Hite: Philly schools situation 'unacceptable' but still better than last year
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Superintendent William Hite (left) with CP's Daniel Denvir, who moderated the discussion
A discussion about the troubled Philly public school system was a powder keg of conversation among progressives and pedagogues, but Superintendent William Hite knows how to defuse a situation, having spent his entire tenure here fighting a funding crisis and calming a public justifiably panicked over the state of the city's schools.
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Americans for Democratic Action hosted Hite last night for a broadly ranging conversation — from how the charter-school-funding scheme contributes to the District's continuing budget shortfalls to why the superintendent insists on using the boys' restroom, and not the faculty lounge, on school visits. City Paper Senior Staff Writer Daniel Denvir moderated the passionate, yet cordial, discussion.
The school district's Sisyphean budget battle dominated the evening's discussion. While noting that funding still isn't sufficient to meet the needs of teaching "over 202,000" District school children, Hite said that things were "better than they were last year." Whereas last year's situation was "deplorable," this year is merely "unacceptable."
Last year, the District was racked by one piece of bad news after another. Schools were closed, teachers were laid off and staffers were attacked. The situation reached an indignant crescendo this summer when the School Reform Commission refused to pass another "devastating" budget. The SRC subsequently passed a "placeholder" budget that assumes funds from a $2-a-pack cigarette tax that's close to passage, but still working its way through the state legislature.
While noting that Philly's budgetary woes are primarily caused by a lack of local control over revenues ever since the state takeover of the schools 13 years ago and the current lack of a fair funding system statewide, Hite expressed some frustration over charter schools' budgetary impact, too.
According to Hite, out of a $2.6 billion dollar budget, $760 million goes directly to the charter schools (who, to be fair, educated around 33 percent of Philly public school students). Debt service takes $300 million, and state- and federal-mandated spending for special education takes another $200 million, leaving the school district with just $1.3 billion it has any real control over. And of that $1.3 billion, 85 percent goes to salary and benefits, Hite said. He lamented "how small the discretionary money is for everything else." Despite the grim numbers, Hite stayed positive, and the audience seemed to respond in kind.
After an hour and a half, there were still at least a half dozen hands in the audience still raised when the organizers ended the event. Still, the audience murmured optimistically afterward. In a way, a "Nite with Hite" was a perfect microcosm of Philly education itself: Lots of troubling questions remain unanswered, but, for now, there is at least a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dark night.
