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Residents say record city budget hasn't stopped school deficits and air-pollution concerns
Summary
At a council budget town hall residents cited a nearly $6.9 billion city budget while the school district faces a roughly $300 million deficit, and urged action on lead/asbestos in schools and on trash incineration-sourced pollution.
Several residents and an education advocate at the Germantown town hall pressed Philadelphia officials on why schools remain under-resourced despite what one speaker called a record city budget.
"Council approved the largest budget in Philadelphia's history, nearly $6,900,000,000. Yet, the school district still faces a $300,000,000 deficit and is closing our schools," said Sonia Peck, educational director for the Philadelphia Reparations Coalition, adding that tutoring can only partially substitute for classroom instruction.
A visiting state official described collaborative inspections that found lead and asbestos at Pierce Middle School and credited joint work with council to secure resources and a new school. The official said such intergovernmental work helps target limited capital funds.
Karen Melton, a 4th District resident and budget protester, urged the council to stop sending Philadelphia's trash to an incinerator in Chester, linking that facility to regional pollution and local asthma rates and asking the council to pursue alternatives.
Council members acknowledged the concerns and described ongoing remediation and capital-budget review processes; staff promised to follow up on capital projects and on the land-transfer issue affecting Jerome Brown Playground (see separate timeline entry).
