Editing Michael Nutter (section)

== Great Recession Challenge ==

Nutter's first months as mayor coincided with the onset of the Great Recession, the worst economic downturn since the [[Great Depression in Philadelphia|Great Depression]]. The financial crisis devastated city revenues as property values fell, consumer spending declined, and unemployment rose. Nutter inherited a budget already strained by structural deficits; the recession made bad conditions worse. He responded with budget cuts that affected virtually every city department, layoffs of city workers, and appeals to Harrisburg and Washington for assistance. The fiscal management that the recession required defined Nutter's first term more than the reform initiatives he had hoped to pursue.<ref name="kromer">{{cite book |last=Kromer |first=John |title=Fixing Broken Cities: The Implementation of Urban Development Strategies |year=2010 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York}}</ref>

School funding became a particular crisis. Philadelphia's schools, governed by a state-appointed School Reform Commission since 2001, depended on city, state, and federal funding that all declined during the recession. Schools faced devastating cuts: staff layoffs, program eliminations, and school closures that affected tens of thousands of students. Nutter advocated for increased state funding but had limited leverage over a Republican-controlled legislature unsympathetic to urban needs. The school funding crisis illustrated both the limits of mayoral power and the broader challenges facing cities in states where rural and suburban legislators controlled resources.<ref name="salisbury"/>