On Monday, the School District announced that it would be voting on the 39 charter applications next Wednesday, 2/18. The slots to speak at that meeting have already filled up, but the district is still accepting public comment until noon on Monday 2/16.

We think that the best chance we have to influence the outcome of the charter vote is to provide specific, detailed objections to charters that are threatening the zip codes where we live and work.

Doubtful? Check out the charter application analysis reports -- the district did NOT play nice in their critiques of the holes in the applications. If you don't feel like combing through the reports one by one, take this quiz to see some of the harsh words the evaluators had for different proposals.

Reading the reports, it's also clear that the board played close attention to how much support was given for individual schools -- and also whether that support was authentic or cookie-cutter. (Independence Charter got a note in their report that they sent 100 letters... but that they were a form letter.)

We're looking to send at least 500 individualized letters to the SRC by next Monday.

Charter Letter Instruction Kit

To participate, do two things:

Remember, this is NOT a campaign against all charter applications together -- we already published that letter. Instead, we are asking you to take a look at which school(s) are near your home and work, explore what critiques were made of their applications by the district, and then write the educated, thoughtful commentary that the district and potentially the charter appeal board in Harrisburg need to hear.

Solidarity from Chicago: check out the resolution above that the Chicago Teachers Union passed in support of teachers at Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences! The opt out movement has strength.

What information can you send on to families who haven't been educated about their opt out rights yet? With parent-teacher conferences just around the corner, check out our brand-new...

Opt Out Organizing Toolkit

Tool Kit Includes:

• Opt out flyers
• Informational flyers about opt out
• Sample press release
• Press contact list
• Sample PSSA & Keystone problems for Test-Ins

Remember -- all of these tools are legal, and schools are required by law to provide their families with information on how to opt out.

Do you believe in limiting high-stakes testing's influence on our classrooms and communities? Even if you're not in the position to opt-out at your school, you can support the families and teachers at Feltonville- and help build a movement!

1. This is a growing movement led by individual parents and teachers who are tired of how over-testing negatively effects students and keeps precious resources from going to schools that need them.

It all starts with simple, individual conversations with your colleagues and families about their experiences with testing, and their visions for more pedagogically and culturally-relevant assessments. Check out some of the many news articles on Feltonville and use one to start a conversation.

2. Sign and share the petition to support Philadlephia Parents' Right to Opt Out! As of this posting we're at almost 700 signatures; help us get to 1,000 this week!

3. Inform yourself! The Philadelphia Educator Law Center has created this fact-sheet on opting out in PA, and APPS Philly has this handy opt out form-letter and guide. Remember that in PA, we don't encourage students to opt out during years (3rd and 7th) that might affect middle- and high-school admissions.

3. Tweet and email your support of Philly's parents to Superintendent Hite and SRC Chairman Bill Green:

• Bill Green: [email protected] / @Green4Philly
• William Hite: [email protected] / @SDPHite
• School District of Philadelphia: @PhillyEducation

Sample Tweets: 

I am a #phled ____ [parent, teacher, student, supporter] and I stand with #optout students & parents at Feltonville! @Green4Philly @PhillyEducation @SDPHite #optoutPHL

I urge @Green4Philly @PhillyEducation @SDPHite to request testing waiver from state! Stop attack of #FeltonvilleStrong teachers #OptOut

Inform parents of #optout rights! @Green4Philly @PhillyEducation @SDPHite  Stop intimidation of #FeltonvilleStrong teachers!

4. Let the world know why you support assessments that help our students and children grow and learn! Post/tweet your own #WhyOptOut ideas.

5. Write a Support Statement, or take a "solidarity selfie" with your family, community, and colleagues! Post them widely, but please also email Feltonville Teacher [email protected] so she can share your messages and photos with the school. Check out some of the many organizations and individual support letters here.

6. Are you in Philly? Join Feltonville Teachers and Families for an Opt Out Workshop on Thursday, February 5th on how you can build momentum to opt out at your school! 

7. What's your idea? Let us know! This movement will be built by the little actions of millions of families and educators!

PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL DISTRICT TAKES DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST TEACHERS FOR INFORMING PARENTS OF THEIR OPT OUT RIGHTS AROUND HIGH STAKES TESTING

Parents at Feltonville and across the district stand in support of teachers

Dissatisfied with how standardized testing is eclipsing their children’s education, 20% of parents at  Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences -- with the support of teachers -- have opted their children out of standardized testing. And that number is growing despite disciplinary actions taken last week against teachers involved in informing parents of their rights.

Teachers were issued letters compelling them to attend investigatory conferences on Thursday of this week.  The district move follows this City Paper article announcing that 17% of students at Feltonville School of  Arts and Sciences refused to take the PSSAs and other assessments. News of the action prompted Council members María Quiñones-Sánchez, Mark Squilla and Jannie Blackwell to issue a public statement of support for Feltonville families on Thursday saying “Until we put some limits on this obsession with testing students, we will see protests like that at Feltonville. We stand with families who are making the choice they believe is best for their children.”

With the recent appointment of a new Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, Pedro Rivera, Council members Quinones-Sanchez, Squilla, and Blackwell called upon the School Reform Commission to formally request a waiver for this school year, and to begin a review of the long-term strategy to reform the use of standardized testing.

“We, as parents, have a right to say no to the test”, says Heidey Contrera, the mother of 8th grader Natalie Contrera, who, having moved to Philadelphia from the Dominican Republic in 2011, is designated an English Language Learner at Feltonville. “The test is not a good measure of my daughter’s ability. It is not a fair way to judge her. And we’re not taking it.”

“Parents have the right to opt out – that is an indisputable right,” said Helen Gym, co-founder of Parents United for Public Education, one of the groups to come out publicly in support of parents and teachers at Feltonville. “The District has an opportunity to work with parents and teachers on an issue of common gain rather than once again being on the wrong side of the table.”

 News and Support:

• 2/10/15: Philly Tribune- 'Opt Out' Puts School District Teachers in Hot Water
• 2/3/15: Al Día- 'Parents have the right to opt-out but they need to be informed'
• 1/31/15: Anne Tenaglia- We Didn't Start the Fire But We Will Fan the Flames
  
• 1/30/15: Raging Chicken Press- Feltonville Teachers Will Not Be Silenced: Administrative Threats Lead Only to a Widening of the Fight to Stop High-Stakes Tests
• 1/29/15: Lois Weiner- Philly teachers - the kind of troublemakers who built teachers unions
• 1/28/15: LA Progressive- Parents Standing Firm Against High-Stakes Standardized Testing
• 1/28/15: Newsworks- Should Pa. require students to pass standardized tests to graduate high school? 
• 1/28/15: Newsworks- One of the 'Feltonville Six' speaks up about right to opt out
• 1/28/15: Teacher Solidarity International- Principled Philadelphia Teachers Need Our Support
• 1/27/15: The Notebook- Opt-out movement reflects growing resistance to testing 
• 1/27/15: Daily News- Some Feltonville middle-schoolers 'opt out' of standardized testing
• 1/27/15: Examiner- What Feltonville Taught Philly About Opt Out
• 1/26/15: The Notebook- District investigating school with 20 percent opt-out rate
• 1/26/15: Amy Roat speaks on The Rick Smith show on the opt out movement 
• 1/26/15: Germantown Avenue Parents- Teachers at Feltonville Investigated for Informing Parents about Opt-out Rights 
• 1/26/15: Newsworks- Philly School District Investigating Philly School with 20% Opt Out Rate
• 1/26/15: Philly Mag- Will District Slap Anti-Testing Teachers?
• 1/26/15: Philadelphia Inquirer- Time out for teachers who counseled kids to opt out of tests? (Kristin Graham)
• 1/26/15: Diane Ravitch- Philadelphia Warns Teachers of Disciplinary Action if They Inform Parents of Opt-Out Rights
• 1/26/15: Raging Chicken Press- #PhlEd: Phila. School District Taking Actions Against Teachers for Informing Parents about Opting Out
• 1/25/15: Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools- The Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools Supports the Families and Teachers of Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences
• 1/23/15: Al Día News- Philly puts standardized testing to the test
• 1/22/15: Parents United for Public Education- We support the right to opt-out
• 1/22/15: Amy Roat, Caucus of Working Educators Steering Committee Member and Feltonville PFT Building Rep. interviews on the Rick Smith show
  
