Citizen Voices debate

For the first half of the hour-long show, the focus was on Education.

.

Do you think that the problem in Philadelphia's schools is not enough funding, or mismanagement of the dollars available?
Marty Weinberg:	Education is the single issue which crosses lines. I support the Committee of 70 reforms, having the superintendent serve in the mayor's cabinet, school board terms concurrent with the mayor's, programs to treat disruptive kids outside of the classroom. The city needs a statewide stream of funds. There is currently not enough money to do what needs to be done.
John White, Jr.:	I believe both are challenges. We can not expect the state to give more money until we manage existing resources better. To that end, I would reduce the number of clusters and consolidate services among clusters to save on administrative costs.
John Street:	There is definitely not enough money. It is unfair to teachers, parents, and students to expect this system to work with less money per child than other systems. It is unfair that starting salaries for teachers are $3500 less than in other districts. It is unfair that students learn in school buildings 60 years old. Philadelphia must take to Harrisburg a plan and a committment that we will not leave without a response.
Dwight Evans:	We need to identify the magic number: How much does it cost to educate a child? We need to move to a system similar to that in Michigan where the state pays 80% and property taxes pay 20% of education funding. We need to require academic accountability for principals, teachers, students.
Fernandez:	The issue is funding. It rests with Harrisburg. Other low-income districts are shortchanged as well. We need to tell the state that if we want Pennsylvania to be top of the heap, we need state investment in education.
How would you use the authority of the mayor over schools to eliminate strife between various constituencies unions, city government, parents and teachers, and improve education?
White:	I would work with those groups to come to an agreement that the primary focus is in the classroom. I would provide after-school programs, including work study and co-op education for teens to stem juvenile crime. This can only happen after all parties come to table. It is difficult for teachers to be held accountable when the student is effected by family, and by systems all around the teacher.
Street:	The desire for someone to hold responsible leads to the desire for the mayor to be accountable for school system. If the mayor accepts that responsibility, we can get the funding necessary from Harrisburg.
Evans:	I can bring disparate forces together for education. We need to focus on the interest of children. Changes to teacher contract and to the school code, including giving principals the ability to hire and fire within their schools, are necessary to place childrens' interest first.
Fernandez:	I will lead by example, by being in schools, meeting with students, parents and principals. I will encourage opinion leaders to be in schools, recognizing good education.
Weinberg:	The mayor must be held accountable. I have the strength to bring people together and I am ready to be held accountable.
We realize the need for reform will take a long time, but what specific benchmark will be achieved in four years of your administration?
Street:	I will reduce class size from the current 35 to 33, 17 in grades K-3. I will institute after-school and summer school programs. I will add teacher training in technology and obtain significant capital from the state for infrastructure improvement.
Evans:	The system will be decentralized with principals in charge in their buildings. I will take class size out of teacher contract. I will change the kindergarten policy, making a move to a state-wide policy. I would provide mortgage and loan incentives for teachers to live and work in the city. I would ask Temple, Drexel and other city colleges to establish and support elementary schools like the one near the University of Pennsylvania
Fernandez:	Achievement scores will be up by 20%. They will rise as the result of high expectations and testing. Summer school will be available to every child who needs it. There will be a significant cut in the current dropout rate. Right now, 50% of ninth graders do not finish high school. I would continue to work with police to reduce truancy. I would establish after-school programs in every neighborhood.
Weinberg:	I would reform the way we do business then get a dedicated finance stream from Harrisburg for after-school and arts and culture programs. Formerly disruptive kids would be placed with teachers who are specifically trained to handle their problems until they can be returned to the regular classroom.
White:	I would eliminate social promotion, and reduce class size. I would seek to lower the dropout rate, especially in Latino population by working with multicultural and multilingual groups in that community. I would create linkages between business and jobs in Philadelphia and the curriculum.

The second segment of the debate focused on crime and safety.

