Office of Maria Quiones Snchez Councilwoman, 7th District City Hall, Room 592 Philadelphia, PA 19107 215-686-3448 Contact:

Justin DiBerardinis Email: Justin.DiBerardinis@phila.gov

For Immediate Release Wednesday, July 31, 2013 Statement of Councilwoman Maria Quiones Snchez on Urgent Need for New Measures to Solve Philadelphias School Funding Crisis With continued budget uncertainty for the Philadelphia School District and the clock rapidly ticking towards the start of a new school year, Councilwoman Quiones Snchez is calling for aggressive new measures to close the funding gap. Action is urgently needed, or we will fail to meet our constitutional obligation to provide all students with a thorough and efficient public education. Right now, our schools are slated to open under the cloud of a Doomsday budget that deprives our children of the core building blocks of quality education, said Councilwoman Quiones Snchez. We simply cant allow that to occur. Councilwoman Quiones Snchez is calling for the City of Philadelphia to provide a onetime targeted grant of up to $50 million dollars to ensure the restoration of essential services such as nurses, counselors, and safety staff. This proposal follows recent announcements that the City realized a $200 million increase in General Fund revenues for FY13, and expects to retain a significant surplus going into FY14. We have the opportunity to make a significant short-term investment in our schools and prevent a looming catastrophe. By immediately allocating these additional revenues, we would be taking a significant step towards keeping our schools staffed and solvent for this school year, said the Councilwoman Quiones Sanchez. State school funding proposals have fallen far short, and risk further damaging the City and School Districts fiscal health. The sales tax extension offered by the state is both regressive, and would saddle the School District with $15 million in borrowing costs to achieve $50 million in revenue. We cannot afford to continue adding to the Districts overwhelming debt service burden, which is already among the highest in the country. Last year the District borrowed $300 Million to meet operating expenses, and now must repay a staggering $280 million annually towards such prior borrowing. Instead, the Councilwoman is calling on Harrisburg to enact the proposed cigarette tax (estimated to raise $45 million), to approve enhanced collection measures requested by the City (estimated to raise up to $15 million), and to expedite release of a promised $45 million in promised federal pass-through funds without unreasonable conditions. They can also allow us the ability to work around legal obstacles, such as the so-called Maintenance of Efforts requirement, which have made fixing this crisis more complicated.

There is no reason for the Philadelphia School District to continue on this perilous path towards destruction. There are almost 4,000 teachers, counselors and key staff living with a high level of uncertainty. The dollars are there, and for the first time in a long time, the revenue streams are there. It is quite simply a matter of political will, said the Councilwoman. While Councilwoman Quiones Snchez urges the immediate infusion of $50 million in additional local funds to ensure schools can open safely, it is also crucial to look forward towards solutions for the structural underfunding of the Philadelphia School District. Locally, we must revisit creative funding ideas including my Use & Occupancy proposal, the 60/40 millage split for property taxes, and the proposals from Council President Darrell Clarke around municipal advertising and targeted asset sales. Everything should be on the table, said the Councilwoman. However, this recurring funding crisis cannot be solved without true reform from the state level. According to a comprehensive report released in February by the Education Law Center of Pennsylvania, the state contributes among the nations lowest share towards school funding, and is one of only a few states that lack funding formulas. This has resulted in unpredictable and inequitable results in the distribution of state education dollars, so that Pennsylvanias local school districts often do not receive funding based on actual need. Despite Philadelphias clear need, it only received a restoration of $16 million additional general education funds from the state for the coming year. We must restore a real funding formula that will protect our children from each year being at the mercy of Harrisburg politics, said Councilwoman Quiones Snchez. The newly proposed $50 million local infusion of funds, in addition to other committed State and local funds, would bring us closer to the amount requested by the Philadelphia School District, and in a more responsible way. At the same time, it is imperative that both City Council and our state delegation embark on a thoughtful and comprehensive discussion throughout the coming months about long term funding strategy for public education.

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