Philadelphia City Council to Hold Hearing and Vote on Mayor's Board of Education Picks
Council will hear Mayor Kenney's school board nominees in a virtual Friday session and vote on them at its 11 a.m. meeting, with a revised city budget also on the agenda.
By Aever Bundji ·
Philadelphia City Council plans to hold a virtual hearing Friday morning on Mayor Kenney's nominees for the Board of Education. Council will then vote on the nominations at its regular meeting, scheduled for 11 a.m. The hearing is set to begin at 9:30 a.m.
Kenney has renominated eight of the nine current board members. Ameen Akbar is the mayor's choice to replace board Vice President Wayne Walker, who is stepping down for personal reasons.
Under the City Charter, a new board must be seated on May 1. This is the first year Council has a say in the mayor's selections. The change came when the local board was reconstituted after the School District spent nearly two decades under the state-dominated School Reform Commission.
The lineup has shifted since Akbar was named. Board member Chris McGinley has announced a departure on April 30. Kenney has not yet picked a successor and has asked the Education Nominating Panel to reconvene and submit a new list of names.
The panel vets candidates and gives the mayor three names for each vacancy. In February it submitted the names of all eight current members, McGinley among them, along with 19 other candidates.
Sarah Peterson, communications director for the city's Office of Education, said the mayor is seeking new names because the panel "did not know about Chris McGinley's resignation when they considered candidates and made their recommendations." She added that the mayor wants the panel to be able to choose nominees with that knowledge by reconvening "when practical." Because McGinley has said there will be no stay beyond April 30, the board will probably operate for a time with a vacancy.
The morning's main business for Council is a revised budget proposal from Kenney. It is expected to show a sharp decline in anticipated revenue, which would affect city services and the School District. The District has no taxing power and draws most of its revenue from the city and the state. It has already said its once-balanced budget now faces a $38 million shortfall by fiscal 2022 and a $1 billion shortfall by 2025, citing the pandemic's effect on city and state revenue.
The hearing and meeting will air on Channels 64 or 40 and stream at www.PHLCouncil.com/watch. Residents who want to give public comment must call 215-686-3406 by 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 30. They must provide a name and a call-back number and say whether they support or oppose any specific bill or resolution on the agenda. Speakers will be called during the session and get up to three minutes each.
The Board of Education is scheduled to meet Thursday evening with a full agenda. Items include votes on renewals for several charter schools and a resolution calling for an overhaul of the state's charter school funding formula.
Source: WHYY
