About the author
Deborah A. Russell-Brown is on the editorial board of the Notebook.
As first privately managed high school, King has faced controversy
by Deborah A. Russell-Brown
When 45 of the School District's lowest-scoring schools were turned over to private managers in April 2002 after the state's school takeover, not a single high school was on the list.
There were certainly high schools among the most academically troubled schools in the District. School Reform Commission officials said at the time that most of the private managers were not interested in a high school, or that managers were unable to convince the Commission they had a strong high school reform model.
But that situation changed when New Jersey-based nonprofit Foundations Inc. was invited by the District in April 2003 to negotiate a contract to manage Martin Luther King High School in West Oak Lane. Foundations moved into King that fall, and a four-year, $1.35 million contract for Foundations to manage King was finally approved by the SRC in April 2004.
Today King is still the District's lone grade 9-12 high school operated by an outside education management organization, or EMO. (A for-profit EMO, Victory Schools, has been managing the conversion of two middle schools, Rhodes and FitzSimons, into small high schools.)
The arrival of Foundations has brought expectations of change at King. With Foundations receiving $750 more per student than other high schools, community members say they want to see the school do better.
And the change process has not been a smooth one for Foundations. The organization waded through a difficult first year of embarrassing fights, skeptical teachers, and even messy allegations of inappropriate sexual activity at King.
And controversy exploded after Foundations' contract to manage King was approved by the SRC last April. That SRC resolution contained a surprise provision allowing Foundations to convert King to a charter school - prompting organized protest from teachers, students, and other members of the community.
While the charter conversion has still not been finalized, SRC approval of that provision triggered first a union-negotiated teacher transfer arrangement and then a mass exodus of two-thirds of the King faculty last summer.
An assessment of how things are going at King depends very much on whom you talk to. Data are mixed, and it's too early to identify test score trends. While the reform has many critics, Foundations officials and others are upbeat.
Rhonda Lauer, Foundations CEO, said it was a natural step for Foundations to get involved with King, given their role in managing five elementary and middle schools in the area, a grouping called the Neighborhood School Network.
"It is critical that students and parents have quality 9-12 options for their children," Lauer said. "Within our network we have preschool, elementary and middle school programs, but there was not a viable, comprehensive and desired 9-12 option."
Some argued that King did not need new management. But state Representative Dwight Evans, who advocated for the Foundations takeover, countered, "People were looking for safety, looking for results."
Evans pointed to a 20-page report, prepared by a consulting firm, describing feedback from focus groups about King. Student participants cited deep concerns for safety, and both kids and parents said they thought King was a second-rate school, not suitable for good kids or high achievers, Evans said.
After the teacher exodus last summer, the response from Foundations was swift, and they managed to start the fall with a full complement of teachers by bringing in 68 teachers, many of them fresh out of school.
"We were able to interview and select the best from a good pool," Lauer said. "Beginning in July, both new and existing teachers have had a series of intensive professional development opportunities and experiences."
Parents were invited to be a part of the teacher interview process and submitted choices. "All of the teachers selected by the parents were hired," said Wanda L. Trent, president of the Home and School Association, who spoke positively about parental involvement at the school.
Officials at King and Foundations say this year a stricter code of conduct and a mandatory uniform policy are in place, as well as better security.
Last year, King had one of the District's highest suspension rates and over 1000 suspensions, an average of six per day. The number of incidents of violence and weapons possession at the school last year landed King on the state's "persistently dangerous school" list.
"There is a marked improvement in the climate [at King]," noted the District secondary education head Creg Williams. "Foundations increased personnel to help safety matters, and you have some semblance of order."
But the events of the last two years at King have left many doubters.
Karin Bivins, the NAACP's Education Chair, said, "I am concerned for the students. The climate is still tense."
The NAACP has a long-standing partnering relationship with King.
Bivins is particularly worried about the loss of so many of the school's veteran teachers.
"It takes three years to even begin to be a good teacher and develop behavior managements, classroom management," she explained. "Yes, young teachers are enthusiastic, but if they don't have good mentor teachers, they won't be able to learn how to teach as quickly or as well."
In 2003-04, even before the exodus of teachers from King, the school had only 80 percent of its teachers described as "highly qualified," ranking last among District high schools.
Recently departed teachers from King are among Foundations' harshest critics. Longtime King teacher Lynn Dixon, now works at Northeast High, expressed frustration about the year working under Foundations' direction.
"They sat in their offices and refused to come out," stated Dixon. "You never saw them interact with kids or teachers. With the million dollars, they could have hired more teachers, bought computers, and added books to classrooms and the library. We didn't see any of that."
Jerry Jordan, vice president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teaches (PFT) and a former King teacher himself, declined to comment.
While the King charter conversion application has been prepared for District review, the District has taken no action. Lauer said discussions are underway with the District and teachers' union, and Foundations will hold community meetings regarding charter conversion on March 22, April 21, and May 25.
Lauer said Foundations has no plans to take on management of other high schools.
But the No Child Left Behind Act calls on school districts to consider hiring outsider managers as one of the few approved measures for restructuring chronically low-performing schools. It may be just a matter of time before other EMOs are hired to run high schools here - even though the jury is still out on King.