Nine Philadelphians, several of them city natives who attended local public schools, were appointed to the new Board of Education, Mayor Jim Kenney announced Wednesday.
They include Joyce Wilkerson and Chris McGinley, two former members of the outgoing School Reform Commission. They resigned from the SRC earlier this year prior to applying for positions on the school board.
Six of the nine members are women. One of the men, Lee Huang, has three adopted children, all of whom attend Philadelphia public schools.
“I am confident that this board is ready for the challenge,” Kenney said. “Their different backgrounds and perspectives will guide them well.”
The other appointees are Julia Danzy, Leticia-Egea-Hinton, Mallory Fix Lopez, Maria McColgan, Angela McIver and Wayne Walker.
Three of the nine are parents of current students in the city public school system.
Kenney reiterated why he pushed strongly for renewed local control of schools after nearly two decades.
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"We've been waiting for years for Superman to save us, and Superman doesn't exist," he said.
Wilkerson, who served on the SRC for two years, said the new school board will be an opportunity to have more engagement and bigger conversations about the role of public education. She said of the SRC that its five-member body didn't provide enough diversity of opinions.
