Time for City Teachers to Commit

‘Give us a chance!’ That was the cry of teachers in the York City School District during deliberations on options for a financial recovery plan that took place earlier this year. They tried to convince everyone that even though there have been years of failed attempts to improve the district’s performance, they deserved another chance. They argued that the new internal reform plan presented by their union, the York City Education Association, in collaboration with the administration, would make the district financially solvent and dramatically improve student performance.

Based on the teachers’ commitments to salary and benefit reductions (which included a vote by the Teachers’ Union membership to accept the Recovery Plan), the Recovery Plan was approved in the spring by: the Recovery Advisory Committee, the York City School Board, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. York County Community Foundation and its YorkCounts committee endorsed the plan and agreed to help make it a success. Better educating our city’s children is of the utmost importance to us.

Progress is being made. Students were invited back to the district and many came back, resulting in a net gain of students for the 2013-2014 school year. Parents, teachers and administrators have invested their time to organize school advisory councils to develop building improvement plans. A district-wide Community Education Council has been established and is meeting its milestones to establish performance standards for the district and move the financial recovery process forward.

Now, just as positive momentum is building, the teachers refuse to honor their commitment to sign a collective bargaining agreement that includes the terms that they agreed to by voting to accept the financial recovery plan. Without a commitment in writing that the union will operate under the newly agreed-upon salary and benefit terms, the district cannot ensure that the new improvement plans for each school will be financially feasible. The District would be foolish to move plans forward and spend money on new initiatives without a guarantee that the salary agreements will be honored.

We applaud the Community Education Council’s decision to hold off on approving specific building plans until the teacher’s contract is signed. As stated in the financial recovery plan, the Council cannot act in a way that would increase the financial burden on the district. They would be violating their obligation to adhere to the plan if they move forward individual school plans without the teachers’ union contract secured. Without a written commitment from the teachers now, the only logical course of action for the Council to follow is to begin the process of identifying outside operators and engaging them to educate the district’s students.

Teachers, this IS your chance. If you are willing to commit to internal reform, honor your agreement and sign the contract.

Bill Hartman, President and CEO

Jane Conover, Vice President of Community Investment

Community Foundation and YorkCounts support YCSD Recovery Plan

 

YorkCounts and York County Community Foundation compliment the Chief Recovery Officer and the School District Recovery Advisory Committee for their diligence in evaluating options for the School District of the City of York. 

 

After months of research and evaluation, the Community Foundation submitted a report in February to the Committee called A NewEducation Model for the City of York.  The report recommended that the school reform option with the best chance to successfully transform the district would be the creation of a district-wide system of community charter schools consisting of privately-run, high-performing nonprofits that any child in the district could attend for free.  The report recognized that keys to successful reform were visionary leadership, commitment to evidence-based and collaborative educational approaches, family and community engagement, rigorous performance standards followed by accountability and rewards for results.

 

Last week, the Community Foundation’s Board of Directors and its YorkCounts committee voted unanimously to support the approved financial recovery plan for the School District of the City of York because it recommends bold, comprehensive reform, stronger and broader governance, rigorous performance measurements, increased accountability and consequences for non-performance.  Most importantly, the plan gives children a much better chance at a higher quality of life. 

 

Because of the strong commitment of the union membership, the plan has the potential to achieve financial stability and academic improvement that could not have been envisioned six months ago.  We encourage the union leadership to support its membership’s commitment to children by finalizing a written agreement to enable the plan to become a reality.

 

The new plan for the School District also gives York an exciting opportunity to re-engage the community in supporting students.  The plan has a greater chance of success because it will be spearheaded by Chief Recovery Officer David Meckley, a trusted leader who is strongly committed to academic and financial improvement.  Superintendent Eric Holmes strengthens the leadership team by bringing years of experience and commitment to students.  The proposed Community Education Council offers expanded oversight and engagement by parents, teachers and community leaders working together to make the city schools strong again.  We believe this new leadership will have the discipline needed to ensure academic progress and hold schools accountable or make the decision to convert non-performing schools to external education providers. 

 

While the recovery process has been challenging, it has generated out-of-the-box ideas that otherwise may not have been debated.  It has also highlighted the fundamental flaws of the urban education system and expanded awareness that profound change is needed.  While the financial recovery plan merits our investment of time and resources, long term solutions must include new structures to generate revenue for schools in communities with a limited tax base.  