• 1/22/15: Maria Quiñones-Sanches- Councilwoman Quiñones-Sánchez & Others Express Support for Families ‘Opting Out’ of Standardized Testing in Feltonville
• 1/22/15: Philadelphia City Paper- Council Members Back Anti-Testing Revolt
• 1/21/15: Philadelphia City Paper- Feltonville Arts and Sciences Students Posed to Quit Testing En Masse

City Council Members Express Support for Families ‘Opting Out’ of Standardized Testing in Feltonville

Councilwoman María Quiñones-Sánchez (7^th District), Councilman Mark Squilla (1^st District), and Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell (3^rd District) expressed support today for families who have chosen to ‘opt out’ of standardized testing. “Until we put some limits on this obsession with testing students, we will see protests like that at Feltonville,” said Councilwoman Quiñones-Sánchez. “We stand with families who are making the choice they believe is best for their children,” said Councilman Squilla.

Parents of 17% of students enrolled in the Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences have decided their children will not participate in standardized testing this year, according to reporting today by Philadelphia City Paper’s Daniel Denvir.

Use of standardized testing has dramatically increased in recent years, taking up an increasing amount of school learning time, and interfering with educators’ efforts to focus on students’ development in areas of critical thinking and creative problem-solving. Tests such as the PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assesment) are now used for ‘high-stakes’ decisions about the future of individual students, their teachers, and their entire schools. Pennsylvania is planning to implement additional new Keystone Exams as a high school graduation requirement as of 2017.

Feltonville Arts and Sciences, a public middle school, has a significant rate of students who are “English Language Learners” (ELL), who have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) due to disability or special needs, and who are impacted by trauma. Children report stress, anxiety, and even physical illness caused by this high-stakes testing. “Over-reliance on standardized testing disproportionately harms our most vulnerable students,” said Councilwoman Quiñones-Sánchez.

Philadelphia City Council adopted Resolution #140997 on December 11, 2014, calling on the School District of Philadelphia and the School Reform Commission to analyze the financial and human impact of standardized testing, to identify strategies to minimize its use, and to request a waiver of the Keystone Exams from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in order to adopt assessments that better serve local needs and priorities.

With the recent appointment of a new Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, Pedro Rivera, Council members Quiñones-Sánchez, Squilla, and Blackwell call upon the School Reform Comission to formally request a waiver for this school year, and to begin a review of the long-term strategy to reform our use of standardized testing.

Elections are upcoming for mayor, city council, and city commissioner in Philadelphia. But where do the candidates stand on education issues?

See our platform items below to get an idea of where the candidates should be. If you are attending any meet and greets or public forums, use these items to get the opinions of those who are running!

The Caucus of Working Educators of the PFT believes that ALL Philadelphia school children have the right to a thorough and efficient education. To those ends, WE ask all candidates for public office in Philadelphia to adopt the following platform:

1. Adoption of a fair funding formula that creates equal funding for districts across Pennsylvania, as well as securing of additional revenue sources specifically for Philadelphia. This would include a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) program for institutions of higher education within the city limits, closing tax loopholes for corporations that do business in Philadelphia, as well as state-wide 5% tax on shale drilling, to be split equally between education and public employee pensions state-wide.

2. Restructuring of district debt. In 2015, debt servicing is projected to eat up 9% of the annual budget, or $280 million dollars (http://schoolbudget.phl.io/). Banks must be approached directly to forgive or at least restructure this debt.

3. Local control of our school district, specifically a school board elected by the citizens of Philadelphia.

4. A moratorium on the closing or transitioning of public schools until the district establishes complete financial transparency and oversight for all charter schools.

5. A reduction of the importance of standardized testing, including working to eliminate district-based exams, supporting families that refuse standardized testing for their children, and advocating for the use of multiple measures to evaluate student and school success.

