Education

State Education Funding Matters – A Tale of Two States (PA and NJ)

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on December 19, 2017 7:59 am
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A new “big-data” base on U.S. school districts provides new evidence that Pennsylvania has many high-performing schools but many lower-income rural and urban districts that perform less well. A likely culprit: Pennsylvania’s inadequate state funding for schools. Low state school funding leaves moderate- and lower-income districts poorly funded and with less in total funding than affluent districts, even though the lower-income districts serve students with higher rates of poverty, non-English speaking families, and other challenges that hold back achievement.

Why Do Rural Legislators Vote for Voucher Programs That Deliver NO Benefits to Their Counties?

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on April 7, 2017 12:04 pm
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Imagine two Pennsylvania programs that subsidize a mix of the state's most expensive private schools catering to the very rich plus faith-based instruction hostile to those with different beliefs. Imagine, further, that you don't have either kind of school in your rural county, which is served virtually entirely by public schools.

Did your state rep vote make Betsy DeVos proud?

Posted by Susan Spicka on March 16, 2017 10:00 am
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The following is a guest post from Susan Spicka, Executive Director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania. It was originally posted on their blog here.

Budgets are about priorities and yesterday 147 members of the PA House made it clear that funding scholarships for students to attend unaccountable private/religious schools is one of their top budget priorities this year. They made school privatizer Betsy DeVos proud.

Against HB 530 — Once More With Feeling

Posted by Marc Stier on October 24, 2016 8:09 am
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HB 530, a revision of the laws that govern charter schools, has reared its ugly head again. We continue to oppose it.

School districts in Pennsylvania contain a mix of traditional public schools and charter schools. Some local school districts want to add charters schools. Many do not. All of them should be empowered to evaluate the best way to educate students in their respective districts. 

Unfortunately, provisions in HB530 will remove much of the supervisory and decision-making authority from local school districts in every corner of the state. Since charter schools receive funding from local school districts, the creation of new seats in charter schools without school board supervision and control diminishes the ability of school districts to establish and manage their budgets. That could result in the underfunding of traditional schools or significant local tax increases. That is why we oppose this legislation, which that permits charter schools to enroll new students, add grade levels, and recruit students from outside the school district without the approval of the local school board.

Education Voters of PA Statement on the Oral Argument Before the PA Supreme Court for the School Funding Lawsuit

Posted by Susan Spicka on September 14, 2016 8:58 am
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The following is a guest post from Susan Spicka, Executive Director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania. It was originally posted on their blog here.

Following oral argument of the school funding lawsuit before the PA Supreme Court, Susan Spicka, Executive Director of Education Voters of PA, made the following statement at a press conference at Philadelphia City Hall:

My name is Susan Spicka and I am the Executive Director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania and a parent of two children who attend public schools in the south central part of the state.

A New Approach to Accountability: What PA Schools Can Learn From the U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team

Posted by Stephen Herzenberg on August 10, 2016 1:36 pm
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Americans today are celebrating the astounding success of the U.S. women's gymnastics team at the summer olympics in Rio. The team won the gold medal last night, finishing nearly twice as far ahead of silver medalist Russia as Russia finished ahead of eighth place Brazil.

Believe it or not, the success of the U.S. women's gymnastics team contains within it a powerful suggestion for improving Pennsylvania's schools — a new approach to "accountability" that could result in gold-medal performances by more and more Pennsylvania children over time.

We have a budget for 2016-2017. What does it mean for schools?

Posted by Susan Spicka on July 15, 2016 11:02 am
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The 2016-2017 PA budget is now complete. Yesterday a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the PA House and Senate approved a revenue package and Governor Wolf signed it into law. But what does it mean for our schools?

Bad ideas under any label

Posted by Marc Stier on July 11, 2016 2:14 pm
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We are hearing that some of the provisions in a House school code bill, HB530, are being included in a Senate-supported school code bill, HB1606. It is unclear which parts of HB530 will be included in HB1606, but we will be monitoring to determine if any of the very problematic provisions of the former bill wind up in the latter.
 
School districts in Pennsylvania contain a mix of traditional public schools and charter schools. Some local school districts want to add charters schools. Many do not.

School funding: What One Hand Gives Another Takes Away

Posted by Marc Stier on June 29, 2016 2:22 pm
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As this dispiriting budget season ends, advocates for education could at least be grateful that the General Assembly seems poised to increase basic education funding by $200 million. This is far less than the $400 million necessary to put us on a path towards overcoming massive cuts and the most unequal education funding in the state. And it does little more than help school districts keep up with costs. But at a time when so many legislators are unwilling to find the revenues to invest in anything, it is better than nothing. 

Need a data-driven break from the election? Let's talk education funding...

Posted by Mark Price on April 26, 2016 10:42 am
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For the education data geeks out there (admit it, you're probably one) here is data comparing new classroom funding (in budget geek speak that's the basic education subsidy plus the ready to learn block grant) by school district as proposed under the bi-partisan budget framework versus the same funding under the final budget for 2015-16.

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