Critics say Williams' plan for school funding falls short

MAYORAL CANDIDATE state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams announced an education plan yesterday that he said would provide an extra $200 million for the city's ailing public-school system and reduce competition between traditional schools and charters.

Williams, who's vying for the Democratic nomination, said he would take a three-tiered approach to provide more funding for the district: dedicating a higher portion of the city's property taxes to schools, reinstituting partial charter reimbursement and requesting an additional $25 million from the Philadelphia School Partnership, on top of an original $25 million offer for charter-school expansion.

According to Williams, the combination would generate $200 million and would erase the district's $80 million deficit for next fiscal year.

"No spending issue is more important to us than the cost of educating all of our children and the crisis in which we find our public schools," Williams said at a news conference at his campaign headquarters.

A proposal to allocate a higher percentage of property taxes to the district was introduced last year by Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez, but has not been approved. The change would take money from other city services. Williams said that funding could be replaced by identifying efficiencies in city government, but he did not elaborate.

Also, Gov. Wolf included the charter-reimbursement line item in the budget he proposed earlier this week. Williams said he would work with Republicans to advocate for its approval.

The $25 million offer from PSP has been widely criticized by education advocates and local politicians as part of a pro-charter agenda. Williams reiterated yesterday that the district should accept the money.

"We cannot afford to turn down dollars offered to help our schools," he said.

Mayor Nutter's spokesman, Mark McDonald, said the administration could not comment until it sees Williams' plan. McDonald noted, however, that several cost-saving measures were implemented following the Great Recession.

"We found much of the low-hanging fruit where efficiencies could occur" and some harder-to-find savings, he said.

Kristen Forbriger, a spokeswoman for PSP, said the organization has met with Williams about the idea of an additional $25 million, but has made no decision.

Former Councilman James Kenney, another mayoral candidate, said Williams is pandering to wealthy school-choice backers.

"Half measures, like asking PSP to donate equal amounts for district and charter schools, or lobbying the state to provide only partial reimbursements to the district for charters, fall far short of what we need to provide every child with a quality education," Kenney said in a statement.