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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup December 17, 2015:
Turzai: 12:30 pm deadline today for Gov to show he has
the votes to move budget tax package through the House
Campaign for Fair Education Funding: PA Lawmakers need to deliver a
#PABudget that meets the needs of every child. Ask them to at:
Reach out to your House members this morning. Phone numbers are here:
Rep. Bob
Godshall (R-Montgomery) posted this poem on his office door in the Capitol
found by PLS:
Christmas Ode To Our
Legislators
by Duke Daminski, Philadelphia
From the General Assembly Legislative Journal, page
6204, December 13, 1951.
Like a ship without a rudder,
Like a bird with half a wing,
There is nothing now before us,
That you could not have done last
Spring.
You have played around all Summer,
Raced your motors all through Fall,
And soon it will be Winter
And you’re still not on the ball.
You have maddened your constituents,
Sapped our strength and left us weak,
Fellows, all we want for christmas
Is to get you home next week.
Downingtown board member
comments on state budget delay
Daily Local By Ginger Dunbar,
Daily Local News POSTED: 12/15/15,
5:09 PM EST
EAST CALN >> A
Downingtown Area school board member last week commented about the delay in the
state budget adoption when the board members were prepared to vote on approving
payments to the state. School board
member Robert Yorczyk asked that two checks be removed from the consent agenda
and voted on separately. The two checks to the Pennsylvania Department of
Revenue totaled nearly $209,772. “The
reason I asked to have this pulled is that it represents over $200,000 that we
have collected for the state and are sending to them which is our
responsibility,” Yorczyk said in a prepared statement. “We and the state were
supposed to have a budget by July 1. We did and they didn’t.” Yorczyk had a rhetorical question about this.
“How is it that those
of us who are not paid to do a job can do it on time and those who are paid
can’t get the job done?” Yorczyk asked.
16 Dec
2015 — Erie Times-News
The Erie School
Board will meet in special session Monday to consider authorizing Erie School
District administrators to borrow up to $47 million as the state budget impasse
continues. The School Board in
September authorized district administrators to borrow $30 million to keep
schools open, if needed. A vote to expand that to $47 million was on the board
agenda in November but pulled after a review of district finances and when budget
talks looked to be progressing. The district has not taken out any loan yet. "Based on the on-again, off-again budget
negotiations that are happening in Harrisburg, we thought it would be prudent
to make this recommendation to give us more borrowing flexibility," Brian
Polito, the district's chief financial officer, said Tuesday. "We also
currently owe vendors $27 million. A $30 million loan would only be enough to
pay our vendors and cover two weeks of payroll."
Scranton schools may
borrow millions, raise taxes in 'unprecedented' fiscal crisis
Times Tribune BY SARAH HOFIUS HALL Published: December 16, 2015
Calling the Scranton
School District’s financial problems “unprecedented,” directors may raise taxes
and borrow millions to balance the 2016 budget.
The district is also still looking for $31.2 million to avoid default at
the end of the year. During a budget and
finance committee meeting Tuesday, officials blamed the state budget impasse
for the district’s fiscal issues and presented a balanced spending plan for
2016. The district is only one of two in the state with a calendar year budget.
With the preliminary budget including an $18 million deficit, the $146.5
million budget now includes:
Northwest Area may close
schools over state budget stalemate
Times Tribune BY ROBERT SWIFT, HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF December 16,
2015
HARRISBURG —
Northwest Area School District faces the hard choice of borrowing money or
closing schools at the end of January if lawmakers don’t pass a state budget or
stopgap budget soon, officials said during a Capitol visit Tuesday. The rural district in Luzerne County will
face a decision in mid-January on voting to borrow $1.5 million or close
schools at month’s end if a six-month budget deadlock isn’t broken, said school
board President Randy Tomasacci. He and other school board members came to the
Capitol to sound an alarm about the impact of the stalemate on students and
parents. They began the day meeting with Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-116, Butler Twp.,
and planned to make their case to as many lawmakers as possible. “We are asking you to stop this insanity and
come to some type of agreement,” wrote district officials in an open letter to
lawmakers. “This (stalemate) has to end
and end quickly,” said Mr. Tomasacci.
Philly schools: no cash
after Jan. 29?
by Kristen Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer.
@newskag DECEMBER 16, 2015 — 7:37 AM EST
With an ongoing
stalemate over the state budget (deadline: June 30) in Harrisburg, finances
remain precarious for many agencies that depend on the commonwealth for
funding.
