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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup December 20, 2015:
#PABudget? Bah… Humbug!
Pa. House kills pension
bill, leaving budget deal in tatters
Delco Times By Mark Scolforo, The Associated Press POSTED: 12/20/15, 5:19 AM EST
HARRISBURG, Pa.
>> A proposal to revamp Pennsylvania’s two large public-sector pension
systems was defeated overwhelmingly Saturday in the state House, collapsing a
deal to solve the state’s 6-month-old budget impasse. The House voted 149-52 against a bill that
would have forced newly hired teachers and state workers into a hybrid system
made up of a traditional pension alongside a 401(k)-style benefit. Every
Democrat voted against the bill, along with a majority of Republicans. House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana,
who argued strongly for the bill, said the next move will be to advance a
stopgap budget. He said the pension changes were needed to address costs that
have been increasing for school districts and state government. “If that’s not possible, then new revenue is
off the table as well, and we’re going to have to plan accordingly,” Reed told
reporters after the vote. “It just went down pretty resoundingly.” A stopgap may be a tough sell in the Senate.
Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, said the next move should be for the
House to send over a full-year budget without any tax increases. Layoffs in state government could soon occur,
Corman said, warning that a deadline is also approaching for the Educational
Improvement Tax Credit program that funds private school scholarships. “This is real — there’s consequences to not
being able to get things done,” Corman said.
Gov. Tom Wolf, a first-term Democrat, called a news conference to urge
negotiators to return to work. “A
stopgap is not the answer,” Wolf said. “We need a full-year budget.”
Budget framework’s
foundation crumbles; next steps continue to evolve
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Saturday, December
19, 2015
The budget framework
that seemed so close to passing now now seems a lot like Elvis: after
suffering a very public and unflattering death Saturday after its
lynchpin—public pension reform—failed in the House by an overwhelming 52-149
margin, some still think it might be alive. Public pension
reform—as many had suspected—was going to be the deciding factor Saturday as to
whether the optimism about a budget being completed in short order was more
reality than wishful thinking. Asked
about the still uncertain revenue package that was being worked on to support
the $30.788 spending plan as part of the framework, House Majority Chairman
Bill Adolph (R-Delaware) noted the importance of the vote on public pension
reform. “I think this pension bill is a
very important piece of what we’re trying to accomplish here and I’ll be able
to discuss where we’re going with the other parts of the agreement after this
bill is debated and, hopefully, passes the House,” he said. The bill, however, did not pass the House.
All House Democrats and 66 Republicans voted against the bill.
Editorial: Passage of Pa.
Delco Times
Editorial POSTED: 12/19/15, 9:22 PM EST | UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO
Ebenezer Scrooge had
nothing on the folks out in Harrisburg . Bah, Humbug indeed.
In other words, we still
don’t have a state budget in place, a full five months and change after one was
supposed to be in place July 1. Gov. Tom
Wolf and Republicans in the House and Senate are not exactly exchanging holiday
cheer. They remain at odds over spending and taxes, with the GOP still digging
in its heels on the tax hike needed to fund Wolf’s pledge to restore education
cuts and cut into the state’s long-term budget deficit. The latest volley, not exactly what we would
call a Christmas carol, came Thursday, when Republican House Speaker Mike
Turzai offered something of a holiday ultimatum, telling the governor he had
until 12:30 p.m. to come up with the votes to pass his $1 billion-plus tax
hike. Since Republicans hold solid majorities in both the House and Senate,
that was about as likely as a White Christmas in this winter season of the El
Nino. Then on Friday, lo and behold what should appear? No, not Wolf being
pulled in a sleigh by reindeer. But the governor was saying he had the
necessary votes for his tax package.
Then talks collapsed
again Saturday. In the meantime, schools
and social-service agencies across the commonwealth continue to find coal in
their stockings, courtesy of this marathon budget impasse.
The Pennsylvania
A polarized capital, with completely
divergent visions of what government and a budget should do
By Kate Giammarise /
Post-Gazette Harrisburg
Bureau December 20, 2015 12:40 AM
There’s a Christmas
tree in the Capitol. Garlands
and wreaths hang in the Rotunda. Groups of holiday carolers sing daily,
surrounded by lobbyists and legislators hurrying past.
Everything is in
readiness — except a spending plan for the state. The budget season that was
supposed to be over June 30 has dragged, month by month, into the holiday
season. Human service agencies around the state have laid off staff, and some
school districts are threatening not to reopen after their Christmas break. Political analysts, legislators and Capitol
staffers point to a number of factors — among them increasing political
polarization, a potential contentious tax hike, a 2009 court decision from the
last lengthy impasse — as having dragged the current stalemate to nearly the
six-month mark. On June 30, Democratic
Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a Republican-crafted budget sent to him by the
Legislature; the two sides have been wrangling over a budget since. Mr. Wolf
has favored additional funds for education, and Republicans have resisted
higher taxes to pay for it. There’s one
primary factor — divided government, in the form of a Democratic governor, and
a House and Senate controlled by Republican majorities. But the two sides
arguably aren’t just from different parties — they have completely divergent
visions of what state government and a state budget should do.
