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School district deficit? Yes, and no

With the passage of the all-important cigarette tax - expected to be signed into law this morning by Governor Corbett - does the Philadelphia School District still have a deficit? ($81 million was the number officials had been stressing.)

Yes, and no.

SRC Chairman Bill Green said on Tuesday that even with the cigarette tax money - the district estimates it will collect $49 million this school year - a gap remains.

Fernando Gallard, district spokesman, clarified. On paper, Gallard said, the budget is balanced, between the $49 million in cigarette tax money and the $32 million that came from cuts Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. ordered in August to open schools on time. The district, by law, must have a balanced budget.

But, Gallard said, "we still have a huge deficit in educational resources."

That's why Green and Hite have publicly said they need savings from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and more than has been offered by the PFT at the bargaining table to date, Gallard said.

Green on Tuesday said that the district has a plan for achieving the savings it needs, but that he couldn't "discuss those plans at the moment."

So - on paper, balanced budget. But no one's breathing easy.