Advocates Call On School Reform Commission To Dissolve Itself
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A group of Philadelphia public school advocates is urging the School Reform Commission to vote to abolish itself at its next meeting. They issued the call at an event outside of City Hall on Wednesday.
Sheila Armstrong of the group POWER was among the speakers calling for a return to local control for Philadelphia schools.
"Give us back our school district," she said.
READ: New Vaccine Rules Parents Need To Know Before School Starts
The law that created the State-controlled School Reform Commission in 2001 says the SRC can vote to dissolve itself but it then takes a full school year to phase out. For a local board to be in control by the 2018 school year, the Commission would have to vote to dissolve itself at its August 17 meeting. No such motion is currently on the agenda but local control advocates say it should be.
Antoine Little says the SRC was supposed to bring financial stability to the district.
"This is a failed experiment that didn't work," Little said. "Let's end it now, fast, because our children's future is at stake if this doesn't happen."
A Commission spokesman declined comment.
