Today — after nearly two years of careful consideration and research, 98 school visits, and conversations with 158 school principals and countless parents, teachers, and business leaders — I‘m officially calling on the members of the School Reform Commission (SRC) to vote to dissolve at their next scheduled meeting.
After their vote to dissolve is certified by the Secretary of Education, we will return to a nine member school board appointed by the Mayor, which was authorized by voters before the SRC’s creation. This board will officially take over the District in time for the 2018-2019 school year.
I will select the members of this Board with one goal in mind: ensuring every child has access to quality schools.
To help reach this goal, in our next budget, I will propose a plan to meet the District’s financial needs. This plan will be difficult, and it will require everyone to pitch in – but the alternative is far worse.
Our schools are the key to reducing our poverty rate. If we don’t create quality schools, then our city’s brief renaissance will evaporate. If we don’t take responsibility for the fate of our schools, then we will continue to relegate generations of Philadelphia’s families to poverty.
If you’d like to get news on the School Reform Commission and the new school board, please sign up to receive updates from the Mayor’s Office of Education.
You can also read our policy paper that addresses the future of education in Philadelphia under local control.
No child’s fate should be determined by their zip code.
We can do this — together.