The Case for Partnership:

White Paper released on Charter High Schools in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA, March 10, 2004 – One year after Paul Vallas' release of the School District of Philadelphia's Secondary School Reform Plan, the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition released today a white paper that examines charter high schools in Philadelphia.

Entitled The Case for Partnership: How Charter High Schools Meet School District Goals in Philadelphia , the findings and recommendations were presented before the School Reform Commission by Sharmain Matlock-Turner, president, Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition and the white paper's researcher, John Risley, doctoral associate, The Evaluation Center, Western Michigan University.  

The white paper compares the test scores, drop-out rates, demographics, attendance rates, enrollment, and rates of students receiving special education in the 19 charter schools serving high school grades and the 22 comprehensive, general admission public high schools. It is the first study of its kind in Philadelphia to compare charter high schools and district high schools on a regional basis, and the first to compare district and charter schools by factoring out special admissions schools.

Matlock-Turner said "the School District of Philadelphia's slow-growth support for charter high schools does not do enough to increase public options for students and their families.   Nor does it take into account the fact that charter high schools meet several of the goals of the Plan – smaller schools, better test scores and fewer drop outs. By further weaving charter schools into the fabric of the District, the SDP can provide the greatest number of options to its students and their families, and improve the quality of education for all."   She added:   "Charter schools are a way to start reform now."

The white paper concludes that "Philadelphia charter high schools are realizing many of the School District of Philadelphia's secondary education reform goals. These charter schools are uniformly much smaller than their counterpart neighborhood comprehensive high schools. They are offering real choice to hundreds of students and families, while serving a population that is similar to traditional public high schools. The charter schools have done this while equaling or surpassing several objective indicators of success, when compared to neighborhood public high schools. These indicators are attendance and drop out rates, and test scores."

The findings:

• Charter high schools and School District of Philadelphia (SDP) high schools serve students of similar demographics.

 

Type	Black	White	Hispanic	Asian	Native	FRL1
Traditional	67.1%	15.2%	12.3%	5.3%	0.2%	68.9%
Charter	62.5%	21.0%	15.2%	1.2%	0.1%	68.4%

• The average charter high school enrolls just 281 students in grades 9-12, while the average traditional public high school enrolls over 1,900.

• Attendance rates at charter high schools are better than those at traditional public high schools: 87.4% attendance rate at charter schools versus 73.2% at traditional public high schools.

• Charter schools have lower drop-out rates than traditional public high schools.   2.9% of students drop out of charter schools versus 12.9% at traditional public high schools.

• The charter high school median score was better than the District high school median score on all subjects and all grades for the PSSA tests:   9th grade writing and 11th grade math, reading and writing.   The charter high school median score was better than the District high school median score on all four TerraNova tests: reading, language, math and science.2

• Charter high schools do not serve as many special education students as traditional public high schools; 11.9% of students at SDP schools receive special education and 6.3% of students at charter high schools.

• Families are choosing charter high schools for their children, yet enrollment at charter high schools is at the point where it is difficult to add any more students.   Over 5,000 students were on waiting lists for charter high schools during the 2001-2002 academic year.  

              According to Matlock-Turner, "charter schools can add value to the School District of Philadelphia in reaching its own secondary school goals, as well as towards the goals of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.   Those that perform well should be encouraged to grow."

The white paper makes five recommendations:

•  Charter high schools should be recognized by the SDP as meeting its Reform Plan goals, and be fully integrated into the SDP's vision and plan.   Those that perform well should be helped by the SDP to grow their model and/or enrollment.

•  Expand the number of "slots" for charter high school students by expanding the number of new charter high schools approved.

•  Include information on charter high schools in SDP publications so that parents can be made aware of all public education options open to them.

•  The SDP and charter schools should work together to send the message that charter schools can fully serve children with special needs in the same way traditional public schools do.  

•  All Philadelphia public schools - be they traditional, magnet, charter or privately managed – should be held to the same accountability standards, review and renewal process.  

Charter schools are public schools funded with public tax dollars. Nearly one in ten public school students in Philadelphia currently attend a charter school.

John Risley is co-author of studies on charter schools in Pennsylvania.   GPUAC commissioned him to conduct the white paper's research and findings.

To view the white paper online click here. For a hardcopy, specify "White Paper" and call 215-851-1909 or email coalition@gpuac.org 

The Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition (GPUAC) brings together business and community leaders to solve urban problems, operate programs, and support an array of government and private sector-sponsored initiatives to help the disadvantaged and working poor of the Metropolitan Philadelphia region.  

GPUAC Education, Children and Youth Committee's advocacy for charter schools began in 1997.   Related GPUAC publications:

•  A Directory of Philadelphia Charter Schools:   2003-2004.

To view the directory online, click here. For a hardcopy please call 215-851-1909 or email coalition@gpuac.org

•  Meeting the Challenge:   Managing the fiscal impact of charter schools in Pennsylvania , conducted by the PA Economy League .

1- FRL is the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch.

2-The median is the middle test score in the range of test scores for all of the schools.  The median was calculated for each test score evaluated in the study.

GPUAC's charter school publications were supported by a grant from The William Penn Foundation.

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