Councilman DiCicco, at minimum, I think that we should be looking at all of your suggestions about how we can make this thing more efficient, streamlined, and generate 61 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 savings.
See, I have a problem with the School District, the cost of doing business with the School District. And I don't know if that's just a fact. I mean, if it is, we'll find out, but 1.5 million seems to be an exorbitant amount of money to distribute tokens.
Councilman, I don't know whether it is or isn't, but it's certainly something we should be looking at.
It just seems to me like another layer of bureaucracy and administration that probably we can do away with and pass that savings on to the students and their families. Just for the record, in attendance now is Councilman Cohen who, I believe, has a question.
It's more of a comment than a question. I think it's very ironic that we're talking about how you make a constitutional right effective. The constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania says that the State has the 62 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 constitutional responsibility to provide an education, public education for everybody. And I think one of the reasons people are kind of fed up with government is, we have the City of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the School District, and SEPTA spending all of this time and just wasting time instead of getting in a closed room and coming up with something -- (Applause.)
-- that does -- coming up with something that does what the statement of the Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth states. And it's so simple. The statement says, "Because Philadelphia recognizes the importance of school attendance" -- and I would say "and the constitutional obligation of the government to provide free public schooling for all people" to its future viability and those of its youth, all students should ride to and from school at no cost to the student or family." (Applause.)
I can't think of 63 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 anything more succinct, more simple than that statement. And for government agencies to be fending and worrying about the costs of token and having to explain that a school token is different from another one, wondering about the technological advances, every student -- there ought to be some very simple system like a smart card or what they do at various affairs, a stamp on the wrist that entitles kids to get to school and get educated. And I just wish, Mr. Chairman, that we could compel the mayor and all of these agencies to go in a closed room and lock the doors until they come out with a proposal that announces that tomorrow, kids ride free to school. (Applause.).
Thank you. Any other questions for these witnesses? (No further questions at this time.)
Thank you all for coming today. I appreciate your testimony.
We're going to go 64 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 a little bit out of order again. I think there are a number of parents who are here today who I know need to either get back to work or at home. So we're going to ask the parents to come up first. (Joanne Rodriguez, Mirreya Sales, Caroline Hopkins, and Sue Osthoff. (Above group of parents come forward.)
Good morning ladies. And you decide the order in which you want to speak. Just speak directly into the microphone and state your name for the record.
Good morning. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to speak. My name is Carolyn Hopkins, I'm Interim President of Edison High School, and I'm here to talk about the free tokens or low-cost tokens. I am -- as a parent, my son rides SEPTA and he gets free tokens because he was off, he came off of the yellow school bus, he's a special-needs individual. But there are other students in our schools who I know walk to school, and they're tired, their feet are hurting, okay? Our students and our parents -- it 65 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 costs too much money. You know, we are struggling to get our parents to come to school and to support our students, and it's difficult for them to also pay for their tokens for them to come to school. We've heard about truancy. We parents went to truancy court. A lot of our students are not in truancy because of badness or they just don't want to go to school; they can't afford to come to school. And giving them free tokens, I think, would better them, you know. And listening to our Youth United for Change, being transferred to a school just because of tokens, just because they can walk to school, I think that's unfair. Our students go to school because their schools offer them something that they want in particular other than maybe their neighborhood school. My son does not go to a neighborhood school. We live in the William Penn cluster. My son goes to Edison because we chose to go to Edison but we still should be able to go to school free or at low cost. That's what I have to say. 66 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128
My name's Mirreya Sales, I'm a parent aide in high school, and I got two kids that I raise them. I live one mile and a half from the school. And my kids sometimes, if the weather permits, they could walk. But in winter, when it is so cold, they sometimes don't to go out. They say, I don't want to walk to the school. Because I got a bus stop in front of the house, but they got to have free tokens and could just take the bus and live one block from the school. You know, that's what I'm concerned about, is free tokens for the parents. And there are other parents in here that have three kids, three or four kids in the same school, and that they have to spend a lot of money to buy tokens for them. That's what I have to say. (Applause.) 67 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128
Good evening, panel. My name is Joan Rodriguez. And I am from Edison High School, and I'm with the Home and School and AOP. The reason I want to speak to the group today is, more or less, I met a lady in the audience here that has eight children, eight. She is sitting right behind me. Do you know what that would cost for eight student to have tokens? Some of us here -- I have one, they have three and four. You know, it adds up. And I have seen kids being brought in by the police. Why aren't you in school? I didn't have money to get here, so I walk the streets until the police officers pick me up to broken me in. I don't think it's right. Thank you. (Applause.)
Good morning. My name is Sue Osthoff, and I want to thank this group for letting me join them because I have to get back to my office. I am here today as a founding member and the treasurer of KAVAD, which is Kids Against 68 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 Violence and Drugs, which is an all-volunteer group in West Philadelphia. If we truly care about low-income children in Philadelphia and believe that getting them to school is of utmost importance, then we must provide our children with free transportation. As I said, I am speaking to you today as founding member and the treasurer of group called KAVAD. KAVAD was founded in 1988. It began because a number of kids from my neighborhood asked me and other adults from our neighborhood to help them with school. Many of them at that time in elementary and junior high school were already having great difficulty with school. And it didn't take us adults long to figure out that a big part of the reason that so many of the kids were having such a hard time was because the kids faced so many nearly insurmountable hurdles that made just getting to school almost impossible. And, obviously, one of the major hurdles that kids faced was the price of tokens. They simply did not have the money to get to school. Of course, there were other hurdles, many 69 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 of which involved money, or mostly the lack thereof. The fact that the kids needed food, clothing, and other basic necessities always competed with their need to buy tokens to get to school. 80 per day. That's not really that much money. I mean, really, can't their parents or their parent come up with this money? The answer is absolutely no. 12 I think this fact is one of the most difficult things for people of privilege, even just a little bit of privilege, to understand. All the kids in KAVAD had parents who did the best they could and continue to do the best they can. But it didn't mean, and it still doesn't mean, that the kids have enough resources. They still don't have enough resources. Their parents simply did not, and still do not, have enough money. These are parents who are struggling to take care of the kids. Most were not on drugs, most were not drinkers, and all truly cared for their children. They simply did not have enough money. 70 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 80 and hadn't eaten for hours, what would you do with that money? 80 can buy packs of Oodles of Noodles, a bag of chips, and a can of soda. For the kids I knew, that was often dinner. For the kids I knew, until KAVAD came along, it was often the only food they had all day. Initially, many of the adults involved with KAVAD as tutors for the kids paid for the kids' tokens out of their own pockets, but as time went on, the tutors could no longer afford to keep paying for the kids' tokens and all the other things the children needed to attend school. KAVAD began rasing funds to try to defray some of the expenses that the tutors were incurring themselves. 75 for tokens. This amount was almost percent of our 20 total budget. Of this amount, almost $1200 was spent primarily in helping two students get to school. By that time, most of the others were working, and those who were working and attending school were buying their own tokens. The two other major categories on which 71 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 we spent money that year were food and clothing -- two things that are also desperately needed by kids who are trying to get to school. From 1996 to '98, we spent about $900 per year on tokens, most of which went to make sure that the youngest of the group was able to complete high school because she was the only one not working at that time. That's $900 per year for one child's tokens. Even to those of us who live comfortably, $900 is a lot of money. And imagine what that is to a family whose monthly income is less than $500.
