Started in November 2010, daily postings from the Keystone State
Education Coalition now reach more than 4050 Pennsylvania education
policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and
congressional staffers, Governor's staff, current/former PA Secretaries of
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These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
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Pennsylvania budget season fight opens over $100 million
increase in taxpayer support for private schools
Schools blame tax increases on state mandates
School officials are
wrestling with property tax increases again this year. [BCT file]
Beaver County Times
By Daveen Rae Kurutz Posted Jun 11, 2019 at 4:41 PM Updated
Jun 11, 2019 at 9:33 PM
Another year,
another tax increase. Across Pennsylvania, school districts are facing
financial stress as officials prepare to pass balanced budgets by the end of
June. And Beaver County is no exception. A Times review of proposed budgets in
13 of 14 county districts shows that every district polled is planning to raise
tax rates this summer. Only Midland officials were unable to be reached for
comment. It’s almost a foregone conclusion that districts have to raise tax
rates each year, according to a survey released last week by the Pennsylvania
Association of School Business Officials and the Pennsylvania Association of
School Administrators. Between increased charter school payments and continuing
mandated increases to district payments into the state pension system, costs
are rising higher than state funding. During the 2017-18 school year, school
districts across the state saw a $704 million increase in charter school
tuition, special-education costs and required employee pension costs, according
to the report. While the state budget allocates $50 million more for special
education, districts across the state are struggling to balance budgets without
tax increases, officials said. Below are the proposed tax increases for each
Beaver County school district. All revenue generation and tax bill increases
are annual.
“The proposal is
expected to be a key point in negotiations this month as Wolf and the General Assembly
prepare to approve the commonwealth’s 2019-20 budget. As it stands, Turzai’s
bill would increase the EITC budget from $110 million to $210 million
immediately after passage — the largest single-year increase since the program
was created in 2001. The proposal also calls for the program’s budget to
increase by 10 percent annually if businesses and individuals claim more than
90 percent of the available tax credits.”
HB800: Bill that nearly doubles size of tax credit
program for private school scholarships heading to Wolf’s desk
PA Capital Star By Elizabeth Hardison June 11, 2019
Legislation that would
nearly double the size of an educational tax credit program that funds private
and religious school scholarships was approved Tuesday by Senate Republicans,
whose unanimous support for the proposal overpowered the negative consensus
among Democrats. The bill to expand
the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program now goes to Gov. Tom
Wolf’s desk for final approval. House lawmakers approved the legislation 111-85 in May. Wolf, a Democrat, has not said whether or not he
will veto the expansion, which was sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai,
R-Allegheny. He told reporters Tuesday he doesn’t understand how the expansion
will be paid for. “I’m trying to fund public education,” Wolf told reporters.
“I’m trying to make sure that we have an accountable system in place that I
think is underfunded. I have done everything in my power, and I’ve worked
across the aisle to get more money for public education. This seems to me
— again, I’ll take a look at it — this seems to me to be at odds with that need
of a government and a democracy like ours to support broad-based, accessible
public education.”
Morning Call By MARC
LEVY | ASSOCIATED PRESS | JUN 11, 2019 | 6:16 PM
Legislation to
substantially expand taxpayer support for private and religious schools in
Pennsylvania won passage Tuesday in the Republican-controlled Legislature,
although Gov. Tom Wolf is signaling that he will block it. The public dust-up
ramps up a fight between supporters of public and private schools in the thick
of negotiations between Republican lawmakers and the Democratic governor over a
roughly $34 billion budget package. The bill passed the state Senate on a
party-line basis Tuesday, a month after it passed the Republican-controlled
House on near-party lines. Wolf said he would look at the legislation, but not
whether he will veto it. “What I've heard doesn't sound real good,” Wolf told
reporters after an unrelated news conference in his Capitol offices. Republicans,
Wolf said, haven't explained how they would finance the $100 million cost of
the bill, and he criticized tax credits programs as lacking control or
accountability. Wolf, who campaigned for office on raising support for public
schools, said he is still working to increase aid for a public education system
in Pennsylvania he called underfunded. “It seems to me to be at odds with that
need of a government in a democracy like ours to support broad-based,
accessible public education,” Wolf said. The bill is sponsored by House Speaker
Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny.
Republicans look to boost private school tax credit. Wolf
says he doesn't get it.
WITF Written
by Katie Meyer,
Capitol Bureau Chief | Jun
11, 2019 7:35 PM
(Harrisburg) -- Lawmakers have approved a bill
that would nearly double a tax break for people and businesses who contribute
to private school scholarships and similar public school alternatives. They did
so with almost no support from Democrats. And now, Democratic Governor Tom Wolf
is saying he doesn't understand why the expansion is necessary. Republicans
argue the Educational Improvement Tax Credit helps low-income students who are
stuck in bad public schools. Many Democrats say it unfairly
routes money away from those struggling schools. The EITC program has grown incrementally and substantially since it started in
2001--often with bipartisan support. But even the Democrats who generally favor
the credit say this particular increase is too high. Along with almost doubling
it, the bill--sponsored by GOP House Speaker Mike Turzai--adds an automatic 10
percent escalation every year, as long as the credit stays popular. And it
raises the income cap for eligible families from $85,000 to $95,000.
PA Senate Roll Call Vote on HB800 EITC Expansion
Blogger commentary:
Veto it, Governor Wolf……
Sign It, Governor Wolf
Pennsylvania’s
House and Senate pass major education reform.
Appeared in the
June 12, 2019, print edition.
Wall Street Journal
By The Editorial Board June 11, 2019 7:25 p.m. ET
Only one hurdle now
stands between thousands of Pennsylvania students and their hope to attend a
better school: a possible veto by Gov. Tom Wolf of a new school reform measure.
The bill is HB800, and it cleared the Pennsylvania Senate on Tuesday. A month
earlier it passed the Pennsylvania House. The legislation expands a popular
K-12 Educational Improvement Tax Credit scholarship program by increasing the
cap to $210 million from $110 million today. Businesses get a tax credit when
they donate to nonprofits that provide families with scholarships which allow
them to pick the best schools for their kids. The cap means there’s not enough
money to meet demand. The most recent figures show that 43% of applicants were
turned down for a scholarship in the 2016-17 school year. As important as
raising the cap is the bill’s “automatic escalator.” Under this provision, the
cap would automatically rise by 10% whenever the program reaches 90% usage.
Florida added its escalator in 2011. Though Pennsylvania and Florida both
enacted tax-credit scholarship programs in 2001, Florida’s escalator has helped
scholarships reach twice as many kids as in Pennsylvania. This should be easy.
The public likes it, business demand for the credit outstrips supply, and kids
trapped in failing schools need the lifeline. Gov. Wolf has 10 days to veto the
bill or it becomes law. His friends in the teachers union are howling for that
veto. But the Governor, a Democrat, has also said a child’s chance for a decent
education shouldn’t be determined by a family’s zip code. Signing this bill
would put children first.
We had some email
issues yesterday. If you did not receive yesterday’s PA Ed Policy Roundup you
can catch it here:
How much could your school district and taxpayers save if
there were statewide flat cyber tuition rates of $5000 for regular ed students
and $8865 for special ed.?
Keystone State Education Coalition PA Ed Policy Roundup June 11, 2019
A new budget surplus, an old debate: Spend it or save it
for a Rainy Day? | Tuesday Morning Coffee
PA Capital Star Commentary
By John L. Micek June 11, 2019
Good Tuesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
Well, you just knew
this was going to happen: With Pennsylvania set to finish fiscal 2018-19 with
something like $813 million extra
in its official piggy bank, some under
the great golden dome on Third Street are coming up with ways to spend it.
Others want to save it for a Rainy Day (Fund). And, suddenly,
everything old is Ridge again. For those who have been around
long enough to remember such things (and, to our eternal horror, we realize
we’re now one of those people), the debate over what to do with the
state’s unexpected budgetary windfall brings back memories of the boom years
under the administration of former Republican Gov. Tom Ridge, where
the question wasn’t whether the state was going to sock away money in the Rainy
Day Fund, but how much; and, as the old joke went, God woke up every
morning and asked himself, “What can I do for Tom Ridge today?” Ridge famously
resisted nearly every effort to spend down budgetary surpluses, arguing that
anything else was just insanity and the state’s finances had to be protected
against a future downtown. But, hey, swap a couple of new ballparks for massive
public employee pension hikes? They were totally down with that. Because, after
all, what could possibly go wrong? So perhaps it’s not surprising to see
Democrats in the House and Senate step up over the last week or so and advance
proposals to spend down the current surplus for any number of worthy causes.
Choice in abortion, but not education? | Opinion
Commentary by Jonathan
Zimmerman, For the Inquirer Updated: June 11, 2019 - 1:17 PM
Jonathan Zimmerman
teaches education and history at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the
author (with Emily Robertson) of “The Case for Contention: Teaching
Controversial Issues in American Schools” (University of Chicago Press).
