Philadelphia City Council and School District agree on how to spend new school money

Officials of the Philadelphia School District and members of City Council on Tuesday agreed on how to spend the $53 million proceeds of a forthcoming property-tax increase.

As officials promised in recent days, the money will fund yellow school buses, reduced class sizes, accelerated schools, and early-childhood education.

The district also has been counting on the money to cover $11 million in shared costs unrelated to teaching children.

On Tuesday, the district agreed to make other "adjustments" to its budget to cover that $11 million, thus dedicating all the new money to educational priorities laid out by Mayor Nutter and Council.

Council is expected to take a final vote to pass the 3.85 percent property-tax increase and the overall municipal budget Thursday. After Tuesday's meeting, those measures appeared headed for passage without much controversy.

"Basically, all of the priorities will be intact and funded," said Lori Shorr, the mayor's chief education officer, who attended the meeting. "I don't anticipate any problems on Thursday."

Four Council members - Marian B. Tasco, Maria Quiñones Sánchez, Blondell Reynolds Brown, and W. Wilson Goode Jr. - attended the meeting at district headquarters on North Broad Street. Several other members, including education chair Jannie L. Blackwell, sent representatives.

The district representatives included School Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman, School Reform Commission Chairman Robert L. Archie Jr., Deputy Superintendent Leroy Nunery, and chief financial officer Michael Masch.

The vote Thursday could end a difficult time of negotiations and debate that began when Ackerman asked the city in May to help fill a $629 million gap in its $2.7 billion budget.

In the process, the district, the city, and the state signed an "education accountability" agreement that gives the city more say in how the district spends money.

While the district is state-controlled, the city provides about 30 percent of its funding. The city and the district are hopeful that the state will restore more school funding when legislators pass a budget, possibly this week.

To formalize Tuesday's agreement, Archie promised to write to Council President Anna C. Verna detailing the spending plan.

In the letter, he also will agree to regular, possibly quarterly, meetings between the district and Council, Goode said.

Of the $53 million, $26 million would pay for yellow school buses; $16 million for maintaining smaller classes in kindergarten through third grade; $8.2 million for accelerated schools that serve students who dropped out or are at risk of dropping out; and $2.7 million for Bright Futures, an early childhood education program.

Shorr said the district was not obligated to fund accelerated schools for over-age students or preschool programs, but both are considered vital to the city's broader educational goals. She applauded the district for fighting to save the programs.

Funding for accelerated schools would stand at $16 million, down from $19 million last year.

With the additional city money, the total funding for Bright Futures would be $11 million for this fiscal year.

To cover the $11 million in costs the district had hoped to hand off to the city, the district will consider cuts in summer school, special education, and facilities, said Jamilah Fraser, a School District spokeswoman. Cuts would come from non-educational areas, she said.

Goode said he was pleased with the meeting and the district's spending plan.

"I think it pays for as much as we could afford," he said. "We know that we've served tens of thousands of students with the programs that we've restored."