The cash-flow
situation is particularly dire for the Philadelphia School District, which
educates about 130,000 students. In a letter sent to staff Tuesday night,
Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said the school system could run out of
money on January 29 without a new state budget. "After that
date," Hite write, "our ability to keep schools open, issue paychecks
and pay bills is uncertain. The prospect of running out of operating funds is
dire." The School Reform Commission
took out a short-term loan of $250 million recently to keep the lights on
temporarily, but with struggling districts and state agencies around
Pennsylvania in similar binds, it's not clear whether the school system would
be able to borrow more money if the budget impasse continues.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/school_files/Philly-schools-no-cash-after-Jan-29.html#F7emSRbdzFFPuopC.99
Philly schools chief says
cash will run out by end of January
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY DECEMBER 16, 2015
The Philadelphia
School District may not be able to pay its employees or its bills after January
29, 2016. Superintendent William Hite
sent a letter to employees Tuesday evening explaining this would be the
consequence of Pennsylvania's ongoing state budget impasse. The district – which relies on the state for
about half of its funding – has not received any money from Harrisburg for this
school year. To make up for that loss,
the district has borrowed more
than half a billion dollars to date — saddling the cash-strapped district with
$2.5 million in additional debt obligations.
District officials say there's additional costs as well — counting the
toll that chronically under-resourced classrooms take on students, teachers and
public perception. The Erie School
District has threatened to close its doors because of the budget impasse. The
Bethlehem School District, among others, has cut payments to charter schools.
Districts far and wide who haven't yet needed to borrow have dwindled their
rainy day reserves.
A look at the budget plan in the Pennsylvania
Legislature
Ap State Wire By The
Associated Press Published: Today
Democratic Gov. Tom
Wolf, the Senate and House Democrats have largely agreed on a budget package to
end the state government's 5½-month stalemate. Leaders of the House's
Republican majority have made clear that they now oppose some elements. Here is
a look at the highlights:
Gov. Wolf, allies test House GOP resolve against tax
increase
WITF Written by The
Associated Press | Dec 17, 2015 2:31 AM
(Harrisburg )
-- Governor Tom Wolf's administration and its allies are working to sway enough
rank-and-file House Republicans behind a $1 billion-plus tax increase to
override opposition from House GOP leaders and end the five-and-a-half month
budget stalemate. House Speaker
Mike Turzai set a 12:30 p.m. deadline today for the Democratic governor to show
he could assemble enough votes to move the tax package through the
chamber. Wolf and House Democratic
leader Frank Dermody are downplaying Turzai's 24-hour ultimatum, but
rank-and-file House Republicans say it'll be a challenge to persuade 20 or 30
of them to support the tax increase. The tax plan
continued to evolve Wednesday night.
Wolf wants the tax increase to undo his predecessor's funding cuts to
education and human services and to narrow a long-term budget deficit.
State budget impasse headed
toward a resolution of some sort by the weekend
Penn Live By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
December 16, 2015 at 10:21 PM, updated December 16, 2015 at 10:22 PM
BY CHARLES THOMPSON & JAN MURPHY
The scramble to get
a state
budget completed before the Christmas holiday intensified Wednesday, but there was still no clear end in
sight. Leaders of the House Republican
majority showed their members the tax package required to support a $30.8
billion budget Wednesday, and challenged Gov. Tom Wolf to find the votes to
pass both the spending and tax bills by Thursday afternoon. In the alternative, House Speaker Mike
Turzai, R-Allegheny, said, his caucus would draft and run a long-term stopgap
funding bill that could, with Wolf's buy-in, get nearly an entire year 's worth
of state and federal funding flowing. The
new deadlines came as all sides hurried to complete work on a nearly six-month
overdue state budget before the Christmas holiday.
Leaders: Pa.
by Chris Palmer, HARRISBURG BUREAU. Updated: DECEMBER 16, 2015 — 2:50 PM EST
HARRISBURG -
Legislative leaders emerged from a closed-door meeting with Gov. Wolf on
Wednesday to say they could pass a budget by as soon as this weekend, ending
their five-month stalemate and paving the way for hundreds of millions of
dollars in new funding for schools. After talks over the
past day, Republicans and Democrats from the House and Senate said that
starting Wednesday afternoon, they would work to determine if there was enough
support in both chambers to pass new taxes necessary to fund a $30.8 billion
budget plan. If there was, they said, a vote would follow, and the spending
plan might be able to reach Wolf's desk this weekend. "In 24 hours,
we're going to find out whether the tax votes are actually there in the
House," said Majority Leader Dave Reed (R., Indiana). Neither he nor the other leaders who emerged
from the talks - including Wolf, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R.,
Centre) and House Speaker Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) - would specify which
taxes might be raised or imposed to fund the so-called framework agreement. A centerpiece of that deal calls for $350
million in new education funding.
