We Demand a People's School Board

Mayor Jim Kenney and the Philadelphia City Council

Mayor Kenney recently announced that the School Reform Commission would vote itself out of existence on November 16th. For over a year, the Our City Our Schools campaign has called for the vote to abolish the School Reform Commission to happen by the end of 2017 -- and we just won it!!!!

The vote to return local control of our schools is a huge victory for organizing -- this would not have happened without consistent pressure on Mayor Kenney over the past year, and the 16-years of work organizing against the state-controlled School Reform Commission.

But we know that our work isn’t done. Our City Our Schools had pushed for the creation of a taskforce to engage in a true democratic and participatory process into what come governance system comes next for the Philadelphia schools. However, already Mayor Kenney and City Council are moving forward on putting into place a mayorally-appointed school board with approval from city council. We believe that this moment could represent a huge turning point for the Philadelphia schools.

We are pushing for a true People’s School Board that meets the following criteria:

(1) We can return a voice to the people who know our schools best -- the true stakeholders of the Philadelphia schools. For too long, our schools have been treated like a business where decisions are made by people seeking to profit off of our children’s education. In this new era, we need to return power to the people who work, teach, and learn in neighborhood and charter schools every day, the parents who volunteer to fill budget gaps, and the community members who have supported their neighborhood schools for decades.

(2) We can end the era of conflicts of interests. The most important focus for any school board should be the thriving health of students, teachers, staff, and their schools. With local control and accountability, we can vet new board members for conflicts of interest and end backroom deals.

(3) Our next school board must fight for true racial and economic justice in our schools. The SRC failed to stand up against a state legislature that continues to use our schools for its racist and privatizing agenda. Is the next school board ready to lead the fight for more equitable school funding across the state, for Philadelphia-based corporations and developers to pay their fair share toward our schools, and for an end to massive giveaways to private school managers?


To: Mayor Jim Kenney and the Philadelphia City Council
From: [Your Name]

Thank you for your commitment to local control of Philadelphia's schools. We urge you to create a true People's School Board that meets the following criteria:

(1) We can return a voice to the people who know our schools best -- the true stakeholders of the Philadelphia schools. The next school board should be made up of the parents, students, educators, school staff and community leaders who know our schools best.

(2) We can end the era of conflicts of interests. No board member or their family members should be making money off decisions about our children's schools.

(3) Our next school board must fight for true racial and economic justice in our schools. We know our work is far from over -- we need a school board ready to fight for a fair funding formula, for local corporations to pay their fair share and for an end to the school to prison pipeline.