Having to spend money on tokens competes with spending money on other items, like food and clothing that are also essential for children to have so they can attend school. It's simply not fair that low-income families have to make these impossible choices. And as you know, many of Philadelphia's children go to school far distances from where they live, as many of the students were talking about today. It's not as if they could just walk even if they wanted to. I spoke with some of the kids from 72 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 KAVAD about these Council hearings. I'm proud to report Kenya, the baby of the group, is now finishing her up second semester at LaSalle University. She would have been here to testify today but she had a class that conflicted with these hearings. Kenya asked me to tell you that she knows that she would not have graduated from high school, let alone be finishing her first year of college, if KAVAD had not paid for her tokens. ), now a part-time student at Community College, agreed. Chanel said she would never have gone to school if KAVAD hadn't paid for her tokens. She would just simply not have had a way to get there. How many of our children are missing opportunities to do as well as these kids have done simply because they don't have tokens to make it possible for them to attend school? The vast majority of our city's low-income children do not have a community of people who are willing or are able to provide the level of support that KAVAD has provided to the kids from our own neighborhood. As far as I know, 73 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 KAVAD is a rather unique organization. All of the adults in KAVAD have given very generously of their time and their own money to help kids get to school and secure employment opportunities. But it is now time for the City to make sure that all low-income children have free transportation to school. I also speak to you today as the Director of the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women, which is an organization based here in Philadelphia. We assist battered women charged with crimes, mostly battered women who are forced to defend themselves against their abusive partners. Every day at my job, I see the tragic results of what happens when people have few options. While having a high school diploma certainly does not guarantee that one will not be battered or not be a batterer, there is no 21 question that having more access to more resources can be a great help in living a life that is free from violence. And getting a good education certainly gives one more access to resources and helps to increase options. All of the children of 74 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 Philadelphia, including low-income children, deserve this chance. KAVAD was founded to try to help the kids in our neighborhood have more options. Over the years, KAVAD has spent literally thousands of dollars trying to make it possible for kids to get to school. Many of our funds are spent on tokens. It is time we take down one of the major hurdles that impedes low-income Philadelphians from attending school. They already face more than enough barriers. Low-income students need to have free transportation to school. It is time for the City to make this possible. Thank you very much. )
You know, it boggles the mind that we're in 1999, and I grew up in New York City and I remember when I was in high school, and you had a G-O card, right? And you would show your G-O card as you got into any subway or bus and you got in, right? 75 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 And at that time, it seemed that we placed a value on kids getting to school. New York obviously still does it because kids in New York don't pay any transportation to get to school. And I think that was happening here at one time. And that a family has to choose between food and transportation, they should never be put into that situation by the school system, by the City, or by SEPTA. They should never be put in that situation. We need to be able -- David Cohen said, Put them all in a room. It's simple. Public policy says we need our kids in school. Olney High School has 3,000 kids, and 1500 of them are absent every day. That should not happen. It isn't just because of schooling or teachers; it's because many of them can't get to school. When you have 1500 kids absent in a high school, you got to look at the reasons why. And if one of them is fixable by just providing transportation, that should be done. And I think we need been to be able to do that. Choice and parents and families, they 76 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 should not have to choose between a new pair of shoes or food or whatever and transportation. They -- school should be a priority, and our kids should be our priority for making them attend. I can't -- it boggles the mind that we have come, and instead of going forward, we're going backwards. Instead of providing easier access to education, we're putting barriers to education -- as if our kids didn't have enough problems in itself. It just boggles the mind that we were much further ahead in the 1960s than we are in 1999 in being able to provide a free and open public education to our kids. It's just very disturbing.
I have a question for the ladies up there. Are any of your children who -- are they all just using tokens or are they also using tokens and transfers?
Well, in the first two weeks when the school year begins, I buy my sone a weekly transpass, which, you know, I have to take it from a bill, you know, so he can get to school, okay? That's how my son gets to school for the first two weeks because, you know, of, I guess, 77 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 paperwork and stuff like that.
17.50? All right. Any other questions? Yes, ma'am. Speak into the microphone, please.
It was just a general question if any of your children are using transfers or --.
We use 'em both ways. You know, it depends on how far we're going.
Okay, thank you. Any other questions for these witnesses from the committee?
To piggyback a little on Mr. Ortiz's comment, I was wondering and I was 78 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 thinking when the children -- when the students were talking, we tell our young people to be young people, enjoy life, be young folks. We are asking them to grow up fast by having them worry about money problems and money problems involving tokens, how they get to school. And that's a lot what's on most of our young people's mind, how much a burden it is on our parents, you know, them going out and getting a job. That's asking them to grow up really, really fast, and I think it's a shame. It's disturbing.
I think we all agree with Councilman Ortiz's comments. We have to look at the cumulative costs to society for educating our children. I mean, we read in the newspaper daily or weekly that we have a limited workforce in Philadelphia, that companies have a hard time recruiting new personnel because of the educational standards or whatever, that the people that we're graduating from high schools just can't do that. And so in addition to the issues relating to crime and the cost on society and the citizens of Philadelphia, 79 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 what it costs us the long term, so I think we really need to really put the emphasis on this. That's the purpose of this hearing, is to see what we can do to about -- I use the words "reducing the cost"; I would certainly like to say to eliminate the costs completely. But there is a cost, as I said it my initial opening statement, involving -- somebody would have to pay, pick up the tab for the $5.5 million that the students are now paying cumulatively. And we're going to look at doing that. And as Councilman Cohen suggested, and I already talked to my chief of staff, and we will convene a meeting with the various people who may be able to make a difference in this. We won't lock them in a room but we'll have a closed-door meeting and talk about some of the possibilities and to see if we could find some portion of that $5.5 million by various cost-cutting measures or what have you. We will continue to work at this over the next several months and hopefully come back with something much more reasonable than we have today. 80 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 Councilman Cohen.
Is somebody still here from SEPTA that was discussing technological advances and tokens?
I would just like to ask, for senior citizens, the State provides free riding during the non-rush hours, and all that's needed is to show your Social Security number. There's no red tape, there's no 12 administrative costs. Why couldn't we have just a car that said "student" and just show it as you go in. You eliminate entirely all the administrative costs. It seems to me it's such a simple way. Yet, for some reason, government finds a way to make the simplest problem enormously difficult. And to be so wasteful of the money. The kids and the parent can't afford it, shouldn't have to pay. And my personal opinion is -- and there are the lawyers here who may have their opinions. But I think it's unconstitutional to require a student to have to pay a fare in order to get a public education. I don't think there can be such 81 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 a constitutional requirement that somebody has to pay to get a free public-school education. But in any event, it's a small matter. I applaud what the Chairman is saying about bringing everybody in together, you know, the different agencies, and compelling them to come to an easy solution. We don't even have proof, Mr. Chairman, that it costs any money for the students. You know, I don't know that SEPTA's actually put through extra expense. And if they want to make a case for extra expense, I think they have a pretty hard burden to show that it's going to cost them anything. But if it does, the government's got to find a way to get together and revolve that question right away. And there ought to be no 18 administrative costs associated in any with any solution.
And I also think at the meeting that I would urge someone from the business community, maybe the Chamber, to attend the meeting.
And be part of a 82 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 task force, a working task force with SEPTA, the School District, the City, the transportation.
Right, and Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth. And did you say the State?
Obviously, the State, there's no question about it; the State will be a part of that task force. And I will convene that task force at, hopefully, in the not-too-distant future.
And we'll begin to have some real discussion on the issue. And I thank you for all your testimony today; it's been very helpful.
Excuse me. I can't see why they just can't show their student I D.
Ma'am, we will look into that stuff. Those are the things we will look at -- a picture I.D., what have you. We will look into that. Thank you.
All right, thank you. (Applause.) 83 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128
The School District: Mr. Lombardi and Mr. Hazan, are they still here? (School District panel members come forward. )
I'm Jonathan M. Stein. I'm with the Office of Government Relations for the School District. I wanted to thank you for the leadership that you and your colleagues have shown in bringing this issue to the forefront. With me is John Lombardi, who is Director of Transportation Services for the School District. And Herb Hazan -- and for the stenographer, that's H-A-Z-A-N -- who plays a key role in our attendance operation and is also a coordinator for Court Services, you know, our Family Resource Network. And I'll ask John to begin. He has some numbers which we are distributing to you and your colleagues on our token situation. 84 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128
Good morning, Councilman. I also want to thank you for your interest in this important matter.
Speak a little bit louder into the mike and state your name for the record. Thank you.
