1980 College graduate Andy Toy, who served on the nominating panel for the recently announced Philadelphia Board of Education, reflected on the importance of public education and the considerations that shaped the panel's selection.
On April 1, 2016 Fels Institute of Government Graduate and Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker named nine members — including three Penn alumni — to the Philadelphia Board of Education. Parker chose the board members from a list of finalists submitted by the 13-member Educational Nominating Panel, which met throughout February and March to recommend 27 names.
In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Toy discussed his career trajectory in Philadelphia, the board’s nomination process, and Parker’s final selection.
At Penn, Toy earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in economics. Since then, he has been involved in a variety of organizations dedicated to Philadelphia public policy. This includes serving as a commissioner on both the Mayor's Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs and the Philadelphia Zoning Code Commission. Currently, Toy works as policy director at the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations.
Toy has also been heavily involved in Philadelphia education. Before serving on the Education Nominating Panel, Toy co-founded the Philadelphia Public Giving Circle — a fund dedicated to providing grants in support of the city's public schools — and served on the Philadelphia Public School Notebook, a nonprofit news service on Philadelphia education.
“I believe in education as an equalizer among people,” Toy said. “The importance of having a good education cannot be underestimated.”
For Toy, serving on the Education Nominating Panel was particularly important because of his many personal ties to Philadelphia public schools.
“It was an honor to be chosen as someone that’s been involved in education over some years,” Toy said. “I’m a public school graduate, my children both went to public schools in Philadelphia, and my mom was a public school teacher in Philadelphia for 35 plus years.”
Through the nominating process, Toy said that the Nominating Panel conducted over 60 interviews and ended up choosing 27 finalists from 121 applicants. From this list, Parker ultimately chose 13 individuals to serve four-year terms on the Board of Education, beginning on May 1. The nominations consisted of four current board members and five new members.
“It was a hard process,” Toy said. “[We] met some really, really great people who are deeply committed to education in Philadelphia who had a lot of skills and talent.”
According to Toy, the Nominating Panel was looking for individuals with a deep dedication to education and the ability to put significant time toward serving on the Board of Education.
“It’s a very large time commitment,” Toy said. “Most of them understood, but I think some didn’t really understand how much of a commitment until they really got into the interview process.”
Toy also emphasized that the nominating panel was looking for candidates with diverse skills and experiences, both in education and other fields.
“Schools are a huge undertaking beyond just the teaching part,” he said. “It’s a very large operation so we were really looking to make sure there was diversity there too.”
Three of the selected members — 2012 Wharton and School of Social Policy graduate Chau Wing Lam, 1973 College graduate Joyce Wilkerson, and 1972 College graduate Joan Stern — are Penn alumni. Toy praised all three as “great candidates” and noted that each was very different in “backgrounds, age, and what they bring to the table.”
Toy expressed hope that the new Board would work to expand the resources available to the Philadelphia school system. Recently, the Philadelphia School District was projected to run a $407 million deficit for the upcoming school year. Toy emphasized that the Board would have to work to gain the trust of Philadelphia residents.
“Part of the Board’s role is to really make sure that in their governance, people have confidence in what’s going on,” he said. “It’s a hard job.”
While recognizing Penn’s support for West Philadelphia schools, Toy also encouraged Penn to extend its support for local education beyond West Philadelphia.
“I think there are opportunities to support more schools across the city, not just in your backyard,” he said.
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