6. Integration of wrap-around services into our schools, including social workers, medical professionals, and universal pre-kindergarten.

7. Equal rights to due process and collective bargaining for all teachers and school staff members across the state, even those in “cities of the first class.”

Here's my testimony from Thursday's charter hearing. It was so odd. There weren't any SRC or District officials, just a lady up front with a laptop. Strange. On the positive side, I was surprised given the crowd, that quite a few people clapped when I was done and someone I don't even know thanked me on Twitter. We are slowly making an impact. We just have to keep showing up.

It is not a choice when they close your neighborhood school.

It is not a choice when they starve your school of staff and resources with the goal of creating an unsafe environment.

It is not a choice when in exchange for much needed private funds, schools are compelled to fire over half their teachers.

It is not a choice when stranded costs from charter enrollment drain resources away from regular public schools.

What about those of us who choose and fight for non-charter schools?

We don’t have branded t-shirts and glossy posters, but we have a fierce devotion to the idea that schools are community anchors.

We believe that every neighborhood should have a school that accepts anyone who lives in that community-regardless of their home life or testing prowess or special needs.

We believe that public schools are the foundation of democracy, and that charter schools are chipping away at that foundation.

We believe that soon we will be in the same boat as New Orleans, Newark, and closer to home, York-very soon.

The choice will have been made. Not by parents, but by those who tug at the strings of a broken political system.

Charters are a false choice. They are the ones doing the choosing-gaming the system and counseling out the unworthy come January or February before testing season gets underway.

They quietly put out applications requesting illegal information that helps them screen out children who lack supports at home to burnish their reputations.

They expect a double standard when it comes to data-driven evaluations.

They expect us to look the other way at the fraud and ethics violations that have become a norm in this industry.

I am here today to say that I stand with neighborhood schools. I endorse the community school approach. And I request that you look at the barriers to access audit done by PCCY and PA Ed Law Center in April 2013. Any school on that list with identified barriers should absolutely not be given any more schools.

By Diane Payne

On Monday, I went to 440 N. Broad Street to testify regarding the 40 charter school applications being submitted this week.  I wasn’t able to be there all day for the presentations, so I didn’t hear the bells and whistles that Monday’s group of charter school applicants presented. I was speaker 29 and discovered that a fellow public school advocate was speaker 30. I left after the 30^th speaker and want to note that only four people were there to speak against the expansion of charters. The 26 other speakers were students, parents, politicians, community leaders and charter school personnel that spoke in favor of their particular charter of choice.  This included the newly elected president of the NAACP. 

In addition to hearing the virtues of the “charter of choice”, it was very disheartening to often hear the disparaging remarks made about public schools.  I really, really urge any public school advocate to try to get down to 440 N. Broad Street, 2^nd floor auditorium on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday to offer your 3 minutes of public testimony to say “NO MORE CHARTERS” and to support our neighborhood public schools.  The total time from sign in to the end of speaker 30 was 1 1/2 hours.

Here is my testimony from Monday.

I am speaking today to request that the SRC suspend the consideration of any further charter school applications. The current rhetoric of our families needing “choice” is a false dialogue laced with false hope and false promises.  What you are deciding today isn’t about giving parents choice it is about taking away a basic, founding principle of our country…a free and quality public education for all. Not a mish-mash of unregulated “choices” which promotes itself as an easy answer to complex problems.  The complex problems of poverty, English as a second language, broken families, abuse, unequal job opportunity, lack of health care, crime to name a few, do not have easy answers and will not be fixed by Charter Schools. There is more and more hard evidence coming out on a daily basis that point to the problems inherent in charter school expansions. To name only some:

*Charter school expansion causes the further starving of public schools

*Fraud and financial mismanagement that enrich savvy members of the charter school network via real estate deals, management contracts, service contracts, equipment purchases, and pricey CEO salaries

*Lack of transparency in operation and finance

*Re-segregation of student populations

*Failure to mirror the neighborhood school’s demographics because of how students are admitted and then how students are retained if problems of any nature arise

*Here in Philadelphia, an absolute budget crisis that cannot sustain any further draining of resources

*And last but not least a total lack of available oversight again due to lack of resources

Although there are reputable and honorable charter schools functioning and helping children that do not mirror these problems, it is difficult if not impossible with the lack of fair regulation and oversight to manage the current number of schools, much less additional ones.

