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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup Dec. 3, 2017:
Here’s what the Senate tax bill could mean for K-12 education.
The tax bill approved by the Senate will be coming
back to the House for another vote to reconcile differences between the bills
passed by both chambers. You can find your Pennsylvania Congressman’s contact
info here:
After a
high-drama vote, here’s what the Senate tax bill means for schools, parents and
students
Washington Post By Moriah
Balingit and Nick
Anderson December 2 at 5:35 PM
The Senate tax bill that passed in the wee hours of
Saturday morning could have massive implications for schools and
universities, students and parents. Public education advocates
warned that certain provisions could put pressure on state and local
spending for public schools while giving parents incentives to send children to
private schools. The bill passed 51 to 49 after senators worked through the
night on last-minute revisions and amendments — including some
scribbled in the bill’s margins. The legislation has to be reconciled with a
version passed by the House before being sent to President Trump, but many
of the provisions affecting education are likely to stay. Public education
advocates hammered the bill for offering incentives to private school parents
through tax-free school savings accounts while eliminating the deduction
for state and local taxes that fund public schools. “It’s crazy that we’re
eliminating the ability of people to deduct their state and local taxes that go
directly to local services, including schools . . . while at the same time
providing a $10,000 incentive for folks to send their kids to private schools,”
said Sasha Pudelski, assistant director for policy and advocacy at the American
Association of School Administrators, which represents public school
superintendents across the country.
Senate OKs
Tax Bill Changing Teacher Deduction, Expanding School Choice
Education Week Politics K12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa on December
2, 2017 1:51 AM
The U.S. Senate has passed its version of a tax
overhaul package that contains potential changes for how teachers do their
taxes and for state and local education funding, as well as a provision aimed
at boosting school choice. Senators passed the GOP-backed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
in the early hours of Saturday morning after extensive negotiations. It
contains numerous changes to the current tax code with notable implications for
K-12. The legislation approved by a 51-49 vote must now be reconciled with a
House tax bill, which passed last month. And the legislation that results
from those negotiations must get final approval from both House and Senate
before being sent to President Donald Trump for his signature. We went over key details of the Senate and
House bills earlier this week. But the bills have grown more similar over the
course of the week. Both bills reduce the deductability of state and
local taxes from individuals' federal taxes. Thanks to a late amendment from
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the Senate bill would still allow individuals
to deduct up to $10,000 in state and local property taxes, while the House bill
contains a similar provision for local property taxes. Some education advocates
say increasing the federal tax burden for those with relatively high state and
local taxes could lead state and local leaders to cut their own taxes, and
therefore reduce the revenues that support public schools.
NSBA
Statement in Response to Senate Action on Proposed Tax Reform
NSBA December 2, 2017
Alexandria, Va. (December 2, 2017) - NSBA Executive
Director & CEO Thomas J. Gentzel today released the following statement in
response to Senate action related to President Trump’s proposed tax reform:
“NSBA is deeply troubled by the U.S. Senate’s
version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Tax reform should cultivate state and
local investments and innovation, not impede them. In rushing to pass
legislation, lawmakers are presenting Americans with a potential tax structure
that offers tax breaks and benefits for the few at the price of supporting
state and local efforts to invest in vital areas including education.
“While it’s unclear, the full extent of the impact
the proposed changes will have on local decision making and resources available
for public services, the threat it poses to students, parents and communities
is very real. Limiting the current State and Local Tax deduction and providing
tax-advantages for private school tuition accounts are misguided efforts and a
significant step in the wrong direction.
“Districts already operate with limited resources to
provide students with educational and other necessary support. Too many
neighborhood schools struggle to balance diverse, growing populations with
recessionary levels of funding. School infrastructure, teacher training,
curriculum, transportation, health services, counseling, public and student
safety measures and other vital services, which are all funded by state and
local taxes, are placed at risk by these proposed changes in federal tax law.
“NSBA urges Congress to put students, parents, and
communities first as the House and Senate bills move to conference. NSBA
opposes any tax proposal that negatively impacts local decision makers’ ability
to govern and operate in the best interests of our country’s students and the
American taxpayer. To do anything less would be irresponsible and a reckless
disinvestment in students and their future.”
AASA
Issues Statement On Senate Vote On Tax Bill
Alexandria, Va. – December 2, 2017 – AASA
Executive Director Daniel A. Domenech issued the following statement in
response to the Senate’s vote to pass the Tax Cuts & Job Act.
“AASA is frustrated by Congress’ continued partisan efforts to pass the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act.
