Parents United statement in support of Steel Elementary School
Parents United for Public Education fully endorses the concerns of parents and community members of Steel Elementary School who are outraged over what is effectively an 8-day process to determine if Steel remains a neighborhood public school or not. More than 100 parents came out on April 8 to hear the District speak for the first time about why Steel was designated for charter conversion – an announcement which came out of the blue on April 1. The District came with few answers and zero information about a responsible process. Parents will hear the FIRST presentations on April 23 and will be forced into a vote on May 1 – 8 days later. That is no process.
We also join with parents and community members upset at the fact that the District is willing to incur costs of almost $2 million to convert Steel to a charter school, but refuses to put in additional money into the school if it remains under District control. Supt. William Hite has called the $4,000 per pupil costs of charter conversion an “investment.” We call it an abdication of the District’s mission.
Parents United supports the community and parent call to scrap a botched parent trigger attempt at Steel Elementary as well as at Munoz-Marin Elementary Schools. We believe that a parent voice matters greater than a false parent choice.
Read the letter by Concerned Neighbors of Nicetown below. Contact us if your organization can support Nicetown community’s efforts for a responsible process and a public investment in the Steel Elementary School.
Update: Sen. Christine Tartaglione and Sen. Shirley Kitchen issued a statement saying the District must reconsider the designation of Steel and Munoz Marin as Renaissance charter targets. Read their letter here.
April 9, 2014
“This is not a process that is respectful to parents”
Concerned Neighbors of Nicetown, parents raise concerns
about 8-day process for Steel Elementary charter vote
PHILADELPHIA – Concerned Neighbors of Nicetown (CNN) and members of the Steel Elementary School parent community today decried an 8-day process to decide whether to turn over Steel Elementary School to a Parents United statement in support of Steel Elementary School | Parents United for Public Education: