Charter School Taskforce RECOMMENDATIONS to the School Reform Commission June 11, 2008 Co-Chaired & Presented By: Carol Fixman Philadelphia Education Fund Helen Cunningham Samuel S. Fels Fund

The Taskforce Mission Focus on the issue of communication between the School District and charter schools. –The Charter School Office compliance function –The District’s charter support functions –Opportunities for charter peer review and self-regulation.

The Taskforce’s Work Two public meetings (May 13 and May 15) attended by more than 50 individuals. Three Taskforce meetings (May 15, May 21 and June 2) to synthesize public comments, Taskforce input, and written comments received from charter operators, parents and education advocates.

The Taskforce Recognizes That: Charter schools and District schools are all public schools, serving the same children in the same communities, and face the same social and economic challenges. There are two public education sectors in Philadelphia: –The School District of Philadelphia, governed by the School Reform Commission, and –the collective charter school community, authorized by the School Reform Commission.

Charter schools and District schools should collaborate to: –foster the mutual sharing of innovative and best practices, –facilitate an efficient and effective compliance system, –provide support services for children, and –strive for high levels of accountability. Therefore, the Charter School Taskforce Recommends…

RECOMMENDATION 1 …that the office responsible for Philadelphia charter schools be established by and report directly to the SRC. This independent office would ensure compliance with state charter school regulations, serve as an advocate for charters within the District, and assist charters when working with District offices. This office would be staffed with individuals knowledgeable about charter schools and charter law, and also with individuals who have prior charter school experience. It would ensure that charter schools comply with Commonwealth guidelines. This office would serve as the single point of entry for charters to the District, and as the single point of information on charters for all District offices.

RECOMMENDATION 2 …that for purposes of its own annual review of charter schools, the SRC accept charter schools’ annual reports, which are also submitted to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Commonwealth). This is intended to reduce redundancy. Charters acknowledge that the due date prescribed by law for their completed annual reports is August 1. The SRC would notify charters whether their submissions are complete no later than October 1. The SRC would also issue a final “determination letter” to all charters by December 1. The determination letter would inform charters whether their annual reports are complete and would be placed in each charter’s permanent file.

RECOMMENDATION 3 …that charter school application and renewal policies, processes, and evaluation criteria be transparent, consistent, and equitable. The SRC would develop rubrics for evaluating charter schools’ compliance with Commonwealth regulations and reasonable timelines for demonstrating compliance. The SRC would communicate these rubrics – as well as any other policies, processes, evaluation criteria - to the public and existing charters on an annual basis, including posting said information on the District’s website. In addition, hard copies of said information would be mailed to each charter currently in existence, regardless of whether the charter is being considered for renewal.

RECOMMENDATION 4 …that the SRC change charter school application and renewal rubrics, policies, processes, and evaluation criteria no more often than every two years. The SRC would provide the public a minimum of 60 days to review and provide input for proposed changes. Changes would be finalized with at least one year notice to the public and all charters, including charter parent organizations. All changes would take effect on the July 1 immediately following the one year notice period. Changes in state law would, of course, pre-empt this timing.

RECOMMENDATION 5 …that the SRC facilitate collaboration between representatives of charter schools and District schools for the sharing of best practices and promising education experiences.

RECOMMENDATION 6 …that the SRC communicate to the public how the Philadelphia Intermediate Unit (IU) deploys its resources in support of charter schools and communicate how the IU can be more supportive of charter schools.

RECOMMENDATION 7 …that the SRC facilitate the development of a voluntary peer review process to be deployed at the mid-point of a charter school’s five-year authorization and/or just before the time of a charter school’s renewal.

RECOMMENDATION 8 …that the SRC facilitate the development of an efficient process for handling parent complaints, including exploring the creation of a voluntary mediation program.

RECOMMENDATION 9 …that a Phase II of the Charter School Taskforce be immediately developed to address the remaining items outlined in SRC-6.

Taskforce Members Yancy Bright CEO, Leadership Learning Partners Charter School Monika Kreidie, Parent from Independence Charter School Rev. Danny Cortes, Board President, Esperanza Academy Charter School Karen D. Lash, Parent Advisory Council, MaST Community Charter School and Founding Member, Parents Unified for Charter Schools Lawrence Jones, Board President, Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools and CEO, Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School Joseph Mahoney, Executive Vice President, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Jacquelyn Kelley, CEO, Discovery Charter School Donna Piekarski, Officer, Office of Early Childhood Development School District of Philadelphia Staff support provided by Amy Guerin, Director of Policy Dev., School Reform Commission.