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It is one year since the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) and CEO Paul Vallas announced the Secondary School Reform Plan, a bold new plan to reform secondary education in Philadelphia's public schools. The research presented here looks closely at the ways charter high schools – public schools funded with public tax dollars – add value to our current system of education. Our report recommends that charter high schools be included in all aspects of the SDP's new Secondary School Reform Plan and details reasons why this would be of benefit to the SDP and our City's children. Having been in operation for six years and serving a population that would make them the third largest school district in the Commonwealth1, charter schools in Philadelphia are making gains in serving the needs of the City's school children. Not only are charter schools giving families a choice in their children's education, but they are also encouraging new approaches to traditional public education. Considering recent findings that graduation rates for historically disadvantaged minority students are much lower than their white peers, and school districts are being held accountable for graduate rates and more2, it is more important than ever to evaluate all of the ways we are educating our children. We urge the SDP to see the benefits that charter schools bring to education in Philadelphia, to take full advantage of all they offer and to implement our recommendations.
To obtain a copy of The Case
for Partnership: How Charter High Schools Meet School District Goals
in Philadelphia, please call 215-851-1915 or email coalition@gpuac.org
- The Philadelphia Inquirer , Putting Philadelphia Charter Schools to a New Test . October 19, 2003. Who Graduates? Who Doesn't? A Statistical Portrait of Public High School Graduation, Class of 2001. The Urban Institute, February 25, 2004. http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=410934.
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