KansasCity.com : Kansas City breaking local news, sports, entertainment, business When it comes to education funding, what's the deal with Philly schools? — Keystone Crossroads Fourteenth in an occasional series of podcasts and web "explainers." How much does the Philadelphia School District spend? The district's budget for the 2014-15 school year is roughly $2.6 billion. The School Reform Commission and Superintendent William Hite have proposed a $2.89 billion plan for the 2015-16 school year, arguing that the additional money is needed to restore vital, basic services. Doesn't Philadelphia get a huge share of state education aid already? House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R- Allegheny) makes the point that the city has 12 percent of the state's school population, but receives 18 percent of the state's basic education subsidy. That's accurate. Philadelphia school officials counter that those numbers alone don't capture the situation. Also, they say, the state's school aid system is supposed to send more help to districts that have a lot of impoverished families with children who pose extra challenges to educate. It does. Doesn't politics play a role in this? Yes.
Suzie and Jake The Washington Monthly What Philly should know about creating successful community schools Mayor Kenney’s first major policy announcement centered on plans to develop 25 community schools across Philadelphia. As is the case with any ambitious policy proposal, the “how” will take time. The “what” and “why” are more clear: By providing extended learning opportunities and access to additional services – such as preventive health care, counseling, and quality early education – community schools strive to address the effects of poverty on academic performance and provide more comprehensive supports for traditionally underserved students and families. At the same time, research tells us that initial effects of community schools are small and that program quality matters enormously when it comes to outcomes. So, what can Philadelphia learn from the experiences of other districts that have invested in the community schools approach with varying results? Next, changes in student behavior will be the building blocks for academic success.
us Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia MAP: Where Income Inequality Is the Worst in Philly - Philadelphia Magazine We’re starting to wonder why the Occupy movement didn’t start in Philadelphia. For the umpteenth time in the last few years, a study has just come out showing that the Philly region is one of most unequal areas in the country. The Urban Institute looked at income and educational inequality in the nation’s largest “commuting zones” — which are similar to metropolitan areas — and found that Philadelphia had the second-highest degree of disparity in 2010. The think tank developed a score for an area’s level of inequality based on four factors: its average household income, homeownership rate, median housing value, and percentage of residents who have a college degree. Dallas, Baltimore, Columbus and Houston also rank in the top five most unequal commuting zones in the country. If you don’t believe that inequality is a massive problem here, check out just a few of the stories that Citified and our sister blogs have written in the last couple years: Read More About: City Vs.