W. Philly residents donate to schools

Most Americans would be thrilled to receive a $100 tax rebate from the government. But for about 75 local residents, such a refund was less than welcome. The residents gathered in a West Philadelphia home last night to present nearly $7,000 in tax rebates to four area public schools -- mostly to protest a school-tax rebate which sent $100 payments to households statewide. But instead of keeping the money, the residents decided to pool their rebates and donate them -- $6,925 in all -- to the Lea, Powel, Wilson and Drew schools, all of which are located near Penn's campus. "This is greatly needed and greatly appreciated," Wilson School Principal Arthur Hall said. He praised the residents for providing his school with much-needed community support. "So often people only complain about the public schools," he said. "Very seldom are there endeavors that touch the children." Many residents said they were motivated to give the rebate back because they wanted to send a message to the state legislators who approved it. They said the rebate, which cost the state $330 million, took too much money away from the state's troubled public schools that should have been spent on educational needs. "The message here is that we want more of our tax dollars going to the Philadelphia School District," donor Sally Simmons said. Moreover, many donors claim that the late-October rebate, part of the largest tax cut in state history, was largely a political move to secure reelection for some legislators. "A lot of people are aware of the politics involved in this rebate," donor Carolyn Kelly said. "It's criminal." The West Philadelphia resident said she is fed up with what she considers to be the meager level of funding for education that the state provides for Philadelphia schools. "The public schools are important to me," Kelly said after signing her check over to the campaign. "And they are hurting." Campaign coordinator Melani Lamond, who hosted the reception in her home last night, said she was pleased with the amount of support the campaign received. "It's just astounding that so many people said 'I'll give $100' without thinking twice," she said. Part of the campaign's surprising popularity may have stemmed from the broad publicity it received. The story was picked up by the Associated Press and ran in newspapers throughout the country, including The New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor. The effort began in October with only a handful of residents and a few hundred dollars, but within weeks it snowballed into a campaign of several thousand dollars. City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, a local resident who represents much of West Philadelphia, also donated to the campaign. "The community has been working so hard to try to improve its neighborhood schools," she said. "This is the culmination of that effort." Each of the four schools was given discretion to spend the donation as it desired, and Hall said Wilson will be using most of its share to buy new library books. The other schools plan to spend the money on computer software, playground improvements, classroom materials and funding for students who cannot afford field trips.

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