“Changes to tax policy can be a good thing, a chance for leadership and opportunity. The bill passed by the Senate fails on all of these fronts, threatens one of our nation’s original forms of infrastructure (public education) and stands to do far more harm, than good. As the national organization representing the leaders of our nation’s public school systems, we are frustrated with this tax plan and how those who voted for it lack an understanding of—or even care about—its impact on public schools.
“We are concerned with the continued disconnect from Congressional leadership on how the policies in this bill—including the elimination of the SALT-D deduction, reliance on deficit financing, and changes to bond financing for districts—will negatively impact schools. Just two years ago, a GOP-led Congress supported an overwhelmingly bipartisan ESSA reauthorization. It was a pinnacle demonstration of support for policies centered on compromise, practicality, and supporting and strengthening the nation’s public schools.
“While today’s vote is a significant pivot toward partisanship and corporate tax cuts paid for by the middle class, we remain committed to representing our members, the nation’s public school superintendents and will work tirelessly with our allies on Capitol Hill to mitigate the damages of this bill, to seek improvements in conference and to expand recognition of the importance of our nation’s public schools.”
“AASA is frustrated by Congress’ continued partisan efforts to pass the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act.
“Changes to tax policy can be a good thing, a chance for leadership and opportunity. The bill passed by the Senate fails on all of these fronts, threatens one of our nation’s original forms of infrastructure (public education) and stands to do far more harm, than good. As the national organization representing the leaders of our nation’s public school systems, we are frustrated with this tax plan and how those who voted for it lack an understanding of—or even care about—its impact on public schools.
“We are concerned with the continued disconnect from Congressional leadership on how the policies in this bill—including the elimination of the SALT-D deduction, reliance on deficit financing, and changes to bond financing for districts—will negatively impact schools. Just two years ago, a GOP-led Congress supported an overwhelmingly bipartisan ESSA reauthorization. It was a pinnacle demonstration of support for policies centered on compromise, practicality, and supporting and strengthening the nation’s public schools.
“While today’s vote is a significant pivot toward partisanship and corporate tax cuts paid for by the middle class, we remain committed to representing our members, the nation’s public school superintendents and will work tirelessly with our allies on Capitol Hill to mitigate the damages of this bill, to seek improvements in conference and to expand recognition of the importance of our nation’s public schools.”
Winners
and losers in the Senate GOP tax bill: A running list
Washington Post By Heather
Long December 1
Editorial:
GOP tax plans stack deck for the wealthy
Delco Times Editorial POSTED: 12/02/17,
10:23 PM EST
If you believe the business of America is business,
you’re going to love the Republican tax plan that passed the Senate in the wee
hours of Saturday morning. You’ll love it even more if you’re one of the
poobahs running one of those big businesses – or at least a wealthy American. They are the ones who stand to gain the most under
this plan. Don’t get us wrong. Does this plan offer a tax break to most
middle-class Americans? Yes, it likely will. But those benefits pale next to
the huge benefits showered on the nation’s business elite. For starters, both
the Senate plan as well as that passed by the House will roll back the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent. Most experts believe this is
not a bad thing, that the corporate tax rate is too high, providing a
competitive barrier to U.S. business. But the trickle-down theory, the notion
that businesses will take all this newfound money and invest it in new plants –
and jobs – has been trotted out before. It hasn’t worked. This plan amounts to
a $2 trillion tax break for American’s corporate fatcats. Working stiffs, those
making $75,000 a year or less, would see less benefit and – incredibly – in
some instances could see their tax bill go up by 2027.
The Republican Tax Bill Is a Potential Disaster for
Public Education Funding
Huffington Post Opinion
by Daniel
Katz, Chair, Department of Educational Studies, Seton
Hall University11/29/2017 10:12 am ET
A great deal of ink has been spilled on how the
Republican tax bill working through Congress would impact higher education for
the worse. The highest profile item is the plan in the House bill
to tax graduate student tuition waivers as
income, effectively making the young people who are
helping the nation move forward with critical research pay taxes on “incomes”
that are tens of thousands of dollars higher than they actually get paid.
