The facilities plan does not exist in isolation. The closures occurred because of decades of state disinvestment that’s made it impossible for the districts simply to keep the buildings in good repair. To be sure, 70,000 fewer Philadelphia students attend traditional district-run schools, but had the district been sufficiently funded, those students could have stayed enrolled in modernized district school buildings and flourished with small class sizes and exciting educational opportunities.
Meanwhile, the district faces a structural operating deficit of approximately $300 million. This shortfall is also a product of years of unconstitutional underfunding by the state.
Without a new infusion of operating revenue, the district will eliminate 340 school-based positions, like climate managers, teachers, and student support staff whose work is central, not incidental, to a quality education. This is the fiscal emergency driving the proposed rideshare tax, which could generate enough recurring revenue to preserve those positions. But that vote is not guaranteed, and the politics surrounding it are highly charged.
City Council’s understandable frustration with the school district is legitimate. And Councilmembers representing closure-affected communities have rightly called out the lack of transparency from the district.
But two things can be true at once. The Board has failed to adequately include family and community voices during the review of the facilities closure process AND it does not change the fundamental obligation of the City and Harrisburg to fund the schools.
Children in affected neighborhoods are owed both honest engagement from district leadership and the resources to ensure their education must be made available. One failure does not cancel the other obligation. And Harrisburg must play its part.
Education advocates took that message to state lawmakers on Wednesday, reminding legislators of their constitutional obligation to fill the massive state funding gap that leaves most of the state’s school districts underfunded. In many meetings, state senators and representatives pledged their commitment to more school funding. The House of Representatives has already passed a budget with $1 billion more in school funding but the Senate – led by Kim Ward – hasn’t taken action.
Senator Ward’s praise of the school district facilities plan would carry more weight if paired with support for the Governor’s proposed increase in funds for the district. Doing so would prove that she understands that closing schools is a symptom not a solution.
Children deserve to be in safe buildings with staffed classrooms, receiving a high-quality education. Equally, communities need to be treated as partners rather than subjects of decisions made behind closed doors. Lawmakers, at the state and local level, can take action to meet this moment and our communities, families, and children would benefit immensely.
