Notes from the Field
Submitted by Frank Murphy, May 26, 2011
Funding disparities between poor school districts and those of more affluent communities in Pennsylvania has long limited the opportunity of many students in our state to receive an equitable education.
Philadelphia, which is responsible for educating the largest concentration of the Commonwealth’s poor, has particularly struggled to accomplish its mission to educate every child well. During Governor Rendell’s administration, great progress was made in addressing funding inequalities between school districts. In his last years in office, Rendell was successful in engineering a significant increase in the percentage of state aid to local districts. The increase in funds that subsequently came to Philadelphia has helped to improve and expand the services provided to its school children. As a result, student achievement has continued to steadily improve.
This progress is now threatened by the billion dollar cut to education funding that newly elected Governor Corbett has proposed. The impact of these state cuts on the operational budget of the School District of Philadelphia will be huge. According to Michael Masch, the District’s chief financial officer, the district will lose a total of $409 million in revenues next year. This includes the loss of $116 million of federal stimulus funds and a $292 million decrease in state aid. Reductions this great will require painful program cuts.
Any successful attempt to restore lost state revenue will require skillful negotiation with state officials. This will not be easy considering the less than favorable perceptions that many of these legislatures have of the Philadelphia School District.
The unrestrained spending habits of Dr. Ackerman don’t make this task any easier.During her short tenure, district expenditures have risen dramatically as she has pushed forward with her Imagine 2014 plan. It wasn’t until the dawning of this recent fiscal crisis that she has made any effort to rein in district spending. The actual projected District budget deficit now stands at $629 million. This is considerably greater than the amount of the state and federal revenue, which has been lost.
Now is the time for Dr. Ackerman to demonstrate her willingness to act as a responsible financial manager. She could start by responding to the points outlined by Parents United for Public Education in their memo to city council regarding her priorities, spending practices and financial oversight.
Then she could cut $100 million from the District’s budget in areas that are less than essential or of questionable value. Dr. Ackerman needs only to look to her legacy projects in order to find programs that could be trimmed. If she eliminated the additional funding that is spent on the experimental Promise Academies, placed a moratorium on turning over district schools to charter operators, canceled the District’s summer school program, and put a halt to the district’s expensive and excessive testing program, she could achieve savings in the range of $75 million. Cutting $25 million from the amount she proposes to spend on contracted services for the next school year will bring the total to $100 million. These savings could then be used to restore full-day kindergarten, transportation services and reduced class sizes.
By taking these steps, Ackerman will demonstrate a good faith effort toward cutting costs while preserving successful programs that affect most of the District’s children. This gesture will make it easier for our elected city officials to justify honoring at least $80 million of her request for additional city revenue. If she were to receive this additional money, it could then be specifically targeted to restore the following budget items:
- Student-nurse ratio – $3M
- Early childhood (Bright Futures) – $7.3M
- Extended day – $10M
- Student-counselor ratio – $7.6 M
- Dedicated art and music funding for school budgets – $7.7 M
- Instrumental music – $0.7 M
- Gifted and talented education – $3.2 M
- ELL program cuts – $7.3 M
- School police officers – $3.3 M
- Alternative education, including accelerated high schools – $24 M
- Middle school athletics – $0.5 M
- Special education liaisons – $9.2 M
These thoughtful and purposeful actions would be demonstrative of the kind of leadership that Philadelphia ‘s children deserve. As a follow up, Dr. Ackerman could further show her resolve to do what is best for the children of our district by declaring that she will not accept any additional bonuses. By placing the needs of the children of Philadelphia ahead of her own personal gains, she could set an example for our state and city leaders to follow.