My name is John Lombardi. I'm Director of Transportation for the School District of Philadelphia. In the handout that was just provided, I wanted to provide some information about the number of students receiving free tokens. The number of public school students receiving free tokens is 10,620, approximately, for the current year; and the number of non-public students that are receiving free tokens is approximately 830 students. They receive tokens in conjunction with the current Board of Education policy. The students who are not eligible based on the Board's policy to receive free tokens have the ability to buy the tokens from the schools which they attend, and there are 13,853 public school students who buy tokens to get to and from school, and there's approximately 5700 non-public 85 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 school students also buying tokens at their respective schools. The cost of the program to the District, including transfers for free subsidized tokens and transfers, is $8,764,000 for the current year -- that's what is budgeted. The students are spending approximately $6 million a year to buy the tokens, the 90-cent piece of their cost. The District subsidized the tokens for a quarter, but they pay SEPTA approximately $6 million for the purchase of tokens. The bottom line revenue for SEPTA is approximately $15 million per year. The estimate of costs to the District for the sale and distribution of tokens -- and these costs are primarily at the school level -- is about a million and a half dollars a year. That's for people who receive the tokens from our delivery trucks, they have to secure them in a place in the school, they have to sell them to the students, collect money for the sale of them, reconcile the account, make a bank deposit and so on. It's a big burden on the School District. And the estimated cost for that is about $1.5 million for 86 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 the School District to do that. We believe there's some correlation between the price of the tokens and the attendance ratings for the students, and Mr. Hazan will provide that information and will answer any questions that he can.
Good morning. My name is Herb Hazan. And I'm advisor for attendance issues for the School District of Philadelphia. And in that capacity over the last year or so, I have spent a lot of time in some of our truancy courts, which I've had a role in setting up. And let me say at the outset that one of the missions of the truancy courts is -- at least initially -- not to be punitive but to try and discover what the issues are that are preventing a lot of these kids from attending school on a regular basis. And over and over again, I've heard parents and students refer to the cost of transportation. That's anecdotal evidence. And fortunately -- or unfortunately -- though, we do have some data that tells us what the impact of not having transportation is on students 87 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 attendance, and that comes about as a result of the transit strike that the City went through last June, June of 1998. I've given you some information which you could refer to showing the average daily student attendance rates for the months of May and June for both the '97-'98 school year and the '96-'97 school year, just aggregated by school level -- high school, middle school, and elementary school. And what you can see from that is at the high school level, attendance fell from May to June 1998 by 20.77 percent. That is, the average daily attendance in the month of May was 20.77 percent higher than in the month of June, 1998. And while it's true that we do have a falling-off of student attendance, which is an issue that we are working on among other attendance issues, traditionally from the month of May to the month of June, in the previous school year, the attendance fell off from May to June by less than half the amount that it did in 1998. That pattern is repeated for the middle schools, and in the middle schools, the attendance level fell by 10.12 percent, or about half the 88 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 amount that it fell in the senior high schools. And that could be due to the fact that many of our middle schools are grades 5, 6, and 8, and as 5 you've heard, we do provide school bus 6 transportation for the 5th- and 6th-graders. For 7 the elementary-school students, most of whom, if they need transportation to and from school, the District is already providing it. The drop in attendance from one month to the next was not as pronounced, although it was there. As you can see, the School District's policy on attendance, as you've heard -- on busing, rather, is that we provide the transportation of kids who live over 1.5 miles from school for grades 1 through 6. So clearly, the unavailability of SEPTA transportation last June had a devastating impact on student attendance. And the more dependent the student was on SEPTA transportation, which is generally the older students in higher grades, and that is the student who is more at risk of dropping out to get -- the more dependent those students were on transportation to get to and from school, the greater was the impact of the strike 89 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 situation. And we already know from our examination of attendance patterns in the School District that it is in the middle schools that attendance begins to decline, and you could see some of that on the first sheet just by looking at the month of May for the attendance in middle schools as opposed to elementary schools. And we have more data that supports that. And what we're saying is, it's possible that the unavailability of transportation for 7th- and 8th-grade students contributes to this decline. Again, as Mr. Lombardi said, we'll be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you. Mr. Lombardi, could you tell me the number of personnel that are involved in the sale, the distribution, receiving -- all the transactions that take place with the tokens.
Probably over 100 at the school level, Councilman. And within the Transportation Division, we have one office person who reconciles all the collections of tokens from 90 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 SEPTA and the distributions to the schools. And two drivers make distribution to all the schools, both public and private.
Two drivers are School District employees who do the entire city and all the non-public schools as well.
We pick them up from them and we deliver them to all the schools, all the public and non-public schools.
At our office, we keep track of what we receive and what we distribute to the schools. Then you have the reconciliation process at the school level where if we deliver 10,000 tokens to a school, they have to account for all those tokens, be it cash or free.
Every school gets 91 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 a --
Every school that has eligible students for free tokens, of course, gets them. And there are schools who request to sell tokens; we also deliver them to them.
-- that monitors the day-to-day daily sale of the tokens and --
I don't believe it is, no. It is a portion of their day that's devoted to this. Now, in some schools where you have hundreds of high-school students, it could be a significant part of their job. 92 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128
There's probably over a hundred in the public schools, a hundred employees who are involved in this process.
-- the process of tokens, whether sales, deliveries, everything, a hundred.
Okay. And tokens are sold on a daily basis or is there a time period in which students have to purchase tokens?
Well, it varies. Some schools sell them daily, some sell them weekly. Some schools give them out daily because they can't afford to give the tokens out each day to the -- on a weekly basis because they may be stolen. Some principals give a token out -- two tokens out every day: one to get home and one to get back. If they gave out ten tokens, they could be stolen and the kids won't have any tokens to 93 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 get back and forth to school. So it varies by principal based on the needs of his kids. So it could be a daily occurrence, it could be a weekly occurrence. The sale is usually two to three days a week in schools.
Would I be right or wrong based on your figure, the total actual cost to the School District, not counting that million and a half.
But if we could set up a system like the senior citizen Medicare Social Security card, the total cost that the School District pays for actual tokens is less than $9 million; it's about $8.5 million, according to your statement.
I would like to figure out -- maybe somebody could -- the percentage of a City General Fund budget of $2.5 billion, what 8.5 million would mean. You 94 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 know, it's such a tiny percentage of 1 percent, maybe a thousandth of 1 percent or a hundredth of 1 percent of the school budget. It just seems tragic to have every mayoral candidate talking about the first priority of my rein as mayor of the City is going to be to deal with the public school situation. Every candidate for Council-at-Large is saying the same thing, and there are 30 of them. And the various district Councilmembers all say it because Philadelphians know that the public schools are a problem. To have a small sum like $8.5 million create such problem and keep kids in such large numbers from attending schools is unthinkable. Mr. Chairman, I'd just like to say that I think in addition to convening the parties, this committee should make a recommendation of City Council that beginning with a certain date, like May 1st, that a system has to be devised to permit free transportation of all children; and if the government agencies involved have not worked out there technique, it will be their responsibility to work it out as quickly as possible. Because that's the total cost, right? 95 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 If we had some other system that didn't require administration, we're talking about $8.5 million to make it possible for every kid in Philadelphia to attend public school. It just seems horrendous that this problem has not been involved previously. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. I just think what maybe what we need to also look at, Councilman Cohen, is, you know, the $15 million that we subsidize every year to the School District.
Maybe a portion of that should be dedicated. I know Councilman Kenney has talked about dedicating some of that money for other purposes, but I think that we do have a pool of at least $15 million. We don't know if any of it goes towards the subsidizing of the tokens. And maybe a portion, if not all of it, could be used --
Or maybe the City could put in 3 million and the State could put in 3 million and SEPTA could put in 3 million, and 96 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 you could solve the whole problem. (Applause.)
An almost infinitesimal cost to each of those bodies. I like the Chairman's proposal too, but it just seems to me that we ought not to haggle very long. We ought to act and get a quick result that enables kids not to have an excuse for not going to school and to enable their families to send every kid to school.
