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The SRC has to go

Philadelphia's School Reform Commission outlived its usefulness years ago, so it's disturbing that some candidates to become the city's next mayor haven't grasped that reality.

Gov. Wolf, seen here with students at Kensington Health Sciences Academy, runs city schools through the SRC. MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff
Gov. Wolf, seen here with students at Kensington Health Sciences Academy, runs city schools through the SRC. MICHAEL BRYANT / StaffRead more

Philadelphia's School Reform Commission outlived its usefulness years ago, so it's disturbing that some candidates to become the city's next mayor haven't grasped that reality.

The SRC was created in a state takeover of Philadelphia schools in December 2001 with only two goals: get the School District's finances in order and improve students' academic performance. Fourteen years later, it has failed miserably in both regards, though some of its past and current members do deserve an A for effort.

Despite the SRC's dismal record and scant evidence that it could do better given more time, two of the Democratic respondents to the Editorial Board questions presented on the op-ed page still believe in the hybrid school board.

Jim Kenney says dissolving the SRC would give the legislature "an excuse to continue inappropriately funding our schools." Doug Oliver says the SRC would improve with more local accountability by giving the mayor three appointments to the commission instead of two, and the governor two appointments instead of three.

Democrats Lynne Abraham, Nelson Diaz, and Anthony Williams, along with Republican candidate Melissa Murray Bailey, all want to end the SRC, but they differ on whether it should be replaced by an elected, appointed, or combination school board.

Since Gov. Wolf has said he also wants to restore local control of the schools, the road to that future appears to be at least partially paved. But it would be counterproductive to rush to install a new governing body that would be no better equipped than the SRC to correct the School District's financial and academic condition. The next mayor, the governor, City Council, and others must take time to figure out what should replace the SRC.

There is no magic formula to guide them. A study released in December by the independent group Research for Action found no conclusive evidence to prefer an appointed board to an elected one or vice versa. Poor voter turnout can lead to disappointing choices for an elected board, while appointed board members may show more allegiance to whoever appointed them than to the general public.

Whether appointed or elected, however, control of Philadelphia schools should rest with Philadelphians. That wouldn't absolve Harrisburg of its responsibility to adequately fund not just this city's public schools, but the entire state's. But it would end a state takeover that was supposed to ensure adequate school funding and hasn't.

Local control would also put more pressure on local leaders to stop wrapping bandages around the School District's fiscal wounds every year and then acting as if they have performed major surgery.