However, higher education takes multiple hits in the House
bill such as taxing endowment earnings that go towards school advancement,
reducing incentives for charitable giving, and eliminating student loan
interest deductions that benefited 12 million borrowers in 2014. For a
bill that the G.O.P. is trying to market as a “boon” to the middle class, the
House bill does not just tax graduate student tuition waivers, but also
it takes aim at tuition benefits for higher education employees and
their children. The New York Times portrayed a 64 year old night custodian at
Boston College who managed to send all five of his children
to college using such a benefit and who would never have been able to do so
under the House bill. Assurances from House leaders that their bill would
grant most Americans so much tax relief that they would not need those benefits
ring hollow as analyses show that various provisions in the bills could result in $1.6 trillion dollars of tax
INCREASES on middle class earners over the next decade. So while the House and
Senate bills are not friendly to higher education (the Senate bill somewhat
less so), there has been little talk about the potential impact on K-12
education if the Senate bill passes, is reconciled with the House bill, and
sent to the Oval Office for splashy signing ceremony. There are several
provisions in both pieces of legislation that would take serious aim at K-12
education at the state and local funding levels. Reporters and editorials
have stressed that eliminating the deductions for state and local taxes (SALT)
including property taxes, as in the Senate bill, will heavily impact Democratic
leaning states with higher tax burdens, but the Governmental Finance Officers Association
(GFOA) reports that eliminating SALT deductions from the tax
code will have a broadly negative impact on tax payers in all states.
According to the GFOA findings:
Senate
Republicans are essentially defunding public schools to pay for private ones
Another big win for the wealthy.
Think Progress Opinion by E.A. CRUNDEN DEC 2, 2017, 11:35
AM
The new tax bill passed by Senate Republicans does
away with crucial support for public schools while adding a provision beneficial
to their private counterparts. That move would help wealthy parents pay for
private schools, including religious schools, while hurting lower-income
families. A similar provision is in the House
version of the tax bill. In the early hours of Saturday morning, GOP
lawmakers passed the biggest tax overhaul in several decades through a 51 to 49
vote. One lone Republican, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, voted
against the legislation, citing deficit concerns. The bill, which includes
a number of dramatic provisions and cuts, will have sweeping implications for
many people across the United States. Under current law, parents can open 529
plans to help pay for future college costs. Those accounts, which differ by
state, are tax-advantaged and grow as long as the money is spent exclusively on
higher education. A last-minute provision added to the Senate tax bill allows
for 529 plans to be used for K-12 private schools.
DeVos
calls America still ‘a nation at risk,’ cheers GOP tax plan
Chalkbeat BY MARTA
W. ALDRICH November 30, 2017
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos
hearkened back Thursday to the landmark Reagan-era report indicting America’s
public schools and declared that not much has changed. Today’s education system
is still putting the nation at risk, she charged. Speaking in Nashville at the
National Summit on Education Reform, she rallied education leaders to expand
“school choice,” took swipes at teachers unions and Democrats, and spoke up for
her boss’s campaign to overhaul the nation’s tax structure. DeVos’s 20-minute address
drew a standing ovation from most of the 1,100 people attending the 10th annual
summit hosted by her friend Jeb Bush, the former
governor of Florida who founded the Foundation for Excellence in Education, of
which DeVos once served on the board. She used the occasion to encourage
influencers — from lawmakers to faith leaders — to fight for options that give
choices to parents, flexibility to teachers, and personalized attention to
students.
Editorial:
Good Government Amendment Deserves Vote By Pa. Citizens
The Elizabethtown Advocate Author Dan Robrish
Posted on November
30, 2017
It’s a rare moment of encouraging news from the
Pennsylvania Legislature: Republicans and Democrats are working together on
something important. Members of both parties in both chambers are co-sponsoring
legislation that would give the voters of Pennsylvania the power to end
gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is a real problem in American politics. In
Pennsylvania, state legislative and congressional districts were redrawn after
the 2010 Census by a Republican-controlled Legislature; the measure was signed
into law by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. It’s no surprise that the district
lines favored Republicans. So in last year’s congressional races, Republicans
got just under 54 percent of the statewide vote, but got 13 of the 18 seats in
the U.S. House of Representatives, more than 72 percent. Before any Democrats
start crowing about their party’s civic virtue, consider our neighbors in
Maryland, where the Democrats were in charge. Democrats got less than 61
percent of the statewide congressional vote there last year, but won seven out
of eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, or 87.5 percent.
Fortunately, a solution is in the works. Senate Bill
22 and House Bill 722 both propose an amendment to the state Constitution. If approved,
the amendment would set up an 11-member commission to handle redistricting.
Four members would be from the state’s largest political party; four would be
from the second-largest political party and three would be independent voters
or members of smaller parties. The Pennsylvania secretary of state would pick
the members and random from three pools of candidates of those three groups.
Erie
School District to develop strategic plan
GoErie By Ed Palattella December 3,
2017
With additional state funding guaranteed, ‘crisis mode’ has shifted to academic improvement, superintendent says.
With additional state funding guaranteed, ‘crisis mode’ has shifted to academic improvement, superintendent says.
