Wolf’s half-year school spending plan begins to restore cuts to Philadelphia

This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.

In the first 15 years that charter schools have operated in Pennsylvania, the state acknowledged that these alternatives to traditional public schools pose a financial burden for school districts.

During former Gov. Tom Corbett’s first year in office, the aid to cover those added costs was eliminated – wreaking havoc on districts with many charters, namely Philadelphia.

Corbett’s successor, Gov. Wolf, took steps this week to change that.

As the larger budget battle continues in the state Capitol, Wolf has agreed to release half a year’s worth of state aid to schools.

Within that allocation, Wolf has partially brought back the charter reimbursement funding that was cut in 2011.

Statewide, $2.8 billion has been released. The School District of Philadelphia has received $518 million – representing 45 percent of its projected basic education funding for the year and doubling last year’s "Ready to Learn" block grant funds.

With the rationale that districts disproportionately hurt by cuts need to be made whole, Wolf steered an additional $28.3 million to Philadelphia through the block grant as charter reimbursement cash, bringing its total allotment to $62 million.

"We need to restore the severe cuts that were enacted under the previous governor and Republican-controlled legislature," said Wolf’s spokesman Jeffrey Sheridan.

Some Republicans have criticized Wolf for favoring the state’s largest city.

"The guy lives in Philadelphia, so he brought the money home," said Steve Miskin, spokesman for House Republican leadership. "He wants to disproportionately take money from other areas and bring it to Philadelphia without any controls or accountability."

Wolf owns homes in both York County and Philadelphia.

Miskin said his caucus sympathizes with the damage inflicted upon the School District because of lost charter reimbursement funds. He said that members, though, have been put off by a few of City Council’s moves, including refusing to hold a hearing on former Mayor Michael Nutter’s plan to sell the Philadelphia Gas Works.

"Philadelphia doesn’t seem to want to help itself," said Miskin.

Read the rest of this story at NewsWorks