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administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's
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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA
Ed Policy Roundup June 21, 2017:
Credit
rating agencies see little impact by SB1 on PA's pension problems.
Capitolwire Email June 20, 2017 (paywall)
Global credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s released a
statement last week seemingly devaluing the impact of Pennsylvania’s new
pension reform law, saying the measure’s effects on the state’s budget and
credit are “negligible.” And less than a week after S&P’s statement,
another global credit agency released a similarly critical statement of Senate
Bill 1, now Act 5 of 2017. Moody’s wrote in a statement obtained by Capitolwire Monday,
“… any significant savings from risk shifting will take decades to materialize
and will not reduce already-accumulated unfunded liabilities.” CLICK HERE to read a story from PLCA
Intern Sarah Mearhoff for more about the credit rating agencies’ take on the
impact of Senate Bill 1.
Please
consider taking action on this alert to urge your legislators to keep the $100
million increase for Basic Education Funding that the Governor proposed and the
House agreed with.
ALERT:
$100 million in funding for PA's schools is in jeopardy
Education Voters PA Legislative Alert June 19, 2017
State lawmakers are working to pass a budget for next year
and we are hearing that many do not support Governor Wolf's proposed $100
million increase in funding for public school students. Unless the state invests more in Basic Education Funding, our
public schools will continue to be forced to make cuts that hurt students and
enact local tax increases that hurt communities. To keep our schools from falling too far behind, state lawmakers
must reject any budget that does not contain at least a $100 million increase
in Basic Education Funding and they must make no other cuts to public schools. Please take action. Lawmakers need to hear
from their constituents so they make students a priority.
WITF Written by Katie Meyer, Capitol Bureau Chief | Jun 19, 2017 10:31 PM
(Harrisburg) -- The Republican majority leaders of Pennsylvania's House and Senate say they're determined to put together a budget without raising taxes. That means making up this year's $1.5 billion shortfall, plus accounting for a roughly $3 billion structural deficit. To get it done, the final plan is likely to involve significant borrowing. One option under consideration would involve using an asset as collateral to get a loan, which would be paid off over 25 years or so. Several assets could be used. One contender is the state's significant tobacco fund, which comes from a settlement with tobacco companies two decades ago. Senate Appropriations Chair, Republican Pat Browne, noted that other states have used the same tactic. "A long list of many options are on the table," he said when asked if the loan was a possibility. "It's not ahead of anything at this point in time, [to the point where] I could say definitively that that is part of the plan." Browne said the revenue plan isn't set in stone, but he's adamant that tax increases aren't happening.
Baer:
Pa. lawmakers are masters of the Puniverse
Philly Daily News by John Baer, Political Columnist baerj@phillynews.com Updated: JUNE 20, 2017 — 10:37 PM EDT
Just in terms of raw politics, our legislature deserves special
notice. In the small-ball world of
Harrisburg, it consistently manages to protect itself and its donors, hence its
members’ 90 percent-plus reelection rates.
And, with a little more than a week to go before the annual July 1
deadline for a new state budget, it appears poised to reprise its insulated
ways. How? By looking at deficits and budget holes, totaling in the billions,
that it dug itself in years past, and dealing with them in the same manner —
namely, digging deeper. In addition to
talk of more gambling and booze licenses, there are reported discussions of borrowing against future
money due the state from the 1998 national Tobacco Settlement Agreement. This is dough the tobacco industry pays in
perpetuity to Pennsylvania and other states in exchange for dropped lawsuits
seeking tobacco-related health-care costs.
The fund last year brought the state $387 million. The borrowing chatter
calls for floating a big bond — as in the billions — secured by future annual
payments. In other words, borrow more in
order to stay in business, in order to keep doing what you’re doing: running up
debt and interest due. Is this what a
GOP-controlled legislature considers sound fiscal policy? It’s particularly offensive since, if the
state couldn’t meet payments on the bond, the money could come from the annual
tobacco allotment. That allotment,
according to House Appropriations Committee data, is used principally for
health-related issues, low-income nursing home care, assistance for the
disabled, and community services to help senior citizens stay in their homes.
