Ears on the Board of Education: May 28, 2020

By Diane Payne

The Board held its sixth remote Action meeting on May 28 as the Covid-19 crisis continues to necessitate quarantine. The Board has taken a Shock Doctrine approach to leadership by arbitrarily, without explanation, changing the procedures for public speaking. These changes, obviously,  have no bearing on public safety.  In violation of its own policy, one approved by unanimous vote only 6 months ago, the Board has whittled down the public’s three minutes of speaking time to two. In another violation, the Board allowed only three speakers on a topic. The policy allows for four.  At the November 2019 Policy Committee meeting,  APPS co-founder Lisa Haver objected to the Board’s proposal to eliminate the public speakers’ provision of the meeting policy.  Her concern was that it would leave this important public process subject to capricious changes at the whim of the Board. Unfortunately,  Haver’s fears were prescient.  Again, there is no health and safety reason for reducing the number of public speakers.  APPS calls on the Board to cease violating its own policy and reinstate the public’s full three minutes to speak and the number of speakers on topics back to four.  

Board Officers Elected

The Board is operating with only eight members as Mayor Kenney has not replaced Chris McGinley.  For some reason, Mayor Kenney has said that his Nominating Panel must reconvene even though this panel submitted names of 27 candidates just months ago.  It is unclear why the panel must start all over.  The Board elected officers at this first meeting of the new term. Joyce Wilkerson was re-elected President, Leticia Egea-Hinton elected Vice-President.  The Mayor’s replacement for Wayne Walker, Akeem Akbar, participated in his first full Action Meeting.  The remaining Board members: Julia Danzy, Mallory Fix Lopez, Lee Huang, Maria McColgan, and Angela McIver were also all present for this remote platform meeting. Student representatives Imere Williamson and Doha Abrahim also attended. 

Minutes of the April meeting were approved.  

Seven APPS members spoke in defense of public education at this meeting; one member submitted written testimony.  This testimony can be viewed on the APPS website  

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Defenders of Public Eduation speak before the BOE, May 28, 2020

Click on an individual’s name to read a transcript of their testimony.

Deborah Grill

Lisa Haver

Karel Kilimnik

Barbara McDowell Dowdall

Diane Payne

Ilene Poses

Zoe Rooney

Linda Rubin

Statement of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools in Solidarity with the African-American Community, June 2020

The members of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools stand in solidarity with the African-American community in protest of the police murder of George Floyd. This murder, and the many brutal murders of Black people at the hands of the police preceding it, screams out for an end to police brutality and an end to the criminalization and mass incarceration of African-Americans. The shocking tear-gassing and physical assaults by police on peaceful protestors and journalists offer a glimpse into the treatment of African-Americans and other people of color every day.

Continue reading here.

Eyes on the Board of Education: May 28, 2020

by Karel Kilimnik

For years, APPS members urged the SRC to take a more public role in advocating for Philadelphia’s public school students. We told them we would help fill the buses for any trip they organized to Harrisburg.  Unfortunately, to no avail.   We are happy to say that the Board of Education has stepped up to become vocal advocates for the students and families they have been entrusted to represent.  The Board has created a prominent “Fund Our Schools” page on its website.The website provides guidance in ten languages for contacting elected officials, including a template for letters. The message: We cannot repeat the devastation caused by the massive budget cuts of the past from which we have still not recovered. We cannot carry out the layoffs and elimination of necessary resources which will cause untold harm to our students. It will take a village to keep our District whole as the economic crisis unfolds.

Countries across the globe struggle to deal with the coronavirus. Unemployment soars as businesses fail. Tax revenue supporting our schools has declined, for example, the liquor-by-the-drink tax. But, as Councilmember Helen Gym reminded fellow Councilmembers and District officials during last week’s hearings on the City budget, “Austerity is a choice.”  City and District officials must work to find more revenue sources before talking about cutting educational and recreational services necessary for the well-being of our children. Collection of the city’s tax on unearned income has been inconsistent. Nonprofits must pay PILOTS. Real estate abatements must be phased out.  APPS reiterates our long-held position that the Board must end the renewal of substandard charters, many operated by CEOs making exorbitant salaries. The District cannot afford any more charter expansion. Nor can it afford the outsourcing of services, which often ends up costing, not saving, money. The Board has rejected new charter applications for two consecutive years, but we need a moratorium on new charter schools. The District closed 23 neighborhood schools in 2013 with the promise of saving $22 million, but we never saw proof of savings, particularly after relocation and moving costs. We should not allow any crisis to be the justification for the loss of more neighborhood schools.

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