July 1, 2011

Final Budget Signed. 

Governor Corbett signed a $127.149 billion budget last night with only minutes to spare before the midnight deadline.  He thus kept his promise of a budget on time and for less than last year's spending.  This despite a budget surplus of $785.5 million

as of June 30.
The final budget cuts millions of state dollars from education funding.  The  governor also signed legislation that will make it more difficult for local districts to raise funds locally.
The bottom line? Elections have consequences.  Governor Corbett  and the Republican leadership delivered what they promised and Pennsylvania children and citizens will pay a high price.
Read more.  

In This Issue

* Governor signs bill removing most exceptions to Act 1

* State Education Cuts fall more heavily on poor kids

* Voucher and charter bills put off 'til fall

Governor signs bill removing most of the exceptions in Act 1.  

While the governor hoped for ALL exceptions to the "back end referendum" to be removed, SB 330 retained a few exceptions in modified form:  

1) costs to pay interest and principal on indebtedness in certain circumstances;
2) costs to pay interest and principal on electoral debt;
3) costs incurred in providing special education programs and services (net of State special education payments); and
4) costs due to increases of more than the index in the school's share of payments to PSERS taking into account  on the PSERS contribution rate.
This will make it much more difficult to raise local taxes above the index as such an increase will have to go to referendum. No other increases in local taxes are subject to such a requirement.  

State funding to education in final budget continues to have disparate impact on poor students.      

Despite some efforts in the Senate to restore additional funding to poorer districts in the final budget, state education funding cuts in the 2011-12 budget signed into law last night have a significant disparate impact on children in school districts with high levels of poverty.  This was first reported by PLUS and the Pa School Funding Campaign in analysis of the budgets proposed by the governor and the House.      

A quick analysis of the final numbers reveals that the school districts with student poverty in excess of 50 percent suffered average cuts in state funding of $643 per student.  Of the school districts with student poverty less than 25 percent, the average cut was only $215 per student. (this analysis excludes the Duquesne SD which is the ONLY district to receive an increase in state funding.) 

Thanks to the EducationLawCenter for developing these spreadsheets.) 

Bill to allow Economic Furlough of teachers fails to pass General Assembly.
Despite having passed the Senate in May, and being voted out of the House Education Committee on June 20, SB 612 never came to a vote on the4 House floor.  This is reported because the governor wanted a "clean bill" i.e., a bill that would allow economic furloughs of teachers without regard to seniority.  SB 612 requires furloughs to be based on seniority. It is not clear how school districts or the Department of Education will face furloughs forced in many school districts by their loss of funds in this year's final budget.   

Voucher and CharterSchool Proposals  Put off 'til the fall.   

Despite significant efforts to move voucher and charter school expansion proposals before the summer recess, the Senate Republicans were unable to reach agreement on how to proceed. Senator Jeff Piccola (R, Dauphin), chair of the Senate Educ Committee and prime sponsor of SB 1, issued a statement stating his disappointment and saying, "This is a lost opportunity to fundamentally change the Commonwealth's approach to education. We are aiming to implement proven methods to enhance academic achievement for all students."
Check out a report on the private money that is behind the voucher movement across the nation in The Billionaires Who Want to Privatize our Schools in The Progress Report of the Center for American Progress.
You will recall that our own Governor Corbett endorsed vouchers at a Washington DC conference and national voucher proponents have given millions in campaign contribution in PA..

Quick Links

PLUS website
Pa School Funding Campaign
Pennsylvanians Opposed to Vouchers
Keystone State Education Coalition
Education Voters Pa
Education Law Center