Was Philadelphia’s Superintendent Search a Dog and Pony Show?
by Lisa Haver
The SRC still lacks transparency, and should be replaced with a locally elected school board.
When it comes to transparency, the School Reform Commission is still not making the grade.
Commissioner Wendell Pritchett, in a recent School Reform Commission meeting, declared that principals are “the most important people” in the Philadelphia School District. PSD administrators have also argued that having a good teacher is the most important factor in a child’s success in school. Baffling, then, that the SRC commissioners made a deliberate decision to exclude teachers and principals from the Superintendent Selection Committee.
It seems clear now that the nine community meetings held last winter by the SRC were designed to present the illusion that the public actually had anything to say about this important decision. The agenda for these meetings allotted almost 90