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The Philadelphia Board of Education is in the midst of a yearslong process to overhaul how it evaluates charter schools. But amid rising legal tensions between the charters and the board, it’s gone silent on the details.
The board’s charter evaluation framework is largely how the board holds charter schools accountable for meeting certain academic and operational standards. It’s a bureaucratic process that has high stakes: If a school doesn’t meet standards, the board can begin the process of closing it.
The board first planned to share details about the new evaluation process, called “Project RiSE,” in June, but delayed the release to this month’s board meeting, scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
However, Peng Chao, the head of the board’s Charter School Office, wrote in an email to charter leaders earlier this week that “because of various ongoing legal matters, we are not currently able to provide updates.”
Chao did not detail the legal matters he is referring to. However, several charter schools are currently suing the district over nonrenewals and the current evaluation framework in cases that have lasted months or years. Some charter leaders say the further delay in sharing information creates only more frustration with a process that has become increasingly opaque.
“Transparency matters, and it is not showing up in this process,” said Cassandra St. Vil, CEO of Philadelphia Charters for Excellence, a charter school advocacy group. “We’re calling for consistency, and by no means has this been a consistent process at all.”
Board leaders initially pledged to include charter leaders’ feedback in the new evaluation process. One of the goals of the overhaul, as described on the district’s website, is “improving transparency and communication with school leaders.”
St. Vil is a member of a group formed by the Charter School Office, which includes several charter leaders and education advocates, that is meant to give feedback on the process. She said she has received little information about what the new evaluation framework will include and was under the impression that information would be shared at the Thursday board meeting until she learned of the delay earlier this week.
To St. Vil, the board’s dedication to increasing district school enrollment creates a “conflict of interest” in its role overseeing charter schools, which compete for the same students. The failure to keep charter leaders informed about the new evaluation process perpetuates that concern, she said.
“If they’re doing this to improve what we currently have, they’re making the same exact errors again,” she said.
Chao said in the letter to charter leaders that work on the new evaluation process remains underway. He and a representative from the Board of Education did not respond to questions about when updates could be expected.
The district’s website states that the preliminary implementation of the new charter evaluation framework is expected during the 2027-28 school year.
Rebecca Redelmeier is a reporter at Chalkbeat Philadelphia. She writes about public schools, early childhood education, and issues that affect students, families, and educators across Philadelphia. Contact Rebecca at rredelmeier@chalkbeat.org.
