Ballot question #1 asks if voters want SRC gone

Could there be a move toward abolishing the School Reform Commission (SRC)? The state body replaced the School District of Philadelphia’s School Board in 2001 due to financial and performance issues.

Now, ballot question number one asks voters whether they think the city should call on Gov. Tom Wolf and state legislators to return local control of Philadelphia’s schools.

Gov. Wolf did not respond to a request for comment on how he would respond if the ballot question is approved.

But during his election campaign last year, Wolf said he supported removing the SRC and replacing it with an elected school board.

Democratic candidates for mayor Lynne Abraham and Nelson Diaz support abolishing the SRC. Jim Kenney and Anthony Williams have supported reforming it before dissolving it, and Doug Oliver said it could remain if reformed into a regulatory body.

The SRC is staffed by five members, two picked by the mayor of Philadelphia, three appointed by the governor.

Wolf demoted former chairman Bill Green after Green ignored Wolf’s orders to not approve any new charter schools at a February SRC meeting. Green remains a member, but former public school principal Marjorie Neff is now the chairwoman.

The SRC is tasked with handling how to spend the School District’s $3 billion budget.