From the Inquirer
Rendell gets education increase in budget
By Dan Hardy, Inquirer Staff Writer
Governor Rendell's proposed 2008-09 education budget sought to create a predictable and long-term education funding system for Pennsylvania that would take the first step toward increasing state funding for school districts by $2.6 billion over the next six years.
He appears to have gotten much of what he wanted.
For starters, there's a historic increase in education funding by $274 million, close to the $291 million Rendell originally asked for.
The basic education funding will be allocated based on figures from a recent "costing out" study that determined how much money the neediest districts should get.
No district will get less than a 3 percent hike; that's double the 1.5 percent minimum increase that Rendell had asked for, according to a legislative official privy to the negotiations under way to finalize the overall budget agreement reached early yesterday morning.
The legislature did not commit to using the same formula to increase state funding over the next six years, the official said. But the legislation will refer to targets based on this year's allocations that the legislature hopes to meet in the future, he said.
"This is an immense victory for children and schools in Pennsylvania," said Baruch Kintisch, a spokesman for the Education Law Center, an advocacy group that has pushed for increased state funding and a predictable funding system. "This is a historic gain - we now have a real [basic education] formula that will be the baseline for the future."
Philadelphia will get $34 million less in basic education money than the $85 million increase Rendell had requested. But, that money will be made up through increases in other funding for the district, which will receive $1.3 billion in state aid next year.
Helen Gym, a Philadelphia parent and education activist, was more cautious. "We don't want the legislature to think this is a one-time commitment and we're done," she said. "It is a significant boost but only when they actually make a commitment to keep increasing the funding over the long run will we see real change."
Basic education funding made up the largest portion of Rendell's proposed $9.38 billion education budget proposal.
The budget legislation will also bar the development of statewide graduation tests. The State Board of Education, with strong Rendell administration backing, had proposed that the state institute a series of subject tests that students could take to show that they knew the material.
The idea triggered widespread opposition among school district officials and state lawmakers.
The budget will have less special-education funding than the governor had asked for. Rendell had requested $1.04 billion, a 3 percent increase; the final figure will be about $1.03 billion, a 1.7 percent increase, said Timothy Allwein, the legislative liaison for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
Funding for the governor's Classrooms for the Future program, to put laptops in every high school core-subject classroom, was cut from the proposed $90 million to $45 million, the legislative official said.
Education department officials said details of the agreement were not final and they could not comment.
Allwein, of the school boards association, said that "I think education made out as well as can be expected, given the fiscal realities of this year and the concerns for what the future was going to bring."
The smaller special-education increase, he said, "is a huge blow - districts will have to shift funds to make up for this loss."
------------------------------------------------
Details of Pa. budget deal
The Associated Press
Details of the budget deal struck early Monday between Gov. Ed Rendell and state legislative leaders:
BUDGET
$28.2 billion for fiscal year 2008-09 beginning Tuesday
3.8 percent increase over past year's spending
Does not require any broad-based tax or fee increases
Uses about $550 million in one-time funds to fill hole in revenues
Does not dip into state's budget reserve to support spending
Agreement before fiscal year's end averts threatened furloughs of 25,000 state workers
BORROWING
$800 million from slot-machine gambling revenues for dams and water and sewer facilities
$500 million from electric utility gross receipts tax revenue for alternative energy projects
$800 million from general tax revenues for civic redevelopment projects
$350 million from motorist fees and taxes to fix about 400 of the state's most dangerous bridges
ADDITIONAL LEGISLATION
Requirement that alternative fuels be added to each gallon of diesel or gas as in-state production rises.
Source: Gov. Ed Rendell, Senate Republicans.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
From the mailbag
From the mailbag. It seems like some of the parents are getting ticked.
The recipient was 00statbd@psupen.psu.edu. Doesn't sound familiar? That's the Pennsylvania State Board of Education.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
333 Market Street
Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333
Voice: 717-787-3787
E-Mail 00statbd@psupen.psu.edu
Anyone else want to email, write, or call? Drop me a line and I will print it here also. Here's a list of the state board's members and other contacts.
