SRC will fund 'priorities'

Responding to concerns raised by parent organizations, the chairwoman of the School Reform Commission has reaffirmed a promise made in the fall to fund smaller class sizes and other "priorities" in next school-year's budget.

"The SRC remains committed to the priorities we articulated last fall and has requested that [district interim Chief Executive Officer Tom] Brady and staff prepare a revised budget - including school-based budgets - that begin to advance the outlined priorities in fiscal year 2009," Chairwoman Sandra Dungee Glenn said in a statement issued Wednesday night.

Although Dungee Glenn did not give specifics, such as how much more funding would be provided for reducing classes, she did caution that money is tight.

"Given the structural underfunding in basic education in Pennsylvania, we will still be confronted with tough choices, but we stand by our priorities," her statement concluded.

When the district gave each school its individual 2008-09 budget last week, the documents did not reflect smaller class sizes in elementary grades as had been promised, according to leaders of parent groups.

The documents also did not say whether schools lacking art and music teachers and librarians would be getting them. Those positions also had been described as "must-haves" by Dungee Glenn in the fall.

On Tuesday, in a written statement, the parent groups demanded that the school-based budgets be redone. But yesterday, responding to Dungee Glenn's announcement, the parents were cautiously optimistic that schools would get what they need this fall.

"They need to come up with a plan so we can see how they're going to do that," said Greg Wade, president of the Home and School Council. "We want art and music in the budget - but where is the money coming from? Where are the teachers coming from?"

"I think [Dungee Glenn] is right, that we're going to have to look at some hard choices," said Helen Gym, a member of Parents United for Public Education. "The thing is, we should talk about what the hard choices are.

"The SRC continues to sign off on a lot of contracts. We need to put some of the contract signing on hold until we figure out how much it will cost to run the kind of schools that we want."

Gerald Wright, another Parents United member, said: "We should be able to go back and look at the priorities against the new budgets that are being released to see if, in fact, the priorities are being met."

In October, Dungee Glenn had said "top-tier" priorities that would be included in next year's budget were reduced class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, and art and music teachers in every school.

She also had said that as much as possible would be spent on increasing the number of guidance counselors - especially in high schools - and the number of nurses and certified librarians in elementary schools.

"They should be there - it has nothing to do with a promise," said Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. "It has to do with what's right for kids.

"These are not frills. They are services that children in suburban districts have," he added. "It's just what well-educated young people have when they go to school."

The PFT's contract stipulates that class sizes in kindergarten through third grade should have no more than 30 students, and no more than 33 students in fourth through 12th grades. But often, those caps are exceeded.

The parents also said that they want the schools to receive enough staffing to avoid split classes - combining students in two grades in one classroom.

On March 19, school officals must send to City Council and Mayor Nutter a budget statement containing anticipated revenues and expenditures for 2008-09. The budget must be adopted by May 31.