Dive Brief:
- Philadelphia Public Schools, a district that has been in the red for a couple of years now, has revealed a new, no-frills five-year spending plan.
- The plan projects a revenue increase of only 1% over the next five years, and deals with strategies for the district to essentially "just get by."
- Chief Financial Officer Matthew Stanski and Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. initially presented the School Reform Commission with two potential tracks for the city's schools: A "transformational plan," which asked for more money from the city and state, and a "status quo" plan that imagines the schools with funding staying the way it's been. The SRC voted on the latter.
Dive Insight:
The status quo plan assumes the district will still have a $30 million deficit next year, but the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that this may be wishful thinking, as it assumes the districts plan to void teacher contracts and increase the amount of money teachers must pay for health insurance. These plans have been challenged, and if a judge rules in favor of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, the district will have an even larger deficit to deal with.
More troubling, however, is what happens at school when the district has so few funds and resources. As one might expect, test scores lag without proper resources. The SRC's decision to go with the status quo plan has some wondering what the end goal is for the city's schools. Is the plan to just let them run out of money, continue to fail state tests, and close buildings until the district no longer exists?