Dear SRC Chairwoman Sandra Dungee Glenn,
We who live in the northwest community decry the recent
closing of the Ada Lewis Middle School. It is unjustified and, worse,
shortsighted.
Rudnick at SNAP meeting, Awbury Recreation Center
Photo courtesy of Rev. Jesse Brown
Our neighborhood schools are what make us a community. Earlier this year, on behalf of the Philadelphia Water Department, I delivered part of a training workshop on wetlands for Ada Lewis teachers at the Awbury Arboretum, across the street from school. I am saddened that these dedicated teachers, who have likely been reassigned, will not be able to share their knowledge and enthusiasm for the environment in the Ada Lewis and Awbury community.
While no organization or governing body, like the Reform
Commission, can be expected to engineer its own obsolescence or demise, I urge you,
nonetheless, to exercise your vision to move the
School District
back toward local control, with dedicated representation by our home and school associations. And the path back to a wholesome public education system entails, I believe, eliminating for-profit vendors, keeping neighborhood schools open and, for us in the Northwest community, the expeditious reopening of our
Ada
Lewis
School
.
I look forward to your considered response and that of Democratic Mayoral Nominee Michael Nutter with whom I personally share both having a daughter in the public school system and a dedication to the future of Philadelphia Public Schools.
Sincerely,
/s/
Brian Rudnick
Green Party Candidate,
Philadelphia
City Council, 8th District
NEHS, Class of 1971
C: Arenda Bethel, President,
Ada
Lewis HSA
Michael Nutter, Mayoral Nominee
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