PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
by Chris Freind
If there's one thing you have to give Philadelphia's leaders credit for achieving, it's consistency. Under the "leadership" of every mayor and city council going back decades, the city has seen its population plummet, and with it, our prospects for growth and world-class status. Consider these gems:
Between 2000 and 2007, Philadelphia lost 4.5% of its residents, the largest percentage drop of any Top 25 city. As far as actual numbers, the only city which lost more people in that span was New Orleans, and I think the Big Easy had a weather-related incident which prompted that city's mass exodus.
With the track record Philadelphia amassed in those seven years, it would seem that the city was trying to best the results from 1990-2000, when the City of Brotherly Love's population losses ranked it # 3 out of out 243 cities with more than 100,000 people.
If you didn't know the dire situation in Philadelphia, you might actually think that the city ranked high in desirability. After all, it is the fifth (wait, now it slipped to sixth) largest metropolitan area in the country, strategically located on the eastern seaboard, with convenient access to New York, Washington, the Poconos and the Jersey Shore. The climate is temperate, the city boasts a first class art and culture center, and, notwithstanding the infinite frustrations in dealing with US Airways, the airport is a convenient gateway to many national and international destinations.
Despite Philadelphia's tremendous assets, however, it will never rise out of its quagmire unless it takes the political bull by the horns. Mayor Nutter talks a great game, and he is committed to improving the climate in certain areas, but he still misses the bigger picture on the single most important reform that has yet to be seriously discussed: school choice.
Don't get me wrong. Reforming the tax code is fantastic. Consider that Philadelphia levies some of the highest taxes in the country on its businesses and people, even higher than New York City. To put the situation in perspective, Philadelphia has lowered its business and wage taxes in each of the last 11 years, yet still retains the most onerous tax burden of any city in the nation. Businesses and residents continue to respond with their feet. Since 1970, the city has lost 265,000 jobs and 450,000 residents.. And that doesn't even take into account the thousands of companies that cross Philadelphia off their list of desirable locations; we're out of the game before it begins.
Reducing taxes, cutting bureaucratic red tape and eliminating the "pay-to-play" culture have merit, but their impact will only take the city so far because they are tactics, not strategy.
The only viable solution is to enact a comprehensive school choice program. Only when our children---every one of them--- can receive a quality education at the school of their choice will the crime epidemic come to a halt. Only when parents can have a say in where their children attend school will we start to see a homegrown, educated workforce.
When children forego an education, they lose hope, faith and vision. And, unequivocally, that's what we're dealing with in Philadelphia. It's why we have the highest rates of poverty, murder and violence in the nation, and it's why the population continues to erode. Half of all students who enter ninth grade won't graduate. If we can't even keep kids in school, what makes anyone think we can keep businesses and families here?
School choice can affect change in a way no other reform can. When parents have a choice in their children's education, schools that do well will attract more students and succeed, and those that continue with the status quo will lose students and fail. The free market system that has served us so well will have the same effect on our educational product. And for the first time in generations, our students will actually learn the skills necessary to succeed in life. With a quality education, they will have hope for a better tomorrow, understanding that it is better to live in a stable environment with a loving family than be part of a criminal world in which the lifespan is shorter than those in third-world nations. Criminals today don't fear the crossfire because they feel they have nothing to live for anyway. Until that mentality is changed, Philadelphians will continue to be held hostage, and more people - including children and police office--- will die.
Mayor Nutter has thus far rejected school choice, and, in doing so, is helping seal the fate of our great city. To maintain the status quo in Philadelphia will be to perpetuate our city's decline. And we will have no one to blame but ourselves.
Chris Freind can be reached at CF@TheBulletin.us
