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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for June
24, 2014:
It’s worth looking at the
numbers to understand the depth of the pension crisis facing Pennsylvania
Budget bill that remains 'a
work in progress' awaits action in the state House
By The Associated
Press on June 23, 2014 at 8:00 PM, updated June 23, 2014 at 8:41
PM
* This post was updated to reflect that the House's pension
reform debate got derailed.
A state
budget bill reached the floor of the Pennsylvania House floor Monday,
one week before the current budget expires, but with the major spending
questions unresolved.
The House sent the bill to the Appropriations Committee, which
is expected to amend it Tuesday with proposals for plugging a projected revenue
gap of $1.7 billion.
House members were poised to stay late Monday night to launch a
long-awaited debate over public
pensions. However, the debate never
got started.
Challenging Budget
Action Moving Ahead
YouTube video runtime 8:10 RepAdolph·Published
on Jun 23, 2014
PA House Appropriations Chairman Rep. William Adolph explains
the latest step in the PA Budget process and the reasons that Pennsylvania is facing such a challenging
budget deficit.
Nothing but questions as June
budget deadline nears
WITF Written State House Sound Bites by Mary
Wilson, Capitol Bureau Chief | Jun 20, 2014 2:20 PM
State lawmakers are heading into the final stretch of June, and
for the first time in four years, a budget agreement doesn't appear to be on
the horizon. Governor Corbett, who ran
for office promising timely state budgets, has
said he'll forgive a late spending plan in return for passage of two
other legislative priorities: an overhaul of public pensions and changes to how
alcohol is sold in Pennsylvania . Trouble is, those bills don't appear to be
ready for primetime, and the major outlines of a state budget remain unknown to
rank-and-file lawmakers of the Republican Party, which controls the House and
Senate.
Political math is tough when
it comes to public pension reform in Pennsylvania
By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com on June 23, 2014 at 7:30 AM
Gov. Tom Corbett has called for action
on public pension reform as a prerequisite to discussing new taxes to balance
the 2014-15 state budget,which is due on July 1. The state House of Representatives'
Republican caucus has been holding closed-door caucuses on the pension issue
for weeks, but is still, but some internal estimates, about 12 votes short of
the 102 needed to pass its preferred plan.
School district costs
central to PA Republicans’ pension pitch
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent June 23, 2014
Since all politics are local, the group of Republicans pushing
the pension bill are trying to show other members how bad things will get for
their local school districts in the next few years. It’s not a pretty picture,
but the
pension bill being offered by state Rep. Mike Tobash, R-Schyulkill, and backed
by Gov. Tom Corbett will do little to make it any prettier.
Still, it’s worth looking at some of their numbers to
understand the depth of the pension crisis facing Pennsylvania
Small tax on stock sales
could help Pa.
PennLive Letters to the Editor byROBERT FLEMING on June 22,
2014 at 12:46 PM
Again the state is lacking money due to the pension shortfall
of the state's own making. The old and new solutions are being trotted out
without agreement — sell the liquor stores, legalize and tax marijuana,
increase property taxes. At least the
governor seems to realize the Grover Norquist "no new taxes"
pledge is unworkable. Recently in this
column a writer suggested a small [less than a percent] sales tax on a purchase
of stock. If you purchase a Ford car you pay sales tax. Why not pay a tax on
the purchase of Ford stock?
“Screwed up is what it was when in 1991 we
went to court with 240 other school districts (to push for equitable school
funding across the state). This is four, five or six levels above that”
Education pros call for
new school funding formula
By BETH ANN MILLER Our Town Johnstown Staff Writer
bethm@ourtownjohnstown.com | Posted 1 month ago
WESTMONT — Pennsylvania ’s
current policy of funding public school education is “beyond screwed up,”
according to a longtime education professional, lobbyist and former member of
the Pennsylvania Board of Education. Dr.
Arnold Hillman, who also represents the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools
"Taxpayers are frustrated,
programs/services are cut to the bone and staffing is at historic minimums. If
assistance cannot come in the form of new funds, there must be a reduction in
unfunded mandates confronting public school districts."
State wastes education money while starving districts
Mark B. Miller is the vice president of the Centennial School
Board, director of Network for Public Education, co-chair of the Keystone State
Education Coalition, and BuxMont Region director of the Pennsylvania School
Boards Association.
Gov. Corbett took a
great step forward on the special education landscape last June when he came to
Bucks County
Sen. Pat Brown (author
of Senate Bill 362) and Rep. Bernie O’Neill (author of House Bill 2138) had
full support of the governor every step of the way. The highly profitable
charter industry is pushing back despite a heightened need for relief.
