The move to authorize a legislative review of the school board nomination process comes days after Mayor Cherelle L. Parker placed a member on the board despite lawmakers’ objections.
City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas speaks as City Council holds hearings on Mayor Cherelle Parker's school board candidates, at City Hall last month. He introduced legislation this week to hold hearings examining the board's governance structure., a Democrat who chairs Council’s Education Committee, introduced legislation to hold hearings on the district’s governance structure and said he wants to explore if an elected or hybrid school board structure could be more effective.
Thomas said in a statement Thursday that the current governance process “fosters a dynamic between parties that encourages confusion and distrust.” He noted that Washington, D.C. and Chicago have hybrid models that are a mix of appointed and elected board members, and other school boards across Pennsylvania are elected.
Any change in the process would have to be done through an amendment to the city’s Home Rule Charter, which is essentially the city’s constitution. Charter amendments require approval from voters through a ballot question.The view would “examine the policies and procedures of the recipients and their impact on the city of Philadelphia.”
Council members this week also announced the members of a new special committee on Kensington, which will examine the city’s responseThe committee will include members of the previously formed Kensington Caucus: Lozada, and Councilmembers Mike Driscoll, Mark Squilla, and Jim Harrity. Lozada, Driscoll, and Squilla each represent parts of Kensington. Harrity is an at-large member who lives in the neighborhood.
Other members of the special committee include Councilmember Nina Ahmad, who chairs Council’s public health committee, and Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., who chairs the public safety committee.Philadelphia has for decades allowed some city departments to grant contracts to nonprofits without going through the usual competitive bidding process. Gilmore Richardson’s legislation would remove the exemption.Former Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode, Sr.
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