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Campaign to privatize Philly schools raises $50 million, Nutter accolades
What readers might not glean from press reports is that PSP is an integral part of a broad and well-funded campaign to privatize public education in Philadelphia.
Campaign to privatize Philly schools raises $50 million, Nutter accolades
The Philadelphia Schools Partnership (PSP) yesterday announced that it has raised half of the $100 million goal for its Great Schools Fund. What readers might not glean from press reports is that PSP is an integral part of a broad and well-funded campaign to privatize public education in Philadelphia.
PSP received $15 million from the William Penn Foundation, as City Paper first reported, at the same time that the foundation appears to be cutting off groups like the Philadelphia Student Union that have been critical of privatization. And PSP's board is loaded with key wealthy figures in the privatization movement: Real estate developer Michael O’Neill, whose brother Brian O’Neill, according to a Daily News investigation, is close to a major Catholic Church-aligned pro-vouchers PAC; Janine Yass, wife of conservative Bala Cynwyd hedge-fund manager Jeffrey Yass, is among the state’s most high-profile voucher supporters who has together with his business partners spent millions to support pro-voucher candidates.
And PSP helped launch PennCAN, the state affiliate of the national reform group 50CAN. PennCAN embraces privatization more explicitly than PSP does, and supported an expansion of the state’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC), a voucher-like program that pays corporations back via tax credits for private-school-tuition donations. But the organizations work hand-in-glove: PennCAN executive director Jonathan Cetel works out of PSP’s Philadelphia office.
PSP has not invested in a single traditional public school, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan noted to the Inquirer.
"Schools aren't failing because they're bad schools," Jordan told the Inky. "There's a serious lack of resources."
Indeed, charter schools as a whole have consistently failed to outperform traditional public schools. But pouring millions of outside dollars into charters, dollars that are not available to traditional public schools, might, it is hoped, just tilt the playing field sufficiently.
All of this raised money to charters while the School District faces a shortfall of at least $282 million. And it was this summer revealed that charter expansions granted this year alone will cost the district $139 million over the next five years.
But Mayor Michael Nutter, according to the Inquirer, is enthusiastic about PSP. The debate over the future of Philly public education that has roiled this city―about funding equity, charters, vouchers, high-stakes tests―amounts to “esoteric debates that ultimately don't mean anything to these young people.”
PSP has not donated a dime to South Philly High, where Principal Otis Hackney has won community support in his effort to bring peace and stability to a school made infamous for attacks on Asian-American students in 2009, but is struggling to make do with a $1.5 million cut in funding last year.
As Republican Gov. Tom Corbett cuts money to public schools, corporate interests are writing the checks and helping to pick winners and losers. Instead of taxing these wealthy people (and especially the hedge-fund types making bank off the carried interest loophole and rock-bottom capital gains tax rate) to sufficiently pay for public education, those same interests get to sign much smaller checks to shape public schools in their image.
The web of corporate and conservative money and power now gripping Philadelphia Schools is a thick one: Corbett gave PSP board member, Mitt Romney fundraiser, former state GOP party executive director, pharmaceutical lobbyist and school voucher advocate Chris Bravacos a contract to to do public relations work on the state's new voter ID law.
Conservatives and big money interests hope that Philadelphians won't have much of a say at the ballot box. They've long since lost control of the state-controlled, and now corporate-controlled, School District.
wow, how far and wide is this conspiracy to improve education in philly danny? let me get this straight, people who have no obligation to contribute anything have given $50M to help city kids and they didnt do it in a way that you prefer? thats really scandalous. how dare they? maybe they should have just kept their hands in their pockets and let you and jerry jordan figure it all out.— kornbread- Someone has a problem with Danny speaking up for children who don't seem to get a piece of the money/resource pie and who always seem to get short-changed with regard to resources, counseling services, etc.? smh— teachersteve
- The status quo had been failing for 40 years. Incompetent city bureaucrats forcing people to go to crappy schools, or if they have money forcing people out to the suburbs. Our corrupt Philadelphia pols treated the system as a jobs program for their supporters.
Remember back when no one could move a computer from one class to another without paying the IBEW $70 an hour? That was Philly pols version of watching out for children. What you want to return to. Then we have state takeover and 100% funding increase over the last 10 years. We get Arlene Ackerman and her $1.3mm severance.
At least now with charters parents have some choice to leave failing schools, and incompetent administrators. Why are they fleeing in droves? Are parents too stupid to be entrusted with such a choice?
There is no conspiracy against public schools. There are few organizations that would survive for as long as the SDP did with its track record of failure.
This article is the same tired nonsense the status quo defenders have been spewing. Never take accountability or look at how the schools could improve. Always blame some external factor for your failures.— samac - Read the BCG report.
The Philly pols would rather pay SEIU slugs than help children. People who have an amazing 20% sick out rate. It costs $79k for a full time bus driver, but of course a full time bus driver can't do a full route due to work rules so you need two of them.
And city council votes to make its funding of the district dependent on giving the SEIU thugs what they want. $40mm extra in costs a year.
And we get our third tax increase? For the schools. Not the children, but so the SEIU can continue to be a $40mm a year parasite on the school district.
If Philly school students are being shortchanged, look no further than the Democratic machine here. The SEIU pays them off and they deliver.— samac - Thank you Dan for your courageous and principled reporting. Previous comments look like the right-wing noise machine is gunning full blast in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia in particular. We can expect more of this now that a new right-wing talk radio station is operating in Philadelphia. I wonder how Nutter sleeps at night knowing he is aiding and abetting these people!— tom-104
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