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Education Groups Want New Standards For Choosing Philly's New School Board

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As Philadelphia City Council and Mayor Jim Kenney prepare to choose a new school board, different education groups are making some demands on how they should select their picks.

With the impending disbandment of the School Reform Commission, officials must select a nine person board to govern Philadelphia schools.

"It is so so important that Philadelphians rally together and really commit to our public schools," said Hillary Linardopoulos with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

Linardopoulos says they have some requests that they want the mayor and, potentially, city council members to consider as they build a new school board.

"School board members should be committed to advocating for neighborhood public schools as the center of communities," she said. "School board members should reflect the diversity of our city. School board members should demonstrate a deep understanding of the issues that affect public school children and staff."

Linardopoulos says they are also asking that school board members should actively pursue fair and equitable funding for city schools.

Kendra Brooks with Parents United for Public Education says school board members should possess certain qualities.

"We want to make sure that the folks who are appointed to this new school board represent our community, are true stakeholders within the community and have no conflict of interest like we saw with the School Reform Commission," she said, "and have a sense of dedication to Philadelphia."

A new school board will be picked in early 2018.

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