William Penn struggles with bleak budget numbers – Daily Times – April 26, 2015

When it comes to the budget for the William Penn School District, Rafi Cave can’t tell you what will happen next.

“We have no idea,” Cave, the vice president of the school board, said. “We can’t forecast the current method.”

The current method’s lack of a funding formula from the state is what has been a problem for the district. On Wednesday, Cave, representing the district and the Coalition for Residents of Yeadon (C.R.Y.), accompanied 23 other organizations, consisting of 50 young voters from Southeastern Pennsylvania, on a trip to Harrisburg to call for fair funding for schools.

“I try not to say we just need more money,” Cave said, adding that he would like to instead see a plan where the board is at least able to have some idea of the help it could get from the state when it comes time to put together the next budget.

“A formula to predict a forecast and plan, that would be a huge help,” he said. “I don’t believe throwing money at a problem would solve anything.”

But more money would help. Cave used the district’s average kindergarten class size of 32 as an example. He said that if the district was able to hire one more teacher to reduce the average class size, even if it’s just to 27, there would be a better educational payoff for the students.

“That teacher can dedicate more instructional time to those students,” Cave said. “Class size alone can improve educational outcome, but that takes money to do that.”

The voters were split into four groups at the capitol building, with Cave’s group paying visits to Sen. Lawrence Farnese Jr. (D-1), Rep. Jordan Harris (R-186) and staffers for Sen. Thomas McGarrigle (D-26), Rep. Bill Keller (R-184) and Rep. Gene DiGirolamo (R-18). The stops were to ask of each official’s stance on a fair funding formula. Harris, a lifelong resident of Philadelphia, was the most impassioned by the topic.

“I’m willing to sacrifice just about anything, because I am a product of the schools we’re talking about,” Harris said.

Pennsylvania has gone without a funding formula since 2010, and William Penn, along with many other districts, has struggled financially ever since former Gov. Tom Corbett made a $900 million cut to the state education budget in 2011. The district had to implement a 3 percent property tax increase last summer to afford its budget for the 2014-15 school year, although it was an extremely unpopular decision among residents.

The board also voted to throw the last of the district’s savings into the budget to keep the increase at 3 percent.

In the time since, Cave, along with fellow C.R.Y. members and the rest of the school board, have been advocating for a fair funding formula from the state, holding public forums throughout the past year to talk about ideas and possible solutions to both adequately fund the school district and relieve residents of the tax burden.

Meanwhile, the school district has also been involved in a lawsuit that claims the state hasn’t properly funded its public schools. The suit was dismissed by the Commonwealth Court on Tuesday, but the case looks to be heading for an appeal at the Supreme Court.

William Penn will need to have its budget finalized in June. However, the state’s budget, which current governor Tom Wolf proposed a $400 million boost to K-12 education for, stands a chance of not being approved until late summer into early fall.


Daily Times – April 26, 2015 – Read article online