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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for July 1, 2015:
Tired of hearing about failing schools? Here are four
that work.
Happy Fiscal New Year; Wolf Vetoes GOP Budget
Just a heads-up that the PA Ed Policy Roundup may be intermittent
and/or late this week
Gov. Wolf to veto entire
GOP-crafted budget, calls proposal “a mess”
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Tuesday, June 30,
2015
Shortly after
Republicans were praising the historic and substantial nature of passing
pension reform, liquor privatization, and a no-tax increase $30.2 billion
budget, Gov. Tom Wolf put the brakes on the spending plan, announcing he
intends to veto the proposal in its entirety. “It’s what I feared,
this is a budget that absolutely doesn’t work,” said Gov. Wolf in announcing
his intention to veto the entire proposal. “The math doesn’t work, it doesn’t
address the challenges Pennsylvania faces.”
Gov. Wolf also argued the budget is not balanced and will lead
Pennsylvania to face a $3 billion deficit for the FY 2016-2017 budget.
Wolf hits budget reset
button much to GOP's disappointment
PennLive By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter
on June 30, 2015 at 11:52 PM, updated July 01, 2015 at 6:47 AM
on June 30, 2015 at 11:52 PM, updated July 01, 2015 at 6:47 AM
Stepping behind the
podium in the Governor's Reception Room on the eve of the new fiscal year, Gov.
Tom Wolf declared: "It's what I
feared. This is a budget that actually doesn't work. It simply doesn't work.
The math doesn't work. It's not balanced and it doesn't address the challenges
that Pennsylvanians face," he said. "So I'm going to veto the
entire budget." Wolf Vetoes BudgetGov. Tom Wolf vetoes
Republican budget Tuesday night. At a
Tuesday evening news conference that lasted not even 13 minutes, Wolf
essentially hit a reset button on the budget process and told the Republican
lawmakers who control the Legislature it's back to the drawing board after
rejecting the $30.2 billion budget
bill they sent him just a couple hours before.
'This budget is simply not balanced': Gov. Wolf vetoes
Republican spending plan
By Karen Langley &
Kate Giammarise / Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau June 30, 2015 11:59 PM
HARRISBURG — Let the
standoff begin.
After a whirl of
activity Tuesday, the Republican majorities of the Pennsylvania House and
Senate sent the governor a GOP-crafted budget, along with legislation to
disband the state system of wine and liquor sales and end defined-benefit
pensions for most future state and public school workers. Shortly after 9 p.m.,
Gov. Tom Wolf undid their planning on the budget. Mr. Wolf vetoed the full budget proposal, the
first time in recent history that a governor has rejected a budget in its
entirety. “This budget is simply not
balanced,” he said at a nighttime news conference. “I ran a business, and if I
took a budget that looked anything like this to my bank, they would have thrown
me out of the office.” The governor said
he would study the companion bills on liquor sales and pensions and respond to
the GOP today. The Republican budget
would accomplish none of Mr. Wolf’s priorities: no enactment of a severance tax
on natural gas to provide education funding; no increase in the personal income
and sales tax rates to provide subsidies to property tax bills; and a closing
of the shortfall by means he has rejected as irresponsible.
“Wolf called on legislative leaders from both parties to
meet with him at 2 p.m. Wednesday in his office to resume negotiations. It was
not clear whether Republicans would attend.
Longtime political observers said Wolf's decision to veto the budget in
its entirety marked the first time in more than 40 years that a Pennsylvania
governor had done so.”
Wolf vetoes entire GOP
budget, says 'math doesn't work'
ANGELA COULOUMBIS
AND MADISON RUSS, INQUIRER STAFF
WRITERS LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, July 1, 2015, 1:08 AM POSTED: Tuesday,
June 30, 2015, 6:49 PM
HARRISBURG - Gov.
Wolf vetoed the Republican-backed $30.1 billion budget in its entirety Tuesday
night, a move that leaves Pennsylvania without a spending plan and sets the
stage for a partial government shutdown.
A visibly frustrated Wolf told reporters shortly after 9 that the
spending plan the Republican-controlled legislature sent him was riddled with
"gimmicks," as well as "smoke and mirrors, and a lot of kicking
the can down the road." He said it
failed to adequately fund public education or provide property-tax relief to
homeowners, and contended it would worsen the state's finances. "This isn't partisanship. This isn't
ideology," the Democratic governor said. "The math doesn't
work."