And I think as a result of the information that we gather here today --
When we do convene that task force, those are some of the issues that we can talk to. Again, 9 million -- Councilman Cohen and I always have a difference of opinion on these issues sometimes, but 9 million is insignificant compared to 2.5, but it's still 9 million, and we've got to figure out where that's going to come from. 97 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 Again, I always have a problem, and Councilman Kenney raised this issue with me a few weeks ago: the million goes into the School 5 District budget every year, and where it goes what 6 it's being spent for, I don't know. 7
And maybe we need 9 to see if we can identify that as some sort of a 10 line item. You know, you get the 15 million, but 11 a portion of it has to go to pay down the cost of 12 tokens, or something like that. 13
I'd like to find out 14 how many corporations we have given a TIF to in 15 the last two or three years. The money that those corporations are not paying in lieu of taxes to the City and so on is money that usually goes to the school system. And maybe, maybe we could ask all of those corporations to contribute a small amount, a small amount yearly in lieu of the taxes that they are going to be not paying -- a small amount to the school system that would go towards public transportation. That is money that usually would go to the school system. It is not going to the school 98 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 system right now. It is money that is going to developers, and they will make very huge profits and they will make a lot of money. Maybe some of -- a slight amount, not a lot, but a slight amount, maybe we should look into that also.
Well, again, I think when we convene the task force, we'll have the Chamber come in, and we can make some of those recommendations to the Chamber and talk to the people in the corporate and business community. Because, as I've said earlier, they do have a vested interest in what goes on, and I don't have a problem with the fact that they will make millions as a result of the TIFs because it does create jobs for Philadelphians.
Maybe we can find a way in which we can free up some additional money without putting the burden all on the City's General Fund but spreading the costs among the various agencies -- the City, the State, the District. I mean, the District maybe has to look 99 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 for ways to better manage the program. I mean, $1.5 million for administrating the sale of tokens that are produced at SEPTA, sent down to somebody at the School District seems to me -- just seems to me -- to be somewhat of a bureaucratic situation that maybe we could figure a way of doing it more efficiently. And I don't know if anyone has taken time to look at that, and I'm not being critical. I think now is the time to take a look at that. So I think, again, today's meeting is very helpful. We understand the problem, and then the information will be put together and bring to the task force, and then hopefully, by the next school year, we'll have some solutions to the problems, or at least some recommendations of how we can reduce the costs. Yes, sir?
Yeah, William F. Stein. Certainly look forward to participating 100 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 in that process. The one thing I would point out in terms of the administrative cost that we've identified, that is more than 100 locations. And as Mr. Lombardi has pointed out, its a very labor-intensive process. And the balance that you have to draw there is that if you don't have the appropriate amount of people involved in the process -- it's a cash business, and you know what kind of problems a cash business brings with it.
The other side of the coin here is that we are accused of being careless in the way we administer the program. So it's a very fine balance that we have to --
At the onset of the meeting, I said this was not to be a hostile meeting, that we're not here to criticize and point figures.
But maybe we have to look at a way to make it more cost-effective.
All right, and it's not a question to say, Well, you're not doing the job properly and there aren't the right controls in there.
But could we reduce the costs of managing that program.
Sure, right. I understand what you're saying. I think we'd be the first ones to say we'd like to get out of the business of selling tokens.
You know, my instincts say that maybe you should be out of the business, and I don't want to shift the burden to SEPTA, but if there's a way we can do it to find that balance. . .
I think the way we do it is to find a way to eliminate any administrative cost to any of the agencies. When you have such a simple thing as just having a pass 102 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 that you show somebody, nobody has to sell anything, nobody has to do anything.
You'll never eliminate all of the administrative costs but, again, bringing those costs down significantly so that whatever the savings are, it gets passed on to the student and it's less money that the State, the City and whoever else has to come up with. Because, again, as I said -- and I don't want to be redundant -- somebody will have to pay. And if we can reduce the cost by 1.5 million or whatever it is -- 2.3 million with the transfers, as Miss Yanoff has pointed out to me -- that's a significant savings, and I think it's a start. And I'm hoping today that it is the beginning of a dialogue that we can have with all the entities to begin to look at this more seriously. Any other questions for these witnesses? (No further questions for these witnesses.)
Thank you, gentlemen, thank you for being here. 103 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128
The next witnesses are Joy Butts, Carolyn Friedman, Tom Butler, and Debra Kahn. (Next panel of witnesses come forward.)
Thank you. And you can decide amongst yourselves who will be the first to speak. Speak directly into the microphone and state your name for the record.
Good afternoon. My name is Joy Butts. I am a member of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the Director of the Economic Human Rights Documentation Committee. I am also a welfare recipient and a mother of three teenagers, ages 19, 16, and 14. As director of the Economic Human Rights Documentation Committee, it is my responsibility to document economic human rights violations which are occurring in this country because of welfare reform and the TANF bill. The Kensington Welfare Rights Union is an organization of the poor and homeless people, welfare recipients, and unemployed and underemployed people. These are people who are 104 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 excluded from debates such as welfare reform debates which have huge impact on us and on our families. We believe that we have a right to thrive -- not just barely survive. We are dedicated to organizing the homeless, the working poor, and all concerned people in this country to see that all people have the basic necessities of life -- food, clothing, utilities, medical care, housing, and education. We speak to issues which directly affect our lives. That is why I'm here to talk to you today. There is an overwhelming need for free school tokens for the heads of households on welfare with children. I am required to buy tokens for two of my children to attend school, a total of $74 a month. After paying rent and utilities and tokens, there is nothing left of my cash assistance. After buying tokens, many of us have to choose between food or paying the gas, electric, or telephone bill. Some of the bills go unpaid. Furthermore, if we do not pay for these things, we are in danger of losing our children for not providing the daily necessities according to DHS. 105 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 In order for me to comply with all the requirements of TANF bill, I need free school tokens. The new TANF bill requires that all school-aged children attend school every day. And if they don't, their mothers are sanctioned. In fact, the whole family is sanctioned, which means no cash, no food stamps, and no medical for that particular month. Mothers are often left without any food. There are days when only one of my children can go to school because I don't have money for to tokens for both of them. There are some large families where it's impossible for all the children to attend on a daily basis. Therefore, there are many children who are missing important work on a daily basis as well as testing because of a lack of tokens. There are also occasions when children lose their tokens and they have to be replaced. Mothers have to come up with the extra money somehow. There are thousands of welfare recipients in Philadelphia whose stories mirror mine or are even worse. We are asking that the City Council see to it that our children have free 106 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 tokens so that they can go to school. Without this basic action on your part, many families will be sanctioned and many children in this city will not receive the education they deserve, and are in danger of being removed from their families. It is imperative that matter be addressed immediately. We're talking about the basic survival of families. At one point, my daughter received occasional rides home from the cousin of a friend. This was very helpful because it saved our family money on tokens, and we were able to spend the money on other daily necessity. However on more than one occasion, this cousin failed to pick up the girls as promised, and my daughter, without a token or change for a phone call, was forced to walk the hundred blocks between William Penn High School in North Philadelphia to our home in West Philadelphia. And someone questioned that. It actually happened, my daughter will verify it. My daughter has been forced to miss field trips as well as play and a visit to Franklin Institute because our family could not 107 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res.
990128 provide the money for the fees because we had to buy a month's worth of bus tokens. Plus to even get her to the events in the first place, we would have had to buy even more tokens, which we could not afford. Children of poor families are missing an excessive number of days due to lack of tokens. Their education is suffering. Many are even forced to repeat entire years of school because of the number of days that they miss. Many dropped out, so demoralized that they drop out of society altogether. And I'd like to make a comment on that. My daughter is in danger of failing this year. There is another member of our group whose daughter is an honors students who's in danger of failing this year. There are a number of children who are going to fail. There's a question of them being late for school and being penalized around this token issue. And I would appreciate that if anything's going to be done that it be done by May because, as I said before, there are a number of children who are going to be repeating and who are 108 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 not going to repeat; they are going to drop out of school.
