Section I: Organization Information

Name/Title of Contact: Len Rieser, Co-Director

Address:  1315 Walnut St., Rm. 400, Philadelphia, PA  19107        

Phone Number:  (215) 238-6970, ext. 307

Email Address:  lrieser@elc-pa.org
   
Web Address:  www.elc-pa.org

Total Number of Staff Members: 12 full-time, 1 part-time
   
Total Agency Budget: $1,417,250 (exclusive of $322,350 in pass-throughs to other
organizations)

Agency Mission:   The Education Law Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to
ensuring that all of Pennsylvania’s children have access to a quality public education.  ELC’ s focus is on the state’s most vulnerable students, including poor children, children of color, children with disabilities, English language learners, children in foster homes and
institutions, and others.

Fellow’s Job Title:   Public Education Advocate.


Section II: The Nitty Gritty

1. Will fellow be working at the same address listed above? If not, please list the address
for the fellow’s worksite.

Yes.

2.  Will the fellow have:   

A. ___Own Office?              __x__Shared Office?            ____No Office?  

B. __x_Own Desk?               ____Shared Desk?              ____No Desk?

C. __x_ Own Computer?       ____Shared Computer?      ____No Computer?


3. Please state name and title of fellow’s immediate supervisor.

Baruch Kintisch, Staff Attorney.  Mr. Kintisch manages ELC’s school funding and school
improvement projects.

4. Please approximate the percentage of time fellow will work:

__50%__Independently      __50%__As a team member in a group setting   

____As a team leader in a group setting


5. Will fellow be expected to travel as part of his/her position?

If so, will travel be: __x__Within Philadelphia?  __x__Outside Philadelphia?

How often will they need to travel?   Once or twice per week within Philadelphia, 2-3 times
per month outside Philadelphia.

Will fellow need: __no__a car?   __no__a transpass?  __yes__occasional tokens?

Will the agency provide or reimburse for these expenses?   Yes.


Section III:  Community Need
Please submit a one paragraph response for each question.

1. Please state in measurable and quantifiable terms the specific community need that the Philly Fellow will address, including the number of people in the community directly
affected by the problem.

Despite some gains in recent years, the 185,000 students enrolled in the School District of Philadelphia, as well as some of the 25,000 students enrolled in public charter schools,
still do not have access to an adequate education.  Classes are among the largest in the
state; buildings are in poor repair; programs other than “the basics” (such as counseling,
art and music, and extracurricular activities) are lacking; and the city’s neediest schools
have high percentages of inexperienced and underqualified teachers.  As a result, the
achievement levels of Philadelphia public school students are very low; in 2006-07, for
example, 36% of District 11th-graders scored at the “proficient” level or above in math
(compared with 65% statewide); in reading, the figures were 32% (Philadelphia) and 54% (state).  These students leave school far less able to compete in the job market, and at far greater risk of living in poverty, than their suburban peers.

2. Describe how your agency addresses this need, and how the new capacity created by
this fellow will help alleviate the problem.

We address these problems from two angles – one local, the other statewide.  Locally, we work with parent and student groups seeking changes in School District policies,
practices and budgets.  Thus, we have supported student groups in their campaign for the
creation of new, smaller high schools; we have worked with community groups seeking a
direct role in the “restructuring” of their children’s schools; and we have joined other
groups in an effort to get more qualified teachers to the city’s poorest children.  Having a
Philly Fellow allows us to spend more time with these groups, help them gather
information and develop action plans, and provide hands-on support as they implement
those plans.

At the state level, we are working on obtaining more state funds for schools, not only in
Philadelphia but also in other urban and rural districts around the state.  Here, our efforts
are directed both at seeking annual budget increases, and at the more challenging task of obtaining changes in Pennsylvania’s antiquated school funding system (which, by relying heavily on local property taxes, places children in property-poor areas at a severe
disadvantage).  Having a Philly Fellow increases our capacity to do research, develop and maintain contacts with other groups, produce advocacy materials, and take other steps essential to our school funding campaign.

3. Describe the level of community involvement in the fellow’s project.

Much of ELC’s work is carried out in partnership with grassroots community
organizations.  In the Philadelphia area, the Fellow will work closely with such groups as
Youth United for Change, the Eastern PA Organizing Project, the Philadelphia Student
Union, and ACORN.  In state-level work, the Fellow is likely to work with such partners as
Good Schools PA, the Disability Rights Network, the English Language Learner Task Force, and other advocacy groups and coalitions.