Last week Joe Biden
announced his reversal on the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding for
most abortions. “If I believe healthcare is a right,” the Democratic
presidential front-runner said, “I can no longer support an amendment that
makes that right dependent on someone’s zip code.” He’s right about that. So
why do so many Democrats wish to make public schooling dependent on zip code,
as well? I’m talking the growing opposition to the charter-school movement,
which wants students to be able to select schools outside of their
neighborhoods. But the same Democrats who have rallied behind choice in the
abortion debate are rejecting it in education. Mayors in Democratic strongholds
like New York and Chicago have said they want to limit charter schools. California
governor Gavin Newsom seems to have turned against them, too, appointing a task
force to investigate the effect of charters on traditional public schools.
Charter Schools Are a Major Dividing Line for the 2020
Democratic Candidates—Education Fights in Pennsylvania Point the Way
Charter
schools now cost Pennsylvania taxpayers over $1.8 billion annually and
account for over 25 percent of the state’s basic education funding
Common Dreams By Jeff Bryant Published on Monday, June 10, 2019
Charter schools
have finally broken into the national political dialogue, with presidential
candidates in the Democratic Party proclaiming their
stances on
these schools. But a national debate about charters and “school choice” will be
an exercise in empty rhetoric unless the candidates’ views are grounded in the
real consequences of how charter schools and school choice affect communities. Although
much of the debate is stuck to a bumper sticker message about the need for
families to have a choice to attend charter schools, few if any candidates seem
willing to acknowledge providing families with an option to choose charters can
come with considerable costs to everyone else in the community. To understand
those costs, consider Pennsylvania, where the costs of charter schools are most
blatantly apparent but nevertheless representative of the cost of charters everywhere.
With new tip line in place, lawmakers push schools to
address reported threats
By Stephen Caruso June 11, 2019
In the wake of the
Parkland shooting, Pennsylvania’s Legislature last year poured $60 million into
school safety funding while also creating a statewide tip line to report
threats of violence. Now, the House and Senate are advancing legislation to
mandate school districts use that information for prevention. Under
near-identical bills advanced in both chambers Tuesday, schools would be
required to set up a task force to analyze and react to threats or dangerous
behavior reported to the Safe2Say program. Students can report suspicious
activity by phone or app to the program, run by the state Attorney General’s office. In the
2015-16 school year, 42 percent of public schools nationwide had a threat
assessment team in place, according to the federal School Survey on Crime and Safety. Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-Allegheny, is pushing the House version of the legislation. His bill, similar to the Senate version sponsored by Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, would require
the creation of a threat assessment committee in every public school district.
Pennsylvania Senate backs bill to expand armed school
security options
ASSOCIATED PRESS | Tuesday, June 11, 2019 1:22 p.m.
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s
Senate is backing legislation that supporters say give school districts and
private schools more options to hire armed security guards. The bill passed
32-17 on Tuesday, with a handful of Democrats joining the Republican majority
to send it to the House of Representatives. The bill would allow schools to
hire armed security guards employed by private firms, as long as they meet
certain certification standards. Other changes include expanding the definition
of a school resource officer to include a county sheriff or deputy sheriff. Democrats
who opposed the bill say allowing more guns into school won’t solve a problem
that can be helped by things including more money for school counselors and
more restrictions on gun buying.
“But Sen. Larry
Farnese, D-Philadelphia, who was among the 17 Democrats who voted against the
bill, viewed the bill differently. “Seems to me that what this bill does is
attempt to address a problem with firearms coming into schools by allowing more
firearms to come into school,” he said. “To me, that doesn’t seem like the
right approach.”
Bill allowing armed school security officers passes Pa.
Senate
By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated Jun
11, 8:11 PM; Posted Jun 11, 5:57 PM
The state Senate’s
consideration of a bill intended to address concerns that have arisen
over which
school security personnel could carry firearms erupted into a debate over the need for any firearms in school. Following
a lengthy debate on Tuesday, the Senate voted 32-17 to pass Senate
Bill 621 offered
by Sen. Mike Regan, R-York County. The legislation now goes to the House for
consideration. The measure would allow school districts the option to arm
school security officers or contracted security guards, which the state
Department of Education said was not allowed by Act 44, a school safety and security law that passed last year. It also would
allow sheriffs and deputy sheriffs to serve as school resource officers as was
permitted prior to Act 44′s enactment . Additionally, it identifies a baseline
training that all armed security personnel, regardless of title, must have. The
southcentral Pennsylvania school districts, Northern York and Big Spring, were
among the districts that urged Regan to offer this legislation after finding
themselves out of compliance with Act 44 or the education department’s interpretation of it. Northern York
wanted its contracted school security officers to be armed. Big Spring wanted
to continue using deputy sheriffs as its school resource officers.
