Schools are losing extracurriculars | Morning Newsletter
🗳️ And poll shows tight Pa. races
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The Morning Newsletter
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Good morning. It’s a mostly sunny Sunday warming up near 80, and there’s a slight chance of rain in the evening.
City and district officials promised to provide kids in Philly schools with enrichment opportunities and free before- and after-school programs. But today’s main story highlights how many schools have actually seen funds dry up for extracurricular activities, leaving school leaders and students grappling with the cuts.
— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Bodine High School’s debate team enjoyed a successful year. The squad made it to nationals and picked up awards. But for the nearly 40 students who want to join the team now, it’s not guaranteed there will be a team to join at all.
That’s because cuts to available funding for extracurricular programs at many district schools threaten to dissolve teams like Bodine’s altogether. At that school, the extracurricular budget is 25% of what it was last year.
With little to no money left to function, school leaders are put in a difficult position. They have to decide how to stretch existing funds, whether that means foregoing necessary supplies, forcing clubs to end earlier, or dipping into their own pockets.
This slash in aftercare funds is especially frustrating for these leaders as city and district officials tout the importance of providing kids with safe spaces and enrichment outside of the classroom.
In their own words: “The programs are so valuable, so you want to try to figure this out. But they gave us no lead time at all,” said one high school principal on being blindsided by these cuts.
Education reporter Kristen Graham has the story on the uncertain future for extracurricular programs in Philly schools.
Less than a month out from Election Day, a new Philadelphia Inquirer/New York Times/Siena College poll of likely Pennsylvania voters shows a tight race for president.
Vice President Kamala Harris has maintained a narrow lead over former President Donald Trump in the Keystone State, according to the poll released on Saturday. Harris has a nearly 4-point advantage over Trump, within the survey’s margin of error. This means either candidate could be in the lead.
This latest survey of an electorate in a stubbornly divided state finds little change since September. It also comes as billionaire Elon Musk ramps up campaigning for Trump in Pa., with Musk’s PAC pushing robo texts urging people to send their mail ballots — and vote for the former president.
Among some of the poll’s other findings:
🗳️ The gender divide remains stark. Trump has a 13-point advantage among men and Harris has an 18-point advantage among Pa. women.
🗳️ The economy is still the most important issue for Pa. voters. 54% of them trust Trump, compared to last month when nearly 51% favored him on the issue. And voters overwhelmingly support raising the state’s minimum wage, which falls far below surrounding states at $7.25 an hour.
🗳️ The U.S. Senate race is tightening, too. Republican Dave McCormick is now just 4 percentage points behind Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey.
Dive deeper into the results and analysis with political reporter Julia Terruso.
What you should know today
Kamala Harris will return to Philadelphia this week as part of an event slated for Wednesday, her campaign said. Additional information about the visit was not immediately available.
The Delaware County GOP is looking to upgrade security at its Media headquarters after they say four protesters cornered and harassed volunteers Thursday at its county offices. No one was hurt and no charges were filed.
A 13-year-old boy was shot several times Friday night in North Philadelphia. And twice in the past week, shootings have struck SEPTA buses and left four people injured from gunfire. Here’s what we know about the state of violent crime on the transit system and gun violence in the city at large.
Three Chester County men are accused of poaching “dozens upon dozens” of trophy bucks in Chester and Delaware counties over the last two years.
Millions of Social Security recipients will get a 2.5% cost-of-living increase to their monthly checks beginning in January. The smaller increase for 2025 reflects moderating inflation.
New data released by the Philadelphia School District shows students have made progress on measures like attendance, dropout rate, and reading and math performance — but “we have an awful long way to go,” the superintendent says. Here are four key takeaways.
Levain Bakery is now open in Rittenhouse, bringing Philadelphians the warm, gooey, softball-sized cookies that made Levain a NYC destination.
New Giant supermarkets are coming to the Philly area soon as the grocery chain continues its expansion in the city.
The stewards of the SS United States bid farewell to the ship on Saturday as it prepares to semi-retire to Florida. The vessel has been parked in Philadelphia since 1996.
From solar panels to advanced recycling efforts to LED lighting, the Birds are reducing their carbon footprint. Go inside the Linc’s progress in going green.
❓Pop quiz
Solar storms, also known as sunspots, were responsible for Thursday night’s rare northern lights show across the Philadelphia region. These storms occur in cycles, on average reaching peaks every...
A) 6 years
B) 11 years
C) 17.5 years
D) 23.5 years
Think you know? Check your answer.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Former Philadelphia Eagle linebacker and founder of the Make the World Better Foundation
CROWBAR NINON
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Paula Ninerell who correctly guessed Saturday’s answer: Eastern State Penitentiary. The defunct prison, now a historical education site, is one of several renowned Philadelphia haunted attractions. We rounded up eight other Philly area haunted spots to see this season, as well as some spooky (not scary) family-friendly events.
Photo of the day
🎶 Today’s song goes like this: “There’s a new day coming / Oh, yes, it is.” 🎶 Also, happy BRAT remix release weekend to all who celebrate.
After Justin Timberlake canceled his Newark show, his Friday night concert at the Wells Fargo Center was up in the air. The show ultimately did go on, and our pop critic Dan DeLuca was there to bring us this review. My favorite part: A woman in the crowd caught Timberlake’s attention with a funny handmade sign that made him say, “Oh, I know I’m in Philly now!”
👋🏽 Thanks for spending part of your Sunday morning here. Julie will bring you tomorrow’s headlines bright and early.