Michael is recalling the condition of the district before the state takeover. It isn't a pretty stroll down memory lane. There was an acute financial crisis that left the district teetering on bankruptcy and students with scores that were as poor as the district's coffers.
Besides being a founding member of the School Reform Commission (SRC), Michael also was on the old school board. He's describing how Mayor Street and then-Gov. Ridge slowly moved together toward a state takeover. Masch is emphasizing that, originally, Gov. Ridge wanted a full state takeover. But counter to what many people think, what took place was a partnership between the city and the state. The mayor and the governor both appoint members to the SRC. Street helped shape the takeover structure.
Michael is now trying to put the current Philadelphia school money troubles into perspective. He's making the case that the absolute number of dollars spent isn't as important as how they are spent. Actually, I think both are important.
Here's some state context:
There are 501 school districts in Pennsylvania and none are like the Philly district. Out of 1.8 million public school students in the state; 12 percent of those are in Philly.
Budget factoids from last year: State funding amounts to about $1.25 billion out of a $2.55 billion budget. The audience laughs when Masch says that people in Philly think that amount is too low and people in the rest of the state think that amount is too high.
Pennsylvania has an unfortunate distinction of doing a meager job of funding education compared to the rest of the country. Nationwide, states fund an average of 50 percent of the cost of running schools. In Pennsylvania, the state funds one-third of the costs of all of the state's districts. Masch says he and Rendell know that more funding requires more revenue.
Now he's talking about how Pennsylvania and Philadelphia spend their money. Ah, spending money, now that's something I can relate to. The city is at the state's average this time. Here's an alarming comparison: The projected gap between revenue and spending in the coming years for the Philly district is much higher than the gap before the state takeover. The slides are changing too fast for me to give more specific numbers, but I'm hoping his PowerPoint presentation will be put online so you can see for yourself.
There has been a substantial increase in funding for the Philadelphia school district. There also has been an increase in spending, not surprisingly. The proposed budget for next year would increase baseline funding by 7 percent. That's before the state and the SRC decide whether to cut spending or increase revenue to balance the budget.
The largest increase in spending since 2001-2002 has been on charter schools. Debt service is the next highest increase and in third place is special education. Like your homes, the district also is spending more on gas and utility bills. He's about to pass the torch to Sharmain to talk further about charter schools.
Philly.com discussions are intended to be civil, friendly conversations. Please treat other participants with respect and in a way that you would want to be treated. You are responsible for what you say. And please, stay on topic.
These boards are monitored by Philly.com staff. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us in our sole discretion and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. Personal attacks, especially on other board participants, are not permitted. We reserve the right to permanently block any user who violates these terms and conditions.