Tax revenues in Philadelphia are down. They are about to change our property tax system so that they tax us based on supposedly objective data about property values instead of based on the assessments of individual assessors. This could significantly raise taxes for many of us.

The school budget has not been balanced in years. They’ve been borrowing money to pay for current expenses. They proposed to close fifty schools that were underutilized. Lots of resistance to that.

Now they want to cut teachers’ salaries by 13%, make teachers work longer hours, and give principals the right to hire and fire teachers (instead of decisions being made by seniority rules). Principals will once again be able to play favorites, introducing corruption into the system.

I like unions. But I also don’t like the cuts in teachers that have been made in past years. Without these savings, class sizes will get even bigger. There will be fewer resources for students. The schools will get even shittier.

Who will do a better job for my kids? Administration? The teacher’s union? The teachers? Or is it hopeless trying to run a decent public school system in a big city?