Good afternoon. My name is Carolyn Friedman. I'm the Executive Director of White Williams Scholars in Philadelphia, and I want to tell you how much I appreciate this opportunity. After years of working with 12 Philadelphia public high-school students, this is 13 a really important issue to me. 14 White Williams runs two programs that 15 together serve a total of 2000 low-income 16 Philadelphia public high-school students. All these families are struggling to pay the rent and to buy food. And $9 a week, $360 a year for transportation to school is a tremendous amount and means considerable further sacrifice for these families. And for families with multiple children, hardship is obviously even greater. It takes not just a financial toll. These students are putting -- as someone said earlier, these students are putting a lot of time 109 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 and energy into getting jobs -- often multiple jobs -- and worrying about how to get to school. These are energies and resources they should and could be focussing on their school work. One of the programs that we run is called the White Williams Scholars Program, which serves A and B students eligible for federal free lunch. Eligibility for that program means that you have, for example, for a family of 3, a maximum income of $17,700. We know firsthand how desperate these students are for help paying for tokens to get to school. I can't tell you how many calls we get saying, Are you the token people? These students receive a monthly stipend from us. The largest portion of those funds goes to tokens for them and often for their siblings. There are many other expenses to public high school, and these students can't afford to have so much of that money taken up by tokens. We know that many Philadelphia public high-school students recognize education as their ticket out of poverty. They want to go to school, they want to achieve and go on to further 110 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 education. They can't do this if they can't get to school. The inability to get to school could change their whole lives. It can mean lowered attendance that, Joy was just saying, results in lowered grades, which in turn jeopardizes what we all want for them -- which is access to opportunity. The other program we run is the Charles Ellis Trust Program. Students for that have to have reduced lunch, which, for a family of three, is an income of $25,000. We serve over 600 students in that program. It's supposed to be for enrichment. We have to cap our tokens at 12 weeks because, otherwise, all those funds would be used by tokens. And then when the 12 weeks are over, we are deluged with phone calls of Where am I supposed to go now, how am I supposed to get my children to school? Many of our students have chosen to attend a school other than their neighborhood school because it offers them an educational opportunity that fits an interest not available in their neighborhoods. Educational choice for family is a key component of a great deal of what 111 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 we talk about in education today. The School District offers many choices for families, but the choice isn't worth anything if the students can't get to the program of their choice. Many of our families tell us that if they can't get help, they will not be able to send their children to these programs, and many of these children who are in these programs will drop out without help. From our experience, and you've heard these stories before today, we know families who keep their children at home because of the cost of transportation. Families who send children to school every other day. Students who alternate going to school with a sibling -- today I go, tomorrow you go. A student from William Penn, who walked to school every day from West Philadelphia until she found us to help her.
And families that are making choices on a daily basis between riding to school and eating lunch, between riding to school and paying rent. As Councilman Cohen said earlier, it is our responsibility as a community to provide basic access to education for all of our children, and 112 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 the ability to get to school constitutes basic access to education. In a School District where 80 percent of our students come from families in poverty and as many as half of our high-school students are dropping out, continuing to make transportation an obstacle to student attendance is folly. Thank you.
My name is Tom Butler, and I'm the Director of the College Access Program, and I feel it an honor to be in front of Council today and be able to speak on behalf and support of -- all Philadelphia school students should be able to go to and from school at no cost to the student and their families. The College Access Program, to give you a brief description, is a program that services ten high schools and nine middle schools in the Philadelphia School District system. These schools are comprehensive and the middle schools we service are feeder pattern schools that feeds into those high schools. We service in our three 113 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 College Access centers over 10,000 individually and approximately 30,000 just with a head count. So those are a lot of repeat folks who are coming in. But those are in our three locations: one at 4601 Market Street; the other at Second and Lehigh, the Lighthouse Community Center; and our largest center, which is located in the Gallery Mall. We've also serviced individually and directly 2300 students from across grades 6 through 12 in the middle schools and the comprehensive high schools. We provide them information on college-going, college readiness, and provide them daily -- or at least biweekly -- information and personal contact around the college-going process. We also have an additional 250 students who are in our Last Dollar Scholarship Program who have graduated from our schools and now are being supported by Last Dollar monies to attend college. Many of those dollars go toward transportation and book costs. More than two-thirds of the 2300 students that we are servicing are low-income 114 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 according to federal government guidelines. These guidelines are enforced by the Federal Trio Programs, such as Upward Bound and things of that nature. We receive talent search dollars. An example of some absenteeism issues for a College Access Program student is that we may be running workshops or college information sessions on a certain day of the week, and they're at the school. If the students do not have tokens to get to school, they obviously miss this information. Many of the students have to make, as you've heard earlier, decisions on whether or not they can in fact attend one of our six eight-week Saturday SAT prep courses because they'll need their money to try just to get to school; more or less talking about these after-school or out-of-school hours to attend programs. The SAT prep actually costs each student who comes to our Saturday program $4 a Saturday, meaning that it takes them a regular token and use their pass to get to those site locations. If you put that over eight weeks, they are paying out $32 over and above the $9 that they 115 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 have to pay for tokens to get to these enrichment programs. We feel it's very important that if we're going to encourage students to be productive citizens and if students are going to go on and be a success in this society, they will to have all of the availability and access needed to aspire. We have to cut costs as much as we possibly can to allow these students to have these experiences; otherwise, it will continue to go on to the more affluent, and those who are poor will not receive that information. Thank. You.
Good afternoon. ), and I'm substituting for Debra Kahn, the Executive Director of Philadelphia Futures, who is also a former member of the Board of Education. The importance of regular school attendance is widely agreed on by every segment of the community. The correlation between attendance an academic performance is so strong that veteran 116 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 educators will tell you, Show me a kid's attendance and I'll tell you his grades. And they are probably right, at least 80 percent of the time. It is no wonder, then, that both staff and student attendance are taken into account in determining a school's success in meeting its performance goals. But for an issue in which there is almost uniform agreement, how we make sure kids get to school regularly remains a dilemma. Every day scores of poor kids, the very kids for whom regular attendance is most important because of all the other barriers to academic success they face, do not make it to school because they are poor. Here's how the arithmetic of the current system adds up: 80 percent of the 213,000 students in our public schools come from families with low income, which is defined by the federal government as under $13,000 a year for a parent and two children. That is a total of 170,000 poor kids, more than the entire enrollment of 24 average-size school districts in Pennsylvania. The parent of 2 children who works 117 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 full-time at the minimum wage has a gross income of only $10,036 a year, considerably lower than the federal poverty level. 4 percent of their entire annual family income of $12,000 just to get to school. Compare the $324 yearly tab for every poor kid in Philadelphia to get to school to the free ride available to the student whose family income may be $500,000 a year. You can only conclude the situation is not only grossly unfair, but downright perverse. Children in every suburban small town and rural School District in Philadelphia ride to school for free. Even public-school students in big cities like New York ride for free, while Philadelphia kids get to pay $325 a year for the privilege. Clearly this inequity is one of the many that results from a state constitution that gives the Commonwealth the responsibility of providing for public schools and then leaves much of the financial burden to local school 118 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 districts. We do not blame the City, the School District or SEPTA for the fact that low-income Philadelphia students have to pay to get to school while affluent suburban counterparts ride for free. It is time for these three parties to craft a solution which enables the District to lower the cost of transportation to students and their families by recovering more of the costs through reimbursement from the Departments of Education and Public Welfare. Philadelphia Futures runs a nationally-recognized and award-winning college prep called Sponsor a Scholar, or SAS. All our students come from low-income families and attend neighborhood high schools. Most need to ride SEPTA to get to school, even if they attend a high school in their neighborhood because of distance. Many others need to ride SEPTA because they want to attend a high school outside of their neighborhood that has a program in the area of their interest, such as math, science, law, or journalism. At a time when we are encouraging students to choose the high school that best meets 119 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 their academic interests and career goals, we especially need to be sure that the cost of transportation is not a barrier. All of our students need to ride SEPTA to attend our after-school activities such as Homework Club, tutoring, SAT prep, and workshops on college selection, college admission, and financial aid. To do our job of preparing students to be successful in college, we know we must systematically remove as many obstacles as possible.
