WE HAD hoped that talk of naming a Latino to replace Daniel Whelan, who is white, on the School Reform Commission would become a reality.
After all, Latino students make up 17 percent of the district's 180,000 students.
And it's a population that is struggling.
Though the fastest-growing population in the city, Latinos have the lowest graduation rate and highest dropout rate - a staggering 50 percent - according to a Johns Hopkins University study.
Instead, Gov. Rendell yesterday nominated Denise McGregor Armbrister, a highly qualified executive who runs the Wachovia Regional Foundation. The foundation helps families in low-income neighborhoods in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Plus Armbrister and her husband, Clarence, have children in the public schools.