 

The Community Foundation and its YorkCounts committee are committed to help by advocating for changes to charter legislation that ensures accountability and stable funding for York City schools.  We will also help organize support from community institutions to assist in making the financial recovery plan and the students of York successful.  We will support efforts to develop a system of coordinated support services for students, similar to the Communities in Schools approach that was outlined in our report.

 

We encourage city residents who are passionate about public education and willing to commit time and energy to making it great to submit their name for consideration for the Community Education Council that will oversee the financial recovery plan.  If interested, contact the Chief Recovery Officer at croyork@outlook.com.  We also strongly encourage education and business professionals to run for the York City School Board.  It will take a community effort to set the school district on the road to recovery.  Please join the effort.

 

Sincerely,

 

William R. Hartman                                        Jane M. Conover

President                                                       Vice-President, Community Investment

Charter Schools FAQ's

        

Converting the School District of the City of York to 100% Charter Schools

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Based on YorkCounts research and understanding of the laws and regulations under which charter schools operate in Pennsylvania

What’s the difference between charter schools and other public schools?

Ø  Charter schools are public schools of choice.  Parents or guardians choose to send their child to a charter school in place of their district-assigned school.

Ø  Like traditional public schools, charter schools are free to all students.

Ø  Charter schools must meet educational achievement goals and basic education requirements set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Ø  Typically, charters offer innovative teaching methods or specialized education that distinguish them from traditional schools.

Ø  Currently, charter schools do not have to accept every student that lives in the district but in a 100% charter school model, every student will be accepted.

Ø  Special education students must also be served by the charter schools, which have the option to contract with the local Intermediate Unit to provide those services.

Ø  At least 75% of the professional staff members of a charter school must hold appropriate State certification.  

Ø  All charter school employees are enrolled in the Public Employees Retirement System and must be provided the same health care benefits as employees of the school district.  Each charter school board of advisors determines salary levels of teachers and staff.

Ø  Charter school students take the same state standardized tests as traditional public school students and are required to report the results to the School District and Pennsylvania Department of Education.

How are charter schools funded?

Ø  Charter schools are paid a per pupil rate that is calculated by a funding formula established by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.  These funds come from local real estate taxes, State basic education funding and Federal funding.

Ø  Charter schools can be non-profit or for-profit organizations.  The York County Community Foundation recommends non-profit charters are selected so any earnings are invested back into the school. 

How are charter schools performing?

Ø  While local charters are not performing as well as others around the country, there are many examples of high-performing nonprofit charter schools operating throughout Pennsylvania and in other states. These charters have demonstrated that students with economic challenges equal to York City students can outperform their peers on state test scores.

 How would the 100% charter model work in the York County Community Foundation’s YorkCounts proposal?

Ø  The School District develops standards for charters and issues a request for proposals that attracts the best charter operators to York to serve students.  Up to this point, the School District has only responded to applications for charters from local educators. 

Ø  The same charter operator could be selected for one or more of the 7 schools in the district.

Ø  Our recommendation is that students could choose to attend any school in the City and not be restricted by neighborhood boundaries.  Parents would be responsible for transportation or public transportation could be used if they chose to attend a school in a different neighborhood.

Ø  Charter operators would be selected based on their ability to adhere to the best practices for successful schools including those described in our report A New EducationModel for York.

What happens to the Teachers, Administration and School Board in the 100% Charter model?

Ø  All teachers, principals and administrative staff could apply for positions in the charter schools or submit an application to operate a charter school.

Ø  There would be a need for district administrative staff to develop the district’s budget, guide the district in establishing the requirements for charters, evaluating and selecting charter schools and monitoring their performance, and reporting results to the Department of Education.

Ø  By law, the elected School Board for the district would continue to exist and be responsible for governance of the district including establishing the requirements for charters, evaluating and selecting charter schools and monitoring their performance.  It would also have the authority to levy and collect school taxes and approve the district’s budget.

Ø  Each charter school would have its own Board of Advisors that can consist of parents and community volunteers from within or outside of the district.  This Board would oversee all of the operations of the school.    

Ø  Each charter school would have a head of school or principal who is responsible for operations, implementing curriculum, recruiting students and hiring and firing of staff.  The head of school reports to the charter school’s board of advisors.

What are the critical components of the York County Community Foundation’s YorkCounts proposal?

