- by adding the 73 "full autonomy" schools. The goal is for all schools to have working SACS by 2015-16, she said.
"Full autonomy" schools are those that, in the words of Chief Academic Officer Penny Nixon, have "had consistent leadership for the past two years and have either improved the School Performance Index score or met Adequate Yearly Progress."
Averette expects parents from all 73 schools to attend a School Advisory Council summit in late October or early November. "They can put the SAC together right there," she said.
But she said the job has become tougher this year by a reduction from 120 to 42 of School Improvement Support Liaison personnel, whose parent engagement work has included working with SACs.
"It will be a challenge," Averette said. "If I have to rely just on District staff, it would not be adequate."
Organizations making up a SAC working group, including the Philadelphia Student Union, Parent Power and the Philadelphia Education Fund, are helping with parent training, but probably lack the resources to take on larger roles.
And Averette is still drawing up a budget to include what personnel and financial resources she will need to make the SAC expansion workable.
Those concerns are echoed by the Mayor's Office of Education.
"As we move in the direction of a decentralized system," said Ami Patel, a policy adviser in the office, "SACs should play a key role.
But, she added, "before a resolution can be passed by the SRC, it is important to identify capacity and to develop a strategic plan so the SAC model can expand successfully."
Comments (14)
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 09/04/2012 - 18:51.
Look how well the SAC at King HS worked out! They pushed for a new principal and new staff, yet, wasn't Principal Wade suspended from King? Is King better off now SAC members?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 09/04/2012 - 18:54.
Yes, expand the SACs! Why not? Look how well the SAC worked at King HS. The SAC wanted a new principal and new staff. Well, they got it. They even got a principal who got himself SUSPENDED within six months! Is King really better off now? Great job SAC!
Submitted by LS Teach (not verified) on Tue, 09/04/2012 - 19:55.
What did he get suspended for?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 09/04/2012 - 19:53.
Would the 73 schools to have SRCs include those that have consistently made AYP? Could the case be made that even though a school (like, say Penn Alexander) should have an SAC? Can an SAC be formed where there is a strong HSA, which focuses primarily on fundraising, yet many parents and community members feel disenfranchised?
Submitted by Concerned RoxParent (not verified) on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 10:24.
The HSA, at least in a lot schools, is not only concerned with fundraising. The HSA at our school is very active in the school. Parents who volunteer as "room moms/dads", assistance during the day copying and such so that teachers are free to teach and here is a novel concept...using their prep time to PREP!
We do 2 fundraisers per year and that is it. Yes, fundraising helps us with activities and such during the year, but it is not our only or most impportant concern.
If parents feel "disenfranchised" with their HSA they need to step in and volunteer their time. I find that those who complain the loudest are usually those who are never at the school, and I have a tendency to ignore them. If they really wanted to see change or to do things to make the school better they would be there.
Submitted by Ms.Cheng (not verified) on Thu, 09/06/2012 - 10:13.
What a relief to hear your thoughts. In regards to fundraising, more can be accomplished in 1/2 an hour of reading to a child than several hours/days of fundraising. Nothing is more frustrating to me than to see children asked to sell candy bars to their class and schoolmates using their precious study time. Then after all this effort is made, to see that the proceeds are going to what really amounts to sales and marketing hype, rather than constructive educational ends. Sounds like your HSA is a good one.
Submitted by ConcernedRoxParent (not verified) on Thu, 09/06/2012 - 11:53.
Thanks!
We use our fundraising to try and improve the school. Most recently, we were able to purchase promethean boards for several classrooms that did not have them. Now all of the classrooms 3rd grade through 8th grade have them and most importanly USE them, Our next mission is to get them for the K-2 classrooms! To me that is what the HSA should be doing. Not running around raising funds for things that no one sees, or that the kids forget about after it happens (i.e. pizza parties).
Yes, pizza parties and such are fun and can be fun, and we do hold one or two through the year, but those types of events are not our main focus!
Submitted by Rich Migliore (not verified) on Tue, 09/04/2012 - 21:00.
Before the district jumps in with SACS as we know them, I advise a more deliberate and well thought out process. School councils have been implemented in many various forms in Philadelphia and throughout America since the early 1990's. They have had varying results and they create numerous issues both practical and legal.
Harry Gafne, a former Associate Superintendent, had written an excellent set of bylaws for school councils. The original SRC had in their goal statements posted in the front of their meeting auditorium at 440, "Every school will have a school council."
They meant a school council that had parents, teachers, administrators, community members, and in high schools, students. That is far different than what SACs have been.
