I see how this game goes:

1) Take ~$650mm from Philadelphia public schools, give it to charter schools.

2) Build jails, which will house the failed students in a few years.

3) Profit!

Part of me actually wants to see the entire Philadelphia public education system actually collapse, so we can see the consequences of classism in all its glory.

Are there any other cities in as dire straits as Philadelphia right now?

Detroit.

Detroit has a housing collapse and an unemployment that Philadelphia does not.

So Detroit's woes seem economic whereas Philadelphia's woes seem self-inflicted.

Self-inflicted?  Worse off?

I must politely fully disagree:

1. If anything, it is Detroit that had the self-infliected wounds, incurred by widely distributed behaviors of residents with greed and the utter stupidity of local business owners chasing a housing and real estate bubble.  Nobody put a gun to their head to pile on to that bull market and everybody wanted to enjoy the ride.  Oooops.

2. Self-inflicted wounds are also not the worst or most pitiable wounds.  I'd argue if you have to get wounded then they are the best wounds--you can learn from your experience (well, if you're not a total idiot).  You also have total power to stop doing whatever is wounding you at any time.  Not so with wounds inflicted upon you by others, especially if those others are more powerful and pervasively  influencing your life in ways you can't make a change.

3. Philadelphia's education budget and management is not self-inflicted because it's not in the hands of Philadelphians, but rather in the hands of State Mandarins trying to force feed an experiment onto a local population.  One could argue this is either a wise or reckless move by a fiduciary power that is supposed be representative of the people's will.  I argue this is a worse scenario than self-inflicted ones because it is people who do not agree with the experiment and who are FORCED into submitting to it that will suffer, at least as long as they choose to stay in Philadelphia if they can afford to move.  No bueno.

So maybe I'm not disagreeing with your sentiment, but instead arguing that Philadelphia's scenario is a far worse one precisely because it is not a self-inflicted wound, AND I'm also arguing that Detroit's situation is more dire because their ENTIRE city is already bankrupt AND now entering into the same receivership relationship where management and budgeting is put into the hands of fiduciaries at a far distance.  The same experience that Philadelphia has now enjoyed regarding the state running their education district.  Bummer.

Glad I live in the sun belt.