Not uncommon for an big city public school .
Then they tell taxpayers they just need more money.
Every big city public school administrator will tell you they need more money. And every union leader will tell you they need more money.
But if you talk to big city school teachers, money will not even come up as a problem. The key is classroom management (discipline). Teachers are simply not allowed to remove disruptive students from class anymore. It makes the schools look bad. Gotta get those suspension rates down!
A secondary problem is the the elimination of the trades option. More and more districts are eliminating carpentry and plumbing classes in favor of advanced algebra. Why? Because carpentry and plumbing are not on the state exams, but algebra is.