On Eve of Budget Hearings, Phila. Sues State for More Aid

In a move timed to coincide with this week's city budget hearings, the Philadelphia school district is suing the state for $52.8 million, claiming that Pennsylvania is shortchanging urban children

Joined by the city and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the 215,000-student district filed the lawsuit in state court on Feb. 24. Mayor Edward G. Rendell and John F. Street, the City Council president, said they supported the suit.

"The legislature and the governor have got to fix the way they appropriate money," said William...