The mayor of Philadelphia has named 13 people to help pick a new board that will run the city's public school system, which the city is taking over again after 16 years of state oversight.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the panel includes parents and educators as well as activists and one former member of the School Reform Commission.

The committee will consider applicants and nominees and present Mayor Jim Kenney with a list of 27 nominees for the nine seats by the end of February. He is to announce appointments in March.

The School Reform Commission was created in 2001 as a temporary form of governance for the school system. It voted late last year to dissolve itself and return the school district to local control.