|
REPRINTED FROM THENEXTMAYOR.COMApril 12, 2007 press release, (submitted via e-mail) |
PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, April 12th, 2007 CONTACT: Tim Spreitzer
Office: 215/253-4965
Cell: 215/514-0170
“With yesterday’s announcement by CEO Paul Vallas that this will be his last year as head of the Philadelphia School District, I would like to join Philadelphia in thanking him for his five years of yeoman’s-like service to this City. No one can dispute the fact that Paul faced what some consider a Sisyphean task with unparalleled energy, focus and determination. There can also be no debate that his leadership produced results: we have now seen five years of test score growth, unprecedented levels of quality parental choice, and reduced levels of violence in most schools.
While we have come a long way these past five years, we still have a long way to go. Our class sizes are too large, we do not invest enough in early childhood education, our classrooms are outdated, too many of our children are dropping out of school, and too many of our schools need better safety measures. Of Paul’s many accomplishments, though, perhaps the greatest is his demonstration that with the right investments, all of our children can achieve. The task of the next CEO of the District will be to continue the programs and initiatives that have directly lead to increased student achievement these past five years; the task of us all is to give the next CEO the full complement of city, state and federal resources he or she needs to accomplish this task.
With that in mind, I believe that the search for a new CEO must extend beyond the five members of the School Reform Commission. I believe that we need a blue ribbon task force comprised of the leading voices for school improvement in Philadelphia to come together and define what we are looking for in a new CEO. I will be proud to assist in this process and offer the full resources of my office to gather as much community input and empowerment as is possible in selecting our next CEO. I look forward to meeting the challenges ahead and am confident that we will succeed in helping our children meet the highest of expectations we have set for them.”
Dwight Evans for Mayor
1500 Walnut St., Suite 501, Philadelphia, PA 19102•215-875 2570•www.evansformayor.com
Paid for by Friends for Dwight Evans. B. Callands, Treasurer