Detroit has filed for Bankruptcy - let's look at items of interest pertaining to other troubled pockets of municipal bondland.....
Philadelphia..... Where do things stand regarding school funding as a huge layoff hangs over Schools , School District employees , students and their parents ?
http://thenotebook.org/blog/136213/state-budget-secretary-questions-clarkes-idea-school-funding
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Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/20/2013 21:18 -0400
Philadelphia..... Where do things stand regarding school funding as a huge layoff hangs over Schools , School District employees , students and their parents ?
http://thenotebook.org/blog/136213/state-budget-secretary-questions-clarkes-idea-school-funding
State budget secretary questions Clarke's idea on school funding
by thenotebook on Jul 17 2013 Posted in Latest news
Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke
by Dale Mezzacappa for the Notebook and Holly Otterbein for NewsWorks
The tug-of-war between the city and the state over how to keep the Philadelphia School District solvent heated up on Wednesday, with City Council President Darrell Clarke announcing that he is not on board with a key piece of the funding package worked out in Harrisburg -- dedicating $120 million to the schools in future years by extending a 1 percent local sales tax.
Instead, Clarke wants to direct just $70 million of the sales tax revenue to the schools and use the rest of it for debt service and the city's chronically underfunded pension system.
"If we don't fix our local pension problem, we're going to be looking at the School District of Philadelphia type of scenario for the city of Philadelphia," said Clarke. "We're going to have a real problem in a very, very foreseeable future."
He said that city leaders had been eyeing the sales tax as a potential solution to the pension crisis for years.
"What we don't want to do is simply sit silent while that component of something that we have been working on for a couple of years now essentially gets taken off the table," he said.
In order to make up for the lost funds, Clarke's plan counts on the state anteing up an extra $45 million annually in future years, perhaps by reinstating charter school reimbursements. That state budget line item, which once sent $110 million to Philadelphia, has been eliminated for the last two years.
Clarke is also hoping that the General Assembly will authorize a $2 tax on every pack of cigarettes in Philadelphia, which, he said, would generate $46 million for the schools this budget year and as much as $90 million later.
Clarke likely will face an uphill battle. Charles Zogby, Pennsylvania's budget director, immediately called it "troubling" that Clarke wants to send less than $120 million from the sales tax to the schools.
"We have an immediate crisis with the schools that's on us right now. The SRC has put in place a doomsday budget that just calls for skeletal staffing of schools," said Zogby. "Seems to me that when your house is burning, we ought to use the water to put the fire out, not save it for another day for some other crisis that may be looming down the road."
Advocates also have questions
Donna Cooper, executive director of the nonprofit Public Citizens for Children and Youth, said she gives Clarke credit for focusing on the pension problem. But she wants the schools to get the full $120 million from the sales tax.
"The citizens of Philadelphia have enormous concern for the schools, and the crisis is immediate," she said. "It seems to me the next thing we should do is work to get the state to give us the authority to find revenues to fix the pension, but not rob Peter to pay Paul at this point."
Mark McDonald, a spokesman for Mayor Nutter, said the city needs to review the details of Clarke's plan. The Nutter administration supports sending $120 million to the schools from the sales tax.
With a $304 million budget gap, the School Reform Commission laid off more than 3,800 employees, about 20 percent of its workforce and is preparing to open schools in September without secretaries, counselors, support staff, or other key workers. It asked for $180 million in combined state and city funds and $133 million in labor concessions.
Zogby, a former state education secretary, helped put together Gov. Corbett's funding package for the District that comes up with about $127 million in additional city and state aid.
Here's the breakdown: Compared with the governor's original spending proposal for 2013-14, it includes an additional $2 million in basic education funding and a one-time $45 million state payment generated as a result of the federal government apparently forgiving a years-old debt. The rest is $50 million from a loan guaranteed against the future sales tax revenue, and enhanced city tax collections.
The state will not release the $45 million in extra aid until Corbett's education secretary concludes that the District has "begun implementation of reforms that will provide for the District's fiscal stability, educational improvement, and operational control," according to legislation authorizing the payment. Those "reforms" are expected to include major labor changes. In addition to cuts in salaries and benefits, the School Reform Commission wants to revise how teachers are assigned to schools and create a new compensation system based more on performance and less on longevity and degrees earned.
For the current budget year, Corbett's plan does not count on raising $120 million from the 1 percent sales tax because it is currently being used by the city.
Package 'isn't perfect,' but a 'good solution'
Zogby said that although the funding package "isn't perfect," it was the best that could be achieved given the political and budgetary climate in Harrisburg.
"There's simply not $120 million in the General Fund that could have been sent to Philadelphia," he said, "and given the need that the SRC outlined, the extension and redirection of the sales tax was, in our minds, the most achievable solution. ... It was maybe not a perfect solution, but it was a good solution and the only one that we were able to achieve."
As Zogby sees it, the District will not have a portion of the extra aid in hand until the teachers' contract, including labor changes satisfactory to Harrisburg, is signed. Negotiations are ongoing, but the contract doesn't expire until Aug. 31, just days before schools are scheduled to open.
"The PFT contract would be the linchpin of whether the monies flow or not, both in terms of savings and the reforms initiated," he said.
As to whether the state will take up Clarke's suggestion to boost funding to the city schools by $45 million in future years, Zogby said he didn't see that as in the cards. Sending that kind of money to Philadelphia would involve increasing funds for school districts across the board.
"To send Philadelphia $120 million would probably require half a billion because other members of the General Assembly would not want to see that kind of money go to Philadelphia and not have their school districts get increases as well," he said.
As for the cigarette tax, Zogby said that opposition to the authorizing legislation did not come from the governor's office, but from the state legislature.
"It was just a piece that we found we could not enact," he said. "And I'm not sure that I've seen anything in the landscape that's changed to suggest that that is gettable."
Corbett visited Philadelphia yesterday to celebrate the opening of a new trade and business office in the Chilean consulate. Asked afterwards about Philadelphia's schools, he said that he worked to find a solution "for the children" of the city.
The state took over the Philadelphia schools in 2001, during a prior financial crisis. The arrangement, he said, gives the state the obligation "to work closely with the city."
But, Corbett added, "while the state may have taken them over ... they still belong to the people of the city of Philadelphia. And we’re there to try to assist. And, you know, I’m not going to grade the effort at this point in time. But it is a project that everybody has to be involved in. We have to bring reform, we have to bring the cost of education to a point that is affordable for everybody."
http://articles.philly.com/2013-07-19/news/40659228_1_1-percent-sales-tax-increase-sales-tax-proposed-cigarette-tax
GOV. CORBETT AND the Legislature have done just about all they're going to do to save Philly's cash-poor school district, and that includes dedicated funding from an extension of the 1 percent sales-tax increase.
But, that approach isn't necessarily something with which elected officials locally agree.
The sales tax, which was slated to expire in June, was raised from 7 percent to 8 percent in 2009 to aid the city during the recession. That extra percentage increase brings in about $143 million.
The Legislature recently concluded its budget process. City Council President Darrell Clarke is pushing an alternative plan for fiscal year 2015 that clashes with Corbett's. It seeks to split money generated from an extension of the sales tax between the school district and the city's woefully underfunded pension fund.
"If we continue to have to put general-fund dollars in the pension fund to meet our minimal obligation, we're going to have a real problem in the foreseeable future," Clarke said.
The Daily News reported earlier this month that some city lawmakers were eyeing the tax as a way to fund pensions, which are projected to eat up 17.6 percent of the city's $3.8 billion budget. Clarke said Council was not clued in early that Harrisburg had other plans.
Corbett's recently approved plan allows the school district to borrow $50 million against an extension of the tax, which starting in fiscal-year 2015 will generate $120 million for schools annually. His plan also includes a onetime infusion of $45 million, a forgiven debt that was owed to the federal government and $15.9 million in state aid - a majority of which the district had already included in its budget. The school district requested $120 million from the state and $60 million from the city.
Clarke wants to send $70 million from the sales tax to fund pensions and pay off debt, and send the other $70 million to schools. His plan calls on Harrisburg to make its onetime $45 million grant an annual expenditure, possibly through charter-school reimbursement and counts on passage of state enabling legislation that would allow the city to enact a $2 per pack tax on cigarettes.
The proposed cigarette tax that would have generated $46 million in its first year died following intense lobbying and a lack of cohesive support within the Philly delegation. State Sen. Anthony Williams plans to try his luck again in the fall.
So, does Clarke's proposal stand a chance in the Republican-run Legislature?
House Republican spokesman Steve Miskin said the caucus will only consider new money for Philly schools if the teachers union makes major concessions, as the School Reform Commission has requested. The district is seeking $133 million from its unions, whose contract expires in August.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi "believes President Clarke's plan has merit," but needs to review it in detail, said Erik Arneson, Pileggi's communications and policy director.
Corbett's office did not respond to requests for comment. Mayoral spokesman Mark McDonald said the city needs to "see the school district's current plan to fruition."
