Bill Green to Lead School Reform Commission?
The Daily News reports that at-large City Councilman Bill Green is trying to sell Republicans in Harrisburg on his candidacy to lead the School Reform Commission, now that chairman Pedro Ramos is leaving.
Green met yesterday in Harrisburg with state Rep. John Taylor, the new chairman of Philadelphia’s Republican Party. Green and Taylor confirmed the meeting but declined to comment further when asked if they discussed the SRC post. “I talked to John and lots of other people,” said Green, who clammed up when asked if that list included Charles Zogby. Zogby is Corbett’s budget secretary and was education secretary for then-Gov. Tom Ridge when the SRC was created in 2001.
Green is sort of a reformy guy, so if Tom Corbett is going to appoint any elected Democratic Philadelphia politician to lead the SRC, Green is a good bet. That said, he’s also seen by many as the sort of reformy guy who could succeed Michael Nutter in the mayor’s office. Anyways, if he goes to 400 N. Broad, kiss one more of our very few viable mayoral candidates goodbye.
Update: Patrick Kerkstra points out on Twitter that a plum SRC gig could enhance Bill Green’s shot at the mayor’s office by undercutting frontrunner Tony Williams on his key issue: Education reform. My caveat would be that if Green wants to be SRC chairman and mayor, he’d have to start campaigning about one year into the new gig, which might not sit well with Dr. Hite and co. Besides, it remains to be seen how valuable Green and Williams’s reform platforms are given the acrimony towards that brand of education policy in Philadelphia right now.
