Should Philadelphia give more money to help the schools?

If you miss the excitement of the city being broke – if you yearn for the days of bitter fights over tax hikes and service cuts – we have good news for you. This year’s budget process may have been a snooze so far, but your masochistic needs are about to be met. It’s School District time.

Tomorrow, the School District of Philadelphia will present its budget to City Council, and things might get ugly. The district has a budget gap of about $630 million, due in part to state cuts and the expiration of federal stimulus funds. School officials will almost certainly ask Council to help cover the difference by pitching in extra money (about 30 percent of district funding comes from city sources). But, of course, if Council sends more money to the schools, it needs to either raise taxes or cut other services, like police or sanitation.

Should the city give more money to the School District? On this week’s It’s Our Money podcast, Doron Taussig (a parent) and Juliana Reyes (a non-parent) fight it out.