David L. Cohen, Comcast executive and chief of staff under Mayor Ed Rendell, who has been working closely with city and state leaders on the school-funding crisis, says passage of the cigarette tax would help to free up sales tax revenue to be used for the pension fund. "This is a plan that makes a lot of sense," he said. "It provides a more balanced approach and is definitely worth pursuing."
http://thenotebook.org/blog/136206/time-upheaval-widespread-turnover-principal-ranks
At a time of upheaval, widespread turnover in principal ranks
by Dale Mezzacappa on Jul 16 2013 Posted in Latest news
About one quarter of the District's schools will open in September under new leadership, a rate of principal turnover that is higher than normal as the District is coping with unprecedented upheaval and major questions about its financial stability.
According to a listing of principal appointments provided by the District, 58 schools will see new leaders. Among their number are neighborhood high schools like Overbrook, George Washington, and Roxborough, magnet schools like GAMP, Carver, and CAPA, and a cross-section of elementary schools all over the city.
"There is a tremendous proportion of schools under new leadership, and research shows that administrative stability is a key indicator for success in a school," said Robert McGrogan, head of the administrators' bargaining unit, CASA.
Among the new leaders are 26 that are either new to the principalship or new to the District. Of those, 18 are new to the position but have been promoted from other jobs within the District. Eight are District newcomers who have been principals or assistant principals elsewhere.
The relatively high rate of turnover is largely the result of retirements and school closings.
Fourteen principals who had led closing schools were reassigned elsewhere; for instance, Timothy Stults of University City High will be the new leader at School of the Future. At 10 closing schools, the principal retired.
Fully 115 members of CASA, which includes principals, assistant principals and a few other supervisory positions, retired this year. A Notebook review of the retirees found that of that number, 46 had been leading schools at the start of last year. Many assistant principals also chose to retire; nearly 130 were among the more than 3,800 employees laid off as the District reduced school staffs to their bare bones in order to make ends meet.
Superintendent William Hite acknowledged that the turnover is high, but said that he sees an upside.
"Yes, a large number of individuals are being replaced in one year, but I also see it as a tremendous opportunity to attract new talent to the role of school leadership," he said. "Leadership matters, especially when we are going through as many things as we are going through now."
On the other hand, he said, "We had some talented administrators who left the District that we hate to see go."
McGrogan said that the new principals are facing some daunting problems, including the lack of any other staff to help them become acclimated to their new surroundings. All secretaries and most support personnel were also laid off, and none have been called back because the District's financial picture is still up in the air.
He said there will be a week-long orientation for new principals beginning Monday.
"None of the people are starting under optimal circumstances," he said. "They are sitting in a giant empty building with just a key and an alarm code." Other than a custodian, there is no one who can help the principal find out where records are kept, not to mention help with making contact with the local police precinct and key community stakeholders, McGrogan said. "In many places, the leadership team includes people who have been laid off."
But Hite said he was "pleasantly surprised" by the number of applications he got from outside the District from people who wanted to work in Philadelphia despite the problems.
"The applicants understand fully the environment in our schools, but they also recognize that to navigate through this period it will take leadership," he said. "These are individuals attracted to the notion that they will have the ability to lead schools and be held accountable for outcomes. These are individuals excited about the opportunity to work in a system where they get to make a lot of decisions about what will occur in their schools."
In addition to the District's state of upheaval, there were other incentives for principals to retire, McGrogan said, with the state considering changes in pension benefits and the District seeking to reduce termination pay as part of its cost-cutting efforts. To close a $304 million budget gap, the District sought $180 million in state and city money -- only some of which has so far materialized -- and wants $133 million in union concessions.
According to the District, vacancies remain at three schools: Bartram High, and E.W. Rhodes and Bryant elementaries. Rhodes is converting from a middle school to K-8.
In all, the District had to fill more than 70 principal vacancies. Principals had to reapply for their jobs at many of the schools receiving students from closing schools. At 10 schools, the principal vacancies were filled by the current principal.
Chicago School funding issues....
