This week the holidays of Thanksgiving and Chanukah will be celebrated, heralding a time of thankfulness and giving that won't end until after the New Year parties die down. All the while children in Philadelphia are still fighting for funding and access to basic supplies, while class sizes have ballooned and some are over the legal limit (teachers are deciding to fight other battles they deem more important instead of hitting that issue head on). More students are beginning to struggle against this in planning student walkouts (albeit not the best planned ones). Yet funding is still in crisis and the budget gap is only going to increase for next year.
One thing to note is that costs continue to increase for the School District of Philadelphia, especially as charter schools siphon off more funding for their student bodies with little to no supervision on the administrative level (the Charter Office has six people listed on its website with a student population the size of Pittsburgh's). Pension costs are also increasing, a problem known quite far in advance thus should not be the sole focus of these proceedings.
Unfortunately, the Pennsylvania government is seriously looking into legislation that would allow charter schools to be approved and operated by non-School District bodies across the state. This possibility decreases funding for public schools in the state (especially Philadelphia, home to most of the state's charter schools) even though fixed costs will not change. All this while many charter schools are under investigation and some are being shut down due to mismanagement.
Helen Gym, founder of Parents Unite for Public Education, recently wrote a piece on what the next Governor will have to deal with and it is spot on. Without the public school systems many students who could become strong-willed, civic-minded taxpayers would be shoved under the rug and forgotten. I can only hope whomever takes the reigns away from Corbett has it in them to succeed.
One thing to note is that costs continue to increase for the School District of Philadelphia, especially as charter schools siphon off more funding for their student bodies with little to no supervision on the administrative level (the Charter Office has six people listed on its website with a student population the size of Pittsburgh's). Pension costs are also increasing, a problem known quite far in advance thus should not be the sole focus of these proceedings.
Unfortunately, the Pennsylvania government is seriously looking into legislation that would allow charter schools to be approved and operated by non-School District bodies across the state. This possibility decreases funding for public schools in the state (especially Philadelphia, home to most of the state's charter schools) even though fixed costs will not change. All this while many charter schools are under investigation and some are being shut down due to mismanagement.
Helen Gym, founder of Parents Unite for Public Education, recently wrote a piece on what the next Governor will have to deal with and it is spot on. Without the public school systems many students who could become strong-willed, civic-minded taxpayers would be shoved under the rug and forgotten. I can only hope whomever takes the reigns away from Corbett has it in them to succeed.
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