50+ schools and groups issue a parent vote of “NO Confidence”

Last spring 50+ parent associations and citywide parent organizations signed onto a “Vote of No Confidence”  in the School District’s FY13 budget. Read WHYY’s coverage of the vote and dramatic budget meeting. Read more about our Spring 2012 budget struggle.Our reasons:

1. The budget fails to uphold the District’s core mission to provide essential personnel and quality instructional resources to public schools.
2. The District failed to include parents in decision-making. Despite parents taking the time to participate in committees and testifying repeatedly at community budget meetings, the FY13 budget reflects very few of our priorities.
3. It promotes a secretive, massive school closings plan without a full public vetting of the criteria for closing schools or a quality plan for transferring students or transforming schools.
4. The FY13 budget balances a $218 million deficit on the backs of children while leaving the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania off the hook to pay its fair share to schools.
5. Finally, the budget promotes non-public options at the expense of public ones. It promotes a massive expansion of charters while targeting public schools for widespread closure and budget cuts.

Our proposal:

• Set up an emergency process with parent groups to assess the impact of school-based losses this year and prioritize restoring funds to school budgets;
• The SRC must hold public hearings on school closing criteria and slow down the process for closing schools in FY2013. They must design a process that gives parents time to seek quality options and not rush a decision in the spring.
• Provide an opportunity for parents to meet with budget staff to review and suggest an alternative list of savings.
• A process to engage parents, District leaders and the City in seeking alternative funding sources including a collective effort for additional state revenue, Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOTS), etc.

Signed:

Schools: Alcorn, Adaire, AMY Northwest, Bache-Martin, Barry, Bodine, J.H. Brown, CAPA, Carver School of Engineering & Sciences, Cassidy, Conwell, Cook-Wissahickon, Creighton, A.B. Day, Dobson, Edmonds, Fell, Finletter, A.L. Fitzpatrick, Franklin Learning Center, Girard Academic Music Program (GAMP), Girls High, Henry, Hill-Freedman, Hopkinson, Houston, A.S. Jenks, J.S. Jenks, Kelly, Kinsey, Lea, Lingelbach, Longstreth, Masterman, McCall, McCloskey, Meredith, Morrison, Nebinger, Olney, Pennypacker, Powel, Prince Hall, Rhoads, Rowen, Science Leadership Academy, Shawmont, E.M. Stanton, Taylor.

Organizations: Autism Sharing and Parenting, Germantown Clergy Initiative, Parents United for Public Education, Philadelphia Home and School Council, Philadelphia Right to Education Local Task Force