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf vetoes Republicans' budget
Morning Call By Sam Janesch and Steve EsackCall
Harrisburg Bureau July 1, 2015
HARRISBURG — Wasting
little time Tuesday night, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed the entire budget
the Republican-controlled Legislature sent him earlier in the evening, saying
it was unworkable and leaving the state without a spending plan as the new fiscal
year begins Wednesday. Wolf's ax fell
after lawmakers passed a trio of major bills that would spend $30.1 billion on
programs and services without raising taxes and make the state's
Prohibition-era liquor laws and public pension systems relics of the past. Republican leaders of the House and Senate
stood shoulder to shoulder in support of the legislation they advanced to Wolf,
who had been threatening vetoes.
Pa. senator says school bill would allow state
takeovers
ABC27 By Dave MarcheskiePublished: June 30, 2015, 5:39 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa.
(WHTM) – State Senator Rob Replitz (D-Dauphin/Perry) said the move by
Republicans to pass a state takeover of schools bill was done out of spite over
budget disputes. He’s concerned Harrisburg schools could be caught in the
middle. Four words are what Teplitz said
he wanted from Republicans. However, his request was denied and Senate
Republicans passed Senate Bill 6 without his proposed amendment to include “or
Chief Recovery Officer” to a list that would exempt schools from a state takeover. Teplitz said to not include that “simple fix”
language in the bill could leave individual schools in Harrisburg vulnerable to
a state takeover. “(Senate Bill 6) was
passed in the middle of the night,” he said. “It’s not a good idea for anyone
and I don’t want my districts subject to it.”
Philadelphia's universal
pre-K commission begins work
WHYY Newsworks BY BILL HANGLEY JUNE 30, 2015
Philadelphia's push
to make quality preschool available citywide has taken another step with the
inaugural meeting of the Mayor's Commission on Universal Pre-Kindergarten. The 17-member commission, established by a
voter referendum last May, now faces a long list of questions, including where
preschool programs should be located and who should be hired to provide them. But the commission's
co-chair, Sharon Easterling, said the biggest question the group must contend
with is how to pay for them. "High
quality programs are not cheap, but make no mistake," said Easterling,
head of the Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children.
"They're far less expensive than ... special education, juvenile justice,
incarceration, welfare dependency, and chronic health problems — all of which
are ameliorated when children get off to a good start in life."
Gov. Tom Wolf vetoes
Republican budget proposal. Now what?
By Christian Alexandersen |
calexandersen@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on June 30, 2015 at 10:02 PM, updated July
01, 2015 at 6:04 AM
In an historic move, Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed the Republican-crafted
budget hours after it passed the full Pennsylvania General
Assembly on Tuesday. The Pennsylvania Senate voted 30-19 Tuesday to
pass the $30.2 billion budget proposal after it passed the House of Representatives
mostly along party lines on Saturday. The deadline to pass a budget is midnight
Tuesday. Here's a breakdown on what
happens next and how the governor's veto affects you:
Day 1: Waiting for a Pa.
budget
Lancaster Online Editorial by The LNP Editorial Board Posted: Wednesday, July 1, 2015 5:45 am
While we would have
preferred a slightly earlier kickoff, let the state’s budget negotiations
begin. Both sides have put
their plans on the table. Democratic
Gov. Tom Wolf did so in his budget address in March. The Republican-controlled General Assembly has
done so in bills passed over the weekend and Tuesday, the end of the current
fiscal year. Today is the first day of
the new fiscal year. We’ll be counting the days until a new budget is approved.
Smart Talk: Where do Gov. Wolf and Republicans differ
on budget?
WITF Written by Scott LaMar, Smart Talk Host/Executive Producer | Jun
30, 2015 3:39 PM
Wednesday is July 1
-- the first day of Pennsylvania's 2015-2016 fiscal year. A new state
budget is supposed to be in place but as budget negotiations heated up in the
last few weeks between the Democratic administration of Gov. Tom Wolf and
Republican leaders in the Senate and House, it became apparent the two sides
were far apart in several key areas.
A little over a
month after being inaugurated, Gov. Wolf outlined a spending plan that totaled
$33.8 billion. It included property tax relief and a reduced corporate
net income tax but called for a new tax on natural gas drillers and higher
sales and income taxes. To fulfill a promise he made during his
successful campaign for office, the governor wanted a significant increase in
money for Pennsylvania's public schools.
