PHILADELPHIA (March 13th, 2014) – An alliance of Philadelphia organizations dedicated to improving conditions in Philadelphia schools, today called on Philadelphia City Council to take immediate action to provide $195 million in local funding for the Philadelphia School District in a way that can be reliably available for the schools year after year.
Public Citizens for Children and Youth, Education Voters Pennsylvania, Parents United for Public Education, POWER, The Education Law Center, Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, Philadelphia Education Fund, and Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia jointly urged Council to act now to pass legislation to ensure certainty in funding for the school district from enabling the 1% sales tax extension and allocate at least $120 million dollars from those revenues to the District and to find sustainable options for meeting the District’s new funding request of $75 million for the 2014-15 school year with revenues that can be provided solely through a Council vote, or action that will have a clear path to approval by the Governor and the State Legislature.
The General Assembly voted overwhelmingly last June to allow the city to extend the sales tax with the purpose of funding the schools. The City’s current plan to fund the District includes a split of the revenue from the sales tax extension with pensions and a $2 per-pack tax on cigarettes bought in Philadelphia. The plan is $42 million short of what the District says it needs and it requires two approvals by the state. The groups called upon Council to act on the authorization from the state they already have. Although
they strongly support the need to find a solution to the unfunded pension liability, they asked Council to also provide resources other than these to address the pension system.
“Students in our public schools have suffered from budget cuts for far too long,” said Donna Cooper, Executive Director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth. "The State Legislature granted Council the power to provide this much needed funding for our schools eight months ago. It’s time for Council to finally act and approve the ordinance and look for other local funds to meet the District’s needs.”
The Philadelphia School District is already counting on $120 million from the existing sales tax and factored the revenue into next year’s budget. The District also says it needs $75 million in local revenue to fund the District’s Action Plan for schools.
“Many city schools lack the basic resources children need like nurses, guidance counselors and librarians,” said Michael Churchill, Counsel for the Public interest Law Center of Philadelphia. “City Council owes it to Philadelphia’s children to approve the sales tax transfer to the District.”
“City leaders have stepped up in the past to fund our schools, and need to do so again now, said Susan Gobreski, Executive Director of Education Voters Pennsylvania. “Our biggest priority must be providing good schools to children and that starts with adequate funding.”
“Philadelphia has been hit uniquely hard by funding cuts since 2011,” said Darren Spielman, CEO of the Philadelphia Education Fund. “We can not expect our schools and our children to grow without proper funding.”
“Philadelphia students, teachers and staff cannot go through another year of upheaval and uncertainty,” said Sharon Ward, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. “While we continue to fight for fair funding from the State, City leaders should use the power they have, rather than rely on far-from-certain state funding sources.”
Rhonda Brownstein, Executive Director of the Education Law Center added “Philadelphia students have been at the losing end of state funding cuts. If City and State leaders continue to fail to provide basic resources for schools, it will be our children who ultimately suffer.”
“The Superintendent has asked for $195 million in predictable, recurring funds from the city,” said Rev. Dr. Kevin R. Johnson, of Bright Hope Baptist Church and POWER. “As people of faith, we believe that our children, schools, and neighborhoods are worth more than a partial payment that relies heavily on the state going the extra mile.”