Rendell Addresses State Budget Crisis

PHILADELPHIA - The city of Philadelphia is now 50 days into a budget crisis. As legislators try and hammer out a deal school districts, non-profits and now the court system, to name a few, are in crisis mode.

Gov. Ed Rendell spoke to Fox 29 about the budget Wednesday.

Earlier Wednesday, Rendell was joined by comedian Bill Cosby at a news conference that celebrated steady improvements in Pennsylvania's standardized test scores in math and reading.

Rendell and Cosby also criticized Senate Republicans' plan to provide less money for public schools than the Democratic governor has proposed.

Cosby, a Philadelphia native and a well-known education advocate, began and ended his brief speech by declaring, "No more cuts!"

He said taxpayers get their money's worth from their investment in public schools. He said it costs less than $5,000 a year to educate a young person but $33,000 a year to incarcerate an adult.