Not quite 12 months in yet as head of Philly public schools, Tony Watlington is Pressing Forward

Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity recently hosted Philadelphia Public School District Superintendent for a meeting with members of the Black Clergy at the Blue Brook Restaurant and catering facility on Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia.

- Thera Martin

This will be the second time Dr. Tony B. Watlington, Sr., has come out for a meeting with the Clergy organization.

For those who do not know the history, the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity, was founded in 1983, the year there was a major public school teacher strike in Philadelphia. African-American ministers were fed-up with seeing our children not being in school, and they organized and got involved. Ultimately, all parties returned to the bargaining table; and the strike was resolved. From then until now, the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity have kept a close eye on all developments related to the education of our youth in Philadelphia and surrounding suburbs.

In March of this year, Dr. Watlington came and spent over two hours with Black Clergy members, sharing a progress report on Philadelphia public schools and the work that he and his team have been doing. He also answered questions. My first in-person take on Dr. Watlington--I must say, was a good one. He came off as sincere and truly, committed to making Philadelphia public schools better for our children.

Below is some of what he shared.

“Parent and community engagement is so important,” said Dr. Tony Watlington, Philadelphia Public Schools Superintendent. “One of the reasons that’s so important is: I’m asking the team, principals, teachers, and my staff, what we need to do differently to engage as partners with our parents and communities. Too often, we go off--and try to do the work in schools, and we don’t bring parents together as equal partners. Here’s how you can tell. "If you say, what do school principals and school staff spend their budgets on? And then you ask the question, what do parents think about it? And, we say we don’t know because we haven’t asked them, then we’re not working as equal partners.