Will
the case for a drilling tax finally sink in this year?: Gene DiGirolamo and
Steve Stroman
PENNLIVE OP-ED By Gene DiGirolamo and Steve Stroman Updated on June 20, 2017 at
11:52 AM Posted on June 20, 2017 at 8:00 AM
State Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, a
Republican, represents the Bucks County-based 18th House District. Steve
Stroman is an environmental and conservation policy consultant
from Lancaster County.
Pennsylvania's state budget has been balanced in recent years
using one-time revenue sources and creative accounting gimmicks. As Auditor General Eugene DePasquale and
Treasurer Joe Torsella recently pointed out, the Commonwealth faces a
structural budget imbalance of upward of $3 billion. Cracks can be creatively
papered over; a chasm is, or should be, a different story. It is therefore high time that the General Assembly consider a
fair and reasonable natural gas drilling tax (or severance tax) as it enters
the home stretch in its work on the budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year that
starts on July 1. Pennsylvania remains
the only major natural gas-producing state in the nation without a drilling
tax. We do have a modest impact fee,
which should be preserved, but the non-partisan Independent Fiscal Office found
that the fee translates into the lowest effective natural gas tax rate in the
United States. Placing a fair and
reasonable tax on top of the impact fee, which in sum would be around the same
rate as the severance tax rate in neighboring West Virginia, will yield
hundreds of millions of extra dollars per year in revenue for the
Commonwealth.
Time
may be right for school choice expansion, former governor says
Sunbury Daily Item By John Finnerty CNHI Harrisburg Bureau June
20, 2017
HARRISBURG — Former Gov. Tom Ridge said Monday there has
never been a better opportunity nationally for advocates of student choice. Ridge visited the Capitol to celebrate the
20th anniversary of Pennsylvania’s charter school law with school choice
proponents. He was governor when Pennsylvania passed the law establishing rules
that paved the way for the now 170 brick-and-mortar charter and cyber charter
schools that now serve 1-in-14 public school students. “The political landscape is never going to be
better,” Ridge said after he accepted a champion of choice award from the
Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools. President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of
Education is Betsy DeVos, a longtime crusader for school choice. Plus,
Republicans control both the U.S. House and Senate, Ridge said. “Whether they can make it work or not, I
don’t know,” Ridge said. “Now would be the time for them to rethink and
reshape” education to improve school choice opportunities. Ridge described school choice as a means of giving parents more
options to provide their children with better education. He said he views
educational opportunity the way he views energy policy – that having more
options is better. Trump’s proposed
education budget would cut spending by 13.5 percent, or by $9.2 billion. The
president’s proposals include eliminating after-school programs for students
who need extra help, funds for additional teacher training and money for
literacy programs. Trump has proposed an
additional $250 million in scholarships to help low-income students attend
private schools and $167 million for states to fund charter schools. His budget
proposal last week also included $1 billion in grants to school districts that
permit students to choose their public school.
“Board
members said a tax increase was needed in large part to raise more revenue so
the school district can handle state mandated expenses like the annual
contribution to the Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement System. Neshaminy's PSERS contribution for 2017-2018
will be $25.5 million, a $2.5 million increase from this school year. The state
will eventually reimburse the school district for half its contribution but
that is still a huge chunk of the budget, board members pointed out. "It's a significant driver of everything
we do in this district," said board member Steve Pirritano of the PSERS
obligation.”
Neshaminy
school board votes to raise taxes for first time in eight years
Bucks County Courier Times By
Chris English, staff writer June 20, 2017
Seven straight years without a property tax increase has come to
an end for Neshaminy School District residents.
The school board on Tuesday night approved a final $186.47 million
budget for 2017-2018 that includes a tax increase of 2.5 percent, or 3.8 mills.
