Parents, students, advocates, educators, and religious leaders Wednesday implored City Council to increase city funding for schools to preserve full-day kindergarten, transportation, and programs that help dropouts earn high school diplomas.

Anne Pomerantz, head of the Home and School Association of the Powel School in West Philadelphia, summed up the key issue as Council digested the drastic cuts the School District of Philadelphia has outlined to deal with a $629 million shortfall next year.

“Right now, the $629 million question is: What will the City of Philadelphia do?” Pomerantz said during the second day of Council hearings on the district’s proposed $2.8 billion budget.

Mayor Nutter said Tuesday he would support the district’s request that the city increase its funding by as much as $100 million to help close the shortfall and save selected programs targeted for drastic cuts or elimination.

Currently, the city provides 30 percent of the district’s $3.2 billion budget.

Nutter and Council members have said they were still trying to work out the details, but in the crowded Council chambers, the audience repeatedly called for the city – at the very least – to increase the district’s share of property-tax revenue from 55 percent to 60 percent. The city raised taxes last year, but trimmed the district’s share.

“We call on City Council to increase the district’s share of the real estate tax,” Shelly Yanoff, executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, said.

Returning to the 60 percent split would provide an additional $55 million for the district’s coffers, but some Council members have said the change would force the city to cut programs.

Though Council had plenty of questions when the district presented its budget Tuesday, members mostly listened during Wednesday’s session, which began at 1:30 p.m. and continued into the night.

The hearing drew parents from across the city, including from Duckrey School in North Philadelphia; Greenfield in Center City; John S. Jenks in Chestnut Hill; Shawmont in Roxborough; Bache-Martin in Fairmount; Meredith in Queen Village; and C.W. Henry School in West Mount Airy.

Danita Bates, a parent activist at Duckrey, referred to Imagine 2014, Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman’s education reform plan, which is expanding next year despite the financial woes. “How can I imagine 2014 when I fear 2011 so much?” she asked. “Parents, it’s time to step up.”

Philadelphia Inquirer – May 26, 2011 – Read article online