Should Philly’s Sports Teams Bail Out the School District?


According to Chris Lehman, principal of the Philadelphia Leadership Academy, the answer to that question is yes. Lehman has started a Change.org petition asking Philly’s millionaire team owners to chip in to help close the school district’s $300 million deficit, specifically by helping fund athletic programs.

Last year, Philadelphia sports teams had over $800 million in revenues. The entire athletics budget of the School District of Philadelphia was $7.1 million this year. Less than one percent of your revenues would fully fund athletics for the students of Philadelphia…Our kids are your fans, a couple of our kids will be your future stars, our kids are your city. Fund our student-athletes. They need the chance to play.

Lehman doesn’t quite make it clear, but it seems he’s asking for the full $7.1 million. As of this writing, the petition was 109 e-signatures short of its goal of 1,000. All in favor, sign here.