Title
Calling upon Mayor John F. Street to publicly release to the citizens, taxpayers and parents of this City his long-term educational and financial reform plan for improving the quality, performance and fiscal management of the public school system and to share with the public his expectations and reasons for entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with both Governor Ridge and Governor Schweiker which authorized a state take-over of the public school system.
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WHEREAS, On July 31, 2001, Mayor John F. Street and then-Governor Thomas J. Ridge signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) implementing the terms of an agreement surrounding the Philadelphia School District; and
WHEREAS, This MOU authorized the Commonwealth to undertake an intensive review and "analysis of the school district's educational and financial management" and called for the Governor to present the Mayor with "a long-term proposal to address the educational and financial situation of the School District" by September 29th; and
WHEREAS, Between September 29 and October 29, 2001, the parties were to meet in an effort to "seek an agreement on a long-term solution to the fiscal and educational situation of the School District," and to "seek an agreement upon a contingency plan for transitioning complete control of the School District to the Commonwealth" if the parties were unable to reach a collective agreement on a long-term solution; and
WHEREAS, The MOU also stated that if no agreement was reached by October 29, 2001, the Commonwealth was authorized to assume complete control of the School District; and
WHEREAS, Due to the September 11th tragedy and the appointment of Tom Ridge as Director of Homeland Security by President Bush, an amendment to the MOU was entered into on September 28, 2001 extending the timeframe for the submission of the Governor's proposal to no later than October 31, 2001 and changing the negotiation period to October 31 to November 30, 2001; and
WHEREAS, Governor Ridge contracted with Edison, Inc. to perform the analysis of the School District and Edison's report was submitted to the Governor on October 30, 2001; and
WHEREAS, Governor Mark Schweiker presented his proposal to improve the public school system to Mayor Street on October 31, 2001; and
WHEREAS, Rather than begin negotiations with the Governor as agreed upon in the MOU, Mayor Street moved into the School Administration Building and refused to discuss the Governor's plan unless and until the private management of the central office was withdrawn; and
WHEREAS, On November 20th, the Governor and Mayor announced that the proposal for private management of the central office was withdrawn; and on November 30th, it was announced that the deadline for concluding the negotiations would be extended to December 21, 2001; and
WHEREAS, In eight days the negotiation period ends, yet there is not one piece of information available from the Mayor regarding the potential outcome of this process established by the MOU he entered into, and there have been no reported discussions between the Mayor and Governor since November 30th; and
WHEREAS, When the Mayor committed to the owners of the Phillies and Eagles to provide new stadiums, this body and the public were presented with extensive materials which explained the deal; long and involved public hearings were held in Council Chambers; and, the parties worked cooperatively throughout an entire year to design and approve the site, financing and leases for two professional stadiums; and
WHEREAS, Public education is the most important public service that government provides to its citizenry; yet, to date, the limited discussions between the Mayor and Governor have been held in private for this most public of services; and
WHEREAS, Since the time of the initial signing of the MOU on July 31, 2001 to present, Edison, Inc. analyzed the School District and submitted a long-term plan for reform and the Governor submitted a proposal for long-term reform; yet, the Mayor has never publicly released or discussed any of his long-term educational and fiscal reform plans; and
WHEREAS, Citizens, taxpayers and parents have a right to know what the Mayor is proposing before any deal is made with the Commonwealth; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby call upon Mayor John F. Street to publicly release to the citizens, taxpayers and parents of this City his long-term educational and financial reform plan for improving the quality, performance and fiscal management of the public school system and to share with the public his expectations and reasons for entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with both Governor Ridge and Governor Schweiker which authorized a state take-over of the public school system.
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