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Revised notice of Board of Education meeting in July 18 edition of Philadelphia Inquirer.
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Attributed to Evelyn Beatrice Hall, 1906.
Just before adjourning the June 25 action meeting, Board of Education President Reginald Streater announced that there would be no July meeting. All official business of the board would resume at the August meeting. Because the board had cancelled, postponed, and changed meeting times so often this year, APPS told readers of our report to watch for a surprise July meeting. Sure enough, APPS members found a small legal notice in the July 15 Inquirer: special meeting to be held on July 23 for the sole purpose of transferring funds in order to make up for the shortage created by the delayed passage of the state budget, the Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes (TRAN). Three days later, a July 18 legal item notified the public that two charter items would also be on the agenda. The meeting would be remote only. Continue reading here
Reprinted for the July 22, s026 edition of the Hall Monitor By Lisa Haver
Community members urge Board of Education to vote No on facilities plan at April 30 meeting. (Photo: Lisa Haver)
This year, Philadelphia hosts the nation’s 250th birthday party. We celebrate our rights and freedoms as Americans, none of which are possible without the right to choose our leaders in free and fair elections.
Here in the birthplace of democracy, however, Philadelphians remain disenfranchised when those who make decisions that affect the daily lives and future of the city’s children are chosen: the Board of Education.
Unlike every other district in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia has never had an elected school board. The city’s Home Rule Charter empowers one person, the mayor, to choose all nine members of the board, through a process that shuts out the public completely. The mayor first appoints the thirteen members of the Nominating Panel, which, in secret meetings, reviews applications and selects a number of candidates from which the mayor chooses nine finalists. Nominees’ names are announced at the Panel’s final meeting, after public testimony is heard. Not until the board members give their opening speeches do we know what their positions may be on any issue.
“It is with a heavy heart”, Board of Education President Reginald Streater said, then he cast his vote to initiate non-renewal proceedings for Global Leadership Academy at Huey. Non-renewal for Renaissance charters does not mean school closure. It reverts management of the school back to the district. Is Streater sad that GLA administrators will lose control of the school and its finances? Streater did not express any sadness when he voted to close 17 public schools in April. He had no words of comfort for the students who came to the board who tried in vain to explain how devastating the loss of their schools would be. The board’s decisions on charter renewals shows its consideration for the business interests of the administrators over the best interests of the children who attend those schools. Although the agenda contained 52 action items, most of the board’s deliberation at this meeting focused on a few charter schools. Streater gave no explanation for why the board last week moved the scheduled June 25 action meeting to June 18.
Continue reading here about June 18, 2026 action meeting.
APPS member Deborah Grill testifies at May 28 Board of Education meeting. (Photo: Lisa Haver)
As a result of the Board of Education’s speaker suppression policies, over half of the 30 public speakers were representatives of charter schools, 6 from the same school. Several charter CEOs, who have daily access to the board’s Charter Schools Office, took speaker slots, including both Global Leadership Academy CEOs. Recent IRS information shows the GLA CEO making over $500,000 in annual salary/compensation/bonus; GLA Huey CEO made $378,000. Although APPS has raised these issues for years, the board says little about exorbitant administrative salaries, questionable financial practices, and failure to reach minimum academic ratings. In fact, the board exempted the entire charter sector from its $3 billion, ten-year Facilities Master Plan.
Board Passes $4.6 Budget The board voted 8-0 to pass the administration’s combined $4.6 billion budget for FY 2026-27 in Item 12 (BM Wanda Novales was absent). The board passed Item 15 by a vote of 7-1, approving the Amended Capital Budget for FY 2025-26, adoption of a Capital Budget for FY 2026-27, and a Capital Program for 2027-32. BM ChauWing Lam voted No on Item 15, citing some “lingering questions”. The 5-year Capital Improvement Plan includes some projects proposed in the Facilities Master Plan (FMP) passed by the board last month. Lam questioned Deputy Superintendent of Operations Oz HIll about why the budget details as presented to the board did not include construction of the new high school in the Northeast that was proposed in the FMP. Hill responded that as yet there was no funding for the school. Actually that is true of most of the projects in the FMP. APPS’ analysis of the FMP shows that at least ⅔ of the funding would come from additional revenues from the state (even though the budget presented at this meeting shows lower revenue from the state) and from unnamed philanthropic sources. BM Whitney Jones, who voted No on the FMP, remarked that the administration’s “intentions are exceeding revenues” and asked how they would fulfill the specific promises of the FMP. He asked Board President Reginald Streater to allow for regular updates on those metrics.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 