The citizens of Philadelphia have seen the institutions they've relied on to educate their children become way stations of mismanagement allowing the State of Pennsylvania to replace a 9 member school board with a 5 member School Reform Commission or SRC, these members are not accountable to the citizens of Philadelphia for the decisions they make.
Likewise, the stockholders have not seen any improvement for their tax dollars. It is now time to become fully vested in the process of deciding for ourselves as citizens, what happens to our school tax dollars. We are now gathering support from our City Council in Philadelphia and the State of Pennsylvania representatives who have introduced Senate Bill SB1210 in October 2011 by State Senators introduced by Stack, Tartaglione, Washington, Farnese, Vulakovich and Vance, and reintroduced as Senate Bill SB913 on May 3, 2013.
We now demand to choose a qualified elected school board for ourselves, because “a city of the first class deserves a first class education” for their children. We are becoming more aware and will not just stand by while schools and programs are closed and dismantled without full accountability at the “beginning” of the process, rather than just be notified of actions done by back door deals. Out of 501 school systems in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia is the only one “without” the process of electing our own school board members.
We are the citizens of Philadelphia and we will have an elected school board of our choosing. We are now up for the task of self determination in the City of Philadelphia.
An Qualified Elected School Board for Philadelphia
1. Is historic and has never been done
2. Will start a dialog that needs a resolution
3. Will allow the citizens to stay engaged with their civic duties
4. Will empower parents and children to want better
5. Will be just the start of what we want and expect from living and working in Philadelphia
If you live in, and/or pay taxes to Philadelphia, sign the petition in support of an elected school board. For more information and background to prepare yourself go to http://www.electedschoolboardforphilly.com where one will find an online petition and paper petition. This site has documents, videos and websites that will help us build coalition throughout the city and commonwealth.
We look forward to the other side of a victorious historic action that will inspire more positive outcomes.
Sincerely,
MarketPlace of Ideas Think Tank
Philadelphia, PA
Your Honors,
Mayor Nutter, Philadelphia City Council, and House and Senate representatives of Pennsylvania
We the undersigned and supporters of the citizens of Philadelphia respectfully expect a change in the current school system. We will follow through and become better equipped to elect members of a school board that will consider our input. We will gain strength and numbers and look forward to having an active role in school board decisions.
Sincerely,
The undersigned
