Today, Philadelphia public school students will go back to their classes. And they will re-enter a district with no permanent chief executive officer, no permanent chief academic officer, no permanent chief financial officer and no permanent chief operating officer. (Oh, and there's that remaining deficit to deal with.)
But that's sort of par for the course.
What I'd rather talk about is how to deal with it. And how the long-suffering supporters of Philly schools could find unlikely allies in some places that I doubt very seriously the average city seventh-grader has heard of:
Philadelphia should unite with the state's poorest, most rural counties (Pike County, anyone?) to demand school funding that depends less on property taxes and more on statewide funding.
I realize this is not a new idea; education advocates are working on it now. So should the next mayor.
Here are some facts to consider:
In 2004-05, the state share of school costs in Pennsylvania funded by the state budget amounted to 35.8%. Nationally, the average is closer to 50% paid by the state.
There is a $10,259 gap between what the highest and lowest spending school districts in Pennsylvania spend per pupil on current expenditures. The highest spending district spent $18,064 per student in 2004-2005; the lowest only $6,991. This translates into a $276,825 gap per classroom of 25 students.
As a result of insufficient state funding, public education in Pennsylvania is more dependent on local taxes than in most states, and school district property taxes in Pennsylvania are therefore among the highest in the country.
Those facts are from Good Schools Pennsylvania, which is one of those groups fighting for a statewide solution (the group is strongly pro-state funding; former Philadelphia schools superintendent David Hornbeck, who knows the schools' needs personally, is on its board). But they are largely backed up by non-partisan sources including Standard and Poor's.
I don't want to get sidetracked on a discussion of how much money Philly schools should or should not get. We will learn more about that from the ongoing "costing out" study the state government has launched, which is designed to determine just how much it costs to run each of the state's 501 school districts.
I think we can assume that Philly isn't getting everything it needs, though I also think there will be other poorer districts with deeper needs, many in rural areas.
And let's not call this "impossible" because of Pennsylvania's deep divide between city and country. Another state -- one far more divided between black and white, between rich and poor -- has already done it. That was South Carolina in 1984, and the fact that one of the nation's most fiscally and socially conservative states has beaten us to this crucial reform should shame Pennsylvanians into at least giving the idea a thought.
The next mayor has a smart political play to make here. He can reach out to those rural districts and begin to build the trust required to make a joint appeal to lawmakers and to the governor to launch a big-thinking reform of state funding for education. Somehow, this seems more helpful than re-taking control of the schools.
It was not a popular idea down in the Palmetto State when then-Gov. Dick Riley began working for it in 1983. He spent months waving around facts that sound alarmingly like what Good Schools PA pushes. But what became the South Carolina Education Improvement Act, which raised sales taxes statewide to pay for school improvements, was eventually passed and quickly became the savior of some of the nation's worst schools.
South Carolina isn't yet an educational model, by far. But it gets an A for improvement and for effort.
While Pennsylvania hasn't even acknowledged yet that it needs remedial work.
Comments (33)
A handful of programs/Hopes & Fear - no clout , no leadership , no euro and poor areas of study.
The way its seen. The school system had all last school year and the summer to clear ways of gladden approval for the long-suffering supporters of Philly schools.
Posted by Jasper Zeigler Jr | September 10, 2007 10:16 AM
Nice left arm braclet.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070910_Their_simple_secret_to_teaching_successes.html
Posted by Jasper Zeigler Jr | September 10, 2007 11:38 AM
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_region/20070912_Rendell_aide_could_get_new_city_school_post.html
Posted by Jasper Zeigler Jr | September 12, 2007 10:53 AM
Pennsylvania should seriously consider the same type of plan as South Carolina, not just because of the school improvement, but for accountability. School boards have always been independently powerful in PA and it has grown into a situation where the backroom deals, nepotism and cronyism is the norm. There are school boards in Pennsylvania that have board members who DON'T EVEN LIVE IN PENNSYLVANIA ANYMORE, yet the seated board will not take any action to officially remove him (he drives across state lines to attend only official board meetings, no committee meetings or worksessions). Boards are now rife with teachers (not in the district where they serve on a board), spouses of teachers (their spouse DOES teach in the district where they are on the board) and retired teachers from the same district. Rubberstamping has an all time new meaning. At least if the state goes to the sales tax for funding schools, more and more of their business will be audited/directed by the state and the backroom stuff may be brought out into the sunlight. The PSBA representatives tell school boards not to fret about that pesky Sunshine Law... after all, it only costs $100, and only IF someone calls you on it legally. If you feel it is worth it, then do it. Wow. With legal advice like that, I would think they should be building more jails, but alas, none of this has been tested. $100 may seem like nothing to these people, but it may be to ordinary citizens who know about this abuse of taxpayer dollars, but are financially unable to wage a possibly expensive fight to stop it.
Posted by PA Parent | September 12, 2007 12:13 PM
Did anyone know there is such a thing as a profile. Meaning if a irregularity can soely be harmful to a nature of health , recommendations are in order and little Bobby has a doctor's rational opinion.
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20070913_Hairy_issue_at_charter_school.html
God ! time waits for no-one. Last time I saw little Bobby , he was a tot. Look at him now , growing into a young man. Audrey must be proud. There isn't a man alive today who hasn't wished he had never put a razor to his face.
Mr. Barbee has a skin-condition called folliculitis and last I heard it wasn't contagious... so what's the problem.
Posted by Jasper Zeigler Jr | September 13, 2007 9:08 AM
As the October 2 , anniversary of the West Nickel
Mines Amish School massacre approaches. In a gesture of forgiveness and compassion. The Amish made a donation to Marie Roberts , the widow of the gunman and a mother of three young children.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070913_Amish_Stoically_endure_scars_of_massacre.html
How many of us could turn the other cheek as the Amish. In this conscious life of chronic self-doubt anxieties , I believe very few.
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