http://www.catalyst-chicago.org/notebook/2013/07/19/21712/in-news-principal-publicly-blasts-cps-budgets
In the News: Principal publicly blasts CPS budgets
A North Side elementary school principal delivered a scathing criticism of Chicago Public School budgets Thursday—at City Hall. Blaine Elementary School principal Troy LaRaviere called on Mayor Emanuel to use “creativity, initiative and drive” to find funding for schools the way he has for the DePaul stadium, bike lanes, and boat houses along the river. (WBEZ)
BUDGET CUTS PROTEST: At City Hall on Thursday, numerous community groups protested school budget cuts amid city plans to use $55 million in tax-increment financing dollars for a DePaul University basketball arena. “Some schools will be forced to cram 40 or more students in a classroom,” said Kate Schott Bolduc of Common Sense. “Our public school students won’t have the opportunity to attend fine universities like DePaul if the mayor can’t provide for their basic needs. While the city has asked her organization to join the fight for pension reform in Springfield, “we think there’s a fight closer to home,” Schott Bolduc said. Added Blaine Elementary Principal Troy Laraviere: “When people ask me, how did you achieve the results you did, I give them a list. And everything on that list has been decimated by this budget.” Laraviere also complained that the new budgeting system, where principals are given a pot of money and must pay teachers out of the pot, instead of being allocated positions by CPS, will lead to principals being “handcuffed” in their hiring decisions and unable to afford more experienced, higher-paid teachers. At the conclusion of the press conference, 2004 DePaul alum and Oriole Park teacher Erika Wozniak delivered petitions with 3,000 signatures opposing the arena deal to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office. — Rebecca Harris, Catalyst
CPS LAYING OFF HUNDREDS: On Friday, 1,074 teachers, 451 paraprofessionals and 550 other employees will receive notice they are losing their jobs, according to a release from the Chicago Teachers Union. Union President Karen Lewis received a call from a CPS representative Thursday afternoon informing her of the layoffs. Lewis who, was out of town Thursday evening for a speaking engagement and is expected back Monday, said in the statement the layoffs will mostly affect veteran teachers, teacher assistants, clerks, technology coordinators, instructional aides, lunchroom workers and security guards. (Sun-Times)
PINK SLIPS: As the district's hopes for a state pension holiday fade, CPS has confirmed it is laying off more than 1,000 additional teachers and nearly 1,100 additional support workers, in addition to 855 teachers and other staff pink-slipped at turnarounds and closing schools earlier this month. (Catalyst)
LAYOFFS HIT TENURED TEACHERS: More than 2,100 Chicago Public School employees are slated to be laid off this week, CPS said Thursday. Beginning Friday, CPS said they will notify 1,036 teachers, 545 of those are tenured, and 1,077 non-teachers of the layoffs. (NBC Chicago)
In Illinois , you see financial issues spreading through out the State.....
PENSION COSTS CROWDING
OUT SOCIAL SERVICES
llinois' public pensions are eating up a bigger portion of the state's budget every year, leaving less money for education, health care and social services. Everyone in Illinois is feeling the consequences and things will only get worse unless the state addresses the pension crisis. If you're an Illinois resident, chances are you've felt the impact. It's real. And it's not going away. Read for yourself.
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Moving beyond Detroit as canary in coalmine , what does Detroit signify for other cities ?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-20/now-detroit%E2%80%99s-gone-bust-your-city-next
Now That Detroit’s Gone Bust, Is Your City Next?
Submitted by F.F. Wiley via Cyniconomics blog,
Detroit’s bankruptcy filing is one depressing read. Poverty, crime, blight – you name the malady and there’s plenty of data to back it up. And unfortunately, Detroit’s not alone. You may be wondering which city hits the wall next.
I’m not making predictions, but I’ve looked at one indicator that may offer some clues:population loss.
As any good Ponzi Schemer will tell you, your future looks much better when there are more people moving in than moving out. Once the population change turns negative, a vicious circle can take hold, and that’s exactly what we saw in Detroit.
In addition to spending excesses and mismanagement, the city’s financial problems stem from the challenges of downsizing infrastructure as quickly as the tax base contracts. Here are a few lowlights from the bankruptcy declaration:
- The average cost to demolish an abandoned building – of which Detroit has about 78,000, or 20% of the housing stock – is approximately $8500.
- Of about 11,000 to 12,000 fires each year, approximately 60% occur in abandoned buildings.
- The city closed 210 parks in fiscal year 2009 and recently announced that 50 of the remaining 107 parks were slated for closure.
- The city’s Public Lighting Department is able to keep only about 60% of the approximately 88,000 street lamps in operation.
- The Detroit courts’ case clearance rates have been running at only 18.6% for violent crimes and 8.7% for all crimes.
- Only 10 to 14 of the city’s 36 ambulances were in service in the first quarter of 2013.
And now for a look at other cities that are battling severe population loss. Here are the top 15, ranked by the decline from each city’s population peak, according to the decennial U.S. census:
And here are the top 15 ranked by the percentage decline (for this list, I required a population of at least 125,000 in or before 1960):
Nine cities have the dubious distinction of making both “top 15” lists. For these cities, I’ve added charts showing population histories using all of the data I could find. There’s one chart each for the Midwest, Northeast and South (and if you’re looking for St. Louis, I went with the last Missouri accent that I’ve heard – definitely a drawl):
The rate of population decline in most of these cities was at least slower from 1980 to 2010 than it was from 1950 to 1980 (Detroit was one of the exceptions). Nonetheless, they’ll need to manage the exodus more carefully than Detroit did to avoid the same fate.
Other links
Here are links to a few interesting Motor City photo galleries, from Time, Zero Hedge (via the NY Daily News) and the BBC (where I sourced the photo above).
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