Category: Analysis and Research

Who–and What–Does the New School Board Represent?

Kenney and Hite
Mayor Kenney enters the press conference with Superintendent Hite to announce the new Philadelphia School Board.

By Deb Grill, Karel Kilimnik and Lisa Haver
April 4, 2018

APPS biographies of the nine members of the new Philadelphia School Board.

Unlike the other 500, Philadelphia is the only school district in Pennsylvania whose voters cannot elect a school board. We’ve had town halls, online surveys, and pronouncements from city politicians, but it all comes down to this:  The government officials who will decide the future of the city’s public schools, and who will control a $3 billion budget, have been chosen by one person, Mayor Kenney.  His decision has been based, in part, on the opinions of the thirteen people selected by him to be on the Nominating Panel. It has also been based on the wishes of the influential individuals, organizations and corporations who have lobbied him to represent their interests on the board. Two built-in lobbyists on the Nominating Panel, Stephanie Naidoff and Bonnie Camarda, are members of the board of the Philadelphia School Partnership, which funnels millions every year from private investors into schools of their choice for the programs of their choice, mostly charters.

All of the deliberations of the Panel were held in secret. None of the district’s stakeholders, or the city’s taxpayers, were able to express their opinions about any of the candidates, whether pro or con, or to raise concerns about possible conflicts of interest. APPS did everything we could, short of legal action, to open up this process. We sent letters to the Mayor and to the Panel, refuting the Mayor’s false assertion that the Panel could deliberate in Executive Session because it was discussing “personnel matters”, pointing out that the Panel was neither hiring nor appointing any personnel. We had several community groups sign a letter asking the mayor to obey the Sunshine Act. 

APPS members  Karel Kilimnik and Rich Migliore wrote an op-ed published in the  Philadelphia Inquirer decrying the lack of democracy and the mayor’s attempt to have the charter change include language that would allow him to remove school board members without any due process, which would have killed the possibility of having a truly independent board.

Lisa Haver also wrote an op-ed questioning whether trading in one unelected, unaccountable school board for another, under the banner of local control, could be considered progress.

APPS also researched all forty-five Panel nominees. Now that the final selection has been made, we are re-posting the profiles of those selected with updated information.  One thing that stands out in the Mayor’s selection: there are no known advocates for public education. Since no one could question the nominees, we have no idea whether, or how much, they are committed to defending public education. We don’t know whether they believe that privatization and charterization are solutions to the problem of under-resourced neighborhood schools. We don’t know what their stance is on using anonymous private donations to fund public and charter schools.

Also see:
Is the new school board diverse enough? | Philadelphia Public School Notebook – April 19, 2018

Following are some of the patterns and connections that we have observed, so far, among the board members:

District and Charter School Connections

Click here to see a preliminary analysis of the
District and Charter School Connections of the new School Board.

Ears on the SRC – March 22, 2018


Click the picture to view the video.

Supporters of public education speak before the March 22nd SRC

APPS member Ilene Poses at 0:00
(Click here to read the transcript of Ilene’s testimony)
APPS member Diane Payne at 3:16
(Click here to read the transcript of Diane’s testimony)
APPS member Lisa Haver at 6:15
SRC vote on Resolutions at 8:02

Ears on the SRC: March 22, 2018

by Diane Payne
April 2, 2018

 Present

Three of the remaining four commissioners were present for this special budget meeting of the SRC: Chair Wilkerson and Commissioners Richman and McGinley.  Farah Jimenez departed the position abruptly and without explanation in January leaving four commissioners; Governor Wolf said he will not appoint a replacement.  Commissioner Bill Green has assumed a laissez-faire attendance record since April 2017.  It is not uncommon for Green to be absent, come in late in time to vote on resolutions (often totaling millions of dollars), miss staff presentations and public speakers, or leave early and call in to vote.  This is now the seventh time he has been absent since April 2017.  In the waning months of this lame duck SRC, Green continues to exhibit a pattern of behavior that would not be acceptable in the students whose welfare he has been charged to oversee.

 Six members of APPS were present for this meeting; three spoke in defense of public education.  To see their testimony see the video at top of this page.

 Budget: Resolution SRC-1

Click here to read the rest of the post.

Ears on the SRC: March 15, 2018

SRC 3 3-15-18

by Diane Payne
March 21, 2018

Present

This was a regularly scheduled action meeting, and all four of the remaining commissioners were present. Commissioner Farah Jimenez resigned unexpectedly after last month’s meeting. In her resignation letter to Governor Wolf, which gave no reason for her resignation, Jimenez said that “..it has been a gift to be in service to the students of Philadelphia.”

Ms. Jimenez secured the position of President and CEO of the Philadelphia Education Fund (PEF) in 2016. Prior to Jimenez’s appointment, PEF meetings were open to the public. However, slightly more than a year after assuming this role, Ms. Jimenez barred three regular attenders of PEF Compact meetings, including a public school parent, even though they had tickets (which were not required prior to Jimenez’s appointment). Admittance to these meeting are now guaranteed only to regular financial contributors of PEF, even though their purpose is to discuss public education; others can take their chances on a waiting list. APPS has questioned, as have members of City Council, the potential conflict of interest in serving as an SRC Commissioner while leading PEF.

Jimenez has been a consistent and vocal supporter of charter schools. No matter the drain of resources it caused to existing public schools, no matter the harm to remaining public school students, and no matter the lack of demonstrable success of charter schools. Charter expansion at any cost is a big part of the legacy of Commissioner Jimenez.

Ten members of APPS were present for this meeting; four members and others testified on behalf of public education.

A Matter of Integrity

Click here to read the rest of the post.

Supporters of public education speak before the School Reform Commission March 15, 2018

Click on the picture above to view all videos of supporters of public education speaking before the SRC meeting of March 15, 2018.

Move slider to timestamps to view individual speakers.
Northeast High Schools students 0:00
Shavya Subba, Furness student 5:25
Tiffany Lorch, teacher, Furness 9:14
Dwayne Ming, Parent, Family Involvement 12:40
Nancy Anderson, former librarian libraries and librarians 17:23
Lisa Haver, APPS member 20:38
Lynda Rubin, APPS memer 23:25
Barbara Dowdall, APPS member 26:40
Cheri Micheau, APPS member 30:14
SRC resolutions vote 33:30

The video concludes with the SRC discussion and vote on resolutions.

Note: The SRC places media on row 2 in the auditorium which allowed only filming speakers from the side and frequent visual interruption from the audience. We have protested these filming conditions to no avail.

These are transcripts of some of the testimony to the SRC. Transcripts are listed in the order they were given at the SRC meeting.

Shavya Subba cropped

Click the picture to read the transcript of Shavya Subba’s testimony. To watch her testimony move the slider 5:25.


Tiffany Lorch 2

Click the picture to read the transcript of Tiffany Lorch’s testimony. To watch her testimony move the slider to 9:14.

Lisa Haver

Click the picture to read the transcript of Lisa Haver’s testimony. To watch her testimony move the slider to 20:38.

Linda Rubin

Click the picture to read the transcript of Lynda Rubin’s testimony. To watch her testimony move the slider to 23:25.

Barbara Dowdall 2

Click the picture to read the transcript of Barbara Dowdall’s testimony. To watch her testimony move the slider to 26:40.

Cheri Micheau

Click the picture to read the transcript of Cheryl Micheau’s testimony. To watch her testimony move the slider to 30:14.

Click here to return to transcripts from the March 15, 2018 SRC meeting.