On a gusty Thursday afternoon, about two dozen students from Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School with matching signs and T-shirts hopped off a yellow bus in front of the School District of Philadelphia’s headquarters.
The teenagers arrived as City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas and Jonathan Hoffmeier, one of their teachers, spoke at a rally in opposition to the district’s plan to close Lankenau and 16 other schools while investing in infrastructure improvements at its remaining buildings.
“Lankenau is what, we feel like, the most egregious example of a school being closed that has no right to be closed,” Thomas, chair of Council’s education committee, said into the microphone.
Almost exactly a month earlier, Thomas and his colleagues twice disrupted a raucous school board meeting, as members were preparing to vote on the facilities master plan. It ultimately passed, by a margin of 6 to 3, after the Board of Education retreated into private offices and held the voice tally over Zoom.
Lawmakers skipped the May 28 BOE voting session, but the Lankenau students again showed up, highlighting the various accomplishments and recognitions their school has received in recent years.
“The amount of disrespect that I feel like my community has faced these past few months, I do feel like I don’t have a voice,” junior Jesse Hall testified. “Our voices aren’t being heard.”
Later that evening, the BOE adopted a $4.6 billion operating budget that includes $225 million in cuts. District leaders have said they intend to slash nearly 339 jobs, with employees impacted being reassigned to vacant jobs elsewhere in the public school system.
That’s unless Council goes along with Mayor Cherelle Parker’s proposed $1 rideshare tax, which, when combined with a change to the levy on cell towers, would generate an estimated $50.4 million a year for the district.
Superintendent Tony Watlington Sr. and his team, for now, are moving forward with a budget that accounts only for Parker’s original offering — a 20-cent tax on Uber, Lyft and other ridehailing trips originating in Philadelphia.
City and school officials have said the windfall from the $1 fee would allow the district to retain the positions, which were largely funded through federal coronavirus relief funds. Even so, the district would still move forward with the elimination of 220 building substitute teachers, slashes to the central office (including a hiring freeze), and reduced spending on contracts in an effort to tackle a $300 million deficit.
“While I’m agnostic as to how we get the dollars, I do want to note that we desperately need additional revenue,” Watlington said at Thursday’s BOE meeting.
The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and public education advocates have rallied behind the rideshare tax, arguing that the money is needed to sustain the progress the district has made in recent years.
Uber last week launched a six-figure advertising campaign against the fee and set up a website, noridesharetax.com, that encourages visitors to contact Parker and Council to express their opposition.
Lawmakers have expressed reluctance to introduce a new, controversial tax as the district proceeds with school closures that are deeply unpopular among Council.
A decision on the rideshare levy is expected in the coming days. Unless Council wants to delay its summer recess, the budget must be finalized for a preliminary vote by Thursday. Either way, the issue will come to a head soon, as Parker and lawmakers must sign off on a municipal budget no later than June 30, the end of the city's current fiscal year.
Thomas said the facilities plan and rideshare tax, in his mind, are “two separate issues,” though he added that he was only speaking for himself. However, when asked what the next step would be if the school board does not reconsider the closures, Thomas responded, “Well, the budget is next week.”
His office is distributing an online petition that calls on the BOE to pause the facilities process and reassess the recommendations.
Watlington has argued that the 10-year, $3 billion initiative will allow the district to concentrate its limited resources, fix up crumbling buildings, and expand access to pre-kindergarten, middle school algebra and Advanced Placement courses.
No closures or other major shifts associated with the plan are scheduled to go into effect until the 2027-28 academic year, and Council and the Lankenau community, among others, have vowed to continue fighting.
“We're asking them to come back to the negotiating table,” Thomas said. “City Council is prepared to work with the school board to come together for a comprehensive plan that we feel like works for everybody. Our issue is that we feel like this plan doesn't work for everybody.”
He later led the crowd in chanting: “If Lankenau is closed, the plan doesn't work.”
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