The Erie School District is ready to embark on an
ambitious long-term strategic plan, a project similar to the one that produced
the blueprint for the city of Erie’s future. “Think of it as Charles Buki for
the Erie School District,” Erie schools Superintendent Brian Polito said. Just
as Erie Refocused, by Buki’s consulting firm, set a course for the city’s
recovery, the school district’s long-term plan will establish goals for the
district to succeed, Polito said. He said the need for the plan is urgent in
light of the General Assembly’s vote, in late October, to allocate an
additional $14 million in annual state funding to the district beginning this
fiscal year, which started July 1. In exchange for receiving the money, the
district is to get a state-appointed financial administrator who will develop a
financial improvement plan. While that state-driven plan will focus on
maintaining the district’s financial health, the district’s strategic plan will
center on how to focus the district’s energy and resources to improve
educationally, including how it can boost its poor standardized test scores and
offer more opportunities to its 11,500 students. About 74 percent of the
students are economically disadvantaged, according to state figures.
6 things
the new Philly school board absolutely should not do | Editorial
by The Inquirer Editorial Board Updated: DECEMBER
1, 2017 — 5:23 PM EST
The earthquake that registered 4.1 on the Richter
scale in the region on Thursday was minor compared
to the tremors two weeks ago, when the School Reform Commission voted to dissolve itself. Education has
always been a deep fault line in the city, which might be healed by the move back
toward local control. (Or, it might not.) There are many who worry that without
state oversight, Harrisburg will not be as invested in providing necessary
funding for the schools, although a recent analysis by the state Department of
Education showed that Philadelphia actually got less
state school aid than it should have, based on need alone. In actual dollar
terms, the contributions from the state have remained about the same (when
adjusted for inflation) since the SRC’s creation in 2001. Still, anyone
expecting that local control will magically translate into more state dollars
should prepare for a rude awakening. The city has already agreed to cover much
of the district’s $1 billion deficit over the next five years, though we don’t
yet know how that will happen. The new board won’t be installed until
March; the mayor is assembling a nominating panel
who will submit 27 names of potential members; Mayor Kenney will
select nine.
GAO report
sounds alarm about vouchers and students with disabilities
Washington Post By Moriah
Balingit December 2 at 2:15 PM
Across the country, thousands of children attend
private schools through publicly funded voucher programs and education savings
accounts, with states giving money directly to parents to spend at a school of
their choice. But parents sacrifice legal safeguards if their child with a
disability attends a private school through these programs, according to a
report released Thursday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Protections that require public schools to provide speech therapy, tutoring and
specialized education plans do not apply to private schools. The GAO report
found that many states with voucher programs and education savings accounts do
not inform parents of students with disabilities how their rights change when a
child transfers to private school through a choice program. About half of the
private schools the GAO surveyed offered little or no information about their
special education services on their websites.
Register
for New School Director Training in December and January
PSBA Website October 2017
You’ve started a challenging and
exciting new role as a school director. Let us help you narrow the learning
curve! PSBA’s New School Director Training provides school directors with
foundational knowledge about their role, responsibilities and ethical
obligations. At this live workshop, participants will learn about key laws,
policies, and processes that guide school board governance and leadership, and
develop skills for becoming strong advocates in their community. Get the tools
you need from experts during this visually engaging and interactive event.
Choose from any of these 11
locations and dates (note: all sessions are held 8 a.m.-4 p.m., unless
specified otherwise.):
·
Dec. 8, Bedford CTC
·
Dec. 8, Montoursville Area High School
·
Dec. 9, Upper St. Clair High School
·
Dec. 9, West Side CTC
·
Dec. 15, Crawford County CTC
·
Dec. 15, Upper Merion MS (8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m)
·
Dec. 16, PSBA Mechanicsburg
·
Dec. 16, Seneca Highlands IU 9
·
Jan. 6, Haverford Middle School
·
Jan. 13, A W Beattie Career Center
·
Jan. 13, Parkland HS
Fees: Complimentary to All-Access
members or $170 per person for standard membership. All registrations will be
billed to the listed district, IU or CTC. To request billing to
an individual, please contact Michelle Kunkel at michelle.kunkel@psba.org. Registration also includes a
box lunch on site and printed resources.
NSBA 2018
Advocacy Institute February 4 - 6, 2018 Marriott Marquis, Washington D.C.
Register
Now
Come a day early and attend the Equity Symposium!
Join hundreds of public education advocates
on Capitol Hill and help shape the decisions made in Washington D.C. that
directly impact our students. At the 2018 Advocacy Institute, you’ll gain
insight into the most critical issues affecting public education, sharpen your
advocacy skills, and prepare for effective meetings with your representatives. Whether
you are an expert advocator or a novice, attend and experience inspirational
keynote speakers and education sessions featuring policymakers, legal experts
and policy influencers. All designed to help you advocate for your students and
communities.
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