That's $105 more in annual taxes for a resident with a property assessed at the
school district average of $27,587. The
increase hikes total millage in the district to 155.8, or $4,298 in annual
taxes for a resident with the average assessed property. The 2.5 percent increase was the normal
maximum allowed Neshaminy for next school year by the state's Act 1 Index. The
district was granted exceptions that would have allowed a tax hike higher than
2.5 percent but the school board chose not to use them.
Trib Live by MATTHEW
GUERRY | Tuesday, June 20, 2017, 11:00 p.m.
The rising cost of state pension contributions are to blame for
the latest hike in property taxes, Hempfield Area School District officials
said. The $95.75 million budget the
board approved Monday raises property taxes by 2.47 mills to 82.21, or $82.21
for every $1,000 of a property's assessed value. A story in Tuesday's edition
of the Tribune-Review contained incorrect information about the size of the
increase. Contributions to the Public
School Employees' Retirement System under the budget will be $13.2 million, up
$1.5 million from last year, Business Manager Wayne Wismar said. The average
assessed value of residential property in the district is $20,321, Wismar said. “It's getting more and more difficult for
school districts to balance our budgets,” Superintendent Barbara Marin said.
“Business
manager Sean Daubert said much of the district's rise in expenses over the last
five years has been due to the increased rates in the Public School Employees'
Retirement System. In the coming year, the district has budgeted for a $1.9
million increase in state-mandated pension costs. "It's one of the smallest increases in
the last five years in PSERS," Daubert explained. "Really in the last
five years, that rate's probably gone from somewhere about 10 percent to over
30 percent."
Pennridge
holds the line on school taxes
Intelligencer By
Michele Haddon, staff writer June 20, 2017
For the first time in five years, the Pennridge school board has
held the line on taxes.
The board voted unanimously Monday night to adopt its $133.1 million
budget for 2017-2018 without a tax increase.
"We have had a business manager that has been quite conservative
with budgeting and has tried to keep the numbers as reasonable as possible. So,
this is the third time in seven years that we have not increased taxes,"
said Peter Yarnell, president of the school board. Not everyone was satisfied with the
district's spending plan, which is $2 million higher than the current year's
budget. Comparing the projected
spending for 2017-2018 to the actual $114 million in 2012-2013 expenses, West
Rockhill resident and former board member Sue Furlong criticized the board for
spending increases over recent years. "I
hope you all get your spending and your taxing under control because $19
million every four to five years will bankrupt this community," Furlong
said during public comment at Monday's meeting.
Trib Live by JEFF
HIMLER | Tuesday, June 20, 2017, 11:03 p.m.
Greater Latrobe School Board is considering a net reduction of
three faculty positions as it prepares to adopt a final 2017-18 district budget
June 27. Business administrator Dan
Watson told the board Tuesday that the recommended $55.4 million budget and 1.75-mill
property tax hike take into account nine faculty retirements — approved through an
early retirement incentive — that are expected to save the district about
$600,000. Of those positions, five are
being eliminated through attrition while two positions are being added, he
said. According to Watson, the district
intends to eliminate four elementary classroom positions, including a music
instructor and a learning support teacher. A nursing position also will be cut,
but will be replaced by a less-costly health assistant.
Trib Live by MICHAEL
DIVITTORIO | Tuesday, June 20, 2017, 10:36 p.m.
Plum School District property owners will pay 4.4 percent more in
real estate taxes next school year, and the district will borrow more money to
balance its budget. Board members voted
6-3 on Tuesday evening to approve their final 2017-18 budget of about $66
million that calls for a property tax hike of 0.866-mill. Voting for the budget were Board President
Kevin Dowdell, Vice President Michelle Stepnick and fellow School Directors Jim
Rogers, Reginald Hickman, Michele Gallagher and Rich Zucco. Sue Caldwell, Steve Schlauch and Vicky
Roessler dissented. The current tax rate is 19.377 mills, and the increase sets next
year's millage at 20.243 mills. One mill generates about $1.5 million of revenue for the district. A property owner with the median home value
of $110,000 will pay $95 more in taxes. The
minority directors all said not enough was done to curtail expenses and adjust
staffing to declining enrollment. The
budget includes no program or staffing cuts.
