Category: Posts (Newest to Oldest)

A chronological listing of APPS post descending from the newest to the oldest.

Mayor’s Nominating Panel Turns Its Back on the Public

by Ilene Poses

On November 17, Mayor Kenney’s 13-member Nominating Panel convened to open proceedings on filling  three vacancies on the Philadelphia School Board. They billed the event as a “public hearing”,  but it was actually a live television show. No public testimony or interaction of any kind was permitted.  The Panel, reading quickly from their scripts, wrapped up the TV show  in just over 30 minutes. Chair Wendell Pritichett, former School Reform Commissioner, gave little information on the selection process and did not give the date of the next Panel meeting.  He and the Panelists did take time to congratulate each other for their service.  

Pritchett mentioned in passing that the Nominating Panel would again be conducting all deliberations in executive session. Pritchett, a Penn law professor, failed to cite the specific reason for moving the Panel out of the public eye–probably because there is none. APPS members protested this same violation of the PA Sunshine Act when the Panel convened in 2018. Did the people of Philadelphia fight so hard for local control just to be shut out of all discussions about our representatives on the School Board?  The Panel — itself chosen without any public input — has sent nine semi-finalists, from whom the Mayor will choose his three nominees. The Mayor can ask for more candidates if he is not satisfied with the Panel’s choices; he has until December 26 to ask for more names.  City Council must confirm those nominees. In the past, however, Council has done little more than rubber-stamp the Mayor’s choices.

Click here to continue reading.

Ears on the Board of Education: December 10, 2020

By Diane Payne

The Board of Education held its final Action Meeting at the end of a year that upended the lives of every person in the world, including Philadelphia students and their families.  The suffering, isolation, and  fear felt by our most vulnerable citizens has been staggering–especially because so much of it was avoidable.  One thing that stood out in this last public meeting was the apparent absence of District administrations’ awareness of this fact. At the November Action Meeting, Superintendent Hite, in answer to concerns raised about students’  mental health,  promised to present this month the supports implemented by his administration.  Students heading into the holiday season with prolonged time off from school,  families whose breadwinners lost jobs and may not be able to afford to celebrate the holidays, some facing eviction–this would have been a perfect time to assure Board Members that our students have a safety net. But there was no presentation nor any question about it from any Board members.  

Continue reading here. 

Defenders of Public Education Speak Before the BOE, December 10, 2020

Click on the title to read the transcript of the speaker’s testimony.

Eli Broad Rules at 440 N. Broad Street by Barbara McDowdall Dowdall

Closing Sheppard Elementary Will Hurt the Community by Keely Gray

Vote No on Relay G.S.E. by Deborah Grill

Board Turns Its Back on Students, Parents, Educators, Community by Lisa Haver

Goals & Guardrails: BOE Needs to Listen to Students, Parents and Teachers by Stephanie King

Quashing Public Engagement by Karel Kliminik

Against New Spending by Maddie Luebbert

APPS, OCOS Demand to Be Heard on Selection of Board Members

December 7, 2020


Dear Mayor Kenney,


On behalf of the members of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools and the member organizations of the Our City, Our Schools Coalition, we are writing to ask that the community no longer be shut out of the selection process for the three current Board of Education vacancies. 
The Nominating Panel you appointed has held no public meetings and has none scheduled. The Panel’s 22-minute remote event of November 17 included no opportunity for hearing public testimony.  The public has been denied any knowledge of who has applied and how the Panel is weighing those applications.  

At this time, we are asking:  that all applications for this public position be released to the public; that you delay the December 15 deadline for the Panel’s submission of their recommended candidates to your office; that you direct the Panel to conduct all deliberations in public; that you direct the Panel to include interactive public testimony at its next public convening. 

Click here to read the rest of the letter.