(5/11/2026)

PCE Calls on Philadelphia Board of Education to Halt Charter Renewal Decisions Until Project RiSE Is Complete

The Board Cannot Fix a Broken System and Keep Using It at the Same Time.

Philadelphia, PA (May 11th) — Philadelphia Charters for Excellence (PCE), representing 70 public charter schools serving approximately 65,000 students across Philadelphia, today calls on the Philadelphia Board of Education to pause major charter renewal decisions until Project RiSE, the Board's own initiative to reform the charter evaluation process, reaches completion: with a fair balance of accountability that is applied equally to every school and every child.

The Board Launched RiSE Because the Current System Fails to deliver for Philadelphia families

In October 2024, the Board launched Project RiSE to fix the Charter School Performance Framework, a system it has operated since 2012. The Board will not pilot the updated framework until the 2027-2028 school year. Yet the Board continues to make high-stakes renewal decisions under a system it has already acknowledged needs fundamental change.

During the 2024-2025 renewal hearings, Board President Reginald Streater asked the Charter Schools Office directly whether a school could have zero percent proficiency and still meet standards under the current scoring system. The answer was yes. That is a fundamental flaw, and it is precisely what RiSE exists to fix.

A Conflict of Interest Shapes Every District Decision on Public Charter Renewal 

A 2023 independent legal review by Ballard Spahr confirmed a structural conflict of interest: the School District of Philadelphia operates its own schools while also serving as the sole judge of charter schools. That conflict drives every renewal decision the Board makes today.

Renewals have Real Consequences for Families in Philadelphia.

When a school loses its charter, families face displacement and communities lose something they cannot easily get back. These decisions demand the same care and deliberation the Board has applied to District school closures, because the stakes are the same.

"Public charter school families have made a clear choice about where best to educate their children. They deserve a renewal process that is honest, consistent, not one the Board has already acknowledged is broken,” says Dr. Cassandra St. Vil, CEO, Philadelphia Charters for Excellence. “Pausing these decisions is not a retreat from accountability. It is what accountability actually looks like."

What PCE Is Asking the Board to Do

PCE urges the Philadelphia Board of Education to take the following steps:

• Cease adverse renewal decisions until the Board finalizes and adopts the RiSE framework

• Commit to a public timeline for RiSE completion with full transparency at every phase

Additionally, PCE asks the City of Philadelphia to:

• Pursue independent authorization to eliminate the structural conflict of interest Ballard Spahr identified

This eradicates any conflict of interest and ensures our collective commitment to the students and families of Philadelphia. The renewal process can no longer suffer due to politics.

Philadelphia's public charter students, nearly 2 in 5 public school students in this city, deserve a system that works for them. PCE stands ready to work alongside the Board to build it. But the Board must do that work before it makes consequential decisions, not after.

###

About Philadelphia Charters for Excellence

Philadelphia Charters for Excellence (PCE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy organization representing 70 public brick-and-mortar charter schools serving approximately 65,000 students. PCE champions every family's right to a high-quality public charter school in Philadelphia.