{"id":730558,"date":"2026-04-15T21:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T21:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/730558\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T21:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T21:06:13","slug":"parker-rallies-for-rideshare-tax-says-no-philly-school-positions-would-be-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/730558\/","title":{"rendered":"Parker rallies for rideshare tax, says no Philly school positions would be cut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Cherelle Parker and the School District of Philadelphia<\/a> now say no teachers, counselors or other educational staff will need to be reassigned, if City Council goes along with her proposed $1 rideshare tax<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After Superintendent Tony Watlington Sr. unveiled plans to slash 340 positions \u2014 with displaced employees being transferred to fill vacancies \u2014 Parker offered the $1 fee, up from the 20-cent levy incorporated into her initial municipal budget plan.<\/a><\/p>\n

In late March, Parker and Watlington said the tax revenue, combined with fiscal maneuvering from the district, would save 240 jobs, leaving 100 still on the chopping block. The mayor revealed Wednesday that Watlington\u2019s team has adjusted their budget to avoid any school-based personnel cuts.<\/p>\n

Flanked by school administrators, labor leaders, education advocates and others, Parker made the announcement at a City Hall news conference that resembled a rally to build support for the contested tax, amid lobbying and negotiations with lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur children deserve stability,\u201d Parker said. \u201cIt\u2019s worth the fight. I won\u2019t give up. I\u2019m not going to stop because our children are worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her remarks came ahead of a Council budget hearing<\/a> on tax legislation scheduled for Tuesday, April 21. The next day, school district leaders are expected to testify in front of legislators. Council and the Parker administration must reach a budget agreement before the new fiscal year begins July 1.<\/p>\n

More than 50 states, counties and municipalities impose a surcharge on rideshare trips, according to Parker\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

However, her proposal is different,\u00a0 Uber and Lyft say, because the tax would be on top of a 1.4% fee the companies already pay to the Philadelphia Parking Authority<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverywhere in the world, rideshare taxes are consumer taxes paid by riders \u2013 raising prices, reducing demand, and ultimately lowering driver earnings \u2013 and the administration knows this, which is why their proposal explicitly requires the tax to be collected from passengers, not absorbed by companies,\u201d Uber spokesperson Jazmin Kay said Wednesday in a statement.<\/p>\n

Uber is projecting a 4.5% drop in driver earnings if Philadelphia adopts the $1 charge.<\/p>\n

Lyft Public Policy Manager Angeline Jefferson told Metro that the proposal \u201cdisproportionately harms riders in low-income areas and transportation deserts.\u201d More than 60% of trips begin or end in a low-income neighborhood, according to the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t stop those firms from delivering their messages, and I can\u2019t beat them,\u201d Parker told reporters. “They\u2019re multibillion-dollar tech companies, and they have a right to say whatever they say to justify their actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they pass the dollar on to the riders, that is their decision. They don\u2019t have to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her administration estimates that the fee will bring in $48 million a year. Parker\u2019s budget also includes a change in the use and occupancy tax that would generate an additional $2.4 million from cell towers, with the revenue going to the public school system.<\/p>\n

Watlington said spending reductions will still be necessary to address the district\u2019s $300 million budget deficit, which his team says stems from the expiration of federal COVID-19 relief funding.<\/p>\n

The district intends to eliminate 220 substitute teachers assigned to specific buildings, implement central office cuts (including a hiring freeze), and closely review all contracts, school representatives have said.<\/p>\n

MORE: \u2018ICE Out\u2019 bills advance with broad City Council support<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t\tKeywords<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tCherelle Parker,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Philadelphia School District,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Philly schools budget,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t rideshare tax Philadelphia,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Uber Lyft Philadelphia,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Tony Watlington,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Philadelphia City Council,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Philly education funding,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t school budget cuts Philadelphia,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Philadelphia politics\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Cherelle Parker and the School District of Philadelphia now say no teachers, counselors or other educational staff…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":730559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,20497,1448,2830,1311,10325,302265,18730,302263,302260,302261,302264,10776,302262,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-730558","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-cherelle-parker","10":"tag-pa","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-philadelphia-city-council","14":"tag-philadelphia-politics","15":"tag-philadelphia-school-district","16":"tag-philly-education-funding","17":"tag-philly-schools-budget","18":"tag-rideshare-tax-philadelphia","19":"tag-school-budget-cuts-philadelphia","20":"tag-tony-watlington","21":"tag-uber-lyft-philadelphia","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/730559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}