From the beginning of the process, Republicans, who have majorities in
both chambers of the legislature said their priorities were a solution to a $50
billion unfunded public pension debt and privatizing the state's liquor stores.
Senate sends GOP budget
bill to Wolf’s desk to await veto
West Chester Daily Local By The Associated Press POSTED: 06/30/15, 7:51 PM EDT
HARRISBURG, Pa.
>> A veto awaited a Republican-penned spending plan sent Tuesday to
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk, as the GOP used its huge legislative
majorities on the final day of the state government’s fiscal year to try to
wrap up an ambitious agenda. The nearly
$30.2 billion budget bill passed the House and Senate without a single
Democratic vote after negotiations between GOP leaders and Wolf stalled in
recent weeks. In the meantime, Republican
worked to pass bills to license private companies to take over the marketing,
shipment and sale of wine and liquor from the state, and to squeeze savings
from the large pension systems for school employees and state workers, in part
by moving new hires into 401(k)-style plans. Democratic lawmakers also opposed
those bills. Wolf said Tuesday it was
only a question of whether he will veto the entire budget or part of it, as he
seeks to force concessions from Republicans on his agenda. After a brief meeting with House GOP leaders
Tuesday morning, Wolf said both sides “will have some things to talk about
tomorrow.”
Pa Budget Now Headed to
Governor
YourErie.com 06/30/2015
05:53 PM
The fate of the
Republican-created budget proposal is now in Gov. Tom Wolf's hands after it has
passed both house in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Erie's Democratic Senator Sean Wiley doesn't
like it a bit and neither will Governor Tom Wolf. House Bill 1192, the $30.1 billion GOP led
spending plan, made a brief stop in the Senate on its collision course with a
veto by Governor Tom Wolf. In advance of
the midnight deadline, the Senate of Pennsylvania approved the 2015-2016
Commonwealth Budget by a vote of 30-19. “I
am remarkably disappointed by this process, as there was nothing bi-partisan or
in the best interest of the citizens of this commonwealth in what happened here this
week,” said Senator Sean D. Wiley (D-Erie). “We are once again faced with a
spending plan full of stunts, one time transfers and creative accounting at its
finest.”
Pennsylvania education
advocates making big push for fair school funding
Pittsburgh CityPaper
By Rebecca Nuttall @PghReporter July 1, 2015
Montgomery County,
Montour County, Northumberland County, Allegheny County and Philadelphia.
Shoulder to shoulder, hundreds from across the state stood on the white steps
of the rotunda of the Pennsylvania Capitol in the Harrisburg last week. Clad mostly in blue T-shirts, the diverse
crowd formed a backdrop with signs that read: "Fund Our Schools,"
"All PA Kids Are Our Children," "Strong Schools = Strong
Communities" and "Every Baby Needs a Laptop." Among them were
teachers and librarians, preschoolers and high schoolers, parents and recent
graduates. Along with the line of speakers who graced the podium one by one,
the riser of Pennsylvanians 10 rows high formed a patchwork quilt of concern. "We are all here today because we have a
problem in Pennsylvania," said Susan Gobreski, executive director of
Education Voters Pa. "That problem is that every child does not have
access to an education that allows them to learn what we expect someone to learn
to graduate from high school. Why? Because we are not providing it. The primary
cause of this is unfair and insufficient funding, resulting in disparities in
opportunity from community to community."
Editorial: Legislature should follow equitable subsidy
proposal
Reading Eagle Tuesday June 30, 2015 12:01 AM
The Issue: A
bipartisan commission's report makes recommendations for a new school-funding
formula. Our Opinion: State lawmakers
should adopt its fairer distribution of education dollars. On the surface it
doesn't seem too shabby that the Reading School District ranks 51st in state
education dollars per student. There are, after all, 500 school districts in
the state. But here's the rub: Reading
is still Pennsylvania's poorest city. That makes its funding a farce. Shouldn't Reading be close to first in school
funding, if not at the very top? How are the schools in the state's most
impoverished place supposed to educate their students when 50 wealthier
districts get more money? Reading is
hardly alone. Erie, the 29th-poorest in the state, ranks 196th in per-student
aid. Allentown, No. 36 on the poverty list, is 231st on the funding list. And
141 districts get more state funds per student than Philadelphia, the state's
58th poorest city.