Since the high cost of transportation is one of those obstacles, we provide tokens for our students for all our after-school and weekends programs we sponsor. On an emergency basis, we also help students obtain tokens for daily transportation to school when their families cannot afford them. Last year, we spent $9,000 on tokens. If we had not, many of our students would have been unable to take advantage of the high-quality college-prep activities we offer. But the problem is that the overwhelming majority of low-income in the public schools do not have access to support programs 120 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 like Sponsor a Scholar. And even if they could find enrichment activities somewhere -- in a library or a community center or a church -- they probably could not afford the cost of getting there. So we cannot rely on private philanthropy to solve the student transportation problem. It has to be a public investment. We commend Councilmembers Verna, Kenney, and DiCicco for the initiative they have taken by conducting this hearing. And we commend Councilmembers Ortiz, Cohen, and Tasco for having attended. We hope the result of these deliberations will be the crafting of a policy for free school transportation for every low-income child, or at least a significant reduction in the cost to students. That investment will be repaid many times over in creating a next generation of students who are more likely to stay in school and graduate with the full range of skills they need for higher education, employment, and civic leadership. Thank you.
Thank you. (Applause.) 121 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128
Any questions for this witness from members of the committee? (No questions.)
Thank you, thank you for your testimony. Shelly Yanoff. (Shelly Yanoff comes forward.)
With all due respect to the remaining witnesses, we understand that you're here today and you have put a lot of time in and that you do want to get your comments on the record. But if it's possible to summarize some of your statements in the interest of time, we would appreciate that. I think we got the message. And as I said earlier, we will convene a task force to address this problem. Thank you. Good afternoon, Miss Yanoff.
Good afternoon. I'm Shelly Yanoff, Executive Director of Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth, the region's child advocacy organization. I want to thank you very much for the resolution and for holding the hearings. 122 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 As you know, we've studied this issue at PCCY for quite a while. I want to skip over my testimony because I think you have heard it. I'd like to go to the proposal. But before I do, I want to just make two comments, and that is that there are no 8 villains here; there are only victims, and we're all victims when we don't let our kids, when we don't help our kids get to school. We do not want to place the School District or the kids who go there into other choices. We don't want to take money for books -- something I know that's important to you -- and money that is already being used to help educate kids and take from that to deal with this problem. (Applause.)
That will not help us. We need more dollars. Now, together, the School District and the children of Philadelphia provide $15 million, $15 million in funds to SEPTA. That doesn't count the funding that you provide SEPTA. I'm just saying for this, for tokens. So it seems to me what we need to do is 123 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 to say, SEPTA, you have a role to play here; State, you have a role to play here; City, you have a role to play here. And together, we become a city that really means it when we say we want our kids to have an education, we want them to get to school, and we're willing to take steps to do it. The proposal is reasonably simple. The School District continues to pay SEPTA the full cost of tokens, $1.15. It, however, stops paying for the transfers; and thus, saves 40 cents for about half of the kids who need transfers to go to school, okay? So the SEPTA continues to receive a reimbursement, $1.15, the full cost of the token for the kids to get to school. It just doesn't get the transfer cost. Then the State receives from the School District the list of kids whose families are on welfare or who have just gone off of welfare, and the State provides the transportation dollars for them. 'Cause, as the woman said earlier, there are three issues around that: one, the State is supposed to provide transportation to families that are coming off welfare; and two, those 124 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 families are in danger from losing any of their grants if their kids don't get to school. So it makes sense for the State. And the State has an enormous TANF surplus dollars, so it seems a very appropriate use of that. For the remaining amount, the City picks up the cost that is remaining. That is only about $2.5 million, most of which, 62 percent of which, can be reimbursed the following year by the State through the Department of Education, through their transportation reimbursement. So each party in this provides a little bit more, and all of our kids get to school. We should do it, we should do it tomorrow. (Applause.)
Thank you. Miss Yanoff, at the end of your testimony on the proposal sheet, you say the School District would report to Council the impact of these new policies concerning student attendance and school performance.
I think I understand that you're saying there. He would you 125 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 recommend that we do that? I mean, do you have any suggestions?
I think that this is a separate fund that you would be providing. You would hold hearings and ask people to come, and the same because you want accountability for this.
And you want to know if, in fact, we've improved attendance in part by doing that. So I think that we strongly would support Council staying on this issue, Council developing -- this is our proposal. We think it's not hard on anybody, and it moves everything closer to where we need to be. But we -- the other part of it, I do want to say that if we could use the smart card or whatever, don't let the technical problems stop that. I believe very strongly that if this city said, If we only had the funding to install, to use smart cards, we would take care of the rest. I strongly believe that the philanthropic community would respond, and I would be more than willing to lead that charge. 126 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 Thank you.
Thank you. Any questions for Miss Yanoff? (No questions.)
Rabbi Zerbarini, la hire Chung, Raisa Williams. (Above individuals come forward.)
Hi. My name is Lai Har Cheung, and I'm from an organization called Asian Americans United. But I'm also here wearing several hats because I'm the oldest in a family of five children, and I am also a former graduate of the Philadelphia public high school. And I'm here today to maybe -- I am sure -- I mean, I'm so glad you guys are doing this because it really shows your support for this 127 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 thing. I basically have, I think, new things to say in terms of how the impact of it is in the Asian community. I think the Asian community is a community that is often looked over because we're the high achievers, we do well in school, and so don't worry about them, they'll be okay. And what I am here to say is that no, it is not true, that a lot of Asian families are struggling. They're being exploited because they do not speak English. They're living in very low-income areas, suffering from all of the different impacts of poverty around the City. And maybe even more because of the racial hostility again them. And this makes it a very, very critical issue for Asian youth because of what they've experienced going to school and in the schools regarding the curriculum. Something else I definitely want to say is, back in 1985 when SEPTA wanted to raise the fare, we led a student protest to prevent the fare increase from happening. When we did that in 1985, I stood and spoke in front of the SEPTA Board and was basically told to go back to school and learn about civics and budgets. And like 128 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 basically they told me, there was no free lunches in this world. Well, I am here to say that I, as a student at that point, expected the adults to be the leaders, okay? I expected the older people to realize what the issue was and to do something about it. And here, I was -- they passed the buck to me, like a high school student that just graduated, and then I was like this is so ludicrous. I was so upset. We won the issue. The SEPTA tokens weren't increased to $11, but I felt like there was just so much hostility against young people taking charge. And we're encouraged to become citizens and be a part of this process called democracy. Yet, there was so much hostility saying something as simple as "don't increase our fares" because of all these things you've heard this morning, okay? And I'm so glad that City Council has taken up this issue and is like being leaders in this fight. One thing I definitely want to say is when I was going to school, my father spent $50-some a month so that I could get a monthly 129 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 transpass so that I could go after school and participate in extracurricular activities so that I don't need to work the type of work that he needed to work. Basically, he said that education is a priority. And then he made an issue so that no 8 matter how much it cost and how much of a burden it was to my family, he spent over $1400 so that me and my sister can go after school and go to activities, and weekends, do activities after school, do whatever we needed to do to get the best education we could. And I didn't realize how much of a cost it was to him until now. And the frustrating thing about just being in the Asian community, where people look down on you, they make fun of you. And then on top of that, they say that your issues and your things don't matter. He made education a priority. And because of that, I graduated from one of the finest liberal arts institutions in this country. And if the City puts a priority on education just the same way the young people will see that this city gives something to its young people, and 130 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 they'll respond likewise.
I know my father sacrificed a lot so that I could get a better life and I think it's a multilayered issue, and everyone involved needs to do the same thing and give young people the hope and the inspiration to keep on working hard just by whatever conditions they live in in this city. That's all. Thank you.
I'm Rabbi Lina Zerbarini from the Jewish Council Relations Council. And I have my testimony and that of Reverend Ed Geiger, from the Metropolitan Christian Council. And in the interest of time, I'd be happy to submit most of those in writing. Would that be useful?
That would be very helpful. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Miss Williams, 131 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 pull the microphone a little bit closer to you. Thank you.
I work with 10th-grade students and their families at William Penn High School, at Broad and Master Streets. And by the way, at William Penn, they don't sell tokens in the school. Students are given a list of places where they can pick up the tokens. The experience with a lot of students -- and they are local places, supposedly.
When say "local," are they at schools or are they private?
No. They're like at Rite Aid, and there's a check-cashing place. It doesn't always work, and sometimes students have to come down to the 15th Street Suburban Station concourse and pick them up, which is an additional token to get to. So it's not a very good system, but that's the way that the school dealt with the expense and aggravation and the security and the personnel issues. So not only the schools are doing the same thing. Although I am a member of the Philadelphia Futures the staff, I have an office 132 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 at William Penn and work closely with the Dr. ), the lead guidance counselor at the school. And today I'm testifying on behalf of a group of 10th-grade parents who have expressed their frustration with economic strain of sending their children to public school in Philadelphia. According to Dr. Lotz, about 300 of the 1200 students in the freshman class come from the feeder school at William Penn. William Penn personnel, the small learning community coordinators go out and recruit students from all over the City to come to their special programs. William Penn is a Title I school, and 90 percent of the students are low-income. They get a free breakfast and free lunch, if they have the money to get to school. Students from all over the City attend William Penn for a variety of reasons. They have a good reputation, they're a -- small learning communities have a reputation for exceptional teachers and success in preparing students for college and the world of work. The school employs a part-time college counselor to ensure that seniors who want to go to college can get there. 133 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 There's a reputable girls track coach and a swimming program. One small learning community has an Afrocentric curriculum that attracts students and community members to the school for a variety of public programs. At a time when parents want to be able to choose school they feel is best for their children, William Penn seems to offer a viable alternative -- if they can afford the transportation. I wanted you to meet some of the students I work with and some of the families who actually wrote notes to me to tell me -- to encourage me to come and speak on their behalf. Margot is a 10th-grade student whose mother is unable to work due to a disability. She travels from West Philadelphia to participate in the Health Academy Program. She wants to be a nurse. Tina is one of eight children at home. Three of them travel to high school each day at a cost of $108 month. Two of them attend William Penn. Tina's mom is a single parent who recently joined the training and employment program as part 134 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 of the welfare reform. I know for a fact that last year, Tina would have to rush home from school to give the transpass back to her mother so she could go to her training program. Carrie lives in East Mt. Airy with her grandparents, who are rasing three grandchildren on the grandfather's salary and sending two of them to high school. Roberto is the son of a laid-off mother. In September, she'll have two children in high school. And Raheem, an honor student, depends on the White Williams Scholarship Grant of $14 per week to buy tokens to attend school. Raheem lost his grant at the beginning of this year, after the first marking period, because he had two Cs. His classmates and friends spent a lot of time getting adults to give them tokens for various and sundry reasons until, finally, I pulled them and said, What's going on? And they said some kids have to get to school. And I finally found out that it was his problem, and it was their attempt to solve it. His brother is also a high-school 135 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 student who went to William Penn this year and was transferred because of disciplinary reasons. And with that transfer came free tokens to get to school. So go figure. These stories are not unique. Dr.
Lotz could spend a week relating many instances of students who have to leave early to get their transpass home so other family members can go to work. I talked with her at length before I came today. Students who have not been able to attend school the last week of every month, as parents run out of cash. Students who come daily to ask for tokens to get home. It's difficult to concentrate on the school work and do your best when you don't know how you're going to get home and if you're going to come back the next day. Dr. 5 credits for graduation. There is no margin for error. Any failed course will require night school attendance at an additional cost in transportation. If the students; families cannot afford the cost of making up the failed course, we may be looking at 136 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 lower graduation rates in years to come and less opportunities for a large group of students. The parents of the students I mentioned in this statement urged me to speak on their behalf. Some wrote notes so I could for them. I understand their reluctance to acknowledge in public that they find it difficult to provide transportation for their children to attend the public school of their choice. For these parents and students, public education is not always affordable, and it's definitely not free. Thank you.
Thank you, thank you for your testimony. Pat McNamara, Jon Stein, and Earnest Peacock, I believe, are the last three. (Above individuals come forward: )
My name is Patricia McNamara. I am CEPA, the Consumers Education and 137 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 Protective Association's Executive Director. I'm here today to support the call for making transportation to and from school free for all Philadelphia school students. When I think about what each school dropout costs society, I cannot help but wonder why there is anyone who is opposed to finding $1.5 million to make sure that every student can afford to go to school. There is no denying the facts. Some students do not go to school because their parents cannot afford to buy tokens. What happens to these students? Does anyone believe that without a proper education, these young people will reach entire their full potential? Isn't it a sad fact that many young people who drop out of school struggle with low-paying jobs while others turn to crime? In the long run, don't we as a society pay for the problems that are associated with dropping out of school? Why is it that we always find the money to deal with the problems after they happen, but we can never find the money needed to prevent the problems? No one hesitates to spend money on police or jails. If you just heed the simple 138 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 words "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," you will find the money to make school accessible for all Philadelphia students. Please do not insult our intelligence and tell us you don't have the money. We know that when you want to, you can find it. You found millions of dollars to give Kvaerner, Disney, and other multi-billion-dollar corporations. Every year, you find $30 million for the Convention Center to make sure tourists can get to their hotels. We know you can find $1.5 million to make sure our students get to school. The question is, Will you? What are your priorities? Are multinational corporations more important than school children? Are tourists more important than the families who live in the City? We will know your answers not by what you say, but by what you do and how you vote. Thank you.
Good afternoon. And I promise to be brief. My name is Richard Weishaupt, and I'm 139 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 an attorney at Community Legal Services. And I'm also the father of two children who go to the Philadelphia public school system. There are 501 school districts in Pennsylvania. Seven do not provide free transportation for every student and Philadelphia's one of those. We as a state -- and I recognize this is not this Council's purview -- have decided that it is more important to pay transportation to get kids to private schools than it is to transport the kids that go to our public schools. And it seems grossly inequitable that children whose families can't afford transportation are getting free transportation through grades 1 through 6 while we've got high-school students and middle-school students who cannot afford to go to school. There's something wrong with a set of priorities that cannot address that particular problem. I'm not saying that the best way to do this would be to take transportation away from some children; I think that the appropriate answer is, as Pat says, it's a matter of priorities. 140 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 Every child in Philadelphia should be able to get to school and should not be charged for transportation, just like they're not charged for the chairs that they sit in the chalkboards that they look at, and the books that they read. (Applause.)
And if we pay for the transportation, we will see attendance go up, we will see improvement in school work, and the books that we care so much about will actually be read because, I know from my own kids' experience, that they're carrying like pounds of books around 14 with them. And I can guarantee you that if you've 15 got 'em walking a mile each way, you're not 16 carrying those books back and forth. So if we 17 want them to read them, we have to put them on the 18 bus so that they can get them to and from school. 19 There are a lot of pockets to look to. 20 There's SEPTA, there's the City, there's the School District, and there's the State Department of Welfare. I've been working on this issue for ten years, and everybody has always said, Somebody else should go first and then we'll pick up. And I think Councilman Cohen is right. We just need 141 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 to get everybody in the room together and say, Okay, step up to the bar, how much are you willing to put in, and how far can we get? And if we could get everybody to step up to the bar, we could also realize appreciable savings because, as you point out, if we have a system that didn't rely on selling tokens, we wouldn't have to pay all those people for security and for counting the tokens and all that. We could just give each kid a card saying that they were a Philadelphia public school student, and then they could just get on the train or bus it's as simple as that. Thank you.
