STATE AND LOCAL LEGISLATORS DEMAND FACILITIES PLAN FROM SCHOOL DISTRICT TO FIX SCHOOL BUILDINGS
Following the recent closure of two Philadelphia schools due to asbestos, City Council’s Education Committee and state legislators this week called on the School District of Philadelphia to produce a detailed facilities plan to fix structural issues in its schools. The local and state legislators also called on Governor Josh Shapiro and legislative leaders to appropriate millions of dollars more to fix ailing city schools.
The news conference Monday was convened by Education Committee Chair Isaiah Thomas, an At Large Councilmember, in the Mayor’s Reception Room at City Hall. Thomas was joined by Councilmembers on the Education Committee, and by State Sen. Vincent Hughes, the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and numerous other legislators from Philadelphia.
Thomas and other Councilmembers described an at-times frustrating process in which the School District asks Council for more funds for public education, but has not yet produced a definitive plan for how the many District school buildings with physical and structural issues will be fixed.
“The recommendations we make and suggestions that we give, not saying they don’t listen to all of them, but far too often the important ones fall on deaf ears,” said Councilmember Thomas.
Two school buildings, one in Nicetown-Tioga and one in West Oak Lane, have been closed in recent weeks due to asbestos problems – a chronic problem in a school district filled with crumbling, decades-old buildings.
Councilmembers spoke at the press conference about the urgent need for the District to produce a facilities plan that Members and state legislators could use to advocate for more state and local dollars to help Philadelphia.
“We’re not going to just give you funding if you’re not going to give us a plan,” Councilmember Anthony Phillips (9th District) said at the news conference.
In his state budget speech last week, new PA Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed setting aside $100 Million a year over five years – or $500 Million – to fund improvements in school infrastructure across Pennsylvania. However, in Philadelphia alone, Councilmembers and state legislators said the funding need to fix city schools was likely in the Billions of dollars.
In the current city budget, $1.3 Billion is generated in city taxes for Philadelphia school funding. In addition, the city provides another $270 Million in the form of a grant to the School District.
The city’s budget process begins with public hearings starting on March 28th. The first date for hearings on the School District is May 2nd, with another day for public testimony on schools taking place on May 3rd.
“At the end of the day, a society is judged by how we treat our most vulnerable and that’s our elderly and our children,” said Thomas, concluding the news conference.
COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE, KENNEY ADMINISTRATION WELCOME FIRST CLASS OF PUBLIC SAFETY ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
After an effort that spanned more than three years, the City of Philadelphia welcomed its first class of Public Safety Enforcement Officers in a graduation ceremony at City Hall last Friday.
Public Safety Enforcement Officers, an idea first proposed here by Council President Darrell L. Clarke (5th District) and modeled on similar efforts in cities like New York, are officers who will handle traffic congestion issues, quality of life nuisance problems, and supervise the ticketing and removal of abandoned cars – freeing up Police Officers to focus on more serious crime.
After an effort that began with the passage of Council legislation to create the new class of officers, extended through a legal challenge from the city police union, and finally led to a weeks-long training class, the inaugural class of 17 Public Safety Enforcement Officers were sworn in by a Common Pleas Court judge in the Mayor’s Reception Room on Friday morning.
Family members of the Public Safety officers were on hand to participate in the graduation ceremony, proudly pinning official city badges on their loved one’s jackets and blouses.
City Managing Director Tumar Alexander was on hand, telling the new city employees how proud the Kenney administration was of them, and the important role they will play in the city’s overall public safety efforts.
The newly-sworn Public Safety Enforcement Officers started work this past week, in targeted deployments in the First and Second Councilmanic Districts. The officers will be supervised and report in to the Streets Department.
“This is an important step forward today,” said Council President Clarke at the ceremony. “Public Safety Enforcement Officers can handle traffic congestion, quality of life issues, ticket abandoned cars — and free up Police Officers for more traditional crime fighting duties. We’re very pleased to get to this moment and wish this inaugural class of PSEOs all the best as they begin their work for the citizens of Philadelphia.
Clarke also was optimistic that City Council would appropriate additional dollars in the upcoming city budget process to support more classes of Public Safety Enforcement Officers in the years ahead.
COUNCILMEMBER JOHNSON OFFERS RESOLUTION CALLING ON PA LEGISLATURE TO INCREASE THE MINIMUM WAGE
Pivoting on a call last week by Governor Shapiro for the Legislature to raise the state Minimum Wage from $7.25 up to $15 an hour, Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson (2nd District) this week introduced a resolution urging the PA General Assembly to act now to raise the Minimum Wage for workers across the Commonwealth.
Johnson’s resolution notes “Philadelphia has been labeled the “poorest big city in America” and the city’s poverty rate, which stands near 23% according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is nearly double the statewide and national averages.”
Meanwhile, the “minimum wage in Pennsylvania has not been raised since 2009, when the minimum wage was increased to $7.25 nationwide. However, since 2009, the Consumer Price Index has increased by nearly 40%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This growing disconnect between the state’s minimum wage and residents’ cost of living causes a steady erosion of minimum wage earners’ incomes that traps families in poverty,” the resolution states.
The high cost of living in Philadelphia has compounded the difficulties faced by minimum wage workers. According to an analysis published by the Economy League, rents in Philadelphia increased by 8.5 percent from April 2021 to April 2022, representing a $197 average increase for Philadelphia renters. Since 2018, the average rent in Philadelphia has increased 19 percent.
“The Council of Philadelphia hereby urges the Pennsylvania General Assembly to act on Governor Shapiro’s call, in his 2023 budget address, to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 and to deliver a living wage for workers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” the resolution concludes.
SEEN ON SOCIAL MEDIA…
❗ The Philadelphia Water, Sewer & Storm Water Rate Board will hold public hearings in the 2023 General Rate Proceeding via Zoom on:
• March 22 at 3pm & 6pm
• March 23 at 3pm & 6pmWant to testify? Email [email protected] by March 21. Info➡️ https://t.co/CMz41T9qdu pic.twitter.com/k17Q2mHzhO
— Philadelphia Water (@PhillyH2O) March 14, 2023
IN OTHER NEWS
Councilmember Jones Resolution Passes Declaring March 18 to be Public Defender and Participatory Defense Day. Majority Leader Curtis Jones, Jr. (4th District), long a supporter of the Public Defender’s Office, offered the resolution to honor “the dedicated work that the Defender Association of Philadelphia and Participatory Defense Hubs do for Philadelphia.”
OTHER SIGHTS AND SOUNDS FROM THE COUNCIL WEEK
Stated Meeting of Philadelphia 3-9-2023
Committee on Children and Youth 3-13-2023
Committee on Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs 3-14-2023
Stated Meeting of Philadelphia 3-16-2023 [No video available]
The next Stated Meeting of City Council is scheduled to take place on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 10 a.m. in Philadelphia City Hall, Room 400 and will air on Xfinity Ch. 64, Fios Channel 40 and stream at www.PHLCouncil.com/watch.
Featured Photo: Jared Piper/PHLCouncil
