The debate heated up on Tuesday, March 30, as hundreds of students, community members and leaders took to the streets in University City to demand PILOTs as nearby Philadelphia public schools still struggle with providing non-hazardous environments for children to learn amid the slow return from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This episode offers an overview of the campaign for Penn to participate in a PILOT program with the city of Philadelphia.

More than 100 educators, students, and activists marched through University City on March 30 to urge Penn and other property tax-exempt universities to pay Payments in Lieu of Taxes to Philadelphia.

“Thanks to the work of Penn Justice Dems, amongst other [Penn organizers and local activists] — you did make Penn pay the PILOTs money, you won the PILOTs start. While it's not enough, and there's definitely more to win, think about what you were already able to do, that even the Board of Trustees could not turn their heads away from,” Gym said.

Over 100 students, teachers, and community members marched through Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania’s campuses on Tuesday evening calling on both schools to make payments in lieu of taxes to support the School District of Philadelphia.

Calls for Penn to pay Payments in Lieu of Taxes to Philadelphia were raised yet again in a recent City Council committee hearing that examined how nonprofit tax exemptions affect the funding of local schools, as well as the role PILOTs can play in the city's future.

The Committee on Children and Youth of the Council of the City of Philadelphia held a Public Hearing on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, at 2:00​ PM, in a remote manner using Microsoft® Teams to hear testimony on the following items:

210034 Resolution authorizing the Committee on Children and Youth to conduct hearings examining the relationship between the property tax exemption for wealthy nonprofits on the School District’s budget and the resulting environmental hazards in School District facilities on the health and safety of Philadelphia’s most vulnerable children.

Many Philadelphians, including those directly impacted by toxic school environments and those with ties to wealthy nonprofits, have called for nonprofit institutions to contribute 40% of foregone property taxes annually to the School District of Philadelphia as Payments In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOTs), to share the responsibility of funding public education.

AAUP-Penn's ultimate goal is to make the University a more ethical space and said they would support any groups on campus working towards this, such as Penn for PILOTs, a group of faculty and staff who believe the University should make payments in lieu of taxes to the city of Philadelphia, and Fossil Free Penn, a group on campus that demands Penn divest from the fossil fuel industry.