Trib Live by CHRISTINE
MANGANAS | Tuesday, June 20, 2017, 11:45 p.m.
The Gateway School Board voted Tuesday night to eliminate 10
teaching positions, but the administration emphasized that none of these
teachers would be out of a job. In a 9-0
vote, a dozen teachers will receive furlough notices by the end of the month,
but according to administrators they will all have an opportunity to remain
teaching in the district.
Officials cited a 24 percent drop in enrollment since 2007 as one
of the factors. But when it comes to
furloughs at Gateway, the system is like a checkerboard, said Superintendent
William Short. “We have done (furloughs)
for the last three or four years,” Short said. “It is how we are able to remain
financially stable.” Board members and
administrators said that retirements, resignations and extended leaves provide
open positions within the district's seven schools.
SRC
approves teachers' contract
Teachers have a contract for the first time in four years. Bill
Green is the only no vote; he and Farah Jimenez warn of local tax hikes.
The notebook by Dale Mezzacappa and Avi Wolfman-Arent June 20,
2017 — 7:07pm
The School Reform Commission approved a new contract with the
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Tuesday amid warnings that a significant
increase in city property taxes will be needed to pay for it. The vote was 4-1. Commissioner and former City Council member
Bill Green was the sole “no” vote, calling the three-year pact “unaffordable
and irresponsible.” District officials said it would cost $203 million over the
three-year life of the contract and $395 million over five years -- funds
currently not in any budget projections.
SRC chair Joyce Wilkerson (who joined the meeting by phone) and members
Farah Jimenez, Christopher McGinley and Estelle Richman voted in favor,
although not without warnings of “challenges” ahead in finding the necessary
funding. Even so, the new deal marks a
milestone for the District, which had been consumed with talk of teacher
resignations and general unrest as the contract stalemate lengthened. “My goal has been to reach a fair contract that recognizes
and rewards teachers for their contributions, but does so in a way that
appreciates the District’s financial limits,” said
Superintendent William Hite. This agreement “accomplishes this goal.” Hite repeatedly called the teachers' contract
his top priority, saying it was necessary to help the District retain talented
staff. “Our teachers have gone too long
without a contract and this contract will provide stability for the School
District moving forward,” said Hite. “Stability means we have teachers who are
not looking to go elsewhere and staying to teach here.”
PFT
contract now in force; SRC says it could mean layoffs or tax hikes
Inquirer by Kristen
A. Graham, Staff Writer @newskag | kgraham@phillynews.com Updated: JUNE 20, 2017 — 2:27 PM EDT
The Philadelphia School District and its teachers’ union have a
new contract, with the School Reform Commission signing off on the pact
Tuesday. But the vote was 4-1, with
Commissioner Bill Green labeling the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers deal
as “unaffordable and irresponsible,” warning that it could mean either 3,800
teacher layoffs or 17 percent property-tax hikes for city residents. The cost of the pact balloons the district’s
projected deficit, which had been about $700 million, to almost $1 billion over
five years. The contract, which runs
through August 2020, will cost $202 million over three years and $395 million
through 2022. Green said that teachers,
who worked four years without a new contract, deserved a raise, but that it
came at far too high a price. “It is not
paid for, and there is no commitment to pay for it,” said Green. “The city
administration intervened in these negotiations and proposed a number to both
sides that we cannot afford.” The school
system projects a deficit beginning next year, but that is not new. With
the PFT contract tacked on, its fiscal gap rises to $979 million. Green pressed
Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. and chief financial officer Uri Monson on
the dollar commitments the district has received from the city and state to
cover that gap. The state has not
offered to help; in fact, Republican leaders have expressed disbelief that the
district would agree to a contract it cannot now afford. City leaders have
cheered the deal.
