PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s budget was not even a week old when advocates began lobbying City Council for changes to her $6.3 billion spending plan.
The child advocacy organization Children First went office to office last week asking council members to back four changes in the budget: more money for schools, pre-schools, out-of-school time, and diversion programs to keep kids out of the criminal justice system.
Parker did propose an increase in the percentage of city taxes that go to schools, from 55% to 56%, but parent Jazmin Banks said it should be 58%.
“We cannot afford any cuts to the school district budget so that the gains the district has made these last few years are not lost, because the district is facing a fiscal cliff,” she said.
Parker’s budget holds the number of free pre-K seats steady, but parent Savon Almodovar said that number should grow.
“We want 250 more PHL pre-K seats. My child is in one of them, and I thank God for it,” Almodovar said. “Our district is facing a fiscal cliff and our kids cannot afford to move backward.”
Council members say they are open to the advocates’ requests and will keep them in mind as they rework the budget over the next few months. Councilmembers Jaime Gauthier and Rue Landau welcomed the proposals.
“These are things that I support and I’m just looking into the budget to see how the proposal relates to these requests,” Gauthier said.
“Anything we can do to support young people in schools, after-school programs, and in any way in our city, I’m all for it,” Landau added.