Financial Collapse Threatens Pennsylvania District

Financial problems have haunted the Chester Upland school district in Pennsylvania’s Delaware Valley for nearly two decades. Now, the district is teetering on the brink of financial collapse once again.

—Matt Rainey

No rescue yet for Chester Upland schools

By Christina A. Samuels

The financially troubled Chester Upland school district in Pennsylvania, which made national news when its teachers promised to stay on the job even if the district could not pay them, continues to teeter on the brink of financial collapse despite a court-ordered meeting with state officials this month to seek a rescue.

A week before the Feb. 9 conference, the 3,700-student school district and the Chester Community Charter School, which, with 3,100 students, is almost as large, had asked the state for $21.5 million to finish out the school year. The charter school is funded by pass-through money given by the state through the district.

On the day of the meeting, the district and the charter school said they were willing to pare about $8 million from that request by each making budget cuts. The district's total budget for 2011-12 is about $96 million, and the charter school's budget is about $37 million yearly. But the state made no commitments, said representatives from the charter school...