Charles W. Henry speech teacher, Tamara Sepe, giving her testimonial. (Photo: Pryce Jamison)
In the wake of the Trump Administration’s aim to eliminate the Department of Education, which would ultimately affect the federal funding it provides, parents and educators across the city remain uncertain about the future staffing and resources of their local public schools.
Power Interfaith’s Northwest Philly Education Town Hall further explored the matter, as community members came together to learn the history, workings, concerns, and future hopes for federal and state funding towards Philadelphia’s public education.
The event marked the first of four town halls that Power Interfaith will hold this month, traveling also to Chester County, Lancaster, and Pottstown to spread the word about the importance of fair funding.
A crowd of 110 people filled the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields on Sunday, April 6, afternoon, as State representatives Andre Carroll and Tarik Khan, alongside Senator Art Haywood, kept everyone updated on exactly where they stand.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ruled the state’s funding as unconstitutional in 2023, and state officials like Khan, Carroll, and Haywood have worked to continue this movement of equitable funding.
“I want to thank all of you who fought, because when we got that judicial ruling, we needed to put pressure on the commonwealth, we needed to put pressure on legislators like ourselves, and we needed to put pressure on the Governor,” Kahn said. “In just three years, when democrats took over the majority, we invested [additional] money in the schools.”
But now, Khan is worried that the state and federal government could potentially take steps in the opposite direction, saying, “About 1.6 billion comes from the [federal government], and if they cut that funding, it will be an existential threat.”
According to Rep. Carroll, Pennsylvania has the sixth-largest economy in the United States, but ranks 45th in its education funding.
He further emphasized that “We have to fight for the things we want, they didn’t give us clean drinking water in our schools, but we fought for that and we won, and they didn’t give us permission to take led and asbestos out of our schools, but we’re fighting to make sure that we get that.”
In the opening presentation of the town hall, Power Interfaith member Betty Logan presented some data and studies that give a broad overview of the history of educational funding in Pennsylvania and the disparities that have been examined.
According to a 2007 study done by Augenblick, Palaich, and Associates Inc. that analyzed the 50-year history of federal and state funding in Pennsylvania, PA public schools have been underfunded by 4.6 billion dollars annually. This comprehensive analysis painted a picture of the resources and associated costs needed for each school district in the state to meet federal and state standards that correlate with the No Child Left Behind Act.
“Fast forward 18 years later, we are still underfunded by $4.5 billion, we haven’t gotten to where we meet adequacy,” Logan said. “18 years is a child’s whole education.”
Since 2013, Power Interfaith has been an organization that demands equitable funding and attention towards education for all areas of race and class.
Along with multiple funding efforts in his last three years, local state reps hope that Governor Josh Shapiro’s $494 million budget increase that he proposed for the state’s underfunded school districts will be passed. About $200 million of that budget would go towards Philadelphia schools.
“If we get this budget through with what the governor is asking, we will have invested [a total of] about 750 million extra dollars for Philadelphia public schools,” Khan said. “That is the power of elections and that is the power of advocacy.”
He added that the amount represents “a down payment on what we need because it is not adequate. It sounds like a lot of money, but it’s not what we need. As we get this money, there will still be about a 1.15 billion [dollar] gap in Philadelphia public schools.”
Carroll emphasized how he hopes to decrease the state’s spending and look at more ways to generate revenue, saying how “we spend roughly around $17,000 on average on each student, but when it comes to incarcerating people, we spend about $40-45,000.”
“Right now, there’s two institutions that the governor has proposed to close, and if we close one, we will save ourselves $100,000,000,” Carroll said. “When I hear republicans say ‘we can’t afford that’, I say ‘you’re right we can’t,’ we cannot afford to keep incarcerating our way through our missions, but we can educate our way through them.”
Parents, educators, and former students presented legislators with community testimonials, using their own experiences within the school district to express the significance of adequate funding.
Current disparities between urban and suburban schools due to state and federal funding, and possible budget cuts that will further limit resources and cause staffing shortages throughout the School District of Philadelphia, were major concerns.
Emily Puguese, parent of two students at Henry H. Houston Elementary, pointed out the environments of schools that people want addressed.
“A lot of these funds don’t cover the facilities. When kids are in a school without air conditioning and heat that’s on and off, they’re not in an environment that’s conducive to good learning,” Puguese said. “Houston is lucky to have, in recent years, huge community support, and not enough schools have that.”
Charles W. Henry Kindergarten teacher, Colleen DiMartino, spoke about how the possible elimination of the Department of Education and Title I funding, which provides supplemental resources to schools with high rates of low-income students, could be a threat to classrooms everywhere.
As she is worried about her position, she expressed how none of these public discussions “will make any difference if things in Washington don’t go our way.”
“Title I funding funds every single kindergarten in the school district of Philadelphia; without Title I funding, I do not exist–your children’s start in education does not exist,” she added.
Tamara Sepe, a speech pathologist at Henry, who works with a considerable range of children with different speech therapy and special education needs, voiced her concern for the future of specialized services.
“Many of my speech therapy and special education colleagues are working in stairwells, hallways, and closets,” Sepe said. “Our budget for special education is extremely lean. If we lose any more funding, the only thing that is left to cut is staff,”
Sepe also mentioned staffing ratio challenges in Philadelphia, saying there is less favor in urban area schools.
“We are stretched paper-thin,” she exclaimed. “I’m afraid that we’re going to lose more staff, which will certainly harm kids—removing even more support that is critical to their success”
“Staffing shortages cheat kids, and this is a fact that is especially true for our disabled students,” she added.
English teacher at Central High School, Benjamin Hover, further emphasized the disparities between city schools and suburban districts, especially on the staff level.
“If you choose to teach in Philadelphia, 25 years in, you’re taking a 1.5 million dollar cut [in comparison] to if you teach in Lower Merion, Cheltenham, Abington, Haverford, and all the surrounding districts,” Hover said.
He also referred to how he’s been hearing about some city schools in West Philadelphia that have concerns of closing because of low enrollment, due to how kids are leaving to go to schools in nearby districts.
“We don’t need to close schools, we need to build great schools in these [city] neighborhoods, we need to fund the schools, we need to pay the teachers, we need to build the libraries, have music programs, have art programs, and have all of that for our kids.”
A Germantown area fourth to seventh grade intervention teacher also spoke about how her school told staff that there would be budget cuts due to future uncertainty in federal funding, which led to eventual action.
“Our school had six significant cuts this year, like six classroom teachers, and we got that information almost immediately after Trump signed that,” she said.
Sen. Haywood opened up his thoughts by asking the audience to also think about Martin Luther King High School and how the nearby school is a prime example of where inadequate funding can hold students back in low-income environments.
“It is the neighborhood [public] school for the Northwest. There is tremendous talent at MLK High School, [but] there’s also tremendous challenges, the fields, the ground, the classrooms, all in desperate need” he said.
As the legislators concluded that the School District of Philadelphia would be unprepared to make up for any significant loss in federal funds in the next year, they reminded people that they’ll always be on a journey to bring adequate funding to public schools across the city.
“Winning elections is important, but right now, as we look at the conscience of this country, we have to win hearts,” Carroll said. “Right now we haven’t done a good job at that, but I’m going to make sure that in the next election, education is the number one topic, and not the economy.”
“What we need from all of you is to be loud and voice your support for the increased funding, put pressure on us, we’re your representatives, let us know,” Khan said.