The Philadelphia Inquirer went on record yesterday with an editorial calling upon the University of Pennsylvania to make an annual payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to support Philadelphia’s public schools.

Penn and other big tax-exempt nonprofits do not have unlimited funds especially amid the COVID-19 crisis; endowments carry restrictions and stewardship requirements. But asking them to directly invest in public education in their hometown is a reasonable request deserving more than stony silence. A lively conversation about PILOTs for nonprofits is already underway. It’s time for Penn and other big players to be part of it.

“It’s difficult to say if the refusal to pay PILOTS is a result of greed, willful ignorance, financial prudence, or something else. But our recent history of standing back and letting highbrow volunteerism be enough has not paid high enough dividends. David Cohen, it is time to change.”

Campano said that he hopes the board of trustees will respond to the faculty and staff request to meet.

“Penn prides itself on being a community and having open conversations and dialogues,” Campano said. “This time should be no different. The trustees should be willing to meet with us to talk.

More than 900 faculty and staff members at the University of Pennsylvania have signed a petition calling on the school to make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTS) that will support Philadelphia public schools.

Like other nonprofits in Philadelphia, Penn is exempt from paying property taxes. For years, the university has faced calls to make voluntary payments instead.

The issue is more pressing than ever, activists say, as the confluence of the coronavirus pandemic and a national reckoning over racism has laid bare wealth and racial inequities in the city. Paying PILOTs, they say, has become an issue of both racial and economic justice.

When called upon to pay PILOTs, Penn highlights the vast reach of our civic engagement programs. During my freshman year, I worked in West Philadelphia High School as a science teacher through the Netter Center, and while volunteer efforts are indisputably beneficial, fundamental issues with the education system urgently need to be addressed. An asbestos-laden school without toilet paper, soap, and hot water does not need weekly university volunteers. They need fiscal support. Community service should not be leveraged to discredit the urgent need for PILOTs.

The time has always been right for Penn to join the other universities that have agreed to enter into PILOT arrangements. But the time has never been more crucially right, in the wake of the pandemic, the resulting economic impact, and the growing nationwide awareness of the racism that has for centuries so profoundly disfigured our civic life, and continues to do so today.

I join with my colleagues in urging Penn’s administration and trustees to move expeditiously toward the implementation of the necessary PILOT agreements. The University’s participation in this program will confirm our dedication to Philadelphia and its citizens, and especially to the city’s young people.

Calls for the University of Pennsylvania to make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) to the Philadelphia public schools escalated this week—reaching the university’s highest governing board. Following on the heels of a petition signed by over 800 faculty and staff, 68 signatories have publicly requested meetings with members of the Penn Board of Trustees, who have been silent for weeks despite growing outcry that Penn is failing to fulfill its responsibility to the school system.