A friend from Philly beat me up about the fact that I thought monies raised from parking should go back to the neighborhoods. "The money in Philly goes to the schools. You’ll never change that. It’s not politically responsible." I commented that I wondered just how much money actually got to the schools and the subject was changed to something more pertinent, like ordering another adult beverage.
Now we find out just how much parking money goes to schools in Philadelphia. Read it all here. It seems that of the $27.2 million sent to the city and schools, $25 million went into the general fund and less than 10 percent, only $2.2 million went to cash strapped schools.
This is baloney. I’ll bet that, like my friend, the folks in Philly think that when they put a quarter in a meter that the money goes to schools. In reality it goes into that black hole known as the "general fund" and we all know what that’s used for. Or do we?
Everything is sold "for the children." My guess is that if everything that was done "for the children" actually got to the "children" we would have the best fed, dressed, educated, and happy kids on earth. Somehow, it never seems to get there.
JVH
