At SRC meeting, talks turn to contract transparency

Yesterday’s School Reform Commission meeting began not long after new member Wendell Pritchett was named interim chair and Pa. Gov. Tom Corbett announced plans to make nominee Pedro Ramos the chair once the Senate approve him.

Pritchett joined others in calling for more transparency around district contracts with outside providers of goods and services, as the Notebook points out, there did seem to be some movement on that at the meeting.

School District of Philadelphia CFO Michael Masch gave an analysis of 117 pages worth of contract details, and he and Commissioner Joseph Dworetzky agreed the norm for contracts should include a competitive bidding process, with Dworetzky asking the district to spell out why certain contracts aren’t the result of competitive bidding.