What to Know
- Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is backing a plan to dissolve the School Reform Commission (SRC) and take control of city schools back.
- For 16 years, the SRC has overseen the city’s public and charter schools, making budget and policy decisions.
- Even if the dissolution of the SRC is granted, it won't go into effect until the end of June.
Philadelphia could move another step closer to gaining control of the city's struggling public school system after 16 years of state oversight.
The School Reform Commission on Thursday is set to vote on whether to dissolve itself.
Mayor Jim Kenney wants to replace the commission with a local school board that would be appointed by him and approved by the City Council. Kenney says it is time for the city to be accountable for the education of its 200,000 schoolchildren.
Fellow Democrat Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf supports local control. So the commission that now governs the nation's eighth-largest school system is expected to be dissolved by the end of the school year.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
