Unfortunately, many Latino parents pay little or no attention to the decisions of the Philadelphia School Board. This small group of people often make important decisions in the education of their children. One of his responsibilities is to employ the superintendent who executes the decisions of the board in determining the quality of the buildings in which your children spend their days. He selects the textbooks your kids read and the online show your kids spend countless hours on. He evaluates safety procedures during emergencies and chooses the bus company that transports your children home. His responsibility for selecting the superintendent should be an issue that should interest Latinos.
The board is expected soon to name the new superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, which has 198,645 students, according to data collected for the 2020-2021 school year. Of these, 52% are African American, 24% Latino, 13% White, 7% Asian, and 5% multiracial.
Since December, the board has been interviewing candidates to replace Dr. William Hite, who after ten years announced his resignation scheduled for August. After receiving 400 applications for the superintendent position, of these, 64.29% identify as Black, 14.29% as Hispanic, and 7.14% as White. 14.29% chose not to identify themselves, according to the Board of Education. After an exhaustive search, the board of education chose three men, none with Philadelphia roots, as finalists for the position.
The final three candidates are John Davis, Chief of Schools in the City of Baltimore, with three decades of experience in school districts, with demographics, similar to Philadelphia; Trish Mohip, who began his career as a kindergarten teacher in Chicago, rising through the ranks to become principal and eventually chief of schools, and Tony Watlington Sr., superintendent of Rowan-Salisbury Schools in North Carolina.
Many readers of Impacto lament that no Latino cut, that none of the three finalists are native Philadelphians. While the vast majority of teachers are women, it is difficult for women to rise to leadership roles in the public school system, and lastly, none of the three candidates has roots in Philadelphia.
Beyond the concerns expressed by Impacto readers that are legitimate, strong, and supportive leadership skills, with the ability to provide unity and direction in the implementation of goals, with a visible and accessible presence in the schools and communities that can develop rapport with teachers, students, and parents are must-have skills for the new superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia School District can benefit from a leader with excellent and honest communication skills; that is what the community needs and deserves to fulfill its mission.
According to some teachers, students, and parents who interviewed the candidates, they said the new superintendent should be hired to be ready on day one to show experience working with a diverse, primarily low-income student population living in challenging neighborhoods. In addition, they must be sensible, patient, and assertive.