What will you do about drugs and how will you pay for it?
Evans:	I would keep John Timoney as police commissioner. I would seek more coordinated activity between state, local and federal enforcement. I want to see the police integrated in the community. I would sue the gun manufacturers. We can't do it alone. We need partnership with community and with state and federal governments. I would pay for treatment of addictions with existing state and federal programs. I would create that partnership by moving police officers out of police department and onto the streets.
Street:	I would re-employ an additional 1000 undercover narcotics officers. I would have enough undercover officers so that when programs like Operation Sunrise leave, bad elements don't come back to a neighborhood.
Fernandez:	I would re-deploy more officers to work with federal authorities to go after drug kingpins. I would like to see neighbors take charge of community. We have a program called Community Behavioral Health which pools available state and federal programs for treatment of drug addictions.
Weinberg:	I want real harsh penalties for drug crimes, combined with a partnership of clergy and community members to solve the problem.
White:	I relate directly to this problem. I would harass street corner dealers like we have harassed graffiti artists. I would lighten the load on probation and parole officers so that they can supervise those who serve short terms as they are rehabilitated into society. I would commit to maintain the salaries of Clinton Cops. I would maximize Medicaid reimbursement for in-hospital treatment for addictions to cure drug abusers while they are in custody.
What alternatives would you offer to "get tough" police solutions to crime?
Fernandez:	I would begin with after-school programs to prevent the start of petty and larger crime from juveniles. I would place more officers on the street in bike and foot patrols to build relationships with residents.
Weinberg:	I would like to see more cooperation between community, government and police. I would provide many arts and culture programs to give kids a future; a choice other than drugs and crime.
White:	I would reserve 911 for strict emergencies, and establish 311 service for non-emergency calls to police. The perception of safety goes to how long it takes for police to respond to a call. I would enable probation and parole officers to have greater supervision for those released from incarceration.
Street:	Every neighborhood ought to have Town Watch with a direct link to the police captain in that district.
Evans:	I organized anti graffiti an organization in my West Oak Lane neighborhood. I have shown it can be done. I would establish a boot camp to deal with minor criminals. I would allow greater power for creativity to district police captains.

The third order of business was -- business.

Businesses and residents in Philadelphia pay to much in taxes, what will you do?
Weinberg:	By the end of my four-year term I will reduce the wage tax to 4%. That reduction would cost $176 million; the program I proposes will save $320 million.
White:	I would continue to follow the five-year plan that exists. As for Weinberg's plan, "If he reduces the wage tax to 4%, forget anything else he said because we can't afford it."
Street:	I support the current program, and I supported a reduction in the real estate transfer tax in 1989.
Evans:	Short-term, I would continue the five-year plan. Long-term, I would look at funding of education. We need to move off the dependency on property taxes for school funding.
Fernandez:	I will continue to lower wage and business taxes as proposed in the five-year plan. Marty's plan distorts anticipated income.
Philadelphia presents barriers to business growth. What are they, and what will you do to remove them?
White:	Philadelphia is not a business-friendly environment. I propose a one-stop shop for forms and applications for new and small businesses dealing with the city, including on line forms and interactions. I suggest we capture assets we have: The Avenue of Technology, the biotech research of our universities. We can provide microloans for to encourage entrepreneurship and development of the technology being incubated at local universities.
Street:	The major problem is access to capital. Economic development entities need to make it easy for people to get money for development. Keystone Opportunity Zones have no taxes and are designed as locations where small businesses can establish and grow without that burden.
Evans:	At the Ron Brown Enterprise Center, a boot camp program promotes entrepreneurship among teens. We have small business development centers, and microloans exist, but they are not applied efficiently.
Fernandez:	I pledge to continue to lower business taxes; To work with City departments to keep small businesses here; and to crate a customer-friendly government.
Weinberg:	We've got to do something about the wage tax, to make the city competitive with suburban communities. I believe that cutting the wage tax to 4% is responsible. We need to educate our students to read and write and add and subtract at high school level when they graduate.