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General Assembly Scramble - Ask Questions to Baruch

A BUDGET UPDATE: Thursday, June 30, 2011

The 2011-12 State Budget was formally adopted by both the House and Senate on Wednesday. It is House Bill 1485. The education line items can be found on pages 229 through 240. The spending numbers approved for these line items match the spreadsheet found here (look for the Department of Education pages starting on Line 198).

 

Bottom line -- Nothing changed in the education budget over the last few days. Neither the House nor the Senate amended the budget bill before the final votes this week. So the ELC analysis, spreadsheet, and other materials remain accurate and may be more informative for you -- click here.

 

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have issued spreadsheets showing different ways of looking at the education funding appropriated district-by-district. I find these spreadsheets to hide many important details about the cuts, but you may find it interesting to see how they have chosen to present things. Click on the following links to download the district-by-district spreadsheets from the House and the Senate.

 

If you have questions, post them here and I will do my best to provide an answer.

 

ORIGINAL POST:

This is the last week of the 2011-12 session of the General Assembly before taking a summer break.  The General Assembly will pass the state budget, cutting funding for public schools.  It is also expected to consider and possibly adopt new education reforms, including bills making it harder to raise property taxes and making it easier to lay off teachers.  Also on the agenda is major legislation for tuition vouchers and charter school expansion.

 

WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN IN THE FUN.  Ask your questions and express your opinions here on PaSchoolTalk.  I will respond as quickly as I can throughout the week.

 

Thank you for caring about the future of our children, our schools, and our communities.

Tags: Center, Education, Law, Pennsylvania, budget, funding, schools

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Permalink Reply by Baruch Kintisch on June 27, 2011 at 8:54am

Here are a few links to key information on the website of the Education Law Center:

Permalink Reply by Baruch Kintisch on June 27, 2011 at 9:12am

And here are some of the latest media reports:

 

Pennsylvania Legislature likely won't consider all of Corbett's age... (Harrisburg Patriot News)

 

Corbett may get most budget items on his wish list (Philadelphia Inquirer)

 

Senate Republicans expected to unveil budget plan today (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

 

GOP wields the power in state budget talks (Harrisburg Patriot News)

Permalink Reply by Cindy Duch on June 27, 2011 at 1:52pm
Baruch,  I have heard that the reason behind the budget cuts to education, the changes to be made to charters and the push for vouchers, is that the governor wants school districts in PA to consolidate.  Is there any truth to this?  Are all of these education changes the means to the end of 500 school districts in PA?  Thanks  Cindy
Permalink Reply by Baruch Kintisch on June 27, 2011 at 2:39pm
Cindy - For many years there have been financial pressures for some school districts to consider consolidation.  The current funding crisis can only add to these pressures, whether intended by state-level officials or not.  Struggling districts could use more state help to lower health care and pension costs and to facilitate the low-cost purchase of supplies and other resources.  But sometimes it seems like the state is focused on making it harder and more expensive, not easier and cheaper, for public schools to operate.

Cindy Duch said:
Baruch,  I have heard that the reason behind the budget cuts to education, the changes to be made to charters and the push for vouchers, is that the governor wants school districts in PA to consolidate.  Is there any truth to this?  Are all of these education changes the means to the end of 500 school districts in PA?  Thanks  Cindy
Permalink Reply by Baruch Kintisch on June 27, 2011 at 5:08pm

The annual school code bill for 2011-12 is starting to move through the General Assembly. This is the bill that accompanies the education budget and often includes some "sneaky" changes to the law for public schools.

 

ELC has identified some problems with what is being proposed.  Click the following link to read all about it, and add your comments and questions to this discussion below -- http://www.elc-pa.org/schoolcode2011.html.

 

UPDATE.  The Senate Education Committee just voted to approve the school code bill as an amendment to HB 1352.  Nothing posted online just yet, so use the link above to read ELC's analysis and see the proposed language.

Permalink Reply by Baruch Kintisch on June 27, 2011 at 5:35pm

SOME BUDGET LEAKS.

The education budget numbers are not finalized yet.  But some "official" spreadsheets are being leaked out.  It's dangerous to rely on this information, because so much can change until the real votes start being taken on real budget bills.

 

Here is what the tentative numbers look like to me from the leaked spreadsheets:

  • The final budget does not change much from the budget passed by the House in May.  Click here for ELC's analysis of the House-passed budget (see "Timeline of Cuts").
  • Basically, in May the House added $100 million to Basic Education Funding and another $100 million to Accountability Block Grants, along with some smaller changes.
  • It looks like the new final budget will add another $28 million to Basic Education and cut small amounts from many other K-12 line items.  Other things stay the same as adopted by the House in May.

That's it for now.  Stay tuned, and feel free to chime in here with your thoughts and questions.

Permalink Reply by Baruch Kintisch on June 28, 2011 at 8:43am
TUESDAY MORNING UPDATE. Still not much happening, in terms of votes on bills. Behind the scenes in the Capitol things are going full tilt - negotiations, deals, speeches, press releases.

The first official budget spreadsheet is available, and there is a news story today with good details. Here are the links. I'll add more as the day goes along.

2011 Budget Line Item Spreadsheet issued by the House Appropriations Committee (Republican) --
http://www.pahousegop.com/Display/SiteFiles/109/OtherDocuments/Fina...

Schools, city lose in budget (Philadelphia Inquier) --
http://m.philly.com/phillycom/db_41090/contentdetail.htm?contentgui...
Permalink Reply by Baruch Kintisch on June 28, 2011 at 9:10am
SCHOOL CODE UPDATE.  On Monday evening, the multi-faceted School Code Bill was amended into HB 1352 and approved by the Senate Education Committee.  Click here to read the details in the bill.  And read our summary on the ELC site.  Many odd things and some bad ones included here.  The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to vote on the bill today.  Your thoughts?
Permalink Reply by Taimarie Adams on June 28, 2011 at 11:05am

 

Baruch, today’s Inquirer stated that legislators are pushing to enact a voucher proposal before the summer recess.  Do you have any idea what that might look like and where things stand now?

Permalink Reply by Brett Schaeffer on June 28, 2011 at 5:14pm

Hi, Taimarie.

I'll jump in for a quick reply. We're still concerned that legislators may try some last-minute maneuvering to get school choice (vouchers, charters, EITC) legislation passed, especially as part of some other bill.


Taimarie Adams said:

 

Baruch, today’s Inquirer stated that legislators are pushing to enact a voucher proposal before the summer recess.  Do you have any idea what that might look like and where things stand now?

Permalink Reply by Taimarie Adams on June 28, 2011 at 5:18pm

Thanks!

 

Permalink Reply by Baruch Kintisch on June 28, 2011 at 5:44pm

NOT MUCH ACTION ON TUESDAY.  I guess it is a pleasant surprise that we made it through another day without bills being passed for tuition vouchers, charter school expansion, and other things designed to weaken our system of public education.  As the clock ticks toward June 30, time is running out for that kind of last minute mischief-making.  So perhaps the absence of bad things happening would be a victory in itself, because such major changes in education policy should never be made in a rush and without public input.

 

Please continue to keep informed this week and stay in touch with your state representatives and senators.  Tell them how you feel and what you want them to vote for and against.

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