Gov. Wolf Should Pick the Side of Students

Originally published in The Philadelphia Citizen

All students—regardless of their race, sex, or birthplace—deserve the opportunity to succeed. They deserve education choices. But school boards—and most recently, Gov. Tom Wolf— sideline our children’s needs, their wants.

Fifteen years ago, my colleagues and I co-founded Boys’ Latin, a Philadelphia charter school that empowers hundreds of underserved Black boys to challenge low societal expectations and master an old yet academically rewarding language.

Yet, in 2015, when we applied to open Girls’ Latin—the Philadelphia School District said no. The district didn’t consider that the predecessor sends more Black boys to college than any other school in Philadelphia and has a long waiting list of students. Instead, the district’s Board of Education met us with endless, nitpicky rules.

Read more in The Philadelphia Citizen