Nutter, Clarke disagree on solution for schools
At the heart of the impasse that Philadelphia School Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. says is threatening his ability to start class on time this fall are two men - Mayor Nutter and City Council President Darrell L. Clarke - who have known each other for decades and rarely seem to agree.
Their latest difference of opinion centers on part of a state bailout for the schools that calls for the city to borrow $50 million against future sales tax collections.
Clarke says the state gave Philadelphia a "bad deal" without consulting key city politicians, and he wants to change the terms of the bailout.
Nutter says that he doesn't like the deal either, but that the School District of Philadelphia is in such dire straits that Council needs to back the plan now. Hite has to book the $50 million by Friday to start classes Sept. 9 "on time and safe," the mayor said.
Nutter said Friday that negotiations on education funding have been going on all summer "out of the public eye."
But on Thursday, when Hite made the extraordinary announcement that he might postpone the opening of 212 district schools, the rift with Clarke was laid bare.
Two hours after Hite spoke, Nutter called the superintendent's comments "one of the most chilling statements that I've ever heard a school leader . . . make."
Clarke, on the other hand, said he was "comfortable with what Dr. Hite did."
As for the mayor?
"Mayor's entitled to his position," Clarke said. "Our position is our position."
Nutter and Clarke met again Friday afternoon, along with State Sens. Anthony Hardy Williams and Vincent Hughes, and State Rep. Cherelle L. Parker. They emerged without a deal, but with less biting rhetoric.