Philly School District Envisions Tough Times Ahead

The School District of Philadelphia is planning to lay off about half of its central office staff in order to make up for severe education cuts at the state level.

That's not the only cost-saving move the district will likely make, however. At a news conference at district offices on Wednesday, Assistant Superintendent Leroy Nunery and Chief Financial Officer Michael Masch talked about other ways the district expects to save money.

District officials had already said they felt they're receiving a disproportionately large cut, compared to other state districts. Masch presented a slide (which you can see at right) that showed that some of the poorest districts in Pennsylvania, such as Philadelphia's, have been hit the hardest by Gov. Tom Corbett's budget proposal, while more affluent districts, such as those in Lower Merion and Radnor Township, have received comparatively small cuts.

And in Philadelphia, Masch said, increased funding has gone hand in hand with gains in reading and math test scores. Those scores have consistently increased over the past eight years.

The district's effort to continue such progress is part of the reason it targeted its central office as a place where significant cuts could be made. Under its budget proposal, 413 people who work at 440 N. Broad St. would lose their jobs.

"That is where we cut first and where we cut deepest, and that is entirely appropriate," Masch said. "But it cannot close the gap that we've identified."

The district had previously said that .

That cut, in fact, only makes up for 8.3 percent of the district's $629 million budget shortfall.

Other ways the district proposes to save money include:

• A reduction of resources at district schools. That could mean less teachers, fewer counselors and school nurses and a decrease in special education programming. All that together would make up for 34.9 percent of the budget deficit if the district's plan goes through. (Masch said that there's a very good chance teachers will be laid off.)
• Reductions in operational costs, such as food service and insurance.
• A decrease in building-related purchases.
• Early retirements and voluntary terminations.
• A renegotiation of contracts with various unions that represent district employees.

Masch said that everything that can legally be cut has, in fact, made its way on to the chopping block. Other programs that are federal or state mandates have remained on the table.

"This is not a budget that the management of this district endorses," Masch said of Corbett's proposal. "We do not believe it is a budget that is good for the children of Philadelphia. We do not believe that it is a budget that is good for this city or this state."

Jerry Mondesire, head of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People, (NAACP), also spoke at the news conference.

He talked about a march the NAACP is organizing April 26 in Harrisburg from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. called the "Children's March to Save Public Education." Buses will leave from the school district offices in advance of the rally.

He also said Corbett's proposal was not exactly comparable to current violence in Libya, but he said it's similar in terms of how threatening it is.

"If we don't stand up now ... everything that we know about public education that many of us experienced when we were growing up will be gone," Mondesire said.