Budget impasse to enter
its most critical 24-hour period
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Wednesday,
December 16, 2015
While nobody’s
called Jack Bauer quite yet, Pennsylvania’s budget impasse is going to be
entering its most critical 24-hour period as leaders from all four legislative
caucuses and the governor will await the outcome of vote whipping and
closed-door negotiations to see if majorities exist in both chambers to pass
the tax revenue needed to support the $30.788 billion spending plan as part of
the budget framework agreement announced before Thanksgiving. Who will be doing the vote getting? House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R-Indiana)
said after a five-party meeting Wednesday that the effort will largely be left
up to the Wolf administration. “I think it’s very
clear we’ve gone through this process for a number of months now, we’re down to
a 24-hour time period where either the administration has the votes—102 in the
House, 26 in the Senate—to pass a Tax Code bill,” he said. “We’ve talked and just making sure that the
administration had access to all House Republicans—and House Democrats as well—to
make sure there are 102 votes. Once we know there are 102 votes there, we’ll go
to the floor and wrap everything up by Saturday.”
In their words: Governor,
legislative leaders want a full budget, not a stopgap
Penn Live By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
December 16, 2015 at 2:50 PM, updated December 16, 2015 at 2:51 PM
Legislative leaders
and Gov. Tom Wolf left a series of short meetings on Wednesday saying that the
next 24 hours or so could determine if an end to the budget
impasse is close at hand. A tax package to
support a $30.8 billion spending plan is still taking shape and it
remains uncertain whether the votes can be found in both chambers to support
whatever form that package takes to raise the $600 million in new revenue needed. Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre
County, made it clear that the focus right now is on finalizing a state budget
and not moving forward with a stopgap plan. The state has been operating
without a budget since July 1. Other
leaders echoed that sentiment.
By Kate Giammarise
and Karen Langley/ Post-Gazette Harrisburg
Bureau December 17, 2015 12:00 AM
House GOP members have
“significant concerns” with budget framework revenue package
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Wednesday,
December 16, 2015
House Speaker Mike
Turzai (R-Allegheny) and House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R-Indiana) doubled
down on their earlier statements that they’re leaving it to the Wolf
administration to woe 102 members of the House to vote for a revenue plan to
support the $30.788 billion spending plan as part of the on again, off again
agreed-to budget framework. “The
governor, we all know, has to come up with the 102 tax votes if he wants this
budget passed,” said Rep. Turzai in a brief press availability Wednesday
evening following a closed-door Republican caucus on the revenue plan. “The
hold out for all these days has been, really, what is the tax component and
where are these tax votes and does he have enough in our chamber.” He noted that the governor has “significant
influence” in the Democratic caucus and “has the opportunity talk to any
Republican he wants to” in his effort to gain a majority of votes. After the news of the 24-hour period to see
if the governor can round up the 102 votes in the House, Gov. Tom Wolf’s
spokesperson Jeff Sheridan was quick to point out that Republicans have had
significant time since the budget framework was agreed to by all five parties
multiple times to get the votes to support the framework.
Morning Call by Marc Levy Of
The Associated Press December 16, 2015
Pennsylvania House
Republican leaders say they'll seek an interim spending plan this week.
HARRISBURG —
Pennsylvania House Republican leaders say they'll seek an interim spending plan
this week to end the state government's five-and-a-half month budget stalemate
if there's not enough support to pass a forthcoming plan for a $1 billion-plus
tax increase. House Majority
Leader Dave Reed told reporters Wednesday he wants to hold
final votes this weekend. Democratic
Gov. Tom Wolf, the Republican-controlled Senate and House Democrats are lining up behind a 6 percent
spending increase and an accompanying $1 billion-plus tax plan that's still
under wraps. The huge House Republican majority has battled for smaller
spending and tax increases. Wolf wants
the money to deliver a record boost in public school aid and narrow a long-term
budget deficit. Senate Republicans signed on as a tradeoff for
Wolf's support for legislation they've long sought to overhaul public pension
benefits.
Pennsylvania House, Senate
tussle over pension payments
Keystone
Crossroads/Newsworks BY MARY
WILSON DECEMBER 15, 2015
Pennsylvania House
and Senate Republicans are at odds over how much the commonwealth should pay
into its retirement systems. Tight
finances compelled the Senate to approve a plan last week that would cut
roughly $170 million from scheduled state payments to its pension funds. House Republicans
have always said they would fight such a move, since the commonwealth's pension
systems are already so underfunded. On Tuesday morning, a House committee
reversed the Senate's proposed payment reductions (or "collars," in
pension-speak). Senate Republicans were
irked by the change. "We have
concerns about the budgetary impact of that move," said Jenn Kocher,
spokeswoman for the Senate GOP, in an email. "We are still reviewing that
at this point." Senate Republicans
have pointed out that if the House is going to insist on meeting the scheduled
payments to the pension systems, it will be that chamber's responsibility to
come up with an extra $170 million. GOP
Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman said delaying the payment "adds a
little budget relief ... so we can fund our schools better."
