Detroit, Chicago and now Philsdelphia. That's the mounting number of U. S. cities shuttering schools and slashing budgets and needed programs. The Syracuse Post Standard, last week, carried a piece about the massive cuts in Philly.
The school system of Philadelphia is facing a budget deficit in excess of $300 million. No doubt, measures had to be taken but the ones being enacted are simply draconian. Besides, why on earth did the city wait so long to work at rectifying this situation?
The district has laid off 20% of its staff. In addition to cutting music, the district has also eliminated, yes I said eliminated, art and the sports programs.
But many of the district's teachers, staffers and parents are not taking the news lightly. As of June 25th, many of these individuals are protesting the massive cuts by going on a hunger strike. It will be most interesting to see if some of the programs are put back on the books in addition to seeing how the hunger strike progresses.
This is just one more example, one more city, one more district in which public education is taking it on the chin. It seems that this is a continuous dreambeat down the path of harming public education in both the short term as well as the long term. Anyone who thinks public education isn't in jeopardy is kidding themselves.
Dick
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