Section IV:  Job Description

1. Please outline in list form the fellow’s duties and responsibilities.

•        The Fellow will provide assistance to low-income parent and community
organizations seeking to develop advocacy goals and strategies concerning their schools
and school districts.  Together with ELC attorneys, the Fellow will help these organizations obtain necessary information, define goals, and develop and carry out advocacy strategies.  Issues may include funding, public access to information, public participation in decision-making, teacher quality, curriculum, school improvement plans, and more.

•        The Fellow will help ELC and partner groups advocate for policy changes at the state level.  The Fellow’s role will be to assist in gathering, analyzing, and organizing information (including information from other states), developing fact sheets and reports, and helping ELC staff carry out advocacy goals and strategies.  The primary area of focus will be school funding, including the state education budget and the ongoing campaign, of which ELC is a part, to obtain major changes in the state’s school funding system.  

•        The Fellow will help us manage our communications with partner groups, including
website updates, alerts, fact sheets, and other publications.  

2. Please outline in list form the skills/qualifications a fellow should have to succeed in this
position.

•        Strong interest in and commitment to improving public schools, including sensitivity
to equity issues in public education.

•        Experience working with members of disadvantaged groups (e.g., students of color,
poor students, students with disabilities, English learners), preferably on public education
issues.

•        Skills in working with quantitative data, including basic analytical skills and the ability
to develop and manipulate graphs, charts and spreadsheets.

•        Strong research and writing skills.

•        Computer skills, preferably including the ability to help with website updating.

•        Although this is a highly collaborative project, it is important that the fellow also have
the ability to work independently (e.g., to define and manage tasks, set and meet
deadlines, determine when to seek additional help and guidance, and so forth).

3. Please outline your agency’s plan to orient and train the fellow.

We will include the Fellow in meetings and strategy sessions with community
organizations and local and statewide coalitions.  We will also introduce the Fellow to the
major sources of data and information available to community groups interested in school
reform.  In addition, we will share with the Fellow our documentation of our major projects
of the last several years, since our current work has its roots in these activities.  Finally,
the Fellow will attend meetings, conferences and training sessions on these issues
sponsored by other PA organizations.


Section V:  Supervision/Resources

1. Please briefly describe plans for supervision of fellow.

Daily or near-daily supervision by Baruch Kintisch, Staff Attorney.  Supervision will also be provided by ELC’s Co-Directors.  ELC is a small and informal office in which the Fellow will routinely see and spend time with these individuals, and other members of ELC’s staff, during the course of the day.

2. What methods, information, or data will you use to evaluate the fellow’s success in their
position?

•        Ongoing record-keeping by the Fellow, and his/her supervisor, concerning the Fellow’s work.

•        Our “internal newsletter,” to which every staff member contributes a few lines
concerning current activities and accomplishments every week.  We will ask the Fellow to
contribute on a regular basis.  

•        Frequent meetings with the Fellow.

•        Feedback from partner organizations concerning the Fellow’s activities.

•        Evidence of actual change in local and/or state policy in areas in which the Fellow is
working.


Section VI: Project Plan

Please outline goals and results you expect the fellow to achieve and the measures you
will use to evaluate performance. These goals must address the community need stated
above.

1. Please describe the proposed project goal you expect the fellow to achieve.
In collaboration with ELC staff, the Fellow will:

•        Assist at least two parent, student or community organizations in Philadelphia or
other southeastern PA school districts to obtain information relevant to their school
improvement concerns, develop advocacy strategies, and implement those strategies.  

•        Assist in the development of at least two written analyses of local or state policy
issues (e.g., issues of funding adequacy and equity; inequitable distribution of highly
qualified teachers; etc.).

•        Assist one or more statewide coalitions in advocacy efforts aimed at state-level
policy change.

•        Assist in regularly updating ELC’s website and publications with respect to issues
affecting school improvement for poor children.


2. Please list significant milestones for this project and dates by which they will be
accomplished:

As we have done with previous Philly Fellows, we plan to treat the first month or two as an
orientation period.  By November 15, if not sooner, we should know which community
organizations, which statewide coalition(s), and which issues will be at the center of the
Fellow’s work.  While it is never possible, in this sort of work, to predict what results will
be achieved by when, we do expect to be able to point to some concrete developments or changes in local as well as state policy by the end of the Fellow’s year.