As APPS members and followers know, we have been fighting to open up the process for the selection of the new school board.
Mayor Kenney has taken control of the process, raising questions about how independent the Nominating Panel has been.
The Nominating Panel is a governmental body; its members are City officials. The Panel is obligated to follow all laws, including the PA Sunshine Act.
The Sunshine Act stipulates that citizens must be able to witness and have an opportunity to speak about actions taken by government officials, whether elected or appointed. Only two of the Panel’s meetings were held in public; all of the vetting of candidates was done behind closed doors.
The Mayor and the Nominating Panel, Chaired by former SRC Commissioner Wendell Pritchett, also ignored calls to release the applications. Thus, there was no way for the public to know who was being considered or to have anything to say about them. We believe that the public has a right to know who will be representing them as public officials. The school board will be overseeing a $3 billion budget and making decisions which will affect the future of our city and our schools.
What follows is the first installment of reports on the twenty-seven candidates chosen by the thirteen people on the Nominating Panel. The italicized paragraph is the official bio released by the Mayor’s office. What follows is what we were able to find by doing a basic Google/LinkdIn search. If you see any outdated or incorrect information, or you have additional information on any of the nominees, please contact us at philaapps@gmail.com.
Please follow our posts as we will be updating with information on other nominees.
–Lisa Haver and Deb Grill
Click here to read the first installment of nominee reports.
Click here to read the second installment of nominee reports.
Click here to read the third installment of nominee reports.
Our Researchers
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 