P.S. Thanks for the blog mention!
To Whom It May Concern:
I’m not sure who I need to address this too, so I decided that since your name was at the top of the email address list, I would start with you. I am a VERY concerned parent in the Morrisville Boro School District . I feel that my concerns and the concerns of other parents in this district are not being heard. I’m not even sure if the PDE is the place to start. I plan on writing to whoever will listen. Rumors travel fast in this town and at this point all we have is the rumors because some of the school board directors refuse to give us a plan for the future of our children’s education. The parents of Morrisville are extremely disappointed in the manner at which these individuals are behaving. Some have made remarks that they are only on the board to lower taxes. I think that a school board director should be there for the education of the children in the district. Some residents have been posting their concerns on a website, www.savethemorrisvilleschool.blogspot.com, this seems to be our only outlet. More and more residents are attending meetings, but I feel that the point is not getting thru to the school board. The latest thing that I read today was that they are going to run the school district in to the ground so that the State needs to take over.
The 2008-2009 budget was approved last week, the administration has said time and time again that with this new budget there will NOT be adequate money to educate the special education children. The charter and alternative schools amount will not be enough money to provide what is needed for the district.
If there is an individual that should get this email, I hope that you would forward it along to that person. If you are unable to forward it along, I would appreciate a name or department where I can voice my concerns.
The recipient was 00statbd@psupen.psu.edu. Doesn't sound familiar? That's the Pennsylvania State Board of Education.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
333 Market Street
Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333
Voice: 717-787-3787
E-Mail 00statbd@psupen.psu.edu
Anyone else want to email, write, or call? Drop me a line and I will print it here also. Here's a list of the state board's members and other contacts.
P.S. Thanks for the blog mention!
To Whom It May Concern:
I’m not sure who I need to address this too, so I decided that since your name was at the top of the email address list, I would start with you. I am a VERY concerned parent in the Morrisville Boro School District . I feel that my concerns and the concerns of other parents in this district are not being heard. I’m not even sure if the PDE is the place to start. I plan on writing to whoever will listen. Rumors travel fast in this town and at this point all we have is the rumors because some of the school board directors refuse to give us a plan for the future of our children’s education. The parents of Morrisville are extremely disappointed in the manner at which these individuals are behaving. Some have made remarks that they are only on the board to lower taxes. I think that a school board director should be there for the education of the children in the district. Some residents have been posting their concerns on a website, www.savethemorrisvilleschool.blogspot.com, this seems to be our only outlet. More and more residents are attending meetings, but I feel that the point is not getting thru to the school board. The latest thing that I read today was that they are going to run the school district in to the ground so that the State needs to take over.
The 2008-2009 budget was approved last week, the administration has said time and time again that with this new budget there will NOT be adequate money to educate the special education children. The charter and alternative schools amount will not be enough money to provide what is needed for the district.
If there is an individual that should get this email, I hope that you would forward it along to that person. If you are unable to forward it along, I would appreciate a name or department where I can voice my concerns.
Progress at Neshaminy High
It looks like the Neshaminy construction is moving right along.
Maybe we can strike a deal for some of those modular classrooms. We can pile them in the parking lots to replace the schools.
Progress being made at Neshaminy High School
A new science wing and a small theater room are scheduled to be done by the winter, officials said.
By RACHEL CANELLI
STAFF WRITER
Neshaminy High School finally has a front—in the back.
Two-thirds of the way into a major construction and renovation project, crews recently installed a silver name plate to the main student entrance of the Middletown high school located at the back of the building.
“We’ve never had that before,” business administrator Joseph Paradise said as he gave the newspaper an exclusive tour of the site Tuesday morning. “It’s rewarding to see the change.”
In the winter, the district celebrated some of those changes with an open house of a two-story classroom wing. A mirror image of the first classroom building is scheduled to open for students in the fall, officials said.