Editorial:
Don't count on Harrisburg to help pay for Philly's new PFT contract
by The
Inquirer Editorial Board Updated: JUNE 20, 2017 — 12:51 PM EDT
Congratulations are due the School District of Philadelphia and
the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers for finally ending a four-year
stalemate and agreeing on a new contract.
But don’t spend too much time celebrating the deal approved Tuesday by
the School Reform Commission because the document won’t be worth the paper it’s
written on if there’s no money to pay for the $202.6 million pact, effective
until August 2020. And right now, there
isn’t. “We will be at the state’s door,
knocking on the door, asking them to meet us, help us meet this obligation,”
City Council President Darrell L. Clarke said Monday. “I don’t know how that
will play out, but we’re hoping.” Hope
springs eternal is an old saying, but whoever said it never had any dealings
with the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania legislature, which has already
signaled it has a closed mind when it comes to giving any more money to
Philadelphia schools. “It makes it very
difficult to take any request from Philadelphia seriously when they do nothing
that appears to help themselves – and then they negotiate a contract which they
admit is based on fantasy,” said Steve Miskin, spokesman for House Republicans. That ridiculous statement ignores the
additional $70 million the city began giving the School District two years ago,
the $100 million in reduced interest costs the district achieved by refinancing
its debt, the closure of 24 schools, and the decimation of the central office
staff and other layoffs that were made to make ends meet.
The last thing state legislators ought to do is talk about someone
else shirking their responsibility to properly fund schools. Pennsylvania ranks
45th in the nation in funding public education. That may be OK
for affluent districts that can afford to fill the gap, but it’s not good for
most districts, especially Philadelphia’s.
Superintendent
Hite discusses tenure, year’s accomplishments
Philly Trib by Ryanne Persinger Tribune Staff Writer June 20, 2017
As the school year wraps up Tuesday for students within the School
District of Philadelphia, Superintendent William R. Hite reflected on the past
year and his five-year tenure over the largest school district in the
Commonwealth. Hite, who enters his sixth
year with the District this fall, cited significant growth for some schools in
the 2015-16 school year — the most recent year for which data available — and
pointed to improvement across the district in the area of school climate, which
reflects the safety and culture of a school’s environment. But perhaps his biggest accomplishment came
with the signing of a new agreement with the district’s teachers, who went five
years without a contract. “My top
priority this school year has been to get a contract with the PFT (Philadelphia
Federation of Teachers) that recognizes the hard work of teachers and school
staff,” Hite said in a statement immediately following the announcement of an
agreement on Friday. He added, “Teachers
and school staff are at the heart of our work to create great schools close to
where children live. They have supported students through the district’s
difficult financial times and they are crucial to the progress we are making in
schools across the city.”
Bill
to increase transparency in school district hiring passes state Senate
Beaver County Times By J.D. Prose jprose@calkins.com June 20, 2017
Pennsylvania school boards would have to publicize any employment
offers to superintendents and other administrators for two weeks before voting
on contracts under a Fayette County legislator's bill that passed the
state Senate on Monday. Spurred by a
scathing state auditor general’s report on the Connellsville Area School
District, Republican state Sen. Pat Stefano initially introduced his bill in
March 2016, but it did not get out of committee. Stefano then reintroduced the legislation as
Senate Bill 592 this past April. It passed the Senate on Monday in a 36-14
vote, with state Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-46, Carroll Township, Washington
County, joining 13 Democrats in opposing the bill. Under the bill, school boards would have to
post contract terms, including salary and length of contract, on its website
for the public to review before hiring superintendents, assistant
superintendents, associate superintendents and principals.
“This is idiocy. It’s also entirely unrealistic in the ESSA era.
