CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE! OUR FIRST MAJOR VICTORY! NOW IT'S TIME TO REALLY
TURN UP THE HEAT!
** Yesterday's student led lobbying trip to Harrisburg was a tremendous
success - Approx. 1,000 students were in attendance along with teachers,
advocates and members of 1199c and the PFT. STUDENT'S ANNOUNCED
A WALKOUT
ON NOVEMBER 29TH.
** Wednesday Nov. 28th - Major Direct Action against the state takeover.
Meet at ACORN Office, 846 N. Broad St. at 3:30pm. Call 765-0042
for more information. Please come and pass the word along.
We aren't out of the wood yet so read on.
**IMPORTANT** Please read the article released by the Governor's office
that
is listed below. In the worst possible senario: A predominately
Governor
appointed state reform commission would be put in place and hire Edison
as a
consultant and allow them to make "recomendations" regarding school
district
policy and major management decisions which would be put in place by
the
Commission. So in essence, we could have Edison running the show
without
offically being in charge. Not to mention the fact that they
would manage
sixty or so schools. WE CAN NOT ALLOW THIS SENARIO TO TAKE PLACE.
Gov. Schweiker and Mayor Street Achieve Breakthrough On Philadelphia
Schools, Negotiations Set to Begin Mayor Agrees to Governor's Bold
Step to
End Impasse Governor's Goal Remains Nothing Less Than to Make Philadelphia
TheGreatest Urban School District in the Nation
PHILADELPHIA, Nov 20, 2001 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Gov. Mark Schweiker
and Philadelphia Mayor John Street tonight concluded a nearly three-hour
meeting by announcing a major breakthrough in their impasse on the
future of
the Philadelphia School District. Mayor Street agreed to a new and
creative
proposal offered by Gov. Schweiker that will allow negotiations on
the
future of the district to begin.
Gov. Schweiker's proposal ensures that Edison Schools would have a
significantand vital role in the operation of the district. It recasts
the
role of the manager of the district's central office -- but in a way
that
still ensures the academic and financial reforms that the Governor
outlined
in his original proposal to the Mayor. The remainder of Gov. Schweiker's
proposal remains unchanged -- including private management of the district's
60 lowest-performing schools.
"The agreement the Mayor and I reached tonight is an enormous victory
for
the 215,000 children of the Philadelphia School District," Gov. Schweiker
said. "It was clear that we had reached an impasse in our efforts
to get to
the negotiating table. But it would have been tragic if we had allowed
a
disagreement over one issue to keep us from moving forward -- to keep
us
from achieving historic improvements for the children of Philadelphia.
"From day one, I have said that all aspects of my proposal were negotiable.
I have kept that promise. To his credit, Mayor Street sat down with
me even
though I hadn't taken anything off the table. And tonight we have a
breakthrough -- an agreement that will get us to the negotiating table
where, I'm hopeful, the Mayor and I can find a way to partner."
Under the new proposal agreed to tonight by Gov. Schweiker and Mayor
Street,
the management of the district's central office would be the responsibility
of the School Reform Commission (SRC) and all employees of the district
would be paid by the SRC. Working with the SRC and the district CEO,
Edison
Schools would play a major role as a "contracted change agent" and
a "system
provider." Edison would provide comprehensive strategic and operational
support to the SRC and
to the district's new leadership team, in their implementation of the
Governor's proposal. Though not in a decision-making role, Edison would
be
significantly involved in the improvement of virtually every aspect
of the
district's operations.
Former Gov. Tom Ridge and Mayor Street agreed to a two-month review
of the
Philadelphia School District at a July 19 meeting at the Governor's
Residence.To help him develop his plan, then-Gov. Ridge hired Edison
Schools
Inc. to perform the review.
On Sept. 26, Mayor Street agreed to an extension of the Commonwealth's
original deadlines to enable Gov. Schweiker to take charge of developing
the
plan afterGov. Ridge was tapped to become the nation's first Director
of
Homeland Security.
If the Mayor and the Governor do not come to a collaborative agreement
by
Nov.30 to implement the plan, the state will take over the school district.
CONTACT: Steve Aaron
Press Secretary
717-783-1116
SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor
