Isn’t the superintendent really in charge of the public schools?
Superintendent Bill Hite obviously has a major say over how the school district is run. But there’s an authority higher than the superintendent that is responsible for “the operation, management and educational program” of the School District of Philadelphia (so says the law that created it).
What is this “higher authority?”
That would be the School Reform Commission, also known as the SRC, whose powers (which include the ability to suspend or dismiss the superintendent) you can read about here. The SRC was created in 2001 when state government took over the city schools because they were a financial mess (a budget deficit of over $200 million) and had suffered years of poor student performance on standardized tests.
Sounds pretty much like the public schools today. So much for the school “reform” commission.
Lots of people would join you in saying the SRC has done a lot more bailing water out of a sinking lifeboat than reforming schools in its 12 years here.
Tell me more about the SRC.
The SRC is made up of five members, all unpaid: three appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania, two by the Mayor of Philadelphia. The Governor’s appointees – who currently are Joe Dworetzky, a well-regarded lawyer who is a former City Solicitor, and Feather Houstoun, a former top official in PA and NJ government and the past head of The William Penn Foundation – serve five year terms. They must be confirmed by the state Senate.
And the mayor’s appointees?
Mayor Nutter’s appointees are Wendell Pritchett, chancellor of Rutgers University-Camden, and former School District parent and activist Sylvia Simms. The mayor’s appointees serve four year terms and do not have to be confirmed by City Council. You can read more about the SRC members at http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/offices/s/src/.
Can’t you count? That’s four SRC members, not five.
Governor Corbett’s appointee and Chairman of the SRC, lawyer and former City Managing Director Pedro Ramos, suddenly resigned on Monday.
So the Ramos vacancy is the first appointment the governor has to fill.
Right. First, the governor has to appoint someone to fill out the remaining three months of Ramos’ SRC term. But, as we said, the interim appointee has to be confirmed by the state Senate. And the Senate is only scheduled to be in session for 11 more days in 2013.
Will the person who fills Ramos’ seat in the short term be re-nominated in january?
Good chance. That’s what happened when Feather Houstoun filled out the term of a SRC member who resigned. She was re-nominated for a five-year term of her own three months later.
Will the person nominated become the next SRC chair?
Not necessarily. It’s the governor’s choice. It could be Wendell Pritchett, who served as interim chair before Ramos was confirmed. Pritchett will have more time on his hands after next June, when he resigns his chancellor’s job at Rutgers. But, remember, he was appointed by Mayor Nutter, not the governor. More likely, the next chair will be one of the governor’s new SRC appointees or perhaps his current appointee, Feather Houstoun.
What about Dworetzky? Won’t he be reappointed when his term runs out in January?
Not likely. Although SRC members are allowed to serve more than one term, Dworetzky has been commuting to Philly for SRC business since he moved to San Francisco over two years ago. Unless his personal life brings him back, it’s unlikely he’ll be considered for reappointment to the SRC. Dworetzky was actually named to the SRC by Ed Rendell not Tom Corbett. The former Governor does not exactly see eye-to-eye with his successor on public education issues.
Could Simms become chair?
Like Pritchett, Simms is a Nutter appointee and pretty new. (Her first SRC meeting was in March 2013). Odds are slim to none that she will be chosen chair.
How do people get on the governor’s radar for appointment to the SRC anyhow?
Probably by figuring out who is close to him and getting word that they’re interested up to Harrisburg. No special credentials – academic, financial or otherwise – are needed to serve on the SRC. The only requirements are that at least three SRC members, including one of the mayor’s appointees, must be Philadelphia residents. And no SRC member can seek or hold a position as any other public official within Pennsylvania or as an officer of a political party.
That’s it? That gives Corbett a lot of leeway with his appointments.
It does, but in a letter the Committee of Seventy sent the governor after Ramos resigned, we urged him to convene a nominating panel to assist in filling the Ramos and Dworetzky vacancies. Doing this may not increase Corbett’s political stock in this heavily Democratic town as he heads towards his 2014 reelection bid. But it would make his appointment process more open and transparent and give citizens an opportunity to react before his appointees are chosen.
Won’t a nominating panel just slow things up?
Not if the governor moves quickly to help him appoint new SRC members when Ramos and Dworetzky’s terms expire in January 2014. In the meantime, he should quickly name, and the Senate should quickly confirm, someone to fill out the few remaining months of Ramos’ term.
What’s the rush?
SRC decisions require majority vote, which means at least three of its five members. Decisions can’t happen if absences result in the lack of a quorum. This has been known to happen: a September 2011 School Reform Commission meeting was rescheduled because too few members were there.
One more thing: don’t most counties have elected school boards?
Yes, Philadelphia is the only exception in Pennsylvania. Although Philadelphia had a school board before the SRC, its members were appointed by the mayor – not elected. Some people are calling for a return to an appointed school board and others (including some members of City Council) believe the jobs should be filled by elections. The future governance of the public schools will be a hot topic of debate in the 2015 mayor and City Council elections.
Elected or appointed: who in their right mind would want to run Philly’s public schools now?
Before Ramos’ unexpected resignation, we heard Governor Corbett has quietly been shopping around for someone to replace Dworetzky on the SRC. No takers, as far as we know. It’s a tremendous public service, but not many have the time and passion it takes for a job that makes you the target of a lot of criticism and second guessing.
10/23/2013