Authorizing the Philadelphia City Council Education Committee to hold hearings investigating concerns around Board of Education governance model, decision making processes and, exploring options for an elected or hybrid School Board. WHEREAS, The partnership between the School District, the Board of Education and City Council is crucial to ensuring our students, educators and schools get the funding they need, with City Council providing 44 percent of the district’s total operating budget in last school year; and WHEREAS, The School District introduced its final facilities plan and the Board originally signified its intention to vote within 72 hours of its release, with City Councilmembers and the public unsure of key elements of the proposal and few questions answered; and WHEREAS, While Council has long called for a facilities plan and fully understands the need to close certain buildings and reconceptualize how buildings are used, the Board has been unwilling to discuss how the facilities plan would integrate into a range of other City and Council district needs; and WHEREAS, These actions and the context of these decisions should remind Philadelphians that the governance model of the Philadelphia Board of Education is unique among municipalities in Pennsylvania, and that considering a more traditional elected or hybrid model of governance may compel the Board to be more responsive to students and families' concerns than the Board has proven to be; and WHEREAS, It is the j…
No actions recorded yet.