Latest on York City
schools' recovery plan
York Daily Record by Angie Mason,
amason@ydr.com10:17 p.m. EST December 16, 2015
The York City School
District has been chipping away at parts of its revised recovery plan, though
the lingering state budget impasse is hampering progress in some parts. The district used a report from Mass Insight,
an education-focused nonprofit, to form the basis for the academic portion of a
revised recovery plan. The financial portion has not yet been completed. At a meeting Wednesday, Carol Saylor, the
state-appointed chief recovery officer for the district, offered an update on
accomplishments and work under way.
Pittsburgh Schools have large surplus, audit finds
By Mary
Niederberger/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette December 16, 2015 11:48 AM
Despite dire
warnings from Pittsburgh Public Schools officials in recent years that the
district was on course to run out of money, an audit by state Auditor General
Eugene DePasquale found the district's surplus of $129 million in 2014 was the
largest in the state. The audit covers
the years ending 2010 through 2014 and shows the Pittsburgh district was able
to build that surplus by reducing its outstanding debt by $142 million,
reducing staff levels to align with declining enrollment and selling unused
buildings for a profit of $13 million. While
the auditor general praised the district for getting its finances in line he
questioned whether it was spending adequately on educational resources. "By consistently under-budgeting, the
district may not be sufficiently ensuring that necessary resources are
available to meet student needs," Mr. DePasquale said in a press release
that accompanied the audit report.
Cheltenham School Board
commits to not exceed Act I tax index
CHELTENHAM >>
The school board has adopted a resolution keeping any real estate tax increase
for 2016-17 below the Act 1 index of 2.4 percent. The nine board members voted unanimously in
favor of the “Accelerated Budget Opt Out Resolution” at their Dec. 8
legislative meeting. Solicitor Kenneth
Roos explained that Pennsylvania ’s
Act 1 of 2006 set limits on how much school districts could raise property
districts, but also provided that they could apply to the state for exceptions
in order to seek higher tax increases. In order to be able to qualify for
exceptions under Act 1, Roos added, a district would need to go through a
preliminary budget approval process.
Daily Local By Marcella Peyre-Ferry, For Digital First Media POSTED: 12/16/15, 4:06 PM EST
LOWER OXFORD
>> The Oxford Area School Board has voted to keep any tax increase to no
more than 3.3 percent for the 2016/17 school year. The resolution, approved at the Dec. 15 board
meeting affirms that the district will stay within the tax increase index
allowed under the state’s Act 1 legislation. If the board had wanted to
consider a larger increase a referendum would have been required. By avoiding
the referendum step, the board has more time to develop the budget. This does not mean that the district will opt
to increase taxes by the full 3.3 percent amount. “I find it fantastic we are again able to
stay under those limits without going to referendum,” Board Member Joseph
Teighe said.
Philly schools look to
outsource two top administrators, temporarily
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY DECEMBER 16, 2015
The Philadelphia
School Reform Commission will vote Thursday night on a resolution that would
temporarily outsource two upper management positions to Foundations Inc. Foundations, a New Jersey based nonprofit, would receive a
$280,500 contract to staff two assistant superintendent positions. One
would work for the "autonomy network" and another for Network 6,
which comprises the district's schools in Northwest
Philadelphia . The district
would interview and select candidates supplied by Foundations based on
experience and qualifications. District
chief of staff Naomi Wyatt explains to the SRC in the text of the full
resolution that the move is necessary because the district has been unable to find
highly qualified candidates in the middle of a school year.
School Arts Advocates Cheer New Education Measure
NPR Morning Edition Audio
runtime: 2:47 Updated December
16, 20152:59 PM ET Published December 16, 20155:11 AM ET
The Every Student
Succeeds Act favors a well-rounded education over high-stakes testing under No
Child Left Behind. It specifically includes music and art as part of the
definition of well-rounded.
DAVID GREENE, HOST: In
this country, President Obama signed a new education law last week. Much of the
focus has been on testing and a debate over whether the law moved too far away
from rigorous standards. But one group celebrating the law advocates for arts
education. NPR's Elizabeth Blair explains why.