I will be briefer than my colleague. I'm Jonathan Stein, General Counsel at Community Legal Services. One, we support Miss Yanoff's proposal. I think it's really a fair one and it really meets the need to have everyone pay their fair share. And, Councilman DiCicco, your idea of a task force, I think, is an excellent idea. I 142 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 think we do need to get the relevant parties together because they don't really talk together about this, they've never seen the need to say, you know, we can do this together as a combined group of government -- including the State, because one of the sources of State money that PCCY has identified with our help is the TANF money, the welfare money that is out there, and there's a $200 to $300 million surplus of just this category of federal welfare monies that the State is not spending. It's available to spend on the needs of welfare children in Philadelphia, to pay their transportation needs, and that is an identifiable source of money that could add to the solution of this problem. The plight of welfare families is just extraordinary. I mean, it's not often known, you know, how much is in a grant for three people -- a mom, a single mom, and two children. Those three individuals have to survive on a grand total of $403 a month, 4-0-3, and if those two kids going to school have to pay tokens, as they do in these grades above grade 6, that mother has to find $72 or 15 percent of a pittance welfare grant of 4-0-3 143 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 a month, $76 out of 4-0-3 a month before she then can pay her rent, utilities, food, and clothing, I mean, it's an outrageous expense. If that woman were in one of these welfare-to-work programs at a minimum wage at hours a week, you know, her 7 income bloom up from 403 to 442 a month. And 8 again, 442 is not a lot of money to take $76 for 9 two kids' school tokens. 10 So without belaboring that point, I 11 think there's an extraordinary need here. There's 12 a great issue of fairness, of access to education 13 which we all believe, and we really welcome 14 Councilman DiCicco. Your initiative, I think, is 15 an extraordinary initiative you're taking because 16 I think this has not been done in City Council 17 before, and I really hope we can join with you in 18 keeping this momentum going. 19
We're committed to 20 keeping this going. And you've pointed out and I've known this for the last three years, actually longer than that, that I've been involved in local politics. Generally what happens is, everyone has idea, everyone has suggestion, but they just don't come together. And putting people in the same 144 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 room sometimes, you do get some interesting results from it. We're going to try and see if we can put the parties together in the next two weeks, three weeks, at the max. You know, there is an election a couple of weeks away, so it may be little difficult to get all of the Council Committee members on the same day, but we will do our best to do that and to get all the other entities that we mentioned in a room and begin the process. One of the people who testified said something about May. While I think they were looking for the solution by May 1st, in all honesty, that will never happen. It's an impossibility. So I don't want anyone to leave this chambers thinking that this is all going to happen by May 1st. I don't even know what the results will be, no less to be able to give you a time definite on that. I'm not one to make you feel good walking out of here and then do something different. The straight talk is we will convene a task force, we will continue to hammer away at 145 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 this thing. And hopefully, hopefully, sometime between now and the next school year, we can have some resolution to the problem.
Can PCCY be included with that task force? Because usually what happens is, you put a bunch of people together in a room that can figure out all the reasons why you can't do it. PCCY, it's obvious that they have figured out it can be done.
Miss Yanoff will be a part of that. And we're not going to have people in the room that are going to figure out why they can't do it; we're going to have people in the room to figure out how we can get this done.
In some way l, shape, or form. Again, I don't know what the end result will be, but I do believe that we will be in better shape than we are today. And at least it's a first step, it's been a long time coming, so we have to start someplace.
Thank you. 146 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 Is there anyone else here who wishes to testify who is not on the list of the witnesses? (Three women come forward.)
Yes, ma'am. Please state your name for the record and pull the microphone closer to you or you can get closer to the mike whatever.
Good afternoon. My name is Debra Morrison. I thank you for the opportunity to be here. We are employees at Parents Union. But in addition to that, we are also the parents of children in the Philadelphia public school system. Some of the issues that was talked about was global; they were more than what's affecting just us. They are issues that, out of the 215,000 children that's in the Philadelphia public schools, I'm sure that the parents, if they were able, would have packed this room here because if affects us deeply. But one of the questions we did have, you answered it a few seconds ago. We wanted a time line because we get phone calls weekly from parents pertaining to the token issue. Because 147 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 there is a need for reduced or free tokens. And the question that was asked, What would it cost for them to provide that? is an important question. But a more important question is, What it would cost for that service not to be provided? Because attendance is an issue, and it has to be addressed. And it only can be addressed with us working together.
Okay. I mean, your answer to the folks who call you is -- this is not an exercise in public relations today so that Councilpeople could be heard and seen and not do anything. This is really an exercise to begin the process. And again, I do not want to mislead you into thinking that it will happen in the next two weeks, six weeks. I don't know. It may take six months. I just don't have an answer. And Shelly's saying, No, I would like for it not to take that long. But it is a process, today is the beginning. We will continue to work at this for however long it takes to come to some resolution. And, again, I don't know if it is a partial 148 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 payment in addition to what's being paid or a full free token. I don't have the answer. I'd love for it to be free but I'm not going to let you walk out of here, as I said earlier, feeling good all, Oh, it's all going to be free, and then come back with something different. I'm not the only person that will be involved in the process. There are a number of people who are involved in it. There's 8 to $9 million that we're speaking of. It's insignificant when you look at the big budget, but it is significant nonetheless, and we to have figure out a way how to close that gap. And that's what this process will be about. But the pledge, the promise that I can make today is we will continue to discuss this with the task force. Yes, ma'am.
My name is Eudora (ph.) Burton. And I also am an employee at Parents Union for Public Schools and a parent trainer. But first of all, I am a parent. And I was wondering, when you do come together with this task force, and I'd like -- at 149 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 least you gave a time line of possibly two weeks that you can organize and meet with this task force. But when you come together, I hope that you will consider getting statistics from the police department of how many students did they pick up for truancy. And talk to judges in reference to truancy court. Because every time you have a hearing or something of that sort, that's costing taxpayers more and more dollars. Every time a child is hurt in the streets for safety reasons coming back and forth to school because they don't have tokens to catch a bus, hearing about these children traveling from West Philadelphia to North Philadelphia and other transportations, whenever a child goes out of his community, he is then a stranger -- unprotected and alone. And the cost -- I'm sure if we could get statistics from the hospitals of these emergency-room costs of children who get hurt or children that are loitering around in the streets because they don't have transportation because their parents have to choose whether they're going to eat or whether they're going to pay their rent so that they have 150 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 somewhere to live, or whether that child goes to school, I'm sure that's enormous costs. And I also want to make a point that not every child that needs these tokens are on public assistance or getting off of public assistance. An even people that are on public assistance have a time line. And eventually, it's going to be a revolving door, we're going to be back at this point for underemployed people. This is a critical issue. I do agree that right now that is another vehicle for it, through TANF monies. But I want in that whole process that all people be considered. Like the young lady was speaking, some people need public assistance but they have a lot of pride, and I can understand that. And they make a lot of sacrifices, but the need is still real, and the need is still there. And there are even people like me who are not on public assistance but have a job which is a J-O-B, "Just Over-Broke." And my children, I have eight children. Four, I'm fortune, that have graduated from school already. But like others have said, they couldn't participate in 151 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 extracurriculum programs that would allow them to go on to college or allow them to do even better in school than they would have because I can afford the transportation involved for them to attend those programs. Although I'm very proud of them, and some did go to college. But it's a realistic problem here, and I do thank you for attempting to give parents a time line, and I will be glad to tell them that at least City Council cares about its children, and something will happen. Thank you.
Thank you for coming here. I thank all of you for your patience and indulgence and your interest. This concludes the hearing of the Committee on Public Transportation and Public Utilities. 152 TRANSPORTATION COMM. - Res. 990128 Thank you. (Adjourned at 1:25 p.m.) - - - 153 C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing proceedings of the Council of the City of Philadelphia of Tuesday, April 1999 were 8 reported fully and accurately by me, and that this 9 is a correct transcript of same. 10 11 12 13 RE: COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND 14 PUBLIC UTILITIES 15 16 BILL NO. 990128 17 18 19 20 __________________________________, JOSEPHINE CARDILLO, Registered Professional Reporter