Although I was happy to read the Costing-Out Study produced for the PA State Board of Education, we all know that the legislature will not magically fix all of the District's fiscal problems now. And in Nutter's education plan, getting more state money is just one of many strategies to improve the District. Well, below are my top two recommendations. I hope we can use this as a jumping off point but of course, I welcome feedback. It is as "real world actionable" as my knowledge permitted. And let me know if anyone wants to know my sourcing. The one nice thing about Philadelphia is there doesn't seem to be a shortage of research on our schools and their problems.

Read on!

I know Michael Nutter has a big job ahead of him with negotiating many union contracts, including the PFT contract which is due in August 2008. I am wondering what the current terms of the PFT contract are but have not been able to locate a copy online, which I thought would be available because it is a public contract. Does anyone know where (or if) I could get access?