Eight members of the new Philadelphia School Board with Mayor Kenney. (Chris McKinley is missing.)
District and Charter School Connections
Presently two board members have children enrolled in district schools: both Lee Huangand Angela McIver have children attending Penn Alexander. Another of Ms. McIver’s children attends Central High School. Maria McColgan’s daughters attend Philadelphia Academy Charter School. Ms. McColgan is a board member of the school and chair of the fundraising sub-committee. The charter school is 76% white, 8% African –American, 9% Hispanic. The charter is up for renewal in 2018.
Angela McIver describes herself as a co-founder of Mastery Charter Schools. In her bio she says she “directed the Mastery Charter Thomas School transition” but does not specify in what capacity nor whether she is still involved with Mastery Charters.
Political Connections
Almost half of the appointees have served in some capacity for the City of Philadelphia, whether as paid staff or appointed to boards or commissions. Julia Danzy served as Director of Social Services for the City from 1992 to 2000, where her boss was former SRC Chair Pedro Ramos. Danzy also served as Deputy Commissioner of Health from 2000-2002. Leticia Egea-Hinton was Director of Operations for the City from 2006-2015. Lee Huang is a current member of the Philadelphia Water Rate Board, which is responsible for setting water, waste water and storm water rates. . A longtime veteran of the political scene is Joyce Wilkerson, who served as Mayor Street’s Chief of Staff from 2000 to 2008. Prior to that she was Chief of Staff for Councilman/Council President John Street. Wilkerson has also served as Chair of the PHA board as well as Chair of the SRC. Temple professor Chris McGinley served on the SRC along with Ms. Wilkerson.
Consultant Connections
Lee Huang is the Senior Consultant at Econsult Solutions, a firm that has been awarded contracts with the City. District parent Alison McDowell provides an in-depth look at this firm.
Mallory Fix-Lopezis the founder and owner of Language ConnectEd, a consulting firm for “scientists and scholars”.
Wayne Walker is both partner and a member of the Board of Directors of Walker Nell Partners, Inc., whose website states that they “focus on corporate governance, turnaround management, corporate restructuring and bankruptcy matters”.
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools 