School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington Sr. — Tribune Photo/Abdul R. Sulayman
Tony Watlington Sr. in the School District of Philadelphia headquarters.
In his first 100 days, new School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington Sr. wants to hear from as many Philadelphians as he can.
“I’m a collaborative and results-oriented leader,” Watlington said. “We can’t do the work unless we engage our community as equal partners.
“During my first 100 days on the job, I will engage in strategic, thoughtful and equity-focused conversations and actions to identify what is currently being done well and what needs improvement,” he added. “I want to build those relationships with the community.”
Watlington, who took his new post on Thursday, replaces William Hite Jr., who served the district for a decade. He is the first superintendent selected by a local school board since David Hornbeck in the 1990s.
Watlington’s 100-day plan will have him participating in more than 80 listening and learning sessions to get to know Philadelphia parents, students, community members, teachers and public officials.
He held a similar tour in his early days as superintendent of Rowan-Salisbury Schools in Rowan County, North Carolina. The school district is the only Renewal School District in North Carolina, which operates similar to a charter school in terms of flexibility around budgeting, staffing, curriculum, and the calendar.
Watlington’s listening sessions will focus on five priority areas including student and staff well-being; engaging stakeholders and building trust; teaching and learning; assessing district leadership capacity and alignment; and assessing district operations, facilities and finances.
“The five priority areas will reflect the goals and guardrails that are the beginning of a long and collaborative journey toward excellence,” Watlington said. “This process will result in a report with the findings and recommendations that will help guide our work together.”
Community members will be able to track and monitor Watlington’s progress over the next 100 days at www.philasd.org/100days. They will also be able to access a survey to share feedback and register for the listening and learning sessions.
A native of nearby Willingboro, New Jersey, Watlington comes to Philadelphia by way of North Carolina.
Watlington, 52, has 27 years of educational experience that includes working as a bus driver, a custodian, a high school history teacher, and an elementary and high school principal.
In Philadelphia, he will oversee 198,645 students in one of the 20 largest districts in the country.
Watlington is taking over a school district with many challenges, including outdated school buildings, environmental health and safety issues such as asbestos and lead in buildings, and an unprecedented teacher turnover due to the pandemic.
In April, district officials said they will need to hire at least 900 teachers for the upcoming school year.
Watlington told The Philadelphia Tribune that he understands the depth of the teacher recruitment issue, an issue that has gone beyond the state’s largest city. Approximately 55% of teachers have said they are ready to leave education because of the pandemic, according to a National Education Association poll conducted in January. About 90% of teachers say that feeling burned out is a serious problem and 80% report that unfilled job openings have led to more work obligations for those left.
“The School District of Philadelphia already has efforts in place to recruit more teachers, but I think it will be important to expand our footprint,” Watlington said. “We need aggressive recruitment at HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) and other public and private institutions across the country.
“Once we recruit teachers, we have to support and develop them with professional development,” he added. “If we provide really good support, onboarding and professional learning, I think we can recruit and retain more teachers.”
Watlington said he’s already spent a significant time reviewing the Board of Education’s goals and guardrails and the district finances.
He’s visited several schools and has met with lawmakers, students, and a few principals and teachers. However, he’s really excited to meet with families.
“I want families to know I’m accessible and will be very visible in the community,” Watlington said.
“I want to really hear your voices because we want to take that feedback and have it shape the direction of the district in terms of findings and recommendations,” he added. “I want to work with you to set up the success for our students and educators for years to come.”
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) speaks to reporters Thursday following a hearing of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
— Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s closest advisers viewed his last-ditch efforts pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to halt congressional certification of his 2020 election defeat as “nuts,” “crazy” and even likely to incite riots if Pence followed through, witnesses revealed in stark testimony to the Jan. 6 committee on Thursday.
Gripping new evidence disclosed Trump’s heated conversation deriding Pence with vulgar names on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, before the defeated president took the stage at a rally near the White House. From there, he sent his supporters to the Capitol to “fight like hell” as the vice president was to preside over a joint session.
The panel highlighted the physical danger to Pence as rioters came within 40 feet of the place at the Capitol where he and others had been evacuated. Never-before-shown photos showed Pence and his team sheltering.
“He deserves to be burned with the rest of them,” one rioter is heard saying on video as the mob prepares to storm the iconic building.
“Pence betrayed us,” says another rioter, wearing a Make America Great Again hat in a selfie video inside the Capitol.
Pence’s counsel Greg Jacob testified that he could “hear the din” of the rioters nearby. Asked if Trump ever checked on Pence during the siege, Jacob said: “He did not.”
With live testimony and other evidence from its yearlong investigation, the panel opened its third hearing this month aiming to demonstrate that Trump’s repeated false claims of election fraud and desperate attempt to stay in power led directly to the Capitol insurrection.
All told, the committee is pulling together a dark portrait of the end of Trump’s presidency as the defeated Republican was left grasping for alternatives as courts turned back dozens of lawsuits challenging the vote.
Trump latched onto conservative law professor John Eastman’s obscure plan to defy historical precedent of the Electoral Count Act and reverse Joe Biden’s victory. In public and private, Trump waged a pressure campaign that put his vice president in danger as he was to preside over the joint session of Congress to certify the election.
Trump aides and allies warned bluntly in private about his efforts, even as some publicly continued to stand by the president’s false claims of election fraud. Nine people died in the insurrection and its aftermath.
“Are you out of your effing mind?” Eric Herschmann, a lawyer advising Trump, told Eastman in recorded testimony shown at the hearing.
“You’re going to turn around and tell 78-plus million people in this country that your theory is this is how you’re going to invalidate their votes?” Herschmann said. He warned: “You’re going to cause riots in the streets.”
A text message from Fox News’ Sean Hannity to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows about the plan in the run-up to Jan. 6 read: “I’m very worried about the next 48 hours.”
Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller said those around Trump called the plan “crazy.”
The committee has said the plan was illegal, and a federal judge has said “more likely than not” Trump committed crimes in his attempt to stop the certification.
In a social media post Thursday, Trump decried the hearings anew as a “witch hunt,” lambasted coverage by “the Fake News Networks” and exclaimed, “I DEMAND EQUAL TIME!!!”
On Capitol Hill, panel Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., cited Pence’s own words that there was “almost no idea more un-American” than the one he was being asked to follow — reject Americans’ votes.
By refusing Trump’s demands, Pence “did his duty,” said the panel’s vice chair, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
The panel heard from Jacob, the vice president’s counsel who fended off Eastman’s ideas for Pence, and retired federal judge Michael Luttig, who called the plan from Eastman, his former law clerk, “incorrect at every turn.”
Jacob said it became clear to Pence from the start that the founding fathers did not intend to empower any one person, including someone running for office, to affect the election result.
Pence “never budged,” from that initial view, and was determined to stay at the Capitol that night and finish the job, despite the threats, Jacob said.
Luttig, a conservative scholar, said in a halting voice but firm terms that had Pence obeyed Trump’s orders, declaring “Trump as the next president would have plunged America into what I believe would have been tantamount to a revolution within a constitutional crisis in America.”
Thursday’s session presented new evidence about the danger Pence faced as rioters chanted “Hang Mike Pence” with a makeshift gallows outside the Capitol as the vice president fled with senators into hiding.
The president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, testified about the “heated” phone call he had with Pence that morning, as the family joined in the Oval Office. Another aide, Nicholas Luna, said he heard Trump call Pence a “wimp.”
In another development Thursday, Thompson said the panel will ask Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, for an interview amid disclosures of the conservative activist’s communications with people in Trump’s orbit ahead of the attack. He did not specify a schedule for that.
“It’s time for her to come talk,” Thompson told reporters.
The panel’s yearlong investigation is showcasing Trump’s final weeks in office as the defeated president clung to “the big lie” of a rigged election even as those around him — his family, his top aides, officials at the highest levels of government — were telling him he simply had lost.
With 1,000 interviews and some 140,000 documents, the committee is showing how Trump’s false claims of election fraud became a battle cry as he summoned thousands of Americans to Washington and then Capitol Hill.
Thursday’s hearing unpacked the Eastman plan to have the states send alternative slates of electors from states Trump was disputing, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. With competing slates for Trump or Biden, Pence would be forced to reject them, returning them to the states to sort it out, under the plan.
More than 800 people have been arrested in the Capitol siege, including members of extremist groups facing rare sedition charges over their roles in the Capitol attack.
The panel is considering whether to send a referral for criminal charges against Trump to the Justice Department. No president or former president has ever been indicted by the Justice Department, and Attorney General Merrick Garland has said he and his team are following the proceedings in Congress.
Several members of Congress are also under scrutiny, and the panel is also probing several candidates for elected office who were among the rioters.
The panel, which is expected to deliver a final report on its findings later this year, intends for its work to be a record for history of the most violent attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812.
FILE — Serena Williams plays a return to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in a women’s singles first round match on day two of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Tuesday June 29, 2021. Serena Williams is going to play at Wimbledon this year, after all. The All England Club announced via Twitter on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, that Williams was awarded a wild-card entry for singles. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
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Serena Williams plans to play at Wimbledon
Many homeowners in Black neighborhoods who were facing disproportionately higher property tax bills under the city’s new reassessment plan would get property tax relief under a compromise reached by Mayor Jim Kenney and City Council.
The compromise reached Wednesday night would also provide wage and business tax relief to small businesses hurt by the pandemic.
The Tribune reported in May that the assessments for some properties in Black neighborhoods would roughly double, a much sharper increase than the average of 31% reported by the mayor.
The 17-member council unanimously approved a $5.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2023 that will result in lower property taxes for many residents. Seniors on fixed incomes could save an average of as much as $1,119 on next year’s tax bill.
The budget received its first reading Thursday and is scheduled for a final vote on June 23. The fiscal year starts July 1.
“This is the first time I observed that council voted to lower real estate taxes and address small businesses by lowering wage and business taxes,” Councilmember Derek S. Green said. “It was a compromise on a lot of different things.”
Small businesses, many of which were devastated by the pandemic, desperately needed relief, he said.
Kenney released a statement on Twitter: “I want to thank all members of City Council, under the leadership of Council President Darrell L. Clarke, for their partnership and collaboration in finalizing the Fiscal Year 2023 Operating and Capital Budgets. I look forward to its final passage.”
In May, a review of the city’s reassessment by City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart found that the largest percentage tax increases were concentrated in neighborhoods in North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia and South Philadelphia, which have large concentrations of Black, brown and fixed-income residents.
At the time, Kenney said the average residential property value in the city increased by 31%, under the reassessment, the first in three years. Tax bills are due March 23, 2023.
The Tribune reported that residents in some of those areas would face property tax bills double what they paid in the previous year.
On May 30, Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson introduced a tax plan called Save Our Homes that would increase the Homestead Exemption to $90,000 from $45,000, expand the Longtime Owner Occupant Program (LOOP) and make more people eligible for it. The plan also sought $12 million for the city’s rental assistance program because many landlords would increase rents as a result of the reassessment.
In the compromise budget, Johnson got most of what he wanted.
“The package focused on making sure that people facing (increased) property taxes would receive tax relief,” Johnson said. “I’m pretty excited about it because my priority was making sure that no one loses their home.”
In the budget, the Homestead Exemption was increased to $80,000 from $45,000 and the LOOP budget was increased to $35.2 million, up from $30 million. The criteria for the Longtime Owner Occupant Program were expanded, Johnson said.
Meanwhile, the wage tax on residents would drop to 3.79%, down from 3.83%, and the wage tax on commuters would lower to 3.44%, down from 3.448%.
The net income part of the city’s Business Income and Receipts Tax (BIRT) would decrease to to 5.99% from the current 6.2%.
The budget would also allocate $184 million for violence prevention programs.
Other budget items include $2.5 million to keep gyms and recreation center open on weekends, $2 million to address street dumping, $5 million for the crime forensic lab, $1.8 million for security cameras near schools, $500,000 for the office of victims advocate and $250,00 for police recruitment.
Top row, from left: Cindy Bass, Rebecca Rhynhart, Derek Green, Helen Gym.
Bottom row, from left: Cherelle Parker, Jeff Brown, Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, Allan Domb.
If the field of potential candidates holds steady, the race for Philly’s next mayor is going to be an adventure.
While none of the likely contenders has officially launched a campaign, several confirmed to BILLY PENN they’re eyeing a run in 2023.
Seven of the possible candidates are currently elected officials, and would have to resign to pursue the Democratic nomination. Because of the city’s 7-to-1 Democrat to Republican voter registration imbalance, the contest is likely to be decided in the primary.
The resign-to-run announcements are expected to begin soon — potentially this month.
Political observers say they could start dropping after the city finalizes the 2023 budget, which it plans to do on June 23. Getting an early start would allow campaigns to fundraise heartily in 2022 without affecting contribution limits for 2023.
Only one widely-rumored contender isn’t an elected official: local grocery store mogul Jeff Brown. He hasn’t officially announced his run for mayor yet either, but has been included in the buzz for nearly a year and a half.
Here’s a bit about each of the potential candidates, presented in alphabetical order by first name.
Allan Domb
Domb confirmed to BILLY PENN he’s thinking about a potential mayoral run.
The at-large councilmember, now 67, was first elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. Before seeking public office, he spent decades building a huge real estate portfolio in Philadelphia and still owns dozens of properties. He’s also an investor in Stephen Starr restaurants.
In Council, he’s been a key figure in the city’s fiscal issues. He campaigned on a promise to collect taxes from out-of-state property owners and use the money to fund city schools. He also has worked on legislation to relieve low-income Philadelphians from wage tax burdens.
During the height of the pandemic, Domb publicly advocated for setting up an early mass COVID vaccination clinic at Lincoln Financial Field. He worked with the Eagles to secure permission, and criticized the current administration for declining to accept the offer.
“Philadelphia is clearly in a moment of crisis and at an inflection point. Unfortunately, the city lacks both direction and leadership,” Domb said this week in a statement.
“I’m exploring the opportunity to be the city’s next leader and have been very encouraged by many Philadelphians who believe I can be the type of candidate and mayor who can focus on what’s most important — public safety, inclusive job growth, and supporting neighborhoods in every corner of the city — and bring about real change that lifts people out of poverty.”
Domb’s campaign committee started 2022 with about $299,000 cash on hand, according to public records.
Cherelle ParkerCurrent majority leader on City Council, Parker represents the 9th District, which covers parts of Northwest and North Philly.
Parker, 49, was elected in 2015, replacing retiring Councilmember Marian Tasco, whose endorsement she won. She is a member of the Northwest Coalition, the Tasco-founded group of influential African-American pols who hold sway in one of the city’s highest turnout sections. Mayor Jim Kenney has been a past supporter of Parker’s.
She is also board chair for the Delaware River Port Authority — the bi-state organization that oversees Pennsylvania and New Jersey’s four river-spanning bridges and the PATCO Speedline. Before joining Council, Parker was a state representative for Pennsylvania’s 200th District.
On Council, her policy initiatives have been focused on assisting Philadelphia homeowners and working class residents.
Parker did not respond to BILLY PENN’s request for comment regarding a mayoral run.
Her campaign committee started 2022 with about $218,000 cash on hand, according to public records.
Cindy BassBass, councilmember for District 8 in Northwest Philadelphia, has been mentioned by some as a potential candidate, though her name has been left out of some of the roundups of mayoral contenders so far.
Political observers say Bass, 54, is less likely than some others to resign her seat to run.
She took office in 2012, and has focused largely on neighborhood issues. Recently, she’s been in the spotlight for development matters, including a moratorium on demolition in her district and allegations by a Germantown group that she abused her power in a meeting to discuss the future of the long-vacant Germantown YWCA building.
Asked about her potential candidacy, Bass told BILLY PENN: “I have no comment at the moment, other than I have not made a decision. In the meantime, it is my honor and privilege to serve the constituents of the 8th District.”
In 2021 fundraising, Bass lagged far behind others on this list. Her cash on hand at the end of the year was a bit over $45,000.
Derek GreenGreen is an at-large councilmember first elected in 2015, when he received more votes than any other at-large candidate. Like Parker, the 51-year-old is also a member of the Northwest Coalition.
Before being elected, Green, a lawyer, was special counsel to Tasco when she was District 9 councilmember. He previously served as a deputy city solicitor in the city’s Law Department, and he is of counsel (a practicing non-partner) at Philadelphia law firm Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel.
Asked if he’s planning to announce his mayoral campaign soon, Green responded that he’s currently focused on getting the city budget passed.
Other priorities he noted are addressing violent crime, which he called “an all-out crisis affecting every neighborhood,” and focusing on the city’s public school system. “I look forward to leading the city in the future,” he added.
Green’s campaign committee started 2022 with about $207,000 cash on hand, according to public records.
Helen GymAn at-large councilmember, Gym was first elected in 2015. When re-elected in 2019 she got more votes than any other council member on the ballot — stoking rumbles about her mayoral potential.
A former teacher, the 54-year-old councilmember got into city politics organizing around Philadelphia public schools — she co-founded Parents United for Public Education — and as an advocate for immigrant rights. She is also co-chair of the board at Local Progress, a network of progressive municipal leaders across the U.S.
She doesn’t appear ready to drop any hints about ambitions for higher office.
“Helen remains focused on delivering meaningful change for Philadelphia’s students, school communities and working families through City Council,” a spokesperson told BILLY PENN.
“Right now, that means ensuring the city’s budget delivers necessary investments for young people and long-neglected public spaces, and she’ll continue to champion legislation that makes Philadelphia a safer, more equitable and more accessible city.”
Gym’s campaign committee started 2022 with about $327,000 cash on hand, according to public records.
Jeff BrownBrown, 58, is the president and CEO of Brown’s Super Stores, owner of a dozen ShopRite and Fresh Grocer stores in Philadelphia. His name has been circulating in talks about the mayoral race since January 2021.
He made political headlines in Kenney’s first term for his outspoken opposition to the soda tax, and has recently stepped up his social media game, offering unsolicited statements on public issues and current events.
Observers say he’s likely ahead of the others in organizing his run because he doesn’t have to resign from any public office, and because he has plenty of money to help kickstart the campaign.
Philly Progress PAC, a political action committee with ties to Brown, brought in $934,000 last year, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, but a consultant for the group denied that it was raising money for Brown’s campaign.
Brown did not respond to BILLY PENN’s request for comment.
Maria Quiñones-SánchezQuiñones-Sánchez has been councilmember for District 7, which includes parts of lower Northeast Philly and North Philadelphia around Kensington, since 2008. She hasn’t had Democratic Party backing in any of her four City Council campaigns, and she often publicly butts heads with party leaders.
Quiñones-Sánchez, 53, has described herself as a pragmatic progressive. She championed a bill to expand protections for domestic workers, and she is an outspoken opponent of the soda tax, which she has said disproportionately burdens working-class people with lower incomes.
Late last year, the councilmember opened up about her experience fighting breast cancer — she underwent a mastectomy in August, followed by preventive chemotherapy and radiation treatment, all while continuing her duties on City Council. She kept her diagnosis quiet at first, but later chose to share it in hopes it would motivate other women to get regular screenings.
Rumors have been circulating that Quiñones-Sánchez is planning to launch her campaign imminently, which would mean she’d resign from Council.
Through an assistant, she declined to comment for this story.
Her campaign committee started 2022 with $182,000 cash on hand, according to public records.
Rebecca RhynhartRhynhart, who is 47, confirmed to BILLY PENN she’s considering a mayoral candidacy.
The former Bear Stearns financial analyst was budget director and treasurer under Mayor Michael Nutter and chief administrative officer under Kenney. She beat a three-term incumbent in 2017 to be elected Philadelphia city controller, the fiscal watchdog that audits the city and the school district.
She coasted to re-election in 2021 with no opponents from either party, but continued to fundraise anyway, building up a hearty campaign nest egg.
One of her first steps in office was to create a new phone line for municipal workers to confidentially discuss their past experiences with reporting sexual misconduct. In her first annual audit, she called out Philadelphia’s weak internal controls over financial management, leading to $924 million in accounting arrears and $33 million in missing funds.
“As City Controller, I’ve taken on the political status quo that has too often failed our residents — as my office has pushed to make city government work. We all can see not only the many challenges facing Philadelphia, but also its promise,” Rhynhart said.
“I’m considering a run for mayor because I love this city and want to have the biggest impact I can possibly have — to move us forward, together.”
Her campaign committee started 2022 with nearly $769,000 cash on hand, according to public records.
