Philadelphia public schools
Groups resist grab by for-profit company
By Betsey Piette
Philadelphia
Through public forums, outdoor rallies and citywide
hearings, parents, students, teachers, and community activists
are making it clear that they don't want Pennsylvania Gov. Mark
Schweiker to let Edison Schools, Inc., privatize Philadelphia's
public schools.
For years Philadelphia parents and teachers have been
demanding additional funding for the public schools in one of
the most under-funded districts in the state. In 1999 the
per-student spending was $7,480 in Philadelphia compared with
$11,000 to $13,000 in surrounding predominantly white suburbs.
As a percentage of income, Philadelphians pay more in local
taxes than residents of the suburban counties.
The school district of Philadelphia enrolls 205,000
students, more than 80 percent of whom are children of color;
78 percent are from low-income households. A racial
discrimination lawsuit against the State of Pennsylvania aimed
at rectifying this funding disparity on federal civil rights
grounds was found in the city's favor, but shelved by Mayor
John Street as a concession to the state. Decades of
under-funding have left a legacy of overcrowded and
under-equipped classrooms, low test scores, high drop-out
rates, and widespread dissatisfaction with the public
schools.
Mayor Street committed $1 billion to build new sports
stadiums in the city, but vetoed an additional $45 million for
school spending this year. Statewide, over the past 20 years,
spending for prisons has increased 452 percent while spending
for education has increased only 86 percent.
Gov. Tom Ridge during his tenure unsuccessfully pushed for
voucher programs as a step toward school privatization. In
July, Mayor Street signed a memorandum of understanding with
Ridge that gave the governor permission to commission an
analysis of the financial and educational state of the school
district.
Ridge then awarded a $2.7-million contract to Edison
Schools, Inc., the nation's largest for-profit manager of
public schools, to study and make proposals for how to deal
with the district's financial and academic crisis.
Edison manages 136 schools in 21 states across the country
and was interested in taking over some of Philadelphia's
schools. Its involvement in this study was clearly a conflict
of interest, especially since Edison had little experience in
evaluating large urban school districts.
Ridge, however, had political ties to Edison through the
Rev. Floyd Flake, president of Edison's charter school
division, who served and worked closely with Ridge when Flake,
who is from New York City, was in the House of
Representatives.
The Philadelphia school district is experiencing a
$215-million deficit. Under Pennsylvania Act 46, passed in 1998
primarily to break the teachers' union, the deficit makes the
city's schools subject to state takeover.
Schweiker became Pennsylvania governor on Oct. 5, after
Ridge left to serve as Bush's "Homeland Security Czar."
Legislature abolishes school board in secret
session
On Oct. 23, in a secret, late-night session, the
Pennsylvania Legislature amended Act 46 in order to abolish the
Philadelphia Board of Education and facilitate a state
takeover. It replaced the board with a five-member School
Reform Commission, four of them appointed by Schweiker.
The commission was given the authority to hire independent
contractors to run the district's central administration,
individual schools and support services. Under this plan the
very people who have been under-funding Philadelphia's schools
will now run them.
In response to these moves, a multiracial coalition of 30
organizations was formed to oppose the privatization of
Philadelphia schools and to call instead for increased funding
to improve them. Philadelphians United to Support Public
Schools has been actively organizing against plans to hire
Edison.
Coalition members had backed a resolution by City
Councilmember Michael Nutter, passed by City Council, to put a
referendum on the November ballot letting the public vote on
privatization. Mayor Street refused to sign it, blocking the
referendum.
The coalition released its own findings on Edison's record
in running school districts in Minneapolis, Wichita, Kan., and
Lansing, Mich.--cities planning to terminate contracts with
Edison due to poor performance. In addition, school districts
run by Edison in Baltimore, Miami, Dallas and San Francisco had
higher than anticipated costs and lower than promised test
scores. In San Francisco, Edison kicked out 15 low-performing
students, 14 of them African American males.
Edison has also acquired a $200-million deficit over the
last five years, hardly better than the Philadelphia schools.
However, as a private corporation, Edison does not have to hire
union workers or honor any previous contracts. Edison School,
Inc., has a record of hiring unskilled personnel at lower wages
to boost its profits, and admits to a problem of high turnover
among teaching staff.
While Edison is telling the Philadelphia City Council and
the Pennsylvania Legislature that it is experienced, capable of
running the city's schools and will turn a profit soon, a stock
prospectus released Aug. 3 for potential investors paints quite
a different picture. Edison claims it operated schools for 13
years, but its stock report admits the first Edison school
opened in the fiscal year ending June 1996, and that it has
limited experience operating four-year high schools.
To potential investors, Edison admits that investing in the
company "involves a high degree of risk" and that "failure to
become profitable may adversely affect" its ability to continue
operations. Yet to the press and when addressing community
meetings in Philadelphia, Edison claims it can meet any
challenge.
A final decision on the takeover is due Nov. 30.
Groups unite to block Edison
Philadelphia United to Support Public Schools has organized
several public rallies to oppose the Edison takeover. Speakers
from the NAACP, the Black Radical Congress, Asian Americans
United and the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights have
pointed out the racism inherent in the state's hostile takeover
of the Philadelphia schools, noting that Schweiker would not
have taken the same action against a predominantly white school
district or a city with a white mayor.
Cecilia James, an African-American parent representing the
Alliance Organizing Project, who spoke against Edison at a Nov.
1 rally, said the only things Edison-run schools offer for the
children's future are "the military, unemployment and
jails."
There was particular anger at that rally because earlier in
the day Schweiker had announced plans to appoint Edison to run
several of the city's schools, before discussing them with
Mayor Street or the Philadelphia School Board. Outrage was also
expressed that the state is promising Edison $50 million in
management fees, after claiming that there was no money to give
to the Philadelphia schools if they remained public.
Dr. Karin C. Bivins of the Philadelphia NAACP expressed
concern that Edison's takeover could lead to a resegregation of
the schools. Another focus of the coalition groups has been to
urge the mayor and the Board of Education to immediately
reactivate the racial discrimination lawsuit.
An outdoor rally against Edison on Nov. 7 brought together
students, parents, teachers, unionists and community activists.
So many people attended public hearings the next day on the
school takeover that they had to be continued into the
weekend.
Philadelphians United to Support Public Schools says there
is an alternative to Edison: quality public schools that are
adequately funded. They have vowed to continue the fight with a
demonstration in Harrisburg on Nov. 15 and a march on City Hall
the next day.
Reprinted from the Nov. 22, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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