Tell your legislator to support this Pa. Senate bill that
keeps kids on track to a high school diploma | Opinion
Commentary By Kate
Burdick and Reynelle Brown Staley Capital-Star Op-Ed
Contributor June 11,
2019
More than a dozen
youth advocates from Juvenile Law Center’s Youth Fostering Change and Juveniles
for Justice are in Harrisburg this Tuesday, June 11, with a singular
purpose:To educate lawmakers on the barriers to graduation they faced
because of their involvement in the foster care or juvenile justice system. They
are calling on state lawmakers to support legislation to help remove these
barriers. State Sen. Pat Browne, D-Lehigh, a long-time champion for vulnerable
students, has worked for years with Education Law Center and Juvenile Law
Center on this issue. His bill, the Fostering Graduation Success for Vulnerable
Students Act (SB662), builds off models that are working in other states and
incorporates the youth advocates’ feedback about the supports that would have
helped them stay on track to a diploma. Despite hard work and commitment, youth
with system involvement, as well as those who experience homelessness, face
myriad roadblocks that prevent them from earning academic credit even when they
do everything asked of them – and too often, these youth are forgotten in
conversations about education reform.
A new addition to Bethlehem Area School District tax
bills: What you get for your money
By MARGIE
PETERSON | THE MORNING CALL | JUN 11, 2019 | 9:10 PM
June marks the end
of the school year, graduation time and the unofficial start of Complain About
Your School Tax Bill season. This year, Bethlehem Area School District has an
answer for outraged senior citizens and others who protest that annual
increases in property taxes are pricing them out of their homes. Some complain
they shouldn’t have to pay those levies because they have no children in
school. At a school board committee meeting Monday, Superintendent Joseph Roy
held up a card that gives information on how many students Bethlehem Area
educates and some highlights of the education the district provides. Copies of
that card are going to go out with property tax bills, Roy said. Following the
meeting, Roy said that when residents get a tax bill with no context, “we lose
the bigger picture of citizens of a community. As citizens of a community we
all invest in the future of the community. That’s what public education is all
about. So this is my way of reminding people when they get that tax bill,
here’s some of things it goes for. “We want to take it from the individual view
to the community responsibility,” Roy said.
Bill calls for elimination of property taxes collected by
Pa. school districts
Trib Live by MEGAN TOMASIC | Monday, June 10, 2019 6:04 p.m.
Property taxes
collected by school districts across the state could be a thing of the past if
a new bill passes. Introduced by Rep. Pam Snyder (D-Greene/Fayette/Washington),
along with state Reps. Marcia Hahn (R-Northampton) and Rosemary M. Brown
(R-Monroe/Pike), the bill would enable districts to exclude up to 100% of a
homeowner’s school property tax bill, piggybacking off the homestead
and farmland exclusion that was amended in November 2017. The 2017 amendment to the state’s constitution
was approved to provide for an expansion to the property tax relief program. It
also increased the allowable homestead and farmstead exclusion to 100% of its
assessed value. Conversations have been taking place over how to craft
legislation for the amendment, according to a news release. To ensure districts
still receive necessary funds, the bill calls for increasing the personal
income tax by 1.8% to cover the loss in real estate taxes. This means the
personal income tax would increase from 3.07% to 4.87%.
Board members approve Easton teachers contract
By MICHELLE MERLIN | THE MORNING CALL | JUN 11, 2019 | 7:47 PM
Easton Area
teachers will get salary increases each of the next three years.
School board
members on Tuesday approved a contract with the district’s teachers union,
which represents 581 teachers, guidance counselors, librarians, nurses and
school psychologists. The three-year contract calls for step movements and an
additional $1,000 for employees each year. It goes into effect July 1. Employees
will also see a $5 increase in their share of health insurance premiums in the
first year. Members of the Easton Area Education Association approved the
agreement June 5. School board members voted unanimously for the agreement.
Jodi Hess, whose husband works for the district, abstained. Board member Tina
Rosado was absent. Easton Area Education Association President Kevin Deely
thanked the administrative team for their work. “We can’t make everybody happy,
but I certainly believe we are headed in the right direction,” he said. “We
have been able to work very closely together over the last couple years to make
sure we are setting the stage to make Easton a really great place.”
“One answer that
might stick with you: There are more Chinese restaurants in
Bethesda, Md.,
where Education Week has
its offices, than charter schools in one early-bird state. Need more info?
