Lawmakers Want To Reinstate Safe Schools Advocate In Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Two Philadelphia state legislators plan to introduce a bill that would restore the position of the Philadelphia Safe Schools Advocate.
The Safe Schools Advocate served as a watchdog over Philadelphia schools, helping victims of violence and making sure the district complied with reporting requirements -- that is, until 2009, when the position was axed by the Rendell Administration. Now, Philadelphia state representatives John Taylor (pictured, left), a Republican, and Bill Keller (pictured, right), a Democrat, are introducing legislation to bring the position back.
Taylor said the victims of school violence need someone to stand up for them, "Victims of crime in the schools don't have an advocate the same way that the perpetrators of the crime do."
Taylor said the bill would move the Advocate's office out of the state education department and into the state Commission on Crime and Delinquency, "We do think that the Department of Education in the past interfered a little too much with the dealings of the Safe Schools Advocate in terms of its criticism of the School District of Philadelphia. And we want him to be as independent as possible."
Reported by Mike DeNardo, KYW Newsradio 1060
