Community Engagement and Philadelphia Schools

The idea behind "Community Engagement" is that representatives from community groups will be able to meet with Philadelphia school district officials to discuss the budget as the process takes shape. This method seems as though it will work a lot better than the previous method, which was to simply make an announcement to the community when the budget was set.

No one likes surprises when it comes to decisions about how funds allocated to schools will be used. This applies to Philadelphia schools, as well as schools in other locations. Parents want to see their children get the best education possible, and if Philadelphia schools are posting a budget deficit, it is the students who are affected by being placed in overcrowded classrooms.

Philadelphia Schools to Have an Open Budget Process

If parents and the community at large are able to participate fully in the budget process for Philadelphia schools, it doesn't mean that hard decisions about school spending won't have to be made. Even if the ultimate decision about how best to use the available funds remains the same, at least parents and interested members of the community will understand how that decision was made.

Open communication is much better than feeling like decisions that affect the level of services being offered by Philadelphia schools are being made in secret. Most parents want the best for their children and would like to see them being given every opportunity to succeed. Opening up the budgeting process so that parents and community groups are able to provide some input is a wonderful opportunity for all interested parties to work together.

It may not be possible for parents and community groups to get everything they want when the budget for Philadelphia schools is set for 2009. As I said, when it comes to budget decisions, hard choices need to be made. That fact may be tough to swallow, but having a better understanding of the issues involved in trying to set a budget for Philadelphia schools is a great starting point. Rather than continue to have parents and community groups feel that they are up against school board officials at budget time, let's have all interested parties work together to set a budget for Philadelphia schools that addresses the needs of all students. They need to be our top priority.

Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit school district of Philadelphia

Source: www.articledashboard.com