OFFICE OF COUNCILWOMAN HELEN GYM

Contact: Ian Gavigan (ian.gavigan@phila.gov) 215.686.3408

STATEMENT ON PROPOSED SCHOOL DISTRICT FY17 BUDGET

PRESENTED AT SRC BUDGET HEARING APRIL 21, 2016
Just over a hundred days ago, I was sworn into office. Since then, Ive introduced legislation
calling for hearings to examine the state of our schools, and what impact budget cuts have had on
them. I joined forces with my Council colleagues with one goal in mind: to center the District on
its essential tasks amid the devastating cuts that have deepened in the past five years.
I do want to take a moment to acknowledge the District for its promised efforts for next years
budget: the restoration of a full time nurse and counselor; discretionary funds flowing back to
schools, and the hiring of 800 teachers are all first steps in restoring essential services back to
schools.
I want to assure you that Council and the City will be your strongest partners and cheerleaders in
attracting and retaining teacher jobs. I ask to partner with you on creative incentives that not only
bring teachers into the District but also new residents into our city. The Districts hiring of new
teachers isnt just an educational mandate; its a potential economic engine that has the potential
to bring wages and residents into Philadelphia to rebuild our schools and revitalize our
communities. In return, we expect that the District will make every effort to settle its years long
standoff with teachers, and assure teachers that they your most valuable assets and their
professional skills will be matched with fair wages and benefits and responsible and adequate
working conditions.
At the same time, you and I both know that these first steps do not address the magnitude of
abuses happening in our schools under our watch.
Council has prioritized our attention on the Districts need to address the massive teacher
vacancy issue and for good reason. A qualified teacher in every classroom is the least and most
basic of our mandates as educators. The mounting vacancy crisis has resulted in appalling
conditions for students and educators and massive violations of the state code governing
curriculum and services. From overcrowded classrooms, to unprecedented numbers of split
grades, from whole subject areas and grade levels simply left unfilled by certified educators, to
support services and legal responsibility for protected classes of students falling below standard
no other priority stood out as starkly as the need for teachers and staff to fulfill the legal and
moral obligations of the District.

Thousands of children will go to summer school this year not for enrichment or additional
academic learning but to make up for the fact that a teacher was missing for two-thirds of the
year. We heard stories from youth across the city who sat in empty classrooms, who expressed a
hunger for learning and attention. While we appreciate the fact the district is both documenting
and addressing the situation on the back end, I am sure you can appreciate the shame and anger
that accompanies this level of failure.
We also took these first 100 days to ask hundreds of Philadelphians to provide critical insights
into our schools needs and priorities. We held three town halls attended by hundreds of parents,
students, community members and educators, and received hundreds more feedback forms. The
results were sobering: Philadelphia's citizens are asking the School District to uphold their basic
human rights.
Community members spoke of the impact of being half way through the school year without a
certified teacher before them. Students spoke about attending the 300 high school classes that are
terribly overcrowded. They spoke about being left behind again and again.
Teachers talked about having to give up preparation period after preparation period because
substitutes didnt show up.
Students talked about not having clean drinking water and functioning water fountains. They
shared stories of what its like when youre one of the 17,000 kids without a full-time counselor.
They spoke about being one of the 64,000 students who cant afford to get sick on the weekdays
without a full time nurse.
With this as a backdrop, budgets then are about opportunities and priorities and this body has a
choice to make about the direction it chooses.
On the one hand, this body can choose to craft a budget that devotes its efforts to meeting its
obligations under state and federal law as well as what the taxpayers who fund this district are
asking for. Or this body can choose to pursue other options.
One option and I do stress option youve chosen is Renaissance charters. For the past six
years, the District has pursued a strategy of enormous investments of money, capital and central
office time on single school turnarounds that have yielded at best uneven results.
Three of seven original Renaissance charters last year were deemed unworkable, one
which was revoked and two others which transferred to other charter operators.
Four Renaissance charters were deemed failing this year.
Notably, every one of the five charters to be revoked will be in operation in September
2016 and for several Septembers after even in a best case scenario.

Despite this, the District has chosen to invite Renaissance operators all of which are deeply
problematic:
One operator has zero pedagogical experience in the schools they are slated for takeover
and has publicly declared an intent to divert taxpayer funds to their New York-based
headquartersi;
Another operator only met four of 11 required compliance measures at its only existing
charter school, as recently documented in the District charter evaluations.ii
A third Renaissance charter has raised questions of ethics, including conflicts of interest
involving family members of your own commission.iii
Over in City Council, some of us have been shocked by the lack of transparency in the decisionmaking that went into the Renaissance charter process. Were even more surprised that the
District has refused to provide Council with the necessary budget attachments to the Renaissance
applications that allows for full public review of each operator. Despite repeated requests from
City Council, the District has never accounted for the stranded costs of the Renaissance charter
model. Such secrecy serves no one, and contributes to public distrust in your work.
We know that the District has refused to standardize Renaissance facilities contracts, resulting in
controversial sweetheart deals for certain operators which have included millions of dollars in
subsidies or facilities upgrades. The District has also failed to include parent voice in the
Renaissance contract process; Mastery Charters in Camden for example has a Community
Benefits Agreement (CBA). But not here where parent voices can only be seen in terms of
cheerleading or opposition, not meaningful accountability.
And because the District has chosen a charter route (as opposed to a creative contractual
agreement) for its Renaissance program, these operators are insulated for years from real
accountability measures, despite financial mismanagement or dismal academic performance.
In choosing to pursue Renaissance charters, it is clear then that the District is making a choice to
choose to invest in some students at the expense of others.
This makes no sense given the Districts own stated goals, and especially given what
communities have demanded for years. If our goal is to uplift our students despite the gross
inadequacy of what Harrisburg has given our children, are the millions of dollars, and the hours
of central office administrative time we pour into Renaissance charters the best and smartest use
of our funds and capacity?

The alternative is to take an approach of a strong restoration agenda that re-builds confidence in
our public schools and sees essential services as mandates, not subjected to discretionary fancy.
Its a path that values systemwide investments for every child in every school.
These include:

Addressing the teacher vacancy issue by settling the teachers contract, ending the
disastrous Source4Teachers debacle, and working with the Mayor and Council to
consider incentives to attract teachers to work in our District and to live in our city.
Guaranteeing a full-time nurse in every District school as a central allotment.
Guaranteeing full-time counselors distributed per the 1:250 ratio as recommended by
national experts.
Ending split grades in grades K-3.
Addressing overcrowding by not underprojecting enrollment, and immediate relief to
schools over the contractual maximum number of students in a class.
Investing in trauma-informed care by bringing social workers into our schools.
Ensuring water safety and access for every school; and immediately prioritize facilities
repairs for every school.

The Districts fund balance was largely built off the suffering and neglect of the majority of
children in our system to devastating effect. We cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes over
and over.
Thank you.

i http://thenotebook.org/uploads/files/701230898645592885-great-oaks-foundation-concerns-letter-helengym.pdf Great Oaks Charter chain has been in operation for just five years with limited data, and has never
operated a school serving grades K-5.
ii http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/uploads/lo/XJ/loXJIkxHfABfXrqgZWZjew/2015-ACE-Global-LeadershipAcademy-Charter-School.pdf Global Leadership was deemed non-compliant in 4 of 11 categories.
iii http://thenotebook.org/articles/2016/02/29/simms-divine-and-the-wister-vote-a-question-of-interestSRC Commissioner
Sylvia Simms sister works for an entity she has refused to disclose, and which Commissioner Simms herself failed to
acknowledge prior to a vote.