Philadelphia City Council Wrestles With Education Budget
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - City Council members say there's no clear answer on how to provide a new infusion of city cash to the school district. In the meantime, council is digesting the public testimony of more than 100 people on the school budget crunch.
The school district wants $75 million to $110 million more from the city. Parent Emmanuel Bussie told council that Harrisburg is to blame for the district's budget shortfall.
"We can't allow those people to play games. We want to cut, cut, cut -- cut our kids' legs off and blame Dr. Ackerman for us limping."
But education activist Helen Gym said there are non-essential services and contracts that Superintendent Arlene Ackerman could have slashed before putting full-day kindergarten on the chopping block.
"There should be no blank check bailout for the district. We want strings attached."
As for finding the money, Councilman Wilson Goode Junior says the city has options.
"It absolutely can be done without a tax increase. We can actually shift some taxes. We can actually create some new revenue source to make up for the shifting in taxes."
But there doesn't seem to be a consensus among Council members on any of those options.
Reported by Mike DeNardo, KYW Newsradio
