For-profit companies are on a feeding frenzy in the nation's sixth-largest school system thanks to a Dec. 22, 2001, state takeover of Philadelphia public schools.

The takeover, orchestrated by Gov. Mark Schweiker and the for-profit school management company Edison Schools Inc., could place 60 or more Philadelphia public schools under private management. Edison, which was paid $2.7 million last summer to formulate a reform plan for the school system, stands to reap handsome rewards from its own recommendation: The company is expected to manage 45 schools under the takeover plan, made possible by the state's school takeover law, known as Act 46.

The privatization attack has prompted an uproar in the community. Parents, civil rights activists, labor organizations, educators and other concerned citizens have banded together to form the Coalition to Keep Our Public Schools Public. This grassroots coalition, which includes the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers/AFT, has taken to the streets and the courts in a bid to turn back the scheme.

Long a vocal opponent of the state's takeover law, the PFT has stressed that takeovers, privatization and other school governance gimmicks only deflect attention and resources from solid, sensible reforms, such as reducing class size. The takeover also removes public oversight from public education; over the next seven years, the schools will be controlled by a five-person board, four of whom are appointed by the governor. These concerns prompted the PFT to initiate and pursue a lawsuit challenging Act 46. The case is currently pending in the courts. Also pending is a conflict-of-interest suit targeted to the contracting-out bonanza Edison orchestrated for itself as a result of its report.

Under Act 46, "this unelected board has the power to tax Philadelphians without their consent; to hire and fire nontenured school employees; to outsource bus routes, custodial and maintenance work, food service operations; and to reduce the number of teachers, thus robbing thousands of Philadelphians of their livelihoods and their medical benefits," warned PFT president Ted Kirsch. "This commission, which cannot be removed from office for anything less than malfeasance, will decide which schools get more resources and which get less, without any local input."

"The people behind this are more interested in making sure their company stays profitable on Wall Street than in the education of black, Latino and white schoolchildren," J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP, said. "It would lead to profit-making on the backs of our 210,000, mostly black, students." Mondesire and the NAACP have been leaders in the grassroots coalition to turn back privatization. "Right now, the community is confused and seething with rage," Mondesire said.

Already in the crosshairs are 45 schools targeted to be handed over to Edison, with an additional 15 schools placed under the control of community groups in a charter school arrangement. These were some of the "reforms" spelled out this fall in Edison's school improvement study. Other Edison-backed measures include reduction in the teaching force through attrition. Opponents called the proposal ridiculous because classes in the district have ballooned to an average of 30 students in K-3 and to 33 in higher grades.

Philadelphians also drove home their objections through a series of demonstrations late last year. More than a thousand Philadelphians took to City Hall at a Nov. 28 rally against the takeover scheme. The march was designed in part to counter misperceptions about the takeover. At the time, the media had been touting a late November closed-door compromise between Schweiker and Philadelphia Mayor John Street as a major rollback in the privatization bid. But citizens turned out in force to say it just isn't so. In fact, the bone thrown to the public as a compromise--an agreement not to privatize the district's central administration--could easily be scrubbed in the future by the new appointed board. Under Act 46, the board also would have authority to dismantle programs and hire a for-profit company to manage the district's central administration at any time in the future, as well as hire for-profit companies to run any or all of the city's public schools.

"We will monitor, evaluate and speak out publicly about their 'reform' program to ensure that it is serving the interests of Philadelphia schoolchildren, and not the interests of big corporations," Kirsch told members late last year. As the school system enters "uncharted waters" of wholesale privatization, Kirsch urged members to become active at the building level and in local and state politics.

"In 11 months, we will elect a new governor," Kirsch noted. "The outcome of this election could have a significant impact on the state's control over the district and the continuation of private management of public schools."

American Federation of Teachers, AFL•CIO - 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW - Washington, DC 20001