Are Mayor Parker’s school board picks in trouble? Ahead of a Friday Council vote, there’s pushback.

As Philadelphia City Council prepares to consider Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s school board nominees Friday, a backroom battle is underway over the fate of at least two of her picks.

A campaign to reject the nominations of Reginald Streater and Joyce Wilkerson — both sitting school board members, the former and current school board presidents — is underway before hearings begin at 11 a.m., multiple sources confirmed.

A Council source with knowledge of the nomination process said it appeared likely that Wilkerson will not be approved on Friday.

The source, who requested anonymity to discuss private negotiations, said that Streater was facing opposition as well but that it wasn’t clear whether he had the votes for approval. Negotiations were expected to continue through the morning Friday.

Concerns center on Streater and Wilkerson’s track record on charter schools, specifically around Black-led charters, and whether members of Council can work with the pair, who are both Black.

Opponents of Wilkerson and Streater’s nominations appear to have organized a letter-writing campaign, with Council members receiving emails from Philadelphia residents using similar language.

”Their track record demonstrates a disregard for the educational welfare of Black children in our city,” one version of the letter reads. “Streater and Wilkerson’s decisions, such as non-renewing successful charter school decisions and denying charter applications from proven operators, have limited educational opportunities for Black students, pushing them into underperforming and unsafe district schools.”

Naomi Johnson Booker, the CEO of Global Leadership Academy Charter School who has clashed with the current school board, wrote a letter of her own to Council members, saying that Parker’s selection of Wilkerson and Streater “does not align with the Mayor’s vision for a new approach to education oversight that is inclusive of all schools, both traditional public and public charter schools.

”I implore you to stand with our community and vote against the reinstatement of Joyce Wilkerson, Reginald Streater, and other current Board members,” wrote Johnson Booker, whose school is part of the African American Charter School Coalition.

Earlier this month, Parker chose Streater, Wilkerson, Sarah-Ashley Andrews; Chau Wing Lam, Crystal Cubbage, Cheryl Harper, Whitney Jones, Wanda Novales, and Joan Stern for the school board. Their nominations will be accepted or rejected by Council after the hearings.

The Council source said Dawn Chavous, the wife of Council President Kenyatta Johnson, was heavily involved in the effort to defeat Wilkerson and Streater’s nominations through her role with the African American Charter School Coalition.

Chavous, who serves as spokesperson for the coalition, said it has not taken a position on any school board nominations.

“However, I am aware of a broad coalition of people who have concerns about a myriad of issues surrounding the district and nominees,” Chavous said.

Chavous said she has “not spoken to anyone who can infer, imply, or suggest what they should do based on my relationship with the Council President or that I told them what to do based on who I am married to. I am my own person with my own voice, and I do not control anyone on City Council or in the Mayor’s office.”

Chavous served on Parker’s educational nominating panel, which surfaced and approved the 27 candidates from which Parker chose her nine school board members. It is the final nine that Council will be deciding on Friday.

If Council rejected one of Parker’s school board nominees, it would be the most significant instance of discord between the city’s legislative and executive branches since Parker and Johnson took office in January.

Johnson on Thursday said he was waiting until Friday’s hearing before making up his mind about the nominations.

Chavous, he said, is acting independently of him.

”She’s an independent individual, an activist in her own right,” he said, “and myself I’ll listen to the issues and concerns of my colleagues as well as everybody’s testimony tomorrow, and we’ll make our final decision.”

He said that he is committed to working with Parker’s administration regardless of what happens Friday.

”Whatever the outcome is, we’ll continue to work together to move the city of Philadelphia forward,” he said.

Wilkerson attended Thursday’s regular session of Council to discuss her nomination with members ahead of Friday’s hearing.

”We feel strongly that there be continuity. Dr. Watlington is doing some really wonderful work, and it’s hard,” Wilkerson said. “One of the things I found out when I got on the board was that we, the city at large, had allowed public education to collapse. So we’ve had to rebuild public education, and I’m excited about the strategic plan.”

Asked about any opposition to her nomination, Wilkerson said, “We’re one school school district. We have kids in both public and charter,” she said. “We care about quality education from all schools for all kids, so we’re not really engaging around personality issues.”

Streater declined to comment.

Parker, in a statement, said she believed her proposed board “is the best, most diverse group of candidates that we could have assembled, with exceptional credentials, fresh ideas and who share my vision to serve the 197,000 schoolchildren of Philadelphia — whether they be in traditional public schools, charter schools or alternative schools.”

As opponents mobilized, supporters of Wilkerson and Streater were lining up, too.

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan sent letters to council members endorsing their candidacy.

Jordan said he had a “productive working relationship” with both.

“I truly believe that both individuals bring a steadfast commitment to ensuring a system of public education that meets the needs of all of our student,” Jordan wrote. “Both Mr. Streater and Ms. Wilkerson have worked in collaboration with the PFT to further that goal.”

The African American Charter School Coalition first raised concerns about the Philadelphia school board’s charter authorizing and renewal practices in 2020, citing “racism, inequity and biases” as issues that must be fixed.

The school board, under Wilkerson’s leadership, authorized an independent investigation into the bias allegations. That report, released in October, found flaws in transparency and training, but no “intentional acts of racial discrimination or bias” by the board or district charter schools office.

Members of the coalition and its supporters later blasted the board’s characterization and handling of the report, and called for the resignation of members of the school board.