DR. LORI SHORRDR. LORI SHORREXECUTIVE ADVISOR & EXECUTIVE ADVISOR &

CHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER toCHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER toMAYOR MICHAEL A. NUTTERMAYOR MICHAEL A. NUTTER

School Reform Commission Meeting November 16, 2011

The Philadelphia Great Schools Compact

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What is an Education Compact?

A citywide commitment to grow or replicate high-performing charter

and district schools, and to improve or close low-performing charter and district schools that are not serving

students well.

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Why does Philadelphia need a Compact?

Philadelphia has a large charter school community

As with other cities, there has at times been unproductive tension between charters and the District, yet both have a common goal of educating children

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Why does Philadelphia need a Compact? (cont’d)

Philadelphia ranks #3 nationally in the top 10 school districts serving the highest number of charter school

students.

Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

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Why Philadelphia? (cont’d)

Philadelphia ranks #10 nationally in the top 10 school districts with the highest growth of charter school

students.

Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

Since the start of the Philadelphia charter school movement in 1997, the number of charter schools has

increased more than 20-fold from 4 schools to 80.

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The Philadelphia Great Schools Compact

Shared Goal: Over 5 years, eliminate the 50,000 of the lowest performing “seats” in K-12 schools in Philadelphia through expanding enrollment in high-performing schools, turning schools around, creating new schools and transforming or closing low-performing schools.

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The Philadelphia Great Schools Compact (cont’d)

AccountabilityChoiceGrowth of high-quality

schools Improvement of low-

quality schoolsEquityPartnerships

Growth planningFacilitiesResources & SupportsShared best practicesTalent developmentAdvocacyUniversal enrollment

The Compact calls for commitment to action in the following areas

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The Philadelphia Great Schools Compact (cont’d)

Compact Committee – a group that will assist in the implementation of The Compact

Work Plan – a plan to guide the implementation of The Compact

Accountability Framework – the committee to make recommendations to SRC academic accountability metrics

Authority – an advisory body with responsibility to make recommendations to key stakeholders

A new Office of Charter Schools – to make recommendations and report directly to the SRC

The Compact establishes the following:

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The Gates Foundation and The Compact

A Gates Foundation panel will vet new compacts from six to 10 cities and approve those it finds strong enough to be eligible to compete in the RFP process

Gates Foundation will then issue an RFP for cities that have signed compacts to compete for tens of millions in funding to support work related to the compacts

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The Philadelphia Great Schools Compact: Supporters of The Compact

The School District of PhiladelphiaThe City of PhiladelphiaPennsylvania Department of EducationPennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter

SchoolsPhiladelphia Charters for Excellence

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Mayor Nutter’s Second Term Agenda

1. Establish a Great Schools Compact between the School District and the Charter School Community

2. Expand the Freedom Rings partnership to increase access to “Anytime-Anywhere” learning

3. Launch a citywide campaign to establish targeted goals for college-going and completion

4. Continue work with District through Education Accountability Agreement, PhillyGoes2College, Graduation Coaches, etc.

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Next Steps

Mobilization of The Compact: A Two-Step Process Step 1: SRC to vote on current version of The Compact in

order for Philadelphia to be considered for Gates Foundation RFP

Step 2: Solicit stakeholder input on specifics of the compact (accountability metrics, etc..)

Supporters of The Compact will further engage stakeholders during this next step in crafting more specific language for a final version of The Compact

A final version of The Compact will be submitted to the Gates Foundation for funding in March/April