"Regardless of where children live in
this city, they have a right to a high-quality education," he said,
"and poverty shouldn't influence that. Whether they are learning English
shouldn't influence that. If they have an IEP should not influence that."
Superintendent Hite: Pa.
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN
MCCORRY JUNE 24, 2014
Has Pennsylvania
been coming through on its constitutional requirement to provide all children
with a "thorough and efficient" education? In a recent interview
at WHYY studios, Philadelphia School District Superintendent William Hite said,
flatly, "No." "Unfortunately
we're left with a situation where we're trying to only spend what we
have," said Hite, "and that provides resources that are inadequate
and insufficient in order to educate children."
In the extended interview above, Hite, having now finished his
second school year at the district's helm, expounds on a variety of issues
facing Philadelphia
schools. "Regardless of where
children live in this city, they have a right to a high-quality
education," he said, "and poverty shouldn't influence that. Whether
they are learning English shouldn't influence that. If they have an IEP should
not influence that." The district
needs $66 million just to provide students next year with this year's
admittedly "insufficient" resource levels. On top of this, Hite says
he needs $224 million to begin implementing his vision for districtwide growth.
Refusing to Educate Other
People’s Children: Woes Continue in Philadelphia
Jan Resseger's Blog
Posted on June 23, 2014 by
What does it mean when,
in June, the leaders of a school district that serves over 131,000 students are
working with city and state governments to locate enough money to open school
in August? In the United States —where
provision of K-12 education has for nearly two centuries been provided
publicly, where it has been believed essential for the formation of an informed
democracy, where all have taken for granted the provision of schooling that is
free and universally available—what does Pennsylvania ’s
seeming incapacity to provide adequately staffed schools for Philadelphia ’s children
mean? On June 18, the Associated Press reported that school superintendent William
Hite remained alarmed about a gaping hole in next year’s school budget.
Still needed was “at least an additional $96 million to offer students even a
‘wholly inadequate’ education next year.”
Still short of funds, School
District turns its eyes to Harrisburg
By Kevin McCorry for
NewsWorks on Jun 23, 2014 09:37 AM
Despite securing additional
funding from City Council last week, the Philadelphia School
District
All eyes have now turned
to the State Capitol. Philly schools
need $66 million just to provide students next year with this year's admittedly
"insufficient" resource levels.
That's after selling
buildings, getting principals to agree to less compensation, and leveraging
City Council to borrow $57 million on its behalf. If any more new revenue is going to come, it
will have to be approved by the Republican-controlled, tax-averse state
legislature.
"Everyone is
definitely aware of the situation in Philadelphia ,"
said Stephen Miskin, spokesman of House majority leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny.
Family and consumer sciences
classes face budget cuts from Lehigh
Valley
When school districts want to balance budgets without raising
taxes, something's got to give.
In the Bangor
Area and the Saucon
Valley school districts, administrators looked to cut family and
consumer sciences for fiscal reasons. Once
called home economics, family and consumer science classes expanded the
curriculum of sewing and cooking in the mid-1990s to include human development,
family finance, interior design, food science, nutrition, textiles and apparel,
and consumer issues, according to the American Association of Family and
Consumer Sciences.
If Saucon
Valley
No school board would suggest dropping math, science, English
or history, so they look to electives as places to trim fat.
By The
Tribune-Review Published: Monday, June 23, 2014, 9:33 p.m.
Property owners in theCarlynton School District
Property owners in the
The school board voted
Monday night to approve a tax rate of 19.604, up from 19.089. The board also
voted 9-0 to approve a $28.73 million general fund budget. The board voted to move all but 8 percent of
its $6.24 million general fund balance to an assigned fund to go toward
retirement, health care benefits and renovations.
Final East Penn schools
budget raises property tax 3.34 percent
School board also votes to give administrators, staff $65,000
in merit raises.
By Margie Peterson,
Special to The Morning Call June 24, 2014
East Penn School Board
on Monday approved a final budget that increases taxes 3.34 percent.
The $137 million spending
plan eliminates two administrative positions and four-and-a-half teaching
positions, all by attrition. Those teaching jobs include an English teacher and
social studies teacher at the high school.
The tax increase amounts to 0.539 of a mill for a new tax rate of
16.6649 mills. At that rate, a homeowner with property assessed at $200,000
would pay $3,332 or $107 more. The
budget was approved 8-1 with Director Lynn Donches voting no.
East Penn managed to
reduce the tax increase from the initial proposed 4.5 percent back in February. School officials have pointed to large
increases in expenditures for special education, staff pensions and charter
school tuition as among the big drivers of the tax hike.