Impasse proves shake-up
need
Times Tribune BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD Published: December 20, 2015
There is nothing in
the unfolding state budget agreement that is unique to December. All of it
could have and should been passed before the July 1 start of the fiscal year.
The nearly six-month budget impasse is a testament to legislative dysfunction
and a cry for long overdue reforms of the bloated, overpaid Legislature. House Republicans took full ownership of that
dysfunction last week when they recoiled from a compromise that had been
reached by Gov. Tom Wolf and Senate Republican leaders. Yet again, they dredged
up matters that they could have resolved to their advantage at any time during
Republican Gov. Tom Corbett’s term. Instead, they preserved issues ranging from
pension reform to privatizing the state liquor monopoly to use a political
leverage against a Democratic governor. That’s not governance. It’s just
politics. Possibilities for
reform are open-ended because the Legislature’s ineffectiveness is open-ended.
They range from the processes under which the vast majority of the 253
legislators have no say in what happens, rendering them mere props, to the very
structure of the state government. Pennsylvania has the nation’s largest full-time
Legislature yet it is controlled by a handful of caucus leaders. Most
legislators stand by until it’s time to vote, and then simply do the caucus
leaders’ bidding. (See the Robert Swift column today on Page D5, “Caucus power
thrives as impasse lingers.”) Legislators
from gerrymandered districts passively stand by or actively obstruct solutions
without fear of electoral challenge because they have selected their own
voters.
PBPC statement about the failure of the pension reform
bill in the PA House and the announcement of a vote tomorrow on a stop gap
budget
Stop gap
budget will only prolong unacceptable stalemate and freeze funding for
education and human services at inadequate levels
PA Budget and Policy
Center
HARRISBURG, Pa. (Dec.
19, 2015) – Marc Stier, Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy
Center, made the following statement in response to the failure of the pension
reform bill in the state House of Representatives and Majority Leader Dave
Reed’s announcement that the House will vote tomorrow on a stop gap budget: "Pensions are one thing, and a
responsible budget is another. Passing a pension reform bill, especially one
that has serious problems, should never have been a prerequisite for resolution
of the five-month long budget impasse. It does not produce any savings for the
Commonwealth this year, and very little savings over the long term. "So, the defeat of the pension bill is no reason for House leadership to
fail to bring appropriations and tax bills to the floor that carry out the
bipartisan budget agreement. The Senate-passed appropriations bill provides
much needed funding for education and human services. The House should pass it.
The tax bill under discussion in the House would provide the revenues needed to
pay for that funding. It’s time for the House to pass it and send it to the
Senate. "A stop gap budget will only prolong this unacceptable stalemate and
freeze funding for education and human services at inadequate levels. House
leaders should stop this nonsense tomorrow and do what they keep promising to
do -- pass a responsible budget and tax plan."
VIDEO: Gov. Wolf: "We
still have a budget plan"
The PLS Reporter Author: Alanna Koll/Saturday, December 19,
2015 Video runtime: 3:07
Gov. Wolf gives a
budget update after the pension reform proposal fails in the House.
VIDEO: Reed: "It
would be our intention to work on a stopgap proposal" after pension reform
fails on the House floor
The PLS Reporter Author: Alanna Koll/Saturday, December 19,
2015 Video runtime: 3:54
House Majority
Leader Dave Reed (R-Indiana) discusses with reporters his intentions to try and
move forward with a stopgap budget proposal after a pension reform bill fails
on the House floor 149-52.
VIDEO: Adolph: "I
don’t think anyone really knows what the tax package is going to be"
The PLS
Reporter Author: Alanna Koll/Saturday, December 19,
2015 Video runtime: 1:39
House Appropriations
Chairman Bill Adolph (R-Delaware) gives a budget update after Saturday's
committee meeting.
VIDEO: Markosek: "Our
caucus has never been in agreement with pensions" as part of the budget
framework
The PLS
Reporter Author: Alanna Koll/Saturday, December 19,
2015 Video runtime 3:11
House Appropriations
Minority Chairman Joe Markosek (D-Allegheny) speaks about how the pension
reform bill recently passed out of the committee was not agreed to by his
caucus as part of the overall budget framework.
Pennsylvania House kills pension bill, putting budget
deal in limbo
By Karen Langley /
Post-Gazette Harrisburg
Bureau December 20, 2015 12:23 AM
What's next? Hard to tell
as Pennsylvania
Penn Live By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
December 19, 2015 at 9:00 PM, updated December 19, 2015 at 9:47 PM
The leaders of Pennsylvania 's
politically divided state government struggled Saturday to answer what comes
next in the state's six-month budget impasse.
In fact, the way forward after Saturday's 149-52 defeat of a signature
pension reform bill at the heart of the so-called budget framework package seemed
about as ordered as a plate of spaghetti.
There were a lot of ideas floated - the best seeming to be a decision to
call off scheduled voting sessions in the state House and Senate to give
rank-and-file lawmakers a day for cooling off while their leaders consulted.
