Gov. releases plans for city schools

Gov. Mark Schweiker publicly released his plan for remedying Philadelphia's ailing public schools yesterday to a mixed response among city officials.

The governor's plan would divide Philadelphia's schools into three categories: low-performers that will be turned over to community partnerships linked with private providers; under- and mid-performers that will be supervised privately and managed by a restructured central office; and high-performers that will be left virtually untouched.

However, even the high-performers will be placed under some supervision.

Schweiker announced his report, which was compiled largely from an analysis conducted by Edison Schools Inc., yesterday morning at Carpenters' Hall in Old City. Edison, a for-profit education company, was hired for $2.7 million in August by former governor Tom Ridge to develop solutions for the under-achieving and debt-ridden district.

State Rep. Dwight Evans and state Sen. Anthony Williams spoke alongside Schweiker.

In his speech, Schweiker made reference to the historic past of Carpenters' Hall -- the site of the first Continental Congress -- to compare the risk taken by the Founding Fathers to the risk the state is taking in restructuring Philadelphia public education.

"Today, we make history in one of the most historic settings in the nation," Schweiker said. He then said the Founding Fathers "saw that the cause was larger than themselves and their individual opinions, so they took a risk and they came together."

And Schweiker said that given the current state of Philadelphia's school system, taking a risk is a necessity.

"The findings in this report can break your heart," he said. "Some students and schools are doing wonderfully, but most are not."

The governor said that the lion's share of the state's resources would be directed at the lowest-tier schools. Among other improvements in materials, Schweiker announced a supply of 1 million new textbooks for the city's schools.

"Our focus will be on the poorest-performing schools, schools which right now receive the fewest resources from the district," Schweiker said. "They need the most help, not the least."

In addition, Schweiker tried to allay the fears of many Philadelphia educators, insisting that ineffective education, not privatization, is the problem.

"Harrisburg isn't the enemy, Edison isn't the enemy," Schweiker said. "Failure is our enemy. Time is our enemy."

The Street administration has met the plan with hostility. When details of Schweiker's decision were leaked yesterday, Street told reporters he was worried about the implications of the plan.

"This is a very, very troubling development, and I think it's not going to be accepted by people of the city," Street said. "People are up in arms."

And yesterday, Philadelphia Education Secretary Debra Kahn, who stressed the city and state agreed that the problem must be confronted, said the city was against any form of privatization.

"I think the problems that the school district has, we agree on," Kahn said. "We do have serious problems with a couple of the major proposals."

Ridge hired Edison after Street requested state help in improving the schools, and it had been widely believed that at least some of the city's schools would be placed under private control as a result.

Street and Schweiker have one month to reach an agreement on how to proceed. However, as the state will assume control of the district automatically if no deal is reached, Street is effectively bound by Schweiker's final decision.

During his speech, Schweiker praised Street for his desire to improve the district, regardless of their differences of opinion.

"How about we acknowledge the good mayor of Philadelphia, John Street," Schweiker began his speech. "He's a good man. In my estimation he will go down in history as someone who chose to elevate education and reform it, improving Philadelphia's classrooms for Philadelphia's kids."

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