Accountability from the Ground Up: Uncovering the Limitations and Possibilities of Organizing for Community Schools in Philadelphia.

This article examines the evolution of community schools in Philadelphia from a grassroots education justice movement to a formal initiative led by the Mayor's Office of Education (MOE) between 2014 and 2017. It highlights the Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools' (PCAPS) organizing efforts, including the creation of a Task Force (TF) and the Ambassador Program (AP), which aimed to center community-driven governance and accountability in public education as an alternative to neoliberal reforms characterized by austerity, school closures, and privatization. The study contrasts two models of community schools: a transformative, community-led approach emphasizing shared power and decision-making, and a service-provider model adopted by the MOE that focused on integrating external services without altering governance structures. Findings underscore the importance of developing clear accountability mechanisms grounded in transparency, representation, and power-sharing to sustain community control and transformative education reform, offering insights for similar movements in other urban contexts.