Education advocates painted a stark picture for Philadelphia public schools, with grave consequences for hundreds of thousands of students during an Education Committee hearing held Wednesday in the city council’s chambers.
There were renewed calls from the public to change the way that the state distributes school funds amid evidence that growing numbers of school districts are not receiving adequate school aid necessary to meet its state-mandated obligation of providing students with a “thorough and efficient” education. People came and went during the hearing, but at least 100 people packed into the city council chambers early Wednesday afternoon.
Matt Stanski, who worked for Superintendent William Hite when he led Prince George County schools and followed him to Philadelphia, predicts the financial strain on the K-12 district will increase by as much as $100 million due to increased pension and health benefits, utility expenses, charter school payments and salaries.
“I cannot overstate the role of adequate funding in ensuring a quality education,” Stanski stated in a prepared remarks, saying more funding was key to providing more “high-quality options” for students in areas such as early literacy, special education services, and world language instruction for elementary school students.
Several organizations dedicated to improving schools stressed the importance of pushing for creating a direct revenue stream for the city’s public schools through an increased city sales tax. Donna Cooper, of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, argued -that investing in education is less expensive than the cost of intervention for social services and incarceration of people who fail to obtain the education necessary to earn incomes that can sustain a family, provide stable housing, keep food on the table and other necessities.
Dr. Darren Spielman of the Philadelphia Education Fund presented statistics that show a hard life ahead for students who drop out of school. Dropouts earn about $20,000 less than high school graduates and $40,000 less than college graduates. He also said dropouts are more likely to commit crimes that result in jail time.
“Resources make a difference. We can’t deliver proper education without proper resources,” said Spielman, who said it was imperative that a state funding formula account for current enrollment and the increased cost of educating challenging populations, such as students who live at or below poverty level, speak a language other than English or require special education services for a range of issues, including behavioral problems and emotional and psychological distress.
There is heightened concern about school conditions and the loss of programs in the wake of widespread layoffs as a result of significant funding cuts and the added burdensome debt.
Councilman David Oh, who sponsored a panel discussion on best school practices across the country, said he was looking for assurance that sustainable funding would give local students a competitive advantage over their counterparts in other parts of the world, including South Korea, Finland and Hong Kong. As an example, the councilman said he wanted to guard against supporting a system that would replace rigorous academic courses with study hall sessions.
Helen Gym, co-founder for Parents United for Public Education, blamed Monday’s melee involving students at Overbrook High School in West Philadelphia and what many allege are sub-par school conditions on funding cuts that forced severe cutbacks in staffing.
On behalf of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, attorney Michael Churchill faulted the state Department of Education, state Board of Education and the Pennsylvania General Assembly for not considering the ability of individual school districts to “meet state proficiency standards or provide an education which will allow students to successfully engage in the labor market as productive adults and be happy citizens.”
Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, stated, “We must shift our focus to a model of education funding that is both sufficient to provide our children the tools and conditions they need in school.”
Civil rights attorney Michael Coard planned to testify Wednesday about inadequate state funding for Cheyney University, a a historically black institution 25 miles outside of Philadelphia. He specifically cited penalties against schools for reasons such as low enrollment, insufficient retention, inadequate resources. “But how can a university increase enrollment without additional state funding or retain students without academic support systems from the state or raise scholarship money without specialists hired by the state?”
Coard blamed inadequate state funding for Cheyney’s growing budget shortfalls and low enrollment. “There is an urgent need to revise the commonwealth’s inequitable funding formula to take into account Cheyney University’s historic mission” as well as “its unique contributions to Pennsylvania.”
The Philadelphia Tribune – November 21, 2013 – Read article online