PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mayor Cherelle Parker joined charter and traditional public school leaders in calling on lawmakers in Harrisburg to adopt a House-passed plan to reform education spending.
At a City Hall news conference Tuesday, Parker stood with a coalition of elected officials, charter and public school leaders and labor officials to present a united front. Their message: Now that the Democratic-controlled state House has passed a plan to beef up education spending in the wake of last year’s Commonwealth Court ruling that state funding was unconstitutionally inadequate, it’s up to the Republican-led state Senate to do the same to correct years of underfunding.
“We have done our part,” Parker said. “We are now looking to Harrisburg to ensure that our students have the future that they deserve.”
The state House on Monday passed a Democratic proposal to increase education spending by more than $5 billion over the next seven years.
District and charter school leaders, including Mastery Charter CEO Joel Boyd, joined Parker on Tuesday in calling for full passage of the budget plan.
“I am honored to stand beside this mayor, who said, ‘Imagine what we can accomplish if we stop fighting each other and start fighting together on behalf of our children,’” Boyd said.
Donna Cooper, executive director of the nonprofit Children First, said it’s essential to show unity before Republican Senate leadership.
“What our friends in Harrisburg are looking for is division,” Cooper said. “That is the way that the injustice of the public education funding system in Pennsylvania is sustained.”
Philadelphia stands to get $242 million in new funding next year under the plan. Senate Republicans have balked at giving districts more, saying extra money should go to parents to let them choose where their students go.
Parker wouldn’t comment on whether she would accept vouchers paying for private school tuition as part of any final deal.
“It doesn’t behoove us or help our state legislative delegation for us to talk about what we will or won’t be doing,” Parker said. “Right now they need to go to the table with everything they need to hammer out the best compromise they possibly can.”