Renaissance Schools plan moves ahead as debate continues

Turnaround models will draw in the community, officials say.

by Wendy Harris

For many parents and community members, the District’s Renaissance Schools plan – a major initiative to transform Philadelphia’s most troubled schools – evokes déjà vu.

The plan proposes to turn around about 30 schools over the next three years by bringing in new leadership from education management organizations (EMOs), charter schools, or teams of District educators.

In 2002, the District spent tens of millions to hire school management companies, and despite the promise of reform, there was little substantive change. That history has many people skeptical.

Lori Shorr, the mayor’s chief education officer, who co-chaired the Renaissance Schools Advisory Board – the District’s advisory team for the plan – says this time the approach is different.

“In other cities, when people try to transform schools, they have never done it with what we’re proposing, which is a lot of community involvement,” she said in presenting the plan to the School Reform Commission in October.

She said what is most important is “that we pick schools that are ready to do this, that the community is ready, and that we have found turnaround teams that can do it well.”

Besides issues about the use of outside providers, some advocates are also questioning whom the transformed schools will be serving. Community organizations including JUNTOS have petitioned the District to create immigrant-friendly schools as part of the plan.

Others are concerned about the cost. So far, the District has budgeted $1.2 million for the first year, half of what was originally proposed last May. The District recently was awarded a $75,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help it seek additional dollars for Renaissance Schools and other initiatives from the federal government’s new Race to the Top Fund.

Cecelia Thompson, chair of the Right to Education Task Force, wonders what will be sacrificed to pay for the turnarounds.

“My concern is if the money that is being spent is being taken away from things that we need, such as five-day nurses in the schools and other resources in the classrooms,” she said. “Some schools said they don’t get homework because there is a paper shortage. These are basic necessities that I hope are not cut for this initiative.”

Shorr and other members of the advisory board developed a process for selecting schools, engaging the community, and choosing providers to operate the schools.

To determine which schools will be targeted, Shorr, who chaired the advisory board’s selection subcommittee, said the District would first look at the 95 schools that are in Corrective Action II status under No Child Left Behind. To narrow the pool further, the District would assess school progress through a school performance index including standardized test scores, graduation rates, college enrollment, student attendance, and parent and teacher satisfaction surveys.