Category: APPS Reports on the Board of Ed

Public School Board Bars Public School Parents, Educators from Speaking and Attending

Board of Education Action Meeting: June 26, 2025

by Lisa Haver

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” George Orwell, 1984

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CASA President Robin Cooper testifies at June 26 action meeting. (Photo: Lisa Haver)

A governing body convenes an action meeting. They listen to a presentation from the director of a department they oversee. The president of the board raises each issue, and members of the board comment and question. The president then calls on each member to give their position. He tallies the responses, then directs the department chief to carry out the action that the majority of the board voted for. Except when the Philadelphian Board of Education does this, according to Board President Reginald Streater, it’s not voting. True, the terms “motion”,  “roll call” , and “vote” were not used. But the board came to decisions on the futures of six charter schools in the renewal cohort after listening to Charter Schools Chief Peng Chao and deliberating on the information presented.  Streater called on each member to state their position on whether the school would be granted a 5-year renewal, a 1-year renewal, or no renewal. He counted their responses, then directed Chao on what type of document to draw up. How is that not voting? Every time APPS members called out that the board was voting, even though none of those charter items had been placed on the agenda, Streater insisted they were not.  The dictionary definition of the word “vote”: a formal indication of a choice between two or more candidates or courses of action, expressed typically through a ballot or a show of hands or by voice. The public’s faith in this board continues to erode because of its lack of transparency and public engagement, along with its reluctance to hold the administration accountable. Now they want to tell people not to believe what they see and hear with their own eyes and ears. 

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Board Rigs Meeting for Special Interests

Board of Education Action Meeting: May 29, 2025

by Lisa Haver

Legal Notice on page B2 in May 28,2025 Philadelphia Inquirer

In this era of authoritarianism, the will of the people is too often subverted to the will of the wealthy and powerful. Despite polls that show a majority of Americans do not support the privatization of public schools, and the overwhelming defeat of voucher proposal referenda in several states, politicians have found a way to overrule the voters and impose anti-public school measures. And despite the growing evidence that an increasing number of the city’s parents are rejecting charter schools, including under–enrollment at over half of the city’s charters, Philadelphia’s Board of Education voted to approve a new application, one they had previously voted to deny. Their convoluted and dishonest justifications served only to underscore how much they had betrayed their constituents for the benefit of the politically connected special interests. That reason, among others, is why APPS members called on Mayor Cherelle Parker to ask for the resignations of the members of the board. 

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Board Must Respect the Rule of Law

Board of Education Budget Hearing, Board of Education Action Meeting: April 24, 2025

by Lisa Haver

Shawmont student advocates for keeping librarian at his school. (Photo: Lisa Haver )

“I am not just a statistic, and neither are my peers.”
Academy at Palumbo student to Board of Education

Parents, students, educators and community members came before the board to testify on the many issues facing our children and our schools: mental health supports for struggling students, filthy bathrooms, outdated textbooks, restoring school librarians, the need for air filters in classrooms. President Reginald Streater assured speakers, as he does at every meeting, that the board is listening. As one APPS member said in her testimony, “Students will know you are listening when they see that their bathrooms are finally clean.”

Ilene Poses contributed to this report.

Board Meetings Must Be Fully Public 
Because APPS members have attended Board of Education meetings for years, we knew that the board would be holding two meetings on April 24: the monthly action meeting and the hearing on the next annual budget. But anyone who may have been attending or testifying for the first time would have seen only one meeting for 4 pm posted on the board’s website calendar. Two agendas were posted, but both gave 4 pm as the starting time. At the beginning of the meeting, President Streater said that the board would hold a 15-minute recess after the conclusion of the hearing…”perhaps”. But just after the final speaker on the budget was heard, Streater said “we are going into the action meeting” and began to narrate a slide presentation. It was unclear what was happening as the board did not vote to adjourn, nor did Streater declare the hearing adjourned. General Counsel Lynn Rauch, who serves as the board’s parliamentarian under the board’s by-laws, did not call the roll for the action meeting.  When Streater took office, he promised that the board would be following Robert’s Rules of Order. After her testimony, Lisa Haver filed a formal objection to the board’s violation of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act. The board did not give proper notification of the proceedings on the website or at the meeting itself. Haver pointed out that these are not legal technicalities, that the public has a right to know what the board is doing. People who are just leaving work or school often text APPS members to ask where the board is on the agenda and whether they can make it in time to testify. The board must honor the rule of law.

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Board of Education Must Actively Defend Public Education

Board of Education Action Meeting: March 27,  2025

by Lisa Haver

Ilene Poses testifies at March Board of Education Meeting (Photo: Lisa Haver)

As far as the Board of Education is concerned, there is no “good trouble”.  In fact, anything that makes them… uncomfortable…seems to be bad trouble. Just standing in the aisle to show solidarity with public speakers–as people have done at board meetings for years–is verboten. Board President Reginald Streater repeated his erroneous statement that people standing in the aisle violate the fire code. Actually, it is the board’s making the aisle narrower, and its blocking one of the two fire exits, that compromise the safety of the people in the auditorium. APPS members distributed flyers reminding people of their first amendment rights: you don’t have to wear a badge to enter a public meeting and you can stand with signs. We showed people that when we fight we win: APPS members stood in the aisle in solidarity with students, educators, parents and community members who came to defend public education. We will stand at every board meeting.

Continue reading about March 27, 2025 action meeting here.