The city seeks more than $52.8 million to help the schools. Despite appearances to the contrary, the various levels of federal, state and city governments are not one entity. The city hammered this fact home last Monday by filing suit against the state for "condemning" children to inadequate education, demanding $52.8 million this year and more in subsequent years to help the city's ailing public school system. The city, joined by the Philadelphia school district, alleged that the state has failed its youth by not providing sufficient school funding. And a joint statement by Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell (D) and School Superintendent David Hornbeck said that "it's time for the state to step up to the plate." But state officials maintain that the current system is more than generous to the city. "The allegedly unfair system gives approximately seven times more aid per pupil [in Philadelphia] than in the suburbs," said Tim Reeves, a spokesperson for Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R). "That hardly seems to be an 'immoral' and 'unconscionable' level of spending," he added. Deputy Mayor Kevin Feeley described the lawsuit as "a line drawn in the sand," explaining that the city has made all the cuts it can afford -- and still does not have enough money to educate its youth adequately. "We believe it is the commonwealth's moral and legal obligation [to properly fund Philadelphia education] and as a result we are pressing that claim on a number of counts," Feeley said. He cited an additional lawsuit alleging that the state discriminates against poor students and non-English-speaking students by underfunding education in a city with a sizable minority population. But Reeves noted that Philadelphia was "conspicuously" absent from another lawsuit against the state for inadequate educational funding -- filed by over half of the state's 501 school districts -- that went to trial last year. Reeves explained that the other districts did not want Philadelphia involved with the suit because "the city is a big winner in school funding" and would weaken the suit's credibility. But Feeley stressed that its unfair "to compare a Philadelphia public school student who is poor and has special needs with a student in the suburbs or in Iowa." But Reeves said statistics show that while the state is doing its part to fund public education, the city may not be. Philadelphia placed 432nd -- in the bottom 20 percent -- statewide in funding for education from local tax revenues. "Taxes are very high in the city, but what is very creatively left out is the analysis of how much money goes into education," Reeves added. And a recent poll released by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic caucus showed that two-thirds of Philadelphians think that the condition of the city's public schools has worsened over the past five years. The poll was commissioned by State Representative Dwight Evans (D-Phila.) and conducted by Lake Research, a Democratic polling firm. Out of the 500 Pennsylvania residents questioned, 212 were Philadelphians. The sample of Philadelphia residents were, on average, more disappointed with their schools than other Pennsylvania residents. Data showed that 9 of 10 Philadelphia respondents backed school reforms requiring community governance, removing tenure tracks for principals, requiring language and math proficiency for teachers and making the individual schools more self-reliant in hiring and funding issues.
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