Today SLAP stood in solidarity with Philadelphia's public schools and once again demanded a meeting with President Gutmann. If you missed it, here's what we had to say to our University President:
President Gutmann, since becoming President of the University of Pennsylvania, you have overseen an unprecedented increase in the University’s wealth, including the largest, most successful fundraising campaign in Penn’s history. At the same time, we have seen the School District of Philadelphia collapse into debt. There were 24 school closures in the 2013-2014 school year alone. In that year, the School District of Philadelphia was forced to lay off nearly 4,000 teachers and other support staff. Philadelphia now spends less per pupil than almost any other major education system in the country. We then asked you, President Gutmann, as students of this University and as residents of Philadelphia, to act. We asked Penn to contribute a small fraction of the millions of dollars that it saves in property tax exemptions each year. Philadelphia has the nation’s highest percent of tax-exempt nonprofit property, and by holding such an immense amount of land in the city and paying such a small amount in property taxes, Penn is upholding an economic system that does not allow Philadelphia’s students to thrive.
When we asked Penn to take steps to fix that, President Gutmann, you told us all the reasons why you couldn’t, why you shouldn’t have to, why you wouldn’t. You told us that Penn already pays enough to the city through the wage tax, ignoring the fact that that money, which is actually paid by Penn employees, doesn’t go to public schools. You told us that Penn already contributes enough through the Penn Alexander School and the Netter Center. The Penn Alexander School’s success only shows us that pouring resources into one successful school, whose demographics are no longer like those of other West Philadelphia neighborhoods, won’t help most of Philadelphia’s most vulnerable students. The Netter Center only shows us that even though Penn students have a lot to offer West Philadelphia’s schools, we can never replace nurses and librarians and guidance counselors and full time teachers. Last year, two young students died in schools where there were no full-time nurses available to them. We are an exceptionally wealthy center for education in a city where education has been stripped to the bone. We need to do more than offer help, President Gutmann. We need to take action.
It has been almost a year since we first made this request. Since then, despite a resolution from city council endorsing PILOTs and a promise from Jim Kenney to pursue them, your answer has still been no. This is about more than just a monetary contribution. This is about demanding that Penn invest in the structural stability of an education system that is needed so badly by Philadelphia’s poor students, working class students, and students of color. This is not charity; it is the beginning of collective reinvestment in students who have been abandoned by so many. It is time for Penn to live up to its reputation as the Civic Ivy, President Gutmann. It is time for PILOTs.
President Gutmann, since becoming President of the University of Pennsylvania, you have overseen an unprecedented increase in the University’s wealth, including the largest, most successful fundraising campaign in Penn’s history. At the same time, we have seen the School District of Philadelphia collapse into debt. There were 24 school closures in the 2013-2014 school year alone. In that year, the School District of Philadelphia was forced to lay off nearly 4,000 teachers and other support staff. Philadelphia now spends less per pupil than almost any other major education system in the country. We then asked you, President Gutmann, as students of this University and as residents of Philadelphia, to act. We asked Penn to contribute a small fraction of the millions of dollars that it saves in property tax exemptions each year. Philadelphia has the nation’s highest percent of tax-exempt nonprofit property, and by holding such an immense amount of land in the city and paying such a small amount in property taxes, Penn is upholding an economic system that does not allow Philadelphia’s students to thrive.
When we asked Penn to take steps to fix that, President Gutmann, you told us all the reasons why you couldn’t, why you shouldn’t have to, why you wouldn’t. You told us that Penn already pays enough to the city through the wage tax, ignoring the fact that that money, which is actually paid by Penn employees, doesn’t go to public schools. You told us that Penn already contributes enough through the Penn Alexander School and the Netter Center. The Penn Alexander School’s success only shows us that pouring resources into one successful school, whose demographics are no longer like those of other West Philadelphia neighborhoods, won’t help most of Philadelphia’s most vulnerable students. The Netter Center only shows us that even though Penn students have a lot to offer West Philadelphia’s schools, we can never replace nurses and librarians and guidance counselors and full time teachers. Last year, two young students died in schools where there were no full-time nurses available to them. We are an exceptionally wealthy center for education in a city where education has been stripped to the bone. We need to do more than offer help, President Gutmann. We need to take action.
It has been almost a year since we first made this request. Since then, despite a resolution from city council endorsing PILOTs and a promise from Jim Kenney to pursue them, your answer has still been no. This is about more than just a monetary contribution. This is about demanding that Penn invest in the structural stability of an education system that is needed so badly by Philadelphia’s poor students, working class students, and students of color. This is not charity; it is the beginning of collective reinvestment in students who have been abandoned by so many. It is time for Penn to live up to its reputation as the Civic Ivy, President Gutmann. It is time for PILOTs.
