Philadelphia Schools See Tough Times Ahead

"Through these tough times and all the difficult decisions that lie ahead, we will keep the best interests of our children as a priority," Superintendent of Schools Dr. Arlene Ackerman offered this statement to the School District of Philadelphia as encouragement in light of the loss of funding and jobs in the immediate future.

"Like members of a family, everyone in the school district will feel affected in some way," she said at the School Commission meeting in response to the announcement of Governor Tom Corbett’s proposed cuts totaling more than $1 billion in funding to public schools statewide. Philadelphia would be directly affected by a loss of $292 million to its $3.2 billion budget that serves 200,000 public school students.

The school district is being beaten when it’s already down $400 million for the 2011-2012 school year. Corbett’s cuts would bring them to more than $600 million in debt and despite the debate they feel there is little that can be done.

Michael Masch, the school district's Chief Financial Officer was quoted at the meeting saying, "Unless we get some relief from the funding reductions received today, there is no way the School District of Philadelphia next year can look exactly like the School District of Philadelphia today."

The first steps are going to be reducing staff at the central office by 30%. Currently 1,000 people are employed there but at least 240 will be laid off when the grant money is gone that is funding their positions. 9 members of Ackerman’s executive staff and the superintendant herself are decreasing their number of furlough days which will save the district over $600,000.

With the loss of two $55 million grants that had been funding full day kindergarten and summer school, the programs are in jeopardy as well as afterschool tutoring and gifted studies curriculums. Other areas the district are having to consider cutting corners include increased class size, less time for teachers to collaborate, no new textbooks, athletics, student transportation, art and music cuts.

The last thing on the list is teacher layoffs. The district is unsure if this will be necessary depending on the number of teachers that retire or relocate.

Want to comment on the planned education cuts? The district will hold two sessions where you can: March 17, 6-8 p.m. Benjamin Franklin High School, 550 North Broad St. 2101 South Broad St.; March 19, 10 a.m. to noon at South Philadelphia High School on South Broad St.

Are you looking for a job in the Philadelphia area? Be sure to visit PhillyJobs.

By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer with experience in web, film, photography and animation as well as traditional fine arts like painting and sculpting. In addition to writing for PhillyJobsBlog.com, she is co-founder of design and promotion company, Creative Kazoo with fellow Beyond.com blogger, Staci Dennis. Heather’s spare time consists of making puppets, teaching Sunday School, building Legos and doing science experiments with her children.