Fiscal Ills Persist in Philadelphia Despite Political Shifts

By Robert C. Johnston

In some respects, Philadelphia is a different city than it was just over a year ago.

The mayor is barely into his second year in office, and the leaders of the city's school system are new, too. Not only have the names changed, but a dramatic thaw also has occurred in relations between the gritty Democratic stronghold and the Republicans who control the Pennsylvania governor's mansion and legislature in Harrisburg.

Yet when it comes to the fiscal woes that haunt the city's schools each year, far less has changed. Local school officials are expected to unveil a budget plan this week for the 208,000- student district that will project a shortfall of about $200 million—just under the gap that the...