Philadelphia Schools Chief Lukewarm to State Takeover of Some Low-Performing Schools
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Low-performing schools in Pennsylvania could wind up in a state-run district, under a new proposal in Harrisburg.
Legislation reportedly being drafted by state senator Lloyd Smucker (R-Lancaster County) would take the state's lowest performing five percent of schools -- many of which are in Philadelphia -- and give them three years to turn themselves around by converting to charters or contracting with outside companies. (Union seniority rules would not apply at these schools.)
Then, if the schools failed to improve, they would be put in a new state-run school district.
Philadelphia schools superintendent William Hite says he's all for helping to turn around struggling schools, in principle. But he says the devil is in the funding details if it forces charter conversions.
"If you just use that mechanism, then unfortunately the turnaround of our low-performing schools would be at the cost of children in every other school," Hite notes. "And that's just not something that we could support."
Hite says he still needs to know more about how the school turnarounds would be funded.