Two weeks ago, APPS members sent a letter to the officers and members of the Nominating Panel appointed by Mayor Kenney to choose candidates for the new school board, demanding that the Panel open its meetings to the public.
The letter, reprinted in its entirety here, was signed by fourteen others representing student, labor and community organizations.
The Nominating Panel had announced that it would hold only two public meetings: its opening meeting and its second and final one, at which it would announce the names to be sent to Mayor Kenney. All other meetings would be closed to the public. No students, educators, parents or community members would have the opportunity to weigh in on any part of the process or to raise concerns about any candidate.
APPS sent the letter along with a press release to several news media outlets. None of them covered it.We were told that it wasn’t a significant event and didn’t rate a separate story. However, when the media covered the dispute between the Mayor and City Council over language in the resolution to change language in the City Charter amendment on selection of the new school board, the community’s demand for an open selection was ignored once again.
APPS continues the fight to make sure that the community has a say in who represents us in the governance of our schools.We will fight until the disenfranchisement of the people of Philadelphia ends and we have the same rights as every other Pennsylvanian to elect our school board.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 