Push is on to add Hispanic to reform panel

Daniel Whelan's five-year term on the Philadelphia School Reform Commission ends after today's regular meeting, and speculation has already reached a boil over who should replace the 61-year-old lawyer.

Sources told the Daily News that Gov. Rendell is being lobbied heavily to appoint a Hispanic in recognition of the growing number of Hispanic students in the district - now about 17 percent.

"You're looking at close to 20 percent of the students who are Latino, so we feel there should be a person who is Latino or Latina representing the interests of the Latino community," said Alfredo Calderon, executive director of ASPIRA, a nonprofit Latino education organization.

Noting that two white and two African-American members will remain on the reform commission, Dolores Shaw, a parent leader of the Eastern Pennsylvania Organizing Project, said: "In order to make it more balanced, we probably do need somebody from the Latino community.

"And there are enough candidates from the nonprofit, for-profit and education worlds to have a pretty good selection," she added.

Whelan, who is white, recently retired as chief executive of Verizon Pennsylvania Inc. He positioned himself as the commission's fiscal and accountability watchdog, often grilling school officials about the cost of programs and for proof that they worked. He declined to be interviewed for this article.

The five-member commission was created to govern the 180,000-student school district following the state's takeover of the system in December 2001. Mayor Street was granted two commission appointments while Republican Gov. Mark Schweiker had three appointments, one of whom was Whelan.

Rendell, a Democrat, will make a decision on filling Whelan's seat within the next three weeks, said Kate Philips, the governor's press secretary.

Sources said names submitted to Rendell include:

* Ana Pujols-McKee, chief medical officer and associate executive director of the Presbyterian Medical Center of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. In May, Rendell appointed McKee to head the state's Patient Safety Authority;

* Nilsa Gonzalez, the recently retired associate superintendent of the district's Office of School Management, now a district consultant overseeing privately managed schools;

* Ivan Lugo, associate dean of the Temple University School of Dentistry and a former president of the Hispanic Dental Association.

City Councilman Juan Ramos said he had submitted Lugo's name because of his strong teaching and fundraising record at Temple.

"As we move along, it would be good for the School Reform Commission to have a Hispanic member," said Ramos, whose brother Pedro was president of the old school board. "It's a way of making sure this population is represented."

Schools chief executive Paul Vallas said he had not been consulted about Whelan's replacement.

"I think the more diversity the better in terms of leadership," he said. "Diversity is a strength in this country, and it's a strength on the commission."

Of Whelan, who voted last year not to renew Vallas' contract, Vallas said: "He deserves our thanks for the service he's provided to the citizens of Philadelphia."

Commission Chairman James Nevels also praised Whelan, noting that both men came from humble beginnings.

"What he brought to the reform commission was a real analytical mind and a compassionate heart, because he knows firsthand how important education is and where it can take you," Nevels said. *