Stories tagged: school board
Back to the drawing board: huge deficit means it's time to re-engage the public, re-establish priorities
Submitted by Helen Gym on Thu, 09/17/2009 - 10:54 | Permalink
And so we’re here again.
One week into school and we’re facing an almost certain $150 million budget deficit and counting. I say “we” because $150 million is not a number accountants and creative bookkeeping can make disappear. It’s a number that’s likely to touch every school, and possibly be felt in every classroom in the city.
It’s a situation the School District ignored as it signed off on millions of dollars in contracts for the past five months – despite appeals that contracts should be prioritized or even held off until the state budget came through. It’s a situation the School District steadfastly refused to acknowledge even when the governor’s budget was clearly dead in the water. It’s a situation that the School District’s only apparent preparation for was a “doomsday budget” in the event of a worst-case scenario.
But it looks like something very close to a worst case scenario is at hand.
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Upheaval at the SRC: Ramirez to step down
Submitted by Helen Gym on Wed, 08/19/2009 - 11:30 | Permalink
Sources inside and outside the District have informed me that School Reform Commissioner Heidi Ramirez will announce her intention to resign from the SRC. The announcement is expected this afternoon when the SRC convenes.
The announcement follows months of Superintendent Arlene Ackerman’s public critiques and complaints about Ramirez’s inquiries into areas such as the budget and contracts. It also follows Gov. Rendell’s decision in the spring to put Ramirez’s re-nomination in limbo and open angling by Harrisburg legislators to get Republican representation on the SRC. One can only guess that Ramirez, whom Governor Rendell once praised as “the most qualified” member of the SRC for her education background, got little backing from state or city officials.
And that bodes poorly for future oversight of the District.
NOTE: Look for news updates here throughout the day. The Inquirer has additional reporting. And in Spanish in Al Día by reporter Milena Velis.
3:10 p.m. District spokesperson confirms Commissioner Ramirez will resign soon during today's SRC meeting.
6 p.m. Fighting back tears, Heidi Ramirez resigns, saying her educational vision is now "inconsistent" with that of the District. Superintendent Arlene Ackerman notably waited to be the last person to stand in acknowledging Commissioner Ramirez and rolled her eyes before standing. Read her resignation letter and the text of her public statement.
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In a shocker, Dungee Glenn out
Submitted by Helen Gym on Wed, 03/25/2009 - 09:37 Posted in Parent perspectives | Permalink
In a shocking turn of events, both the Inquirer and the Daily News are reporting that School Reform Commission Chair Sandra Dungee Glenn may be off the SRC. Media reports say that she may be replaced by attorney Robert Archie.
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An unsettled CEO search
by Dale Mezzacappa and Paul Socolar Posted in February 2008 NEWSFLASH | Permalink
With the School Reform Commission still deliberating two weeks after receiving feedback from a divided advisory committee, there seem to be more questions than answers about the search for a new School District CEO.
Some prominent Philadelphians are calling for the SRC to officially reopen its search.
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At the SRC
Posted in October 2007 NEWSFLASH | Permalink
At September’s School Reform Commission meetings, Commissioner Sandra Dungee Glenn assumed the role of chair, and the SRC approved the following:
-A $250,000 authorization to continue the Accountability Review Council (ARC).
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Two Pennsylvania laws are key to accessing information
Posted in Fall 2006 Edition | Permalink
Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act requires school districts and other agencies to discuss and make decisions on most of their important business at meetings that are publicized in advance and open to the public.
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Quest for contract documents became summer-long ordeal
by Paul Socolar Posted in Fall 2006 Edition | Permalink
With this Fall 2006 edition examining the School District's increased reliance on educational service contracts with outside companies, the Public School Notebook had the perfect opportunity to conduct a test - how forthcoming and open would the District be with key information about contracts? We were seeking answers to important questions: who gets how much money, why they get it, and what results they are achieving.
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Concerns over dumped milk and juice
Posted in Summer 2006 Edition | Permalink
To the editors:
I have witnessed milk, juice, and food in closed containers in the dumpster outside a local school. These foods were not out of date.
The school was throwing away one or two big boxes of milk or juice whenever I checked (two or three times a week). Each box, I think, was about 5 gallons of milk or juice in little four-ounce containers.
If the food cannot be used in the school, can't it be donated to a food bank?
Rachel Frankel
Fishtown
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Former board president Rotan E. Lee dies
Posted in Summer 2006 Edition | Permalink
Rotan E. Lee, who served as president of Philadelphia’s Board of Education and a key figure in Philadelphia school reform in the 1990s, died of heart failure April 24. He was 57.
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Comings & Goings . . .
Posted in May 2006 NEWSFLASH | Permalink
Lucy Rodriguez-Feria, superintendent of the Central East Region, will leave that post at the end of the school year to become associate superintendent of the Office of School Management, a post formerly held by Nilsa Gonzales. . . . Gregory Shannon, who had been acting superintendent of the recently created CEO region received a permanent appointment to that post. . . .
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Black and Latino boys disrespected, task force finds
by Dale Mezzacappa
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