The issues that must be first resolved is how are SAC members elected or selected? What are their powers and authority? What are their bylaws and operating procedures? How is the leader chosen? Appointrd or elected? Etc.
I am generally in favor of school councils, and have served as a Governance Council Chairman back at UCHS in the early nineties. School councils can sometimes produce great results and sometimes they cause more trouble than they are worth.
Ackerman and Archie attempted to have them do their bidding for them. Many principals will do the same. We all have seen how they can be manipulated to serve special interests.
For SACs to improve the process of schooling, they must be set up and implemented properly.
Submitted by Ms.Cheng (not verified) on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 07:33.
Rich, there are specific guidelines for SACs. I do not have them in front of me, but I know that parent representatives are to be elected. The idea behind SACs are good but as the article states, the practicality/reality is questionable. They are a formal structure that requires time and care, and if not given this, are at best irrelevant, and at worst, manipulative. Our school struggled with even having a Home and School. The HSA is mandated to hold elections every two years, but this in reality didn't happen. Interestingly enough the prior School Councils, mandated that the parent representation be the HSA president or a representative of him/her. The current SAC requirements do not acknowledge the HSA at all.
What the District really needs for SACs and any other entity involved in decision making, is better policing/enforcing. This can be done by creating a database of feedback, with sufficient security measures, that is accessible to the public.
Submitted by Rob (not verified) on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 08:48.
How much money do SACs cost? I would think that everyone would volunteer for the post. How different is a SAC from a suburban PTA?
Submitted by Ms.Cheng (not verified) on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 10:23.
SACs are run on volunteer time, but do require extra time on the part of the principal, the teachers who participate, and of course the parents. This, as far as I know, is not compensated. A volunteer's time is often more "dear", that is it is often given at great personal cost, therefore it must be well used. There was (mostly undisclosed) cost involved in contracting to Frontline Solutions to provide training on SACs, and in extra per student funds given to several schools to pilot the SACs. I believe this came from Title I parent involvement funds. In my opinion, the money could've have been better spent. There are research based resources available at PA PIRC and PA SPAC for little to no cost.
The Home and School Council (districtwide) with its Home and School Associations (individual schools) is a PTO (Parent Teacher Organization). A PTO lobbies locally while a PTA (Parent Teacher Association) lobbies nationally. They are volunteer run, but do require a membership fee to provide such things as group insurance for school events, and materials.
School Councils including the SACs are created and run by the District. The HSC/HSAs are created and run by the parents/caregivers. Currently, because the principal has the final say for both, there is very little difference in these organizations. HSC/HSAs might have the greater motivation to help parents, but still must defer to the principal/District. Teachers are not members of a HSA, and therefore they rarely make their meetings; whereas in a SAC, those chosen to be members would be expected to attend the meetings. Small difference, that really doesn't require formal requirement to change.
Submitted by Rob (not verified) on Wed, 09/05/2012 - 19:23.
Thank you for the response
Submitted by Ms.Cheng (not verified) on Thu, 09/06/2012 - 10:03.
Sure. I need to clarify why teachers are not members of a HSA. Currently HSAs require that members have a child that attends that school. Teacher participation is not required, though highly desirable/implied. A SAC, besides requiring teacher participation, allows for a community member to participate even if he/she does not have a child currently attending the school. Again, however, because a SAC is district run, there is little to no motivation to acknowledge or act on, input that might conflict with their already set policy. If a HSA has conflicting input, it also tends to be "shelved"...so no difference in the end result.
Having feedback (politically this is all that HSAs and SACs really give) from caregivers, teachers, and community is invaluable. One would think that a competent principal would seek this even if he/she were not saddled with the requirements of maintaining a SAC.
In truth, having a HSA or SAC is something that a school/principal likes to have on paper to show that they are meeting the parent involvement requirements of Title I, whether or not they are really making the effort.
Submitted by sdop_educator on Thu, 09/06/2012 - 18:59.
There is no "outspoken" opposition to SACs because it is not politically correct to speak out. However, there is a reason why only 38 schools have SACs. The fact that a mandate from the district does not presently exist does not preclude any school from voluntarily establishing a SAC. Obviously, the fact that the vast majority of schools did not has little to do with time or money constraints. The true question in the mind of administrators and even school staff is one of the governance structure. The composition of SACs is mandated to be at least 51% parents. The decisions made by SACs are not merely feedback but are intended to be binding. So schools are being asked to relinquish an awful lot of control while still being saddled with full accountability should anything go wrong.
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