Shock, then Awww….

Forgive most Pennsylvanians for their wait-and-see attitude regarding the State Budget developments—given our history, it’s hard to believe we may possibly have a budget passed and delivered to the Governor’s office imminently.

And there’s some good news for kids, but far less than they so desperately need. The agreement on new spending includes $200 million for school districts, to be distributed via the newly minted funding formula. Education advocates like PCCY were calling for $400 million as a meaningful step toward the $3 billion districts actually need to fulfill the basic education needs of our students.

And, as we noted last week, the Governor’s silence on pre-k proposals did not bode well for what is widely seen as a no-brainer. Although just mere weeks from Philadelphia’s history-making Soda Tax victory, pre-k fizzed out somewhat and our poorest kids got an additional $30 million for quality pre-k instead of the $90 million that would have opened 7,200 new spots.

Far short of meeting the needs of PA families, the ‘new’ funding merely maintains existing slots and doesn’t add a single seat. Look to our legislators themselves for an example of actual new funding, as they voted to increase their budgets by $19 million, including a cool $8.5 million for “caucus operations.”

Cash for Corrections increased by $153 million this year, which we note to highlight PCCY’s commentary published this week in the Bucks County Courier Times. The piece crystalizes what we mean when we say “pay now or pay more later” about pre-k funding. PA spends $2 billion in Corrections costs annually and the lifelong benefits of quality pre-k would keep high-risk kids from becoming entangled in the justice system in the first place (studies show extremely large reductions in criminal behavior). In fact, if quality pre-k had been funded at $90 million for 7,200 additional slots, keeping 1,500 high-risk kids out of prison FOR JUST ONE YEAR, the program would pay for itself.

We’ll skip the rehashing of last year’s Keystone Cops routine and the devastation it wrought upon us all. Suffice to say, with local taxes on the rise in most districts and the Commonwealth’s bond rating taking a dive, we’ll be paying for it for quite some time.

So that we have a budget bill that both the House and Senate have agreed to so early in the process (albeit no agreement on how to pay for it) is a monumental achievement for our legislators in Harrisburg (how’s that for the triumph of lowered expectations?) but another missed opportunity to invest in our future.

Of course the budget agreement could fall apart and we could be in for another taxing year.

If you spot a kid reading this summer, have them call Mayor Kenney! Kids can leave a message at 267-689-READ as many times as they want. It’s part of Read by 4th, a citywide coalition of organizations.

“Social skills (learned in pre-k) account for the extremely large reductions in criminal behavior and incarceration rates in the teen years and later.” PCCY’s commentary published in the Bucks County Courier Times this week.

The majority of gun deaths are actually suicide, which probably comes up less often in the gun debate because people don’t fear it. READ IT HERE

Read more about kids and firearms in one of our recent newsletters.

Philly has seen a decline in childhood obesity of 6.5%. “In Philadelphia, improving the health of our children has been a true collaboration between government, nonprofits, businesses and community partners. We need to build on and expand what is working to continue moving in the right direction.” Yael Lehmann, executive director of The Food Trust. LEARN MORE