These problems relating to charter schools are not unique to Philadelphia. It is a nationwide issue that is harming our poor and urban areas. You will notice that you rarely find Charter Schools in wealthy suburban districts and that is only because you don’t find the complex problems I previously mentioned in those neighborhoods either.  Expansion of charter schools will not be the savior of education but they could be the demise of a cornerstone of our democracy, fair and equitable public school for all.

Please do not expand charter school options at this time.  Thank you.  

Councilman Squilla, Councilwoman Sanchez, and Councilwoman Blackwell have introduced a resolution to City Council calling on the School District to scale back its standardized testing.

The resolution will be introduced for a vote during the week of December 8th. Please take five minutes to call your councilperson -- or an at-large representative -- to let them know that you want them to vote YES on this resolution!

Think about all of the days your students give up on these exams. Five minutes of advocacy is worth it.

Resolution

Calling upon the School District of Philadelphia and the School Reform Commission to analyze the financial and human impact of standardized testing, to identify strategies to minimize its use, and to request a waiver of the Keystone Exams from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in order to adopt assessments that better serve local needs and priorities.

WHEREAS, Standardized testing has dramatically increased since 2002’s No Child Left Behind Act imposed federal mandates requiring the testing of every student in reading and math from 3^rd grade to 8^th grade and again in high school, implemented in Pennsylvania through the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) tests; and

WHEREAS, In addition to federally-required tests, states have layered on additional assessments, including in Pennsylvania new requirements for Keystone Exams that will be required for high school graduation as of 2017; and

WHEREAS, On average, students in large urban school districts take a total of 113 standardized tests between Pre-Kindergarten and 12^th Grade, with students in 11^th grade forced to devote as many as 27 days or 15% of the school year to testing and yet many more hours to test preparation; and

WHEREAS, Since 2002 spending on standardized tests has skyrocketed, with the Keystone Exams projected to cost hundreds of millions even billions, without the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania providing any corresponding or dedicated funding to local districts for these costs or for the necessary supplemental education to help struggling students; and

WHEREAS, The over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing interferes with educators’ efforts to focus on students’ development in areas such as problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking, thus undermining skills needed to excel outside of the classroom; and

WHEREAS, There are indications that this increase in testing is causing children to experience stress, anxiety, and even in some cases even physical illness; and

WHEREAS, Minority and low-income students, special-needs students including those impacted by trauma and those with Individual Education Plans, as well as students who do not speak English as their first language, are disproportionately harmed by the overuse of standardized tests, particularly when those tests are used to determine ranking, admission, and graduation of students or to evaluate teachers and school staff as well as overall school performance; and

WHEREAS, the City of Pittsburgh engaged in a thoughtful process to evaluate how to minimize and mitigate the use of testing, and has adopted a plan that will cut over 33 hours of annual testing for students in certain grades; and

WHEREAS, Pennsylvania law provides the opportunity for local districts to request waiver of the Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement and seek approval of alternative assessment strategies; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia’s ongoing and serious budget crisis as well as its high concentrations of minority, low-income, special-needs, and Limited-English Proficient students, justify the critical examination of state-mandated testing as applied to Philadelphia students and the development of a more streamlined, demographically-appropriate, and cost-effective testing structure for the Philadelphia School District; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA respectfully calls upon the School District of Philadelphia and the School Reform Commission to analyze the financial and human impact of standardized testing, to identify strategies to minimize its use, and to request a waiver of the Keystone Exams from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in order to adopt assessments that better serve local needs and priorities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that an engrossed copy of this resolution be sent to William R. Hite, Jr., Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, and the members of the School Reform Commission.

Councilman Mark Squilla

Councilman – 1^st District

Maria D. Quiñones Sánchez      Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell

Councilwoman – 7^th District Councilwoman – 3^rd District