Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker and Philadelphia Mayor John Street Achieve Breakthrough on Reform Plan Wednesday, November 21, 2001 Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker and Philadelphia Mayor John Street jointly announced last night that they had reached an agreement on a critical aspect of the Governors sweeping plan regarding the Philadelphia public schools. The plan, announced earlier this fall, contains two parts that have significant implications for education companies involved in managing school districts and/or individual schools. The first of those, the management of certain schools by private companies, is unchanged by the new arrangement. The Governors plan calls for 60 of the districts 264 schools to be managed by education companies paired with leading community organizations. These 60 schools, enrolling approximately 50,000 students, would be contracted to the companies and community organizations by a new school reform commission appointed by the Governor and Mayor. Under the Governors plan, one provider, the lead provider, would manage 45 schools. The second aspect of the plan, the management of the districts central office by a private company, has been recast. Under the original plan, the 55 top posts of the district would have been on the payroll of the private company. Under the new plan, this is no longer the case. Instead, all of the employees will remain on the district payroll and these employees will report to the Districts CEO. Gov. Schweikers proposal ensures that Edison Schools would have a significant and vital role in the operation of the district, said a release by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It recasts the role of the manager of the districts 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. Working with the new commission 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 commission and to the districts new leadership team, in their implementation of the Governors proposal. Though not in a decision-making role, Edison would be significantly involved in the improvement of virtually every aspect of the districts operations. Mayor Street, in his comments to reporters after the meeting, affirmed that Edison would "continue to play an influential role" in the district's central-office operations. We believe the accord struck by the Governor and the Mayor was critical and that it will pave the way for dramatic and positive change for the children of Philadelphia, said Chris Whittle, Edison Schools CEO. The cornerstones are now in place for the most important turnaround of a major urban school system. Obviously, Edison will seek to play a key role, both as the lead provider in the management of 45 schools and as the system provider to the district. We look forward to being a partner in the districts improvement by providing our educational management and systems expertise. The timetable previously agreed to by the state and city calls for the plan to begin on December 1.
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