Ø  The District would institute the Communities in School Model which provides a service coordinator at each school to bring in the highest quality services for students and links students with programs that best meet their needs.  The aim is to provide coordinated access to the services that children may need to help them meet their academic, social and developmental goals.  (http://www.cis-pa.org/)

Ø  The Pennsylvania Department of Education would strengthen the ability of the School District to revoke a charter if it was not meeting academic and financial performance standards.

For more information about the Pennsylvania Charter School Law go here.

 

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A New Education Model for York

Published in YDR's Sunday News, February 17, 2013

We have an opportunity before us to create a change that will have a dramatic effect on the children of York City. We promised bold and innovative ideas and we have delivered on that promise. The ideas that YorkCounts and the Community Foundation researched, debated and examined in minute detail during the past year are game-changing ideas. Our recommendation to create a 100% charter school district within York City has the potential for positive outcomes for our children, our families and our community. We believe that if implemented well, the concept of Community Charter Schools will become a model that other communities will seek out to emulate.

As Eric Menzer said in May, “It is time to be alarmed, and it is time to get engaged.” We believe that charter schools will give families choice, a powerful word that evokes engagement in its very definition. Charter schools empower educators to determine how best to educate the children. Charter schools empower the administration to hold those educators accountable for results. Charter schools encourage engagement by leaders and philanthropists who will support an innovative idea that they believe has merit.

Our Education Workgroup determined that a successful school reform must:

•          Produce systemic, sustainable improvement. 

•          Benefit 100% of the students attending public school in the 

               City of York.

•          Ensure ongoing, adequate and stable financial resources. 

•          Establish visionary and inspired leadership over an 

               extended period of time.

•          Institute evidence-based educational approaches that 

               sustain a focus on student achievement. 

•          Ensure that accountability and rewards are aligned with 

               effective implementation of the pedagogy.

•          Ensure effective and collaborative management on the front lines.

•          Obtain full engagement of families and community. 

Our process to arrive at the following conclusion was a year-long, researched-based evaluation of options.  The Community Charter School option is the unanimous choice by the Community Foundation’s Board of Directors and YorkCounts committee.  Consolidation of school districts and reform of the current system are not considered to be viable options to achieve the best results (please see the report “A New Model for Education” at www.yorkcounts.org/publications). A district-wide system of Community Charter Schools would be privately run, high-performing nonprofits that would educate 100% of the students in the district.  In addition, the Community Schools model should be implemented throughout the district to provide coordinated support for students and families at every school.  The Community Schools model is an evidence-based approach that focuses on students’ needs beyond academic development, such as being healthy, well-fed and having social support. 

It is our opinion that converting all of the city’s schools to charters will generate the kind of excitement and support needed for York City schools to succeed.  A district-wide charter system would create a new operating structure and culture that could attract students from other districts, potentially de-concentrating poverty.

In order for the transition to Community Charter Schools to succeed, the following is needed:

•          State funding to facilitate the transition to an all-charter model.

•          Changes to charter school legislation to strengthen accountability 

               for academic and financial results.

•          Adoption of shared responsibility for student learning 

               between the District and charters.

•          An improved long-term governance structure for the District.

•          Continued efforts within the School District of the City of York to improve 

               academic achievement until the charter school system can be fully implemented.

Economically disadvantaged students in well-led charter schools perform significantly better than the same demographic in traditional public schools. In New Orleans, 82% of students attend charter schools, with more charters planned.  In just five years, New Schools New Orleans reduced the city/state achievement gap by half, from 26 points behind average statewide test scores to only 10 points.  Propel Schools in Pittsburgh operates eight schools and serves 2400 children.  It also took Propel students only five years to exceed statewide averages for Pennsylvania students.

York has the opportunity to make a bold, positive move that will tell our children that they deserve the best we can give them. Through empowering educators, engaging families and inspiring leaders, we will create an environment where York provides a premier education to 100% of our children.  We strongly encourage the Chief Recovery Officer for the School District of the City of York and his advisory committee to draft a recovery plan that incorporates these recommendations and helps re-create the district into one that is high-performing, with top quality and motivated educators, engaged parents and children who love learning. 

A report by the Education Policy and Leadership Center as well as the joint Foundation/YorkCounts report “A New Education Model for York” can be found online at www.yorkcounts.org/publications.

Michael Newsome, Board Chair, York County Community Foundation

William Hartman, President, York County Community Foundation