Philly could make changes to the way it approves, supervises, and closes charter schools. Here’s how.

Changes could be coming to the way the Philadelphia school board approves, closes, and supervises charter schools, which enroll a third of the nearly 200,000 kids in city public schools.

The Philadelphia school board recently launched “Project RiSE,” or Reimagining School Excellence, as a way to rethink the charter school evaluation process. It’s an effort by the school system to reconcile divisions between itself and the charter sector, which enrolls about 64,000 in 80 schools around the city.

Under the current framework, charter schools are evaluated on academics, operations, and finances.

The new effort, which began late last year, is now moving into the design phase, with officials working on a new framework for charter schools to be authorized and renewed.

Officials will hire an outside consultant to research best practices in charter authorizing nationally, work with the charter community and others interested in the process, and arrive at recommendations for the school board, which is ultimately responsible for signing off on any new framework.

Changes are expected to be shared with charter leaders in the 2026-27 school year and put in place by 2027-28.

Reginald Streater, school board president, said in a statement that strong authorizing practices are necessary to keep the charter system healthy.

“We know that accountability metrics must evolve over time, and Project RiSE will determine how authorizing should evolve to best support the needs of our students as we strive for one system of public education in Philadelphia,” Streater said.

No new charters have opened in the city since 2018 — the same year the district returned to local control from the former state-run School Reform Commission. School choice advocates have bristled about the charter sector’s lack of growth, and some charter leaders and politicians have accused the district of bias against Black-led schools in particular.

After a group of Black charter leaders raised concerns in 2020, the school board authorized an independent investigation of its authorization and supervision practices. That report found no “intentional acts of racial discrimination or bias, based on the race of a charter school leader, committed by any members of the Board of Education, School Reform Commission, or the Charter Schools Office.”

That report, compiled by a group of Ballard Spahr lawyers led by former city solicitor Marcel Pratt, did find that the district had been aware for years that charters led by Black administrators and other people of color encountered challenges the district failed to address, especially around transparency and communications.

It also cited problems raised by the Pennsylvania charter law itself and suggested that the school board and others lobby Harrisburg lawmakers for an alternate authorizing model.

Peng Chao, director of the district’s Charter Schools Office, said the district wants to find common ground with charters on ways to improve the evaluation system.

“We absolutely hope it does” bolster the relationship between the district and charters, Chao said. “I think it’s in the city’s collective best interest to have a charter sector that’s really serving students in the best way possible.”

The district maintains that its current method of evaluating charters is fair and aligned with Pennsylvania’s charter law. But Chao said the district believes “strong systems are self-reflective,” and that Project RiSE demonstrates the district’s commitment to that philosophy.

Cass St. Vil, CEO of Philadelphia Charters for Excellence, said her organization looked forward to working with district leaders “to fix long-standing issues with the current system, address the problems identified in the recent Ballard Spahr report, and build a system that ensures every child has the option to attend a high quality public school.”

Larry Jones, CEO of the Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School in Southwest Philadelphia, said he didn’t know much about the process but said he was optimistic that charter leaders and local expertise continues to have a significant say.

“There’s a tremendous amount of expertise that’s walking around schools in Philadelphia,” said Jones, a member of the African American Charter School Coalition. “I hope that at some point in time, those voices will be a major contributor to where we go next.”

African American Charter School Coalition leaders, in a statement, said they appreciated the board’s work toward addressing problems in authorization but expressed reservations about the RiSE process, including its long timeline and a lack of deep involvement on the coalition’s part in the project thus far.

“Despite our concerns, we are encouraged to see the board taking action to address the broken system surrounding charter evaluations and renewals,” the coalition said in a statement.

“We remain committed to working alongside all stakeholders to ensure that every charter school — especially those founded and led by African American educators — has a fair and equitable opportunity to thrive,” the coalition said. “We look forward to continued dialogue and a more inclusive process as Project Rise advances.”

Charter leaders have often argued they’re held to higher standards than the district’s 216 traditional public schools schools, particularly in academic performance, where charters are compared to a group of similar schools selected by the district, and to the district as a whole.

Some leaders say there have also been inconsistencies in how the district has applied the standards, depending on which employee is scoring a charter during a renewal process.