- See more at: http://readingeagle.com/news/article/editorial-legislature-should-follow-equitable-subsidy-proposal#sthash.20rZXzlS.dpuf
Philly SRC adopts $2.8
billion budget, but with a caveat
SOLOMON LEACH, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER LEACHS@PHILLYNEWS.COM,
215-854-5903 POSTED: Wednesday,
July 1, 2015, 12:15 AM
THE SCHOOL REFORM
Commission last night unanimously adopted a $2.8 billion budget for
Philadelphia public schools that relies on more than $100 million in new but
unlikely state funding. The district's
budget includes $159 million in additional dollars proposed by Gov. Wolf,
andneeds a minimum of $18 million from Harrisburg to close a projected deficit
and avoid any further cuts. Although officials
said they hope for the full amount to begin making new investments in the cash-strapped
schools, the budget contains a clause that prohibits spending any additional
money until the state budget is approved.
Substitute teachers angry
with company
REGINA MEDINA, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER MEDINAR@PHILLYNEWS.COM,
215-854-5985 POSTED: Tuesday, June 30, 2015, 12:16 AM
RETIRED TEACHER
Linda MacNeal is no longer a member of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers,
but yesterday she found herself back in the union's office to vent. The school district's new system of placing
substitute teachers had been introduced at a morning informational session,
prompting frustration and anger among some teachers over a cut in compensation. The new per-diem rates teachers would earn
under Source4Teachers is "just insulting to me. And it says that [the
company] doesn't value teachers," said MacNeal, who worked for the
district for 34 years. The School Reform
Commission approved a three-year, $34 million contract earlier this month with
the Cherry Hill firm Source4Teachers and moved on from their longtime partner,
the PFT.
Tired of hearing about failing schools? Here are four
that work.
Washington Post
Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss July 1 at 5:00 AM
Here are four new
profiles of some of the winners in a pilot project calledSchools of Opportunity,
which is highlighting schools that are creating healthy environments for
students, teachers and staff. Seventeen schools were named as inaugural winners in
initiative to identify and recognize public high schools that seek to close
opportunity gaps through practices “that build on students’ strengths” — not by
inundating them with tests. (You can see the list here.)
Register Now – PAESSP
State Conference – Oct. 18-20 – State College, PA
Registration is now
open for PAESSP's State Conference to be held October 18-20 at The
Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel in State College, PA! This year's
theme is @EVERYLEADER and features three nationally-known keynote
speakers (Dr. James Stronge, Justin Baeder and Dr. Mike Schmoker), professional
breakout sessions, a legal update, exhibits, Tech Learning Labs and many
opportunities to network with your colleagues (Monday evening event with Jay
Paterno). Once again, in conjunction
with its conference, PAESSP will offer two 30-hour Act 45 PIL-approved
programs, Linking Student Learning to Teacher Supervision and Evaluation
(pre-conference offering on 10/17/15); and Improving Student Learning
Through Research-Based Practices: The Power of an Effective Principal (held
during the conference, 10/18/15 -10/20/15). Register for either or both PIL
programs when you register for the Full Conference!
REGISTER TODAY for
the Conference and Act 45 PIL program/s at:
Apply
now for EPLC’s 2015-2016 PA Education Policy Fellowship Program
Applications are
available now for the 2015-2016
Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP).
The Education Policy Fellowship Program is sponsored in Pennsylvania by The
Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC).
With more than 400 graduates in its first sixteen years, this
Program is a premier professional development opportunity for educators, state
and local policymakers, advocates, and community leaders. State Board of
Accountancy (SBA) credits are available to certified public accountants. Past participants include state policymakers,
district superintendents and principals, charter school leaders, school
business officers, school board members, education deans/chairs, statewide
association leaders, parent leaders, education advocates, and other education
and community leaders. Fellows are typically sponsored by their employer
or another organization. The Fellowship
Program begins with a two-day retreat on September 17-18, 2015 and
continues to graduation in June 2016.
Click here to read about the Education Policy
Fellowship Program.
Sign up here to receive a weekly
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Sign up to support fair funding »
Campaign for Fair
Education Funding website
Our goal is to
ensure that every student has access to a quality education no matter where
they live. To make that happen, we need to fundamentally change how public schools
are funded. The current system is not fair to students or taxpayers and our
campaign partners – more than 50 organizations from across Pennsylvania - agree
that it has to be changed now. Student performance is stagnating. School
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