Here's a handy chart we put together with a few basic facts about charter
schools in the four early states:”
Democrats Are Fighting Over Charter Schools. Will Key
Early Primary States Care?
Education Week
Politics K12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa on June 11, 2019 5:00 PM
If you're following
the Democratic presidential primary and you care about education, it's hard to
avoid all the stories and questions about charters with a 2020 angle. Are
candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont betraying many Democrats, and
left-leaning voters of color in particular, by
taking on charters? Or in the
era of rolling teacher strikes and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, are they
smart to at least partially repudiate the independently run, publicly financed
schools? Those are good questions. But the primary isn't wrapped up
nationwide all in one day. The first few states to hold primaries or caucuses
will play a huge role in establishing favorites and quickly paring down a big
field. These states' unique political and policy environments are a huge focus
for campaigns. So what does the charter school landscape look like in the
first four primary (or caucus) states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South
Carolina? Despite all the national angst about charters, is is it possible they
won't make much of a difference one way or the other in the beginning states of
the 2020 primaries? Could the answers vary significantly from state to state?
EPLC is accepting
applications for the 2019-20 PA Education Policy Fellowship Program
Education Policy & Leadership Center
PA's premier education policy leadership program for education, policy
& community leaders with 582 alumni since 1999. Application with program
schedule & agenda are at http://www.eplc.org
PA Education Leaders to Hold Advocacy Day 2019 in
Harrisburg June 18th
PA Principals
Association Press Release June 5th, 2019
(Harrisburg, PA) —
A delegation of principals, education leaders and staff from the Pennsylvania
Principals Association, the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators
(PASA) and the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools (PARSS) will
participate in PA Education Leaders Advocacy Day 2019 (#paadvocacyday19) on
Tuesday, June 18 at the Capitol Building in Harrisburg, Pa., to meet with
legislators to address several important issues that are at the forefront of
education in the commonwealth. These include: Increasing Basic Education
Funding/Special Education Funding/Early Childhood Funding; Revising Act 82:
Principal and Teacher Evaluations; Supporting Pre-K Education; Supporting
Changes to Pennsylvania’s Compulsory School Attendance Ages; and Supporting and
Funding Career and Technical Education.
PA League of Women Voters 2019 Convention Registration
Crowne Plaza in Reading June 21-23, 2019
DEADLINES
May 22, 2019 –
Deadline to get special room rates at Crowne
Plaza Hotel
Book Hotel
or call: 1 877 666 3243
May 31, 2019 –
Deadline to register as a delegate for the Convention
June 7, 2019 –
Deadline to register for the Convention
Registration: https://www.palwv.org/2019-convention-registration/
PA Schools Work Capitol Caravan Days Wed. June 5th
and Tues. June 18th
If you couldn’t
make it to Harrisburg last week, it’s not too late. We are getting down to the
wire. In a few short weeks, the budget will likely be passed. Collectively, our
voices have a larger impact to get more funding for Pennsylvania’s students.
Legislators need to hear from you!
Public Citizens for
Children and Youth (PCCY) will be at the Capitol on Wednesday, June 5th and
Tuesday, June 18th for our next PA Schools
Work caravan days. We’d love to have you join us on these
legislative visits. For more details about the caravans and to sign up, go
to: www.pccy.org/k12caravan . Please call Tomea Sippio-Smith at (O) 215-563-5848, ext. 36
or (C) 215-667-9421 or Shirlee Howe at (O) 215-563-5848, ext. 34 or (C)
215-888-8297 with any questions or specific requests for legislative meetings.
2019 PASA-PSBA School
Leadership Conference Oct. 16-18, 2019
WHERE: Hershey Lodge and
Convention Center 325 University Drive, Hershey, PA
WHEN: Wednesday, October
16 to Friday, October 18, 201
Registration is now open!
Growth from knowledge acquired. Vision inspired by innovation. Impact
created by a synergized leadership community. You are called upon to be the
drivers of a thriving public education system. It’s a complex and challenging
role. Expand your skillset and give yourself the tools needed for the
challenge. Packed into two and a half daysꟷꟷgain access to top-notch education
and insights, dynamic speakers, peer learning opportunities and the latest
product and service innovations. Come to the PASA-PSBA School Leadership
Conference to grow!
NPE Action National
Conference - Save the Date - March 28-29, 2020 in Philadelphia, PA.
The window is now open for workshop proposals for the Network for Public
Education conference, March 28-29, 2020, in Philadelphia. I hope you all sign
on to present on a panel and certainly we want all to attend. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NBCNDKK
Any comments contained herein are my comments, alone, and
do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any other person or organization
that I may be affiliated with.
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