Besides new desks and flat screen televisions, students will sit at desks that face the front of the classroom but will have to turn around to use the computer. This way a teacher can always see what’s on the students’ screens, administrators said.
Meanwhile, workers are putting the finishing touches on two gyms, which were gutted, painted and given new floors, ceilings, lights and ventilation systems, Paradise said.
The 32 temporary modular classrooms that teachers and students used for the past two years are being dismantled. Across from that space, steel is in place for a brand new two-story science wing that should be equipped with new labs and updated tools by January, he said.
“Before, we fit what we needed into the space that we had,” Paradise said. “This is designed for our needs.”
Crews are also working on renovating the school’s circular-shaped library and replacing a small auditorium-like classroom with a similar setting.
Although there were many people who wanted the district to build a whole new school, the school board settled on 60 percent new space and the rest renovated, administrators said.
However, Paradise pointed out, that the 40 percent being updated looks brand new. But instead of being built from the ground up, it’s still on the old, but solid, foundation, said Paradise.
The project is adding more than 250,000 square feet to accommodate 2,800 students, including ninthgraders who will move there from the middle schools next year.
Also at that time, a hallway of classrooms will be demolished to make way for a road that will lead to the new student entrance. There students will use ID cards to enter, officials said.
The public will have other entrances near the new guidance area. That project should be completed by September, administrators said.
The whole $82 million project, which remains on time and on budget, is expected to be finished in September 2009. The district borrowed $77 million to fund it, Paradise said.
“[The construction] is an inconvenience, but it’s also exciting,” he said. “The board, administration, teachers, students and construction workers have come together [and cooperated] to make it work.”
Maybe we can strike a deal for some of those modular classrooms. We can pile them in the parking lots to replace the schools.
Progress being made at Neshaminy High School
A new science wing and a small theater room are scheduled to be done by the winter, officials said.
By RACHEL CANELLI
STAFF WRITER
Neshaminy High School finally has a front—in the back.
Two-thirds of the way into a major construction and renovation project, crews recently installed a silver name plate to the main student entrance of the Middletown high school located at the back of the building.
“We’ve never had that before,” business administrator Joseph Paradise said as he gave the newspaper an exclusive tour of the site Tuesday morning. “It’s rewarding to see the change.”
In the winter, the district celebrated some of those changes with an open house of a two-story classroom wing. A mirror image of the first classroom building is scheduled to open for students in the fall, officials said.
Besides new desks and flat screen televisions, students will sit at desks that face the front of the classroom but will have to turn around to use the computer. This way a teacher can always see what’s on the students’ screens, administrators said.
Meanwhile, workers are putting the finishing touches on two gyms, which were gutted, painted and given new floors, ceilings, lights and ventilation systems, Paradise said.
The 32 temporary modular classrooms that teachers and students used for the past two years are being dismantled. Across from that space, steel is in place for a brand new two-story science wing that should be equipped with new labs and updated tools by January, he said.
“Before, we fit what we needed into the space that we had,” Paradise said. “This is designed for our needs.”
Crews are also working on renovating the school’s circular-shaped library and replacing a small auditorium-like classroom with a similar setting.
Although there were many people who wanted the district to build a whole new school, the school board settled on 60 percent new space and the rest renovated, administrators said.
However, Paradise pointed out, that the 40 percent being updated looks brand new. But instead of being built from the ground up, it’s still on the old, but solid, foundation, said Paradise.
The project is adding more than 250,000 square feet to accommodate 2,800 students, including ninthgraders who will move there from the middle schools next year.
Also at that time, a hallway of classrooms will be demolished to make way for a road that will lead to the new student entrance. There students will use ID cards to enter, officials said.
The public will have other entrances near the new guidance area. That project should be completed by September, administrators said.
The whole $82 million project, which remains on time and on budget, is expected to be finished in September 2009. The district borrowed $77 million to fund it, Paradise said.
“[The construction] is an inconvenience, but it’s also exciting,” he said. “The board, administration, teachers, students and construction workers have come together [and cooperated] to make it work.”
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