Philly school district readies next round of cuts

The Philadelphia School District will begin making $14 million in new budget cuts next week, chief financial officer Michael Masch said Wednesday.

Staff will be laid off and programs eliminated in some cases, he said.

"The impact is going to be very painful for schools," Masch said.

Because the school year is under way, the district is limited in what it can cut. Classroom teachers, for instance, cannot be eliminated midyear.

Earlier, district staff proposed further slashing individual schools' budgets by a total of $10 million, cutting professional development, instrumental music, athletics, English-language-learner instruction, psychologists, educational technology, and bilingual counseling assistants.

Some of those cuts will be made, Masch said.

To cope with a $629 million budget shortfall, the district has already shed 3,800 employees and made deep classroom cuts.

Beyond the $14 million in reductions it will start implementing Monday, the district must still cut at least $25 million more.

To help do so, the School Reform Commission on Wednesday set up a committee to approve further reductions. The committee will be made up of Masch or his designee; acting Superintendent Leroy Nunery 2d or his designee; city Finance Director Rob Dubow or his designee; and two representatives appointed by SRC Chairman Pedro Ramos.

Ramos said the committee would meet at least weekly, file internal reports once a week, and report to the public monthly.

Until the gap is closed, future hires, salary increases, and contracts will be reviewed by the committee.

"We recognize that a lot of budget-cutting has already happened," Ramos said. "With every budget cut, the next one is more difficult."

The SRC also voted to move forward with the "Great Schools Compact," a document that sets common academic standards for all schools, including charters. It gives charters that meet the standards more flexibility to expand and makes it easier to close those that do not.

The compact is also endorsed by the city, the state Department of Education, and two major charter organizations.

Efforts to increase collaboration between charters and the district have been made before, but were often fraught with tension. This time, the prospect of funding from the Gates Foundation was the catalyst for another try.

The district now will submit a proposal to the foundation, which last year awarded grants of $100,000 to some school systems entering into similar agreements.

But, Ramos said, "the Gates money is not the reason to do it. It's an organizing tool. It gives us a reason to come together."

Most of the handful of speakers who addressed the SRC at its special meeting were in favor of the compact. But there were clearly still some reservations.

David Lapp, an attorney from the nonprofit Education Law Center, called the compact "an important and laudable effort," but said his organization is wary of the inclusion of parochial schools in the document's language.

Activist Lisa Haver said she thought the compact was being passed without enough time for public comment. And David Hardy, CEO of Boys Latin Charter School of Philadelphia, said that while the document was a good one, he hopes it won't mean that high-performing charters get co-opted by the district, compromising the independence they now have.

"To start making all of us toe the same line is not going to be a good deal for all of us who have been doing a good job," Hardy said.

The commissioners said that while they heard the public's concerns, they thought it was important to move forward.

"Since this doesn't create a legally binding set of rules, I think I have more hope than the speaker did on our ability to do real, good engagement in the next few months," Commissioner Lorene Cary said.

The SRC also approved the sale in $219 million in general obligation bonds. Some of the money will be used to finance school construction projects and some to finance operating expenses.