During her campaign for mayor, Cherelle Parker deflected questions about whether she would be replacing any or all of the members of the Board of Education. The convening of her Educational Nominating Panel last week leaves no doubt that she will be doing just that–and that she will be keeping the public out of the selection process at every step.
The day before the February 1 panel meeting, members of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools spotted the legal notice of the panel meeting buried in the classified ads section of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The notice did not include the purpose of the meeting or the agenda. It provided no information about public testimony, which is required by the state’s Sunshine Act, nor did it indicate whether the meeting would be live-streamed.
We called the mayor’s office to get the details, but no one knew what we were discussing or could find anyone who did. Twice, we were told that someone would contact us. That didn’t happen. How did the office that sent out the notice know nothing about it? We tried the office of Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, figuring the Chair of Council’s Education Committee staff would know about selecting school board members. No one did.
Two APPS members arrived at City Hall 30 minutes before the meeting and told the guard at the only public entrance that we were going to the meeting of the Nominating Panel in the mayor’s reception room. He checked his schedule and said there was no meeting. We asked him to call the mayor’s office. He called his supervisor, who knew nothing about it. We finally called the office of Councilmember Kendra Brooks, another member of the Education Committee. A staff member spoke to the guard, and we were finally admitted.
Several people were already in attendance; we had to wonder how they knew about the meeting and how they got in. There were no name cards for the panel members. Most of the members were not heard from after the introductions were made except for the voting of officers; attendees could not hear the few comments and questions because panel members did not speak into their mics. Whether the public could hear them did not seem to be a consideration. One panel member who attended virtually could not be heard at all.
So we were not surprised when we received text messages from several people during the meeting that nothing was visible on the live-stream channel. That finally kicked in at 5:45, fifteen minutes before the meeting adjourned.
Before the end of the meeting, I stood up and asked to be heard by the panel. The mayor’s representative would only say that no public testimony was on the agenda. I asked panel members directly whether they–or the mayor– wanted to hear from the community about who should serve on the Board of Education. None of them responded.
Unfortunately, the minimal notice and exclusion of the public foreshadows how the Parker administration will be conducting the entire process: in secret. Parker has already decided that the panel will meet entirely in executive session. That is a clear violation of the state’s Sunshine Act, which lists specific reasons that allow public bodies to meet privately. Selecting members of a governing body is not one of them.
The panel will hold its next “public” meeting on March 12, when they will announce their list of candidates. Even if public testimony is heard, what can anyone say that would matter after all the decisions have been made?
Philadelphia voters are already disenfranchised. We do not have the right, as do voters in every other district in the state, to elect our school board. Now, the mayor doesn’t want her constituents to have any say in who will represent them.
The voices of those who care about the city’s public schools have already been diminished by the Board of Education’s speaker suppression policies. Mayor Parker should make sure that they are not further silenced.
It couldn’t be clearer that Mayor Parker, contrary to what she promised during the campaign, does not want to hear from students, parents, educators, or community members about the issues facing public schools.
Lisa Haver is a former Philadelphia teacher. She is co-founder and coordinator of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools.
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