Governor fires Chairman of School Reform Commission following charter approvals

On Monday, Governor Tom Wolf will officially fire Chairman of the School Reform Commission Bill Green. The decision comes after the SRC approved applications for five new charter schools. Wolf had urged Green to deny all applications. 

Meanwhile, Green’s replacement, Marjorie Neff, a fellow member of the SRC, did not vote to approve any new charters.

Green, a former City Councilman, was nominated to lead the SRC last year by former Republican Governor Tom Corbett. The SRC is the five-member body that oversees the Philadelphia School District. The governor is charged with choosing three members of the SRC and selecting the chair. Philadelphia’s mayor picks the other two members.

In a statement released Sunday night, Green said he will fight Wolf’s decision in the Commonwealth Court.

"I hold the office of chair and the office of commissioner; there is no vacancy in the chair and no legal basis for another commissioner to be named chair," he said.

Green claimed that state law prevents the removal of SRC chair except for “misfeasance and malfeasance.”

Wolf’s decision, Green said, contradicts the SRC statute that keeps commissioners “free from political repercussions from their actions while in office.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that “the move could throw the commission into turmoil” as the SRC moves to approve a budget for the 2015-16 school year.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.