Calling for City Council Hearings before the Joint Committees on Finance and Education to Explore the Reasons and Remedies for the School District of Philadelphia's FY 2007 Budget Deficit and to Explore the Impact the Deficit Could have on School Students, Teachers and Programs.

WHEREAS, The School District of Philadelphia has recently reported a $73 million budget deficit for the 2007 Fiscal Year; and

WHEREAS, The District will need to make substantial budget cuts and/or secure additional revenues to close its budget gap; and

WHEREAS, Efforts to close the budget gap could include elimination of programs such as the Accelerated Learning programs for gifted students, including Advanced Placement courses, causing some parents to withdraw high achieving students from District schools; and

WHEREAS, Reduced funding is proposed for the New CEP Alternative School for students who are significantly older than their actual grade level peers, possibly leading to higher drop-out rates; and

WHEREAS, A proposal to shorten the hours of operation for school facilities and the number of days for summer school programs could leave families to make alternative arrangements for their children who would otherwise be at school; and

WHEREAS, Other programs and areas that could see funding reductions or eliminations include after school programs, athletic programs, art and culture programs and programs designed to provide academic support to struggling students; and

WHEREAS, The City, State and School District must work together to explore ways to balance the School District budget without hurting students or sacrificing quality programs; and

WHEREAS, The City, State and School District must work to explore ways to provide permanent funding that will adequately and equitably fund this and other districts in the Commonwealth; now therefore

RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Calls for the Joint Committees on Finance and Education to Hold Hearings to Explore the Reasons and Remedies for the School District of Philadelphia’s FY 2007 Budget Deficit and to Explore the Impact the Deficit Could have on School Students, Teachers and Programs.

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