Mayor Parker prioritizes education funding and clarifies ‘year-round school’ at Philly’s State of the Schools event

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said Tuesday that school funding will be front and center as she builds Philadelphia’s budget.

Parker, speaking at her first public education event since becoming mayor Jan. 2, said that federal, state, and city government, as well as the private sector and philanthropic community, must be on board to help the city’s schools.

“The funding of public education during this budget cycle, it has to become our No. 1 priority,” the mayor said.

» READ MORE: The Philly superintendent will give his first-ever ‘State of the Schools’ talk Tuesday. Here are three things to expect.

For too long, Parker said, Philadelphia schools have had to make do with “crumbles” of funding “when they really deserve a whole loaf.” (A state court in February ruled that Pennsylvania’s system of funding schools was unconstitutional, and ordered fixes, which have not yet been implemented.)

Parker’s statement came at Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.’s State of the Schools speech, which he intends to make annual. Dozens of lawmakers, community members, union chiefs, and others gathered in the auditorium of the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts to listen to Watlington highlight progress in the district and lay out his vision for how to accelerate student achievement.

But first, Parker spoke, saying she was hopeful for the city’s schools, despite external forces working against them.

She hinted at a need to examine the district’s facilities on a large scale — the average age of a school building is 73 years old, and many have environmental issues or badly need modernization.

In a recent conversation with a Harrisburg lawmaker, Parker said, she discussed “how do we build new, and how do we do it in an innovative way?” The vision, she said, is connecting schools with city services, such as health centers and libraries.

“That’s the model,” Parker said.

(One new city public school, T.M. Peirce in North Philadelphia, opened in January; three more are currently being built — Cassidy in West Philadelphia, AMY at James Martin in Port Richmond, and Thomas Holme in the Northeast.)

The mayor also repeated a campaign promise, though the language was slightly different than in the past. Parker had called for year-round school, which the district had tried and discarded in the early 2000s.

On Tuesday, Parker said she supported “this thing called year-round access to educational opportunities during non-traditional times. Some people refer to it as out-of-school-time. I called it year-round school during the campaign. I want to say to you, you can call it whatever you want to call it. I want young people to have access to those opportunities year-round.”

Watlington has made a 10-school pilot for year-round education a part of his strategic plan, Accelerate Philly, but no specifics have been announced. Administration officials said parents will soon be convened to hash out the details.

The superintendent reiterated his support for Parker’s push.

“Our kids need more time, not less, in school,” said Watlington.

» READ MORE: Philly schools are projecting a $407 million deficit

The viability of Watlington’s, and Parker’s, plans depends on funding. The district, alone in Pennsylvania in its inability to raise its own revenue, is projecting a $400 million deficit as federal COVID-19 relief funds run out. Despite the district’s highest credit rating in decades, chronic underfunding means the Philadelphia system again will have its hand out to Harrisburg and City Hall.

If Philadelphia gets the money it needs, Watlington said, in the coming year it will invest in extended-day and year-round schools, facility improvements, teacher and principal recruitment and retention, job training, high-dose tutoring, and a re-launch of Parent University, a program that provides education to district families.

Watlington said the district will invest $28.1 million in his strategic plan this school year, in issues ranging from safety and academics to better communication with families. The most significant single investment is $13.5 million to replace analog security cameras at 150 schools.

On the district’s annual survey, just 55% of students said they felt safe in school hallways. Working cameras, officials said, will help bolster that.

Watlington stood by his oft-repeated refrain that he wants Philadelphia to be the fastest-improving, large, urban district in the country. The district has gotten some momentum, he said: standardized test scores are generally up, graduation rates and student and teacher attendance is improving, and the dropout rate is decreasing.

Progress has been made, but more is needed, the superintendent said.

Watlington and Kathryn Epps Roberson, CEO of the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, the district’s nonprofit arm, challenged all sectors of the city to join in to speed up that progress.

The fund has pledged $40 million over the next five years to specific initiatives in Watlington’s strategic plan, such as paid parent ambassadors and the parent-training program.

“If you’ve got sleeves on, roll them up,” Roberson said, “because it’s time to get to work.”