DN Editorial: Inaction/proactive
SRCs rejecting the school budget was right. Now, lets get the money.
THE SCHOOL Reform Commission did the right thing last week in delaying a vote on the district's budget for next year.
By failing to pass a budget by June 1, the district is in technical violation of the city charter, but Superintendent William Hite, SRC chairman Bill Green and other members of the commission could not in good conscience pass the document before them. Had they done so, formal steps would have to be taken to send out notices laying off more than 1,000 teachers and school staff, cut more into scarce services in the schools and hobble the district's ability to provide even the most basic of education.
"Our severely under-resourced school system threatens the future of one of America's greatest cities," Hite said.
He is right, of course. Philadelphia cannot hope to advance and revive without an educated workforce - and without a functioning school system that educates them.
Now, it is up to the politicians in Harrisburg and City Hall to do the right thing.
The district needs a minimum of $216 million to keep operating at the bare-bones level of this year. Hite has a wish list of another $200 million to take steps to improve the range and quality of education offered by the district.
Last year, the state passed a law that allowed a one-point add-on to the state sales tax collected in the city to continue, with all the proceeds going to the district. It amounts to about $120 million a year.
Council approval of that move is needed, and at first Council President Darrell Clarke balked. He wanted up to half of that money to help lower the deficit in the city's pension fund.
Clarke eventually backed off, and Council currently has a bill before it that makes the transfer - and makes it for the entire amount if the Legislature won't go along with Clarke's diversion plan.
Council should pass that legislation as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, in Harrisburg, the SRC and Mayor Nutter are still pushing passage of a $2-a-pack tax on cigarettes sold in the city, a measure that is expected to raise $90 million in the first year.
That requires legislative approval.
This is where the city's legislative delegation comes in. The word is that the Republican leadership in the Legislature may support the cigarette tax, if Philadelphia legislators reciprocate by supplying votes for bills the Republicans want.
We strongly urge the delegation to make whatever deal is needed to get the cigarette tax passed.
There will be no excuse if Philadelphia's senators and House members emerge from this process empty-handed. The delegation already has the reputation of being a talk-a-lot-but-do-little group of politicians. If you are a public-school parent - or a concerned citizen - let your legislator know that he must succeed in getting money for the schools. (Not sure who represents you? Visit ph.ly/Legislator. It will send you to a page where you can enter your address and find out who your state House member and state senator is. Their phone numbers are listed, as well as email addresses.)
Let them know we don't need more talk. We need action now.