“The idea is a bit like the ‘charterization’
of ed. schools,” he wrote, referring to publicly funded but privately run
charter schools."
The Every Student Succeeds
Act includes some new ideas on how to train better teachers
Hechinger Report by SARAH GARLAND December
15, 2015
The new federal
education law known as the Every Student Succeeds Act could introduce new ways
to prepare teachers for the classroom that bypass traditional programs.
The bill, signed by
President Obama on Dec. 10, includes provisions that would allow states to set
up new degree-granting academies for teachers outside of traditional higher
education systems and would also encourage the creation of residency programs,
in which teacher recruits are paired with veterans for a year of in-classroom
training in addition to their coursework. Alternative programs
like these are already becoming more popular, especially in states with looming
teacher shortages, such as California. But the new law might spur an even
faster expansion, experts said.
Education Spending Slated
for $1.2 Billion Boost in Congressional Budget Deal
Education Week
Politics K-12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa on December
16, 2015 9:16 AM
Title I aid for the
nation's neediest students would get a $500 million boost up to approximately
$14.9 billion, while state grants under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act would rise by $415 million up to $11.9 billion, as part of an omnibus federal
budget deal announced by the House appropriations committee
early Wednesday. Those and other
spending increases are part of an overall budget increase for the U.S.
Department of Education of $1.2 billion. The agreement is expected to move
through Congress in coming days and win approval from the White House. In addition, Head
Start, which is under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, would
get a $570 million increase up to $9.2 billion in fiscal 2016 under the omnibus
budget, and the Child Care and Development Block Grant under HHS would also
rise by $326 million up to $2.8 billion. The total increase for education
spending is about 2 percent, up to about $68 billion.
"We're
particularly pleased that very few programs were cut," said Joel Packer,
the executive director of the Committee for Education Funding.
PSBA New School Director
Training
School boards who will welcome new directors after the election should
plan to attend PSBA training to help everyone feel more confident right from
the start. This one-day event is targeted to help members learn the basics of
their new roles and responsibilities. Meet the friendly, knowledgeable PSBA
team and bring everyone on your “team of 10” to get on the same page fast.
- $150 per
registrant (No charge if your district has a LEARN Pass. Note: All-Access
members also have LEARN Pass.)
- One-hour lunch
on your own — bring your lunch, go to lunch, or we’ll bring a box lunch to
you; coffee/tea provided all day
- Course
materials available online or we’ll bring a printed copy to you for an
additional $25
- Registrants
receive one month of 100-level online courses for each registrant, after
the live class
Remaining
Locations:
- Butler area — Jan.
9 Midwestern IU 4, Grove City (note: location changed from Penn State New
Kensington)
- Allentown area —
Jan. 16 Lehigh Career & Technical Institute, Schnecksville
- Central PA — Jan.
30 Nittany Lion Inn, State College
- Delaware Co. IU 25
— Feb. 1
- Scranton area —
Feb. 6 Abington Heights SD, Clarks Summit
- North Central area
—Feb. 13 Mansfield University, Mansfield
Register here: https://www.psba.org/2015/09/new-school-director-training/
NSBA Advocacy
Institute 2016; January 24 - 26 in Washington ,
D.C.
Housing and meeting registration is open for Advocacy Institute 2016. The theme, “Election Year Politics & Public Schools,” celebrates the exciting year ahead for school board advocacy. Strong legislative programming will be paramount at this year’s conference in January. Visit www.nsba.org/advocacyinstitute for more information.
Housing and meeting registration is open for Advocacy Institute 2016. The theme, “Election Year Politics & Public Schools,” celebrates the exciting year ahead for school board advocacy. Strong legislative programming will be paramount at this year’s conference in January. Visit www.nsba.org/advocacyinstitute for more information.
PASBO 61st Annual
Conference and Exhibits March 8 - 11, 2016
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
The Network for Public Education 3rd
Annual National Conference April 16-17, 2016 Raleigh , North Carolina
The
Network for Public Education is thrilled to announce the location for our 3rd
Annual National Conference. On April 16 and 17, 2016 public education advocates
from across the country will gather in Raleigh, North Carolina. We chose Raleigh to highlight the tremendous
activist movement that is flourishing in North Carolina. No one exemplifies
that movement better than the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, who will be the
conference keynote speaker. Rev. Barber is the current president of
the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, the National NAACP chair of
the Legislative Political Action Committee, and the founder of Moral Mondays.
Interested in letting our
elected leadership know your thoughts on education funding, a severance tax,
property taxes and the budget?
Governor Tom Wolf,
(717) 787-2500
Speaker of the
House Rep. Mike Turzai, (717) 772-9943
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
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