Pension reform's defeat in
House draws disappointment from leaders
Penn Live By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on December 19, 2015 at 6:18 PM, updated December 19, 2015 at 7:22 PM
By Jan Murphy &
Charles Thompson
Penn Live By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
December 19, 2015 at 3:36 PM, updated December 20, 2015 at 7:06 AM
With a public
pension employee reform bill resoundingly defeated in the state House Saturday,
House Majority Leader David Reed, R-Indiana County, conceded the proposed
"framework" budget is likely off-track. Reed said one leading option to try to get
some resolution to Pennsylvania 's
six-month state budget impasse before Christmas would be a renewed effort to
pass a stopgap funding bill. A stopgap
measure would be designed to drive out some portion of state aid to school
districts, counties and other their parties that have been forced to scrape by
without it since the current fiscal year began July 1. But any interim funding measure would likely
contain a lower spending number for schools and human services agencies than
the $30.8 billion "framework" budget Gov. Tom Wolf had been lobbying
for this week. Reed said that's because
both his leadership team and Senate Republican leaders have insisted on
significant action on the state's major cost driver - swollen pension
liabilities - in exchange for imposing new taxes on Pennsylvanians.
Budget agreement careens
toward collapse
Philly.com by Angela Couloumbis, HARRISBURG BUREAU. Updated: DECEMBER 20, 2015 1:07 AM
House Republicans,
however, had a different plan for how to proceed, further spiking the sense of
political chaos in the Capitol.
Trib Live By Brad
Bumsted Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015, 2:51 p.m.
HARRISBURG —
The Republican-controlled House on Saturday dealt a severe blow to the budget
“framework” agreement with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, a move that lowered the
odds of approving a substantial tax increase.
On the 172nd day of a budget impasse, the House voted 149-52 to shoot
down a much-touted pension system bill sought by Senate Republican leaders and
Wolf as part of a deal struck in early November to secure a $30.8 billion
spending plan, hundreds of millions of dollars more for school districts,
liquor system reforms and higher taxes. All Democrats voted against the bill
along with 66 Republicans. Asked if the
framework is dead, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre County
No Child Left Behind overhaul: Educators are glad the
law is gone, but classroom impact in Pa.
Call it a Christmas
present to schools.
The contentious
federal law No Child Left Behind is a thing of the past, and many educators
across the nation are celebrating its demise.
But will the policy change ring in a new era of less test-focused
schooling in Pennsylvania ? That’s up to the state lawmakers. "I would hope this allows for a little
more common sense," said Calvin Esh, the teachers union president at Lampeter-Strasburg
School District, "But time will tell." Earlier this month, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act, a
bipartisan bill that diminishes the federal government's role in school
oversight. It replaces the No Child Left
Behind law of 2002, which required schools to test students each year in grades
3 to 8 and once in high school. No Child Left Behind also created a national
system for judging schools based on the results. It imposed penalties for those
that didn't measure up. Every Student
Succeeds still requires annual testing but allows each state to decide how to
evaluate schools and teachers. Speaking
to LNP last week, local educators and the state's top education official
welcomed the change, even as its real impact on classrooms is undetermined.
Ed. Dept. Sketches Out
Transition to ESSA From NCLB, Previews Regulation
Education Week
Politics K-12 Blog By Alyson Klein on December
18, 2015 9:00 AM
The Every Student Succeeds Act is just over a week old, but the U.S.
Department of Education wasted no time in getting out initial guidance to states on
how the transition process will work from the No Child Left Behind Act and the
waivers (which expire on Aug. 1, 2016) to this new law (which kicks in fully in
the 2017-18 school year, when a new president and education secretary will be
in place). The department also gave a
preliminary picture of how it would like to proceed on regulation.Bottom line: It's in the market
for input from state schools chiefs, teachers' unions, the civil rights
community, etc. There will be two public meetings next month, one in Washington and one in Los Angeles for input. And
the department seems to want as smooth a transition process as possible. It's focusing the final months of NCLB
waivers on the pieces that most closely resemble where states will go under
ESSA (school improvement, and standards and assessments) while stepping back on
federal enforcement in a big way when it comes to teacher evaluation through
student outcomes, which won't be required under the new law.
Gulen Linked Charter Schools in Pennsylvania
Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania
Charter School
Young Scholars of McKeesport 2015
Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania
Charter School
60 MInutes 2012: U.S.
© CBS 2012. 60
Minutes. No copyright infringement intended Published on May 13, 2012
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.
Save
the Dates for These 2016 Annual
EPLC Regional
State
Sponsored
by The Education Policy and Leadership
Center
Thursday, February
11 - 8:30-11:00 a.m. - Harrisburg
Wednesday, February 17 - 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. -Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania )
Thursday, February 25 - 8:30-11:00 a.m. -Pittsburgh
Wednesday, February 17 - 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. -
Thursday, February 25 - 8:30-11:00 a.m. -
Invitation
and more details in January
PASBO 61st Annual
Conference and Exhibits March 8 - 11, 2016
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center,Hershey , Pennsylvania
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center,
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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