Budget Drama Shows Some Progress, But Not Enough for Children

Hundreds of students, parents, teachers and education advocates held a rally in the Capitol on Tuesday to call for fair funding for Pennsylvania Schools.

Only four days remain until the end of the fiscal year, but the habitual year-end budget games are underway.  State house leaders are poised to approve a budget bill that reportedly will provide $100 million more in state funds for basic education that is only 25% of the $400 million increase proposed by the administration.  The House package is likely to expand pre-k and Head Start by $30 million.  Here again the House budget proposal includes an increase that is far lower than the administration which proposed $120 million for these essential early childhood education investments.

The House action comes just days after hundreds of parents, civic leaders, education stakeholders and members of the clergy from across the state rallied in the Capitol calling on legislators to adopt the new school funding formula and increase school funding by $400 million.

In spite of the fact that the governor has made it clear that he will not accept the House budget, the Senate is likely to also vote to support it and send it to the governor’s desk.  That means the governor will either veto or “blue line” the budget.  “Blue line” means only parts of the budget are enacted.  All parties hope that after all this high drama is over, budget negotiations will begin in earnest.

Click here to tell your state legislators to work towards approving a real budget that provides adequate investments for Pennsylvania’s children.  Feel Free to use the script below:

I support raising revenues and want you to take a stand for children by supporting a $400 million increase in funds for our schools and $120 million for Pre-K.

Fairly Funding Schools is Good Public Policy and Good Business

Fairly funding schools is one of the sweetest things our state legislature can do for children.  On Tuesday, PCCY delivered cakes to Rep. Mike Vereb (pictured above) and Sen. Pat Browne to thank them for their work as the chairs of the Basic Education Funding Commission.

Education advocates hailed the new proposed school funding formula.  So too did the Pennsylvania Business Council, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, Allegheny Conference on Community Development and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

Education researchers, business leaders and economists are in agreement that closing the funding gap between wealthy and low-income schools is one of the wisest investments that the state legislature can make.  Recent research shows that Pennsylvania could boost its economic output by $12-$44 billion by closing the gap, according to the RAND Corporation.

Closing the gap starts with restoring the cut to education made in 2011.  Pennsylvania school districts received $650 million less this past year than they did four years prior.  State legislators can take a big step towards restoring the cut by approving $400 million in new funding for schools in the FY 2016 state budget.  Restoring the cuts first and then applying the proposed funding formula to future state funding ensures every school district receives its fair share of state aid.

Kudos to Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center for Taking a Stand

On Thursday afternoon the official Twitter feed for the Pennsylvania House Republicans began circulating an infographic that was an attack on Philadelphia.
PBPC said, “In 2011-12 Philadelphia endured 35 percent of the total classroom funding cuts experienced by all school districts across the state, despite having only 12% of the state’s classroom population.

Partly as a result of these cuts and similar deep cuts in other large city districts with concentrated poverty, Pennsylvania has the largest funding gap in the nation between its richest and poorest school districts.

Gov. Wolf has proposed restoring the school funding cut made in 2011-12, which means Philadelphia would get a share of restoration funding similar to its share of the cuts.”

PCCY also calls for those who posted this divisive infographic targeted against a high-poverty school district with a majority African American student population to take it down and continue to work together in the budget process to establish more adequate and equitable school funding for the benefit of all Pennsylvania children.

Did you see today’s Daily News? “Public Citizens for Children and Youth just released a report highlighting the problem of undocumented children who are ineligible for Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that was designed to make sure all kids, no matter what their circumstances, are covered by some kind of health care.”  Click here to read more.

Literacy from Birth to 8th:

A Talk and Discussion on Promoting Best Practices in Philadelphia.  Click here for more details.