School district asks Council for $, assures accountability

The School District is currently asking City Council for more cash to help deal with a $218 million shortfall for the next fiscal year.

Mayor Nutter has proposed moving to a new property-tax system, known as the Actual Value Initiative, which would make permanent two tax hikes that were deemed temporary and collect an extra $94 million along the way for the school district.

Critics call it a tax hike, but Nutter has said the city is simply capturing the increase in property values. Some Council members argue that providing extra funding for the schools should be debated separately from AVI.

"We have a school district that is all but broken," City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, said at the start of Tuesday's budget hearing. "We have been misled for years regarding the true state of school district woes."

"There has not been the level of accountability Council has the right to expect," Blackwell added. "We have had five hearings or briefings and a nine hour hearing and we've come to this conclusion we need change."

School Reform Commission Chairman Pedro Ramos assured Council that the School district will be accountable and transparent while stressing the need for extra revenue, adding that "without those funds our gap next year would grow to over $300 million."