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HEADLINE: Philadelphia School's Woes Defeat Veteran Principal

SERIES: TEST CASE: Losing Faith

BYLINE:  By SARA RIMER

DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 14

BODY:
On the first day of school, back in September, Janice I. Solkov was the star principal for Edison, the private company hired by the state to manage the 20 lowest-performing schools here.

Fresh from the suburbs and brimming with idealism, Dr. Solkov was chosen by Edison to welcome reporters, television crews, politicians and officials to Morton McMichael Elementary School as the district began the experiment that everyone hoped would turn the troubled Philadelphia school system around. "This is the model that will work," she told reporters, who were focused on her students' poverty and their dismal math and reading scores.

But last week she told her staff she was resigning.

Dr. Solkov, 50, who has a doctorate in education and 30 years of experience, said she had been exhausted, frustrated and finally defeated by the Philadelphia system's bureaucracy, which left her without enough teachers, and entrenched union rules, which kept her from even meeting with her teachers. There was also, she said, Edison's inability to put in place the model for which she had signed on and the continual problem of answering to two bosses -- the Philadelphia school system and Edison, the New York company that is the nation's largest private manager of public schools.

Dr. Solkov's experience illustrates how the promises of politicians and pioneering companies like Edison often clash with the complex realities of classroom life, particularly in a system like Philadelphia's, where a majority of students have failed state tests in recent years.

Philadelphia is just four months into the nation's largest experiment with privatizing public education, one that the state imposed this year over the loud objections of many parents and teachers.

Dr. Solkov said she still believed in the Edison model described in the company's 23-page promotional brochure. "Maybe in some other real world it can work," she said. "I'm not sure it can work in the Philadelphia real world."

Dr. Solkov, who gave up a top suburban school administrative job to come to Philadelphia, was described by her Edison recruiter as "extraordinarily talented, with an outstanding track record for success." But three months into the school year, she had begun closing the door to her office and crying.

"I felt like I was drowning, and I did not see a way to stay afloat," she said.

Philadelphia school officials acknowledge the bureaucratic problems and say the new leader of the schools, Paul G. Vallas, is determined to eliminate them. Edison officials insist that they are making progress. Of Dr. Solkov's resignation, Richard Barth, Edison's senior vice president for Philadelphia, said: "This is a bear of a job. It's not for everyone."

Dr. Solkov had been sold on Edison's testimonials about achievement gains and its promises, which included computers in the homes of every student in the third grade and above, and laptops for every teacher.

But those computers never materialized. Nor was Dr. Solkov given the helper she was promised to handle the extra accounting that Edison required, or the second school secretary so she would not have to type her own meeting minutes and letters. Edison would not paint the school's peeling walls. Nor was there money to open the library.

Edison says it could not fully follow its model because the district had allotted only $880 per student in supplemental funds -- above the regular $9,000 per student -- not the $1,500 Edison said it expected.

On the second day at McMichael, reality began to set in. A sixth-grade teacher, on her first job, walked into the principal's office in tears at 4:30 and quit. "She was not prepared to handle the children," Dr. Solkov said.

Five days later, a fifth-grade teacher, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a cane, was assaulted by a student and left in an ambulance.

Dr. Solkov began calling Philadelphia's school headquarters about replacements. The system was struggling with a teacher shortage. She made do with substitutes.

She remained optimistic. She liked the way the school was working on Edison's core values, such as respect, compassion and integrity. The students were more disciplined than in previous years. The classrooms were full of new books.

As September ended, a long-term substitute replaced the disabled fifth-grade teacher. But the 30 sixth graders were bouncing off the walls with a series of substitutes. The state writing exams were a week away. The students were far behind.

But Dr. Solkov said that every time she telephoned Philadelphia's human resources office, desperate for a replacement, she was told her school was not on the vacancy list.

The third grade had classes of about 17 students each. On Sept. 30, Dr. Solkov moved a third-grade teacher to the sixth grade.

"I decided, 'This is my school, I'm going to do what needs to be done,' " Dr. Solkov recalled. It worked. The new sixth-grade teacher took control of her class.

As October began, Dr. Solkov was excited about beginning Edison's reading and math curriculum. Her leadership team was working well.

She was getting to know the students.

But on Oct. 15, a fourth-grade teacher quit. "She said she couldn't handle the students," Dr. Solkov said. She and her staff were working on ways to improve behavior.

Two days later, Dr. Solkov was reprimanded by her Philadelphia-area superintendent, Janet C. Samuels, for not properly following disciplinary reporting procedures. The policy had been emphasized at a Philadelphia principals' meeting in September. But at the company's urging, Dr. Solkov had missed that meeting to attend an Edison principals' meeting. Edison had promised to fill her in on what she had missed, but never did, she said.

"That's when I said, 'Whoa, I'm in over my head here,' " Dr. Solkov said, recalling the meeting with Ms. Samuels. "I'm an experienced administrator. I felt so demoralized."

She was also becoming frustrated with the teachers' union. She wanted to hold staff meetings where everyone could discuss Edison's educational vision. But the union contract did not allow it.

"The union suggests creative ways of meeting with the staff, such as dismissing the students early," Dr. Solkov said. She was not willing to give up classroom time to do that.

Then, in early November, an Edison administrator told her she was not complying with special education regulations. She needed to hire a special education teacher.

On the advice of Edison, Dr. Solkov went to district headquarters to recruit a candidate. "I wore a velvet blazer that I thought would make me look approachable," she said. "I was told to talk up the fact that McMichael had its own parking lot."

When she got back she got a call from her area superintendent's office. "She said, 'I took your name off the list; I have an apprentice special ed teacher for you,' " Dr. Solkov said.

She had been coping with teachers quitting, students fighting, a shooting 200 yards from the school that led her to lock the building. She could handle all that, she said. She could even handle the dead mice in her office.

What she could not handle, she said, was realizing that she was not going to be able to turn McMichael around. She was used to getting the job done. She had spent 14 years attending graduate school at night while working full time and raising a daughter by herself. She had gotten straight A's, she said.

Now, at McMichael, she would sit at her desk and cry. "Here I am, an overachiever, and I have to be constantly asking for help," she said.

On Nov. 17, after preliminary discussions, Dr. Solkov sent Edison's Richard Barth an e-mail message: She was resigning. Her last day will be Dec. 31.


Articles in this series will explore private management's impact on Philadelphia's public schools.
 http://www.nytimes.com

GRAPHIC: Photo: Janice I. Solkov, principal of Morton McMichael Elementary School in Philadelphia, signaling for quiet in the hall. (Tim Shaffer for The New York Times)

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