Schools Open In Philadelphia, But Crisis Drags On
Superintendent William Hite opened school in Philadelphia on September 8—based, it seems, on hope and a prayer. It can’t be said that he could really even count on the good faith of the Pennsylvania general assembly, whose members went home for their late summer break without even passing enabling legislation for the local school district to levy a $2-per-pack cigarette tax to help close what remains an $81 million budget deficit.
The state legislature returned to Harrisburg yesterday, September 15, and, according to thePhiladelphia Inquirer, the House is expected to vote this week on the proposed legislation to permit the local cigarette tax. Assuming House passage, the bill will then move to the state senate.
It is astounding that the financial morass created by the state of Pennsylvania for one of our nation’s largest school districts—and one that has been under state control since 2001—is not really being addressed. William Green, chairman of the state’s own appointed School Reform Commission that functions like a school board, has been standing with Superintendent Hite in protest of the state’s policies, but to no avail.
When Hite announced on August 15 that the school district would gamble on future legislative action come mid-September, he did so, according to Education Week‘s “District Dossier” blog, by making cuts to programs that include: elimination of high school transportation for students within two miles of school, reduced services for 300 students pursuing multiple pathway to graduation, elimination of staff development for teachers even at schools facing severe challenges, cuts to cleaning and repairs in school buildings, elimination of 34 school police, and $800,000 in administrative cuts. This is on top of the layoffs of thousands of teachers over the past two years and the closure of 24 school buildings in the spring of 2013. The Philadelphia Public School Notebook reports that Superintendent Hite intends the cuts he made in August to save $32 million; he hopes to restore some of these services if the cigarette tax can be enacted.
No one really knows how much the proposed cigarette tax would generate. The Notebookreports the cigarette tax is projected to provide $49 million this school year; according toSchools Open In Philadelphia, But Crisis Drags On | janresseger:
