Although the school bells rang on September tenth to signify the start of the school year, most of the schools in the Philadelphia Public School District remain understaffed and underfunded.
Philadelphia Sign – T Leverett 2013
According to a recent article in the Huffington Post, “twenty-four schools were closed; the district has a junk credit rating; contracts have expired for many school employees; and the district is running a deficit of $304 million. Music and sports will only be available for the first semester. Gov. Tom Corbett (R) was still withholding $45 million in federal money as he sought $104 million in concessions, including a massive pay cut, from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers union.
Patience from parents of the affected students continues to wane as the first month of school comes to a close.
“There is no guidance counselor here to help my child, who happens to be in MG {mentally gifted program} apply to the magnet high school…she needs to start this process now, not whenever they decide to get their act together,” said Adrienne Robinson, parent of an eighth grader at Dobson Elementary in Northwest Philadelphia.
With over 20 percent of school employees laid off, the outlook for the remainder of the year is still unclear, and debates about state and city funding for the school districts continue.
Robinson concludes, “At first I believed things would be worked out, but I am not so sure now. I’ll still go to the meetings but I don’t really hear anything that sounds like a resolution any time soon. I’m afraid that my daughter will be the one to lose out.”