Addressing the Financial Problems of Philadelphia's School District

Philadelphia’s public education system is in serious financial trouble. Again. with a $304 million deficit, the school system faces its worst budgetary crisis since 1991 and, as usual, it’s not clear when a workable solution will be proposed, much less implemented. The city’s schools and the children they are supposed to educate are just too important to be left dangling in the wind while our leaders decide who pays. It is time to solve this problem now, and the organized bar needs to lend its voice and our profession’s expertise to the effort.

I feel comfortable writing about this in a column that’s supposed to be about diversity because of the role our educational system traditionally has played in creating opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds to succeed. Education — particularly public education — has done more to promote equal opportunity than any other vehicle for personal growth and accomplishment.

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