School Officials Present Their Budgetary Wish List to Philadelphia City Council
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia school officials were making their case today to City Council for extra funding.
And they were getting a less-than-warm reception.
City Council president Darrell Clarke questioned whether all of the more than $300 million the city has ponied up in new money for schools over the last four years has been well spent.
The exchange at today's City Council budget hearing got testy when schools superintendent William Hite said that with $105 million in new city money, he can begin to put his academic plan into effect.
(Hite:) "The point I'm making is, there's not enough money. And I want to use a couple of examples."
(Clarke:) "Yeah, but Doc, there's not enough money here either."
(Hite:) "I get that."
(Clarke:) "There are some things that we want to do that we can't do, that we don't have enough money."
(Hite:) "I understand that."
(Clarke:) "Nobody has enough money."
Clarke said it was "troubling" how the district chose to "take the path of least resistance," by seeking extra money from the city and not Harrisburg.
Hite said he was lobbying for $154 million in new state money as well.