Among city leaders, little movement on calls for school aid increase
by thenotebook on Jul 27 2013 Posted in Latest news
by Patrick Kerkstra
We’ve done our part. And then some. Now it’s somebody else’s turn.
That seems to be the prevailing view of Philadelphia’s City Council members on the school funding crisis.
Two years ago, City Council swallowed hard and raised property taxes for the schools. A year later, Council did it again, while also upping the use and occupancy tax. And this spring, Council enacted (though Harrisburg failed to approve enabling legislation) a city cigarette tax to provide additional funding for the schools.
All these actions were taken as federal cash evaporated with the end of the stimulus and state funding for the state-run School District of Philadelphia