It arises from the view—long since dismissed by every respectable
economist—that education is a private good and the public has no interest in an
educated citizenry. Once you conclude that education is also a public good—one
whose results bear powerfully on our prosperity, our safety, our culture, our
governance, and our civic life—you have to recognize that voters and taxpayers
have a compelling interest in whether kids are learning what they should, at
least in schools that call themselves “public.”
Curmuducation Blog by Peter Greene Tuesday, June 20, 2017
he Great Divide in the reform world continues to be right along
the lines of accountability, with DeVos and her DeVotees being pretty much
against it in any meaningful sense. Just let the marketplace sort it out, they
say, and Jeanne Allen, of the Center for Education Reform (a hard core
charter-backing group), put together a whole book to help argue the point. Several folks have taken a shot at reviewing
that tome. I'm not one of them (because I have two week old twins at my house),
but here's a
good look at parts of the work by Mercedes Schneider. And here's a review by
Chester Finn, head honcho emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a
reliable backer of education reform, and a guy I generally disagree with (just
search his name on this blog). So
let me mark this occasion on which I not only agree with part of what Finn has
written, but would gladly written it myself. Finn first sums up the notion that
"the market will provide all the quality control that’s necessary. Quality
is in the eye of the beholder, i.e., the parent—and the school operator. The
heck with school outcomes." And then he unloads this paragraph:
http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2017/06/finn-backs-accountability-hard.html?spref=tw
http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2017/06/finn-backs-accountability-hard.html?spref=tw
Apply Now for EPLC's 2017-2018 PA Education Policy Fellowship
Program!
Education Policy and Leadership Center
Applications are available now for the 2017-2018
Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP). The
Education Policy Fellowship Program is sponsored in Pennsylvania by The
Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC). Click here for the program calendar of sessions. With more than 500 graduates in its
first eighteen 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, 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 14-15, 2017 and continues to graduation
in June 2018.
The Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy
Award was established in 2011 by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and
may be presented annually to the individual school director or entire school
board to recognize outstanding leadership in legislative advocacy efforts on
behalf of public education and students that are consistent with the positions
in PSBA’s Legislative Platform. In
addition to being a highly respected lobbyist, Timothy Allwein served to help
our members be effective advocates in their own right. Many have said that Tim
inspired them to become active in our Legislative Action Program and to develop
personal working relationships with their legislators. The 2017 Allwein Award nomination process
will begin on Monday, May 15, 2017. The application due
date is July 16, 2017 in the honor of Tim’s birth date of July 16.
Pennsylvania Education Leadership Summit July 23-25, 2017 Blair
County Convention Center - Altoona
A three-day event providing an excellent opportunity for
school district administrative teams and instructional leaders to learn, share
and plan together
co-sponsored by PASA, the Pennsylvania Principals
Association, PASCD and the PA Association for Middle Level Education
**REGISTRATION IS OPEN**Early Bird Registration Ends
after April 30!
Keynote speakers, high quality breakout sessions, table
talks on hot topics, and district team planning and job-alike sessions will
provide practical ideas that can be immediately reviewed and discussed at the
summit and utilized at the district level.
Keynote Speakers:
Thomas Murray, Director of Innovation for Future Ready Schools, a project of the Alliance for Excellent Education
Kristen Swanson, Director of Learning at Slack and one of the founding members of the Edcamp movement
Thomas Murray, Director of Innovation for Future Ready Schools, a project of the Alliance for Excellent Education
Kristen Swanson, Director of Learning at Slack and one of the founding members of the Edcamp movement
Breakout session strands:
*Strategic/Cultural Leadership
*Systems Leadership
*Leadership for Learning
*Professional and Community Leadership
*Strategic/Cultural Leadership
*Systems Leadership
*Leadership for Learning
*Professional and Community Leadership
CLICK HERE to access the Summit website for
program, hotel and registration information.
Save the Date 2017 PA Principals Association State Conference
October 14. 15, 16, 2017
Doubletree Hotel Cranberry Township, PA
Save the Date: PASA-PSBA
School Leadership Conference October 18-20, Hershey PA
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