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Calling on the City Council Committee on Education to Hold Hearings Concerning the Boston Consulting Group's (BCG) Report to the School Reform Commission (SRC) Titled: Transforming Philadelphia's Public Schools: Key Findings and Recommendations, in Addition to the School District of Philadelphia's (SDP) Five Year Financial Plan: Fiscal Years 2013-2017.
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WHEREAS, In February, 2012, the SRC hired BCG to develop strategies to restructure the management, operations, and systems of the SDP as well as to stabilize SDP's budget; and
WHEREAS, The SRC reportedly identified BCG through a competitive bidding process; without public input, public comment, and public support; and
WHEREAS, BCG was instructed by SDP administrators and SRC members to focus their work upon the following areas: shifting to a portfolio management model, increasing strategic management of charter schools, decentralizing academic support structures, providing services to all schools, and increasing school autonomy; and
WHEREAS, Shifting to a portfolio management model entails establishing a system of 8 - 10 Achievement Networks comprised of between 20 - 30 schools each, reducing the number of central administration office employees, and establishing a Shared Services Organization which will offer operational and academic services to schools; and
WHEREAS, In order to stabilize SDP budget, BCG recommends closing approximately 50 schools immediately and an additional 20 schools over the next 5 years, and renegotiating existing service and resource contracts in addition to investing in newer technologies; and
WHEREAS, Funding for BCG's services have been paid for and paid through private foundations such as the William Penn Foundation and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey; and
WHEREAS, BCG's report to the SRC has had influence on SDP's Five Year Financial Plan: Fiscal Years 2013-2017; and
WHEREAS, It is only with direct accountability, abundant transparency, endless knowledge, and proactive behaviours that the citizens of the City of Philadelphia will be able to advocate, plan, and prepare for the coming changes that have been clandestinely laid before them; now therefore, be it,
RESOLVED, That the Philadelphia City Council Calls on the City Council Committee on Education to Hold Hearings Concerning the Boston Consulting Group's Report to the School Reform Commission Titled: Transforming Philadelphia's Public Schools: Key Findings and Recommendations, in Addition to the School District of Philadelphia's Five Year Financial Plan: Fiscal Years 2013-2017.
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