The case for an elected school board
by Ron Whitehorne on Mar 30 2011 Posted in Blogger commentary
Sign at TAG protest at School District headquarters.
This is the second in a three-part series about governance of the Philadelphia schools.
Today, Philadelphia's schools are governed by a state commission with a majority selected by the governor in Harrisburg. Ten years ago we had a school board appointed by the mayor and nominated by a panel of civic notables, who were selected by the mayor based on criteria enumerated in the city’s charter. In both cases, Philadelphia's citizens did not select the people responsible for the city's public school system.
While the school board had broad oversight for District policy and administration, it lacked the power to appropriate funds. Then, as now, Philadelphia City Council controls the purse strings, deciding on both property tax rates and the share of