So what's happening in Philadelphia's public schools today is
conscientious teachers like Wilma are reaching into their own pocket to
fund that gap -- that $1500 or so -- between the Philadelphia per-pupil
expenditure and even a moderate suburban per-pupil expenditure.
Wilma's story is not unique. All Philadelphians should be ashamed this
is so.
The only cure -- run the math! -- is that Philadelphia rebuild the
middle-class and prosperous tax base that once supported good public
education in the city, and now supports good public education in the
suburbs. What can we do to get more middle-class taxpayers inside city
limits? That's the $64 question facing Philadelphians who want to see
their working-class kids uplifted. Poor city kids need new non-poor city
kids, ASAP.
It's time we, as a city, quit cannibalizing our Wilmas. It's time we
confronted the challenge of regional and global competition. It's time
we quit yakking about 40-year-old New-Left ideological shibboleths like
"gentrification".
Let's move on. Can UC-list move on? Can we start talking about the
reality of urban life in 2008 and forget all this nostalgic homage to
the people who opposed the construction of of the high-rises in the
1960s ... for reasons that were very cogent at the time, but are no
longer? Can we move beyond the causes of our youth, to pay attention to
the needs of today's youth?
-- Tony West
Wilma de Soto wrote:
"Take the wheel of your automobile, and sing on down to..." Upper Moreland,
Lower Merion or wherever you will. Then take a walk over to Wilson,
McMichael, Martha Washington, Cramp, Clymer and see the difference
first-hand.
Outrageous! Yet I know you're not alone.
Do you think teachers in, say, Upper Moreland Twp. are tempted to do the
same as you, or do they get more of what they need from their school
budget in the first place? You probably know more teachers than most of us.
-- Tony West
Wilma de Soto wrote:
why as I do my taxes this weekend, do I have receipts totaling
nearly $1500 for out-of-pocket classroom expenses for 2007, so I can have
the means to do my job.
The School District gives us $100, (up from $50 from the last contract).
For most of my career it was a $25 allotment.
The Feds will let me deduct up to $250 I believe.
Let me add I was more prudent this year in my out-of-pocket spending that I
have been before. Many teachers do not bother to fork over the extra
expense and I don't judge them. I just do what I must to try to provide an
effective, competitive education for my students.
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