Members of Philadelphia City Council, led by Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas, held a press conference Tuesday, July 28th, to once again implore the Philadelphia School Board to revisit the proposed school facilities plan, which calls for the shuttering of 17 district schools.
The $3 billion plan, which also includes renovations and upgrades of various district facilities, was passed last April by a 6-3 vote. While the remainder of the plan also raises some questions, it is the school closings, which includes Lankenau and Robeson high schools, that has drawn the ire of Council and other city and community leaders.
Despite the urgency of the situation, Thomas said there has been no contact between the Council and the Board since June.
“We’ve asked the school board to come back to the negotiating table for a couple of months now,” Thomas said. “So we are here today to publicly ask the School Board to come back to the negotiating table.”
Transparency is a main point of contention, Councilmember Anthony Phillips, Vice Chair of the Education Committee, said, referencing the uncertainties surrounding how the schools slated to be closed were chosen, and how affected families will be prepared for the disruption.
“Our families deserve transparency, and they deserve a plan that is easy to understand,” Phillips said. “One of the main issues about this particular plan is that it is being rushed without a lot of conversation, a standard conversation that should be taking place with each family; how is busing going to work? What is the transition from an old school to a new school going to look like in terms of teachers?”
In response to a question from Hall Monitor asking what the Council would do if the Board simply said no to negotiating and continued to go through with the plan, Thomas said Council would continue to advocate and push for the Board to cooperate.
“I think the question is what we do,” Thomas said. “We’re saying that everybody needs to put pressure on every single person who has the option to do something about this.”
It is unclear what continued public outcry will change, as opposition to the plan has been vocal for months. Furthermore, it is unclear what leverage Council, or any other advocates, have to bring to use to bring the Board back to the negotiating table. It is unlikely Council will use supplemental support from the City’s General Fund as a cudgel against the district during 2027 budget negotiations. Withholding funds from the already underfunded district in an election year would appear decidedly unpolitic.
And while it is technically true Council has final say over the ratification of the Mayor’s Board appointments, that authority has already been circumvented once by Parker’s unilateral appointment of Joyce Wilkerson, whom Council made known they would reject if her nomination came to a vote. So far, there have been no repercussions, from Council or elsewhere, about this abuse of Mayoral power. All of this leads to a simple question: Why would the School Board even consider discussing this further?
At no point did any Councilmember suggest negotiating with Mayor Cherelle Parker directly. That might be the only remaining course of action, as relations between the Board and Council have deteriorated significantly since the April vote, with Thomas admitting in previous hearings that Board President Reginald Streater had stopped taking his calls. With that in mind, if the Board actually did have any interest in continuing discussions, who would represent Council in negotiations?
Councilmember Curtis Jones suggested Council was considering legislation that would provide PICA-style oversight of the School District.
“When was the last time the District had an independent audit?” Jones asked. “It was ten years ago. We will look at the numbers and make it add up to us.”
(PICA is the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, a body designed to help the city government manage its finances.)
Currently, it is unclear what shape that legislation could take. Council did promise to hold more hearings this fall and to keep up a pressure campaign aimed at the district. It would be safe to assume there will be a considerable number of proposals and press events leading up to Council’s resumption on September 17th.
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