Souderton Independent By Victoria Wolk vwolk@21st-centurymedia.com
Published: Sunday, June 22, 2014
The Souderton Area School Board voted June 19 on the district’s
final 2014-15 budget. All eight board members in attendance voted in favor of
the budget, which includes a real estate tax increase of 1 percent. That is equal to an increase of $42.39 for
the average home, said Bill Stone, SASD director of business affairs. When the board’s finance committee last
reviewed the budget at a June 11 meeting, the proposed tax increase stood at
1.24 percent, or $52.56 for the average homeowner. That number was revised
after looking at this year’s revenues and expenditures and evaluating whether
the district was spending faster or slower than expected.
In split vote, Pennsbury School
By Petra Chesner Schlatter pschlatter@buckslocalnews.com Sunday, June 22, 2014
PENNSBURY - In a 5-4 vote, the Pennsbury School Board on June
17 approved a 2.1-percent increase in its real estate tax for the 2014-15
school year. That means an owner of a
property with an average assessment of $31,487 will pay $101 more in taxes. There has not been a tax increase in
Pennsbury since the 2010-11 school year.
The budget allocates $678,000 for full-day kindergarten, which will
start with this coming school year in all 10 elementary schools in the district.
Four Nazareth Area
School District
By on
June 23, 2014 at 8:57 PM
The Nazareth
Area School Board has
approved two-year contract extensions -- calling for zero percent raises in the
second year -- with four employee groups.
The contracts included
the Teamsters Union Local 773, which makes up the district's custodial and
maintenance staff; the Nazareth Area Educational Support Professionals, which
makes up secretaries, associate teachers and cafeteria workers; the management
association, which makes up approximately 30 administrators; and three
administrative assistants.
Under the terms of the
approved contracts, all four accepted a 2.5 percent salary increase in the
first year and no increase in the second year. Benefits remain the same and no
other concessions were sought, according to district Superintendent Dennis
Riker.
“We have done a very good job of educating our community
about unfunded state and federal mandates and how much of our budget is out of
local control,” she said. “They want us to respect the T/E Culture with an eye
on success and sustainability.”
Tredyffrin/Easttown
respondents want money-savvy superintendent
By BILL RETTEW JR., For 21st Century Media
TREDYFFRIN – Results of a recent Tredyffrin/Easttown School
District survey indicate most of 1,021 community stakeholder respondents
consider money management the top priority when hiring the district’s next
superintendent. When asked to pick three
categories from a list of 10 options, 83 percent of students, teachers, parents
and taxpayers overwhelmingly chose budget and financial matters as the top
challenge a new superintendent will face.
Almost 600 respondents checked financial expertise as a top
qualification for the new super.
Superintendent Dan Waters is scheduled to retire July 1, 2015.
Mutchler’s right to know
“Pennsylvania
has been recognized as having a strong Right-to-Know Law and a widely
recognized Right-to-Know office under her leadership,” said Sen. Lloyd Smucker,
R-13, Lancaster, chairman of the Senate State Government Committee.
Congressman Patrick Meehan
Observes Humanoid Robots in Garnet Valley Schools
Congressman Patrick Meehan visited the Garnet Valley
School District Garnet Valley
Pediatrics Group to Recommend
Reading
New York Times By MOTOKO RICH JUNE 24, 2014
In between dispensing advice on breast-feeding and
immunizations, doctors will tell parents to read aloud to their infants from
birth, under a new policy that the American
Academy
NSBA
Bill Introduced in the United
States
NSBA is pleased to
announce that the Local School Board Governance and Flexibility Act, S.2451 was
introduced by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) on June 10. This bill serves as
the Senate companion bill to H.R. 1386, that was introduced by Representatives
Aaron Schock (R-IL),Patrick Meehan (R-PA), David Valadao (R-CA), Rodney Davis
(R-IL) and Ron Kind (D-WI) on March 21, 2013. Since that time the number
of co-sponsors of HR 1386 has increased to 43.
After a year-long investigation, the Detroit Free Press published
a scathing report on the state’s thriving charter sector. Charter schools receive $1 billion in
taxpayer funding with virtually no accountability. They get worse results than traditional
public schools. 140,000 children attend
charter schools in Michigan . Michigan
has more for-profit charters than any other state. The for-profit organizations
are secretive about their finances because they are private.
"The findings, based on tens of
thousands of records spanning two decades as well as hundreds of interviews,
paint a dismal picture of a charter sector that spends $1 billion annually with
little accountability and lax oversight. Ultimately, the paper found, Michigan
Major probe of Michigan
This week the Detroit Free Press is publishing
results from its year-long investigation into charter schools in Michigan , which has more
for-profit companies operating schools than any other state. The findings,
based on tens of thousands of records spanning two decades as well as hundreds
of interviews, paint a dismal picture of a charter sector that spends $1
billion annually with little accountability and lax oversight. Ultimately, the
paper found, Michigan ’s
charter schools do no better in terms of student achievement than traditional
public schools.
Join the Notebook!
Become a Member!
The Notebook invites all of our readers
to join
us now, as members by signing up on our "Donate"
page. Our reporting depends on the continued generous support and
contributions from our growing Notebook membership. In
2013, we reached more than 500 memberships! Thanks to all of our
supporters. Don't forget to renew or join for this calendar year. Help us
reach 600+ members in 2014! We're
excited about this program as a way to recognize your support, give you some extra
perks, and support our work and sustainability. Learn more about our work here.
Membership starts at $40 for the 2014 calendar year. Learn
more about the membership
levels here. You can also give the gift of Notebook membership.
Come to Harrisburg
Education Voters PA
Governor Corbett’s “election-year” budget is falling apart.
Revenue projections are down and Corbett and state legislators are looking to
make more than $1.2 billion in cuts to his proposed 2014-2015
budget. Lobbyists will be swarming the
Capitol in the month of June and we need to be there, too. Join Pennsylvanians from throughout the
commonwealth as we send a loud and clear message that after three years of
balancing the state budget on the backs of Pennsylvania’s public school
children, it is time for our state government to do what is right and pass a
fair budget that will provide students with the opportunities they need to meet
state standards and be successful after they graduate.
Details: http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6041/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=7059
PA Basic Ed. Funding
Campaign: Building capacity to advocate for adequate, equitable school funding
PSBA website 6/10/2014
The Pennsylvania Basic Education Funding Campaign seeks up to
ten (10) regional "circuit riders" statewide to work with and support
school system leaders to build capacity and advocate for an adequate and
equitable school funding system.
Regional Circuit Riders Contract Employment Announcement
The Pennsylvania Basic Education Funding Campaign seeks up to
ten (10) regional "circuit riders" statewide to work with and support
school system leaders to build capacity and advocate for an adequate and
equitable school funding system. Circuit riders will support school system
leaders by providing education and training about past and current school
funding systems, principles and models of good school funding systems and
effective advocacy strategies using information and materials provided by the
Campaign. School system leaders include school directors, Intermediate Unit executive
directors, district superintendents, business managers and other key school
district leaders. Building capacity
among Pennsylvania school system leaders to advocate for an adequate and
equitable school funding system is one component of a broader multi-year effort
that involves more than 25 organizations across Pennsylvania. This component is
a collaborative effort of the PA Association of School Business Officials
(PASBO), PA Association of School Administrators (PASA), PA School Boards
Association (PSBA), PA Association of Rural and Small Schools (PARSS) and PA
Association of Intermediate Units (PAIU). PASBO serves as the fiscal agent for
the collaborative.
- See more at: http://www.psba.org/news-publications/headlines/details.asp?id=7943#sthash.rYZzUteD.dpuf
EPLC Education Issues
Workshop for Legislative Candidates, Campaign Staff, and Interested Voters -
Harrisburg July 31
Register Now! EPLC will again be hosting
an Education Issues Workshop for Legislative Candidates, Campaign Staff,
and Interested Voters. This nonpartisan, one-day program will take place
on Thursday, July 31 in Harrisburg. Space is limited. Click here to learn more about workshop and
to register.
PSBA opens nominations for
the Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award
The nomination process is now open for the Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award. This award 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. Applications will be accepted until July 16, 2014. The July 16 date was picked in honor of Timothy M. Allwein's birthday. The award will be presented during the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference in October. More details and application are available on PSBA's website.
The nomination process is now open for the Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award. This award 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. Applications will be accepted until July 16, 2014. The July 16 date was picked in honor of Timothy M. Allwein's birthday. The award will be presented during the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference in October. More details and application are available on PSBA's website.
Education
Policy and Leadership Center
Click
here to read more about EPLC’s Education Policy Fellowship Program, including:
2014-15 Schedule 2014-15 Application Past Speakers Program Alumni And More
Information
2014 PA Gubernatorial Candidate Plans for Education
and Arts/Culture in PA
Education Policy and Leadership Center
Below is an alphabetical list of the 2014
Gubernatorial Candidates and links to information about their plans, if
elected, for education and arts/culture in Pennsylvania. This list will be updated, as more
information becomes available.
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