Yesterday, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission announced a plan to make radical changes to public education in Philadelphia.

And already some Bread & Roses Community Fund supporters have asked how those of us who support social justice should respond.

To get a better sense of what a diverse cross-section of Philadelphians are thinking, can you take a minute and share your thoughts by filling out this brief survey?

You don’t have to be an education expert to fill out the survey. We’re just looking for some quick feedback from people like you who care our city and region. Click here to take the brief survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8XQ27QF

Here’s some more background on the proposed changes to public education from an article in the Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

District staff and consultants are recommending a sweeping overhaul of how public schools in Philadelphia operate, planning to close 64 schools over the next five years and divvy up those that remain among “achievement networks” led by teams of educators or nonprofit institutions.

The achievement networks would have 20 to 30 schools each and be connected by either geography or a common, creative approach to teaching and learning. The leaders of the network, who could include successful principals, would have contracts based on performance and be required to serve students of all abilities and situations equitably.

These networks would be in addition to groups of schools run by charter management organizations, or CMOs.

The planners expect 40 percent of students to be enrolled in charter schools by 2017.

At the same time, the central office staff, already cut in half this year to about 650 people, would shrink even further to around 200 people and handle “non-core mission” functions such as compliance, finance, communications, government relations, accountability, and strategic planning.

The proposed changes are big. It’s important that the people who are allies to the Bread & Roses’ grantees working on public education weigh in with their thoughts on this plan.

Please share your reaction to the proposed changes by filling out the brief survey here.

Previously: UPDATE: Forty Schools On The Chopping Block For The Philadelphia School District
The Archdiocese Of Philadelphia Will Work Together With Whatever Is Left Of The School District Of Philadelphia

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2012 at 9:27 am.