Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf originally sought $400 million in additional school funding (a 7 percent increase to $6.1 billion), but Republican lawmakers approved only half of the request to avoid tax increases.

“Over the past several days, I have worked with Republicans and Democrats in the legislature to finalize the 2015-2016 budget,” Gov. Wolf said in a statement. “I will let the fiscal code become law without my signature, and I look forward to working with the legislature in the coming weeks to address our challenges and meet the needs of distressed school districts so that they will remain solvent. As we enter 2016-2017, I look forward to coming together to reach a long-term solution to fix our deficit and to fund education at all levels. I remain adamant that we must take additional steps to restore the cuts from the previous administration.”

The fiscal code legislation dictates how the funding will be distributed according to a formula developed by a bipartisan commission, even though Gov. Wolf wanted to distribute the money differently in order to restore previous cuts, according to the .

Budget cuts enacted in 2011 under Gov. Tom Corbett cut roughly $860 million from public schools, most of it from the state’s poorest districts, reported the Associated Press. This created a distinct gap in per-student funding — the largest such discrepancy in the nation — between the state’s wealthiest and poorest districts. As part of the distribution formula, no school district will get less under the formula, even districts that get outsized contributions from the state compared to their relative wealth, according to the Associated Press.

The enactment of this latest legislation brings the 2015-2016 budget to a close, according to representatives of both the House and Senate Republican majority leaders. The bill passed the Senate in a 37-11 vote, while the House passed it, 149-45.

“We still have a long way to go to restore the cuts to education at all levels, Pre-K through higher education,” Gov. Wolf said in a statement. “I am eager to get to work immediately with Republican and Democratic leaders to discuss a responsible 2016-2017 budget that is balanced, fixes the deficit, continues to make important investments in education and prevents Pennsylvania from going over a fiscal cliff that will have serious implications for our long-term future.”

The $2.5 billion in borrowing for the state share of school construction costs is also long overdue, as districts complained that they had been waiting for years to be reimbursed by the state’s backlogged school construction bureaucracy, according to the Associated Press.
 

The post Pennsylvania School Funding Bill Takes Effect appeared first on ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æÒ•îl.

The post Pennsylvania School Funding Bill Takes Effect appeared first on ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æÒ•îl.

“School districts are being forced to consider bad options, including class-size increases, cuts in educator positions and the discontinuation of programs while Gov. Hogan withholds this crucial funding,” said MSEA President Betty Weller in a statement. “Educators, parents and elected officials from both parties are urging the governor to move swiftly and release this funding to make sure that it can help our students and avoid negative consequences for our schools.”

The campaign included a relaunched , which was first introduced in February after Gov. Hogan proposed cutting $144 million from public schools. The state’s general assembly restored $132 million of those cuts, but Gov. Hogan still needed to release the $68 million that comes from the Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI), according to MSEA.

A broad, bipartisan coalition of educators, parents, school board members, superintendents, county officials and state legislators held local events after the end of the legislative session to urge Gov. Hogan to release the funding. The funds go to 13 jurisdictions, including Baltimore, where the cost of education is higher than in other areas of the state.

However, in mid-May, Gov. Hogan announced he would not release the $68 million. He instead plans to direct a portion of the money to the state pension fund. Maryland currently faces $18.7 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. The governor said ignoring the problem would be irresponsible.

For weeks, the teachers union, education advocates and many Democratic lawmakers demanded the governor fully fund the GCEI.

“In Carroll County, they are talking about increasing fees on parents for sporting programs, and in Montgomery County, they are talking about a reduction in 300 teaching positions. In Baltimore City, they are talking about fewer summer programs,” Sean Johnson, director for the MSEA, told Baltimore news station WBAL-TV.

State law requires record funding for education each year. The governor’s budget included $6.1 billion in K-12 funding and $318 million in school construction money. The General Assembly passed an emergency bill mandating fully funding the GCEI. Gov. Hogan said he would let that bill become law without his signature.

"We understand there are enough votes to override the veto, and it’s not worth putting people through the protracted battle with Legislature over the issue. We’ll find some way to comply with this unreasonable mandate next year," Gov. Hogan said in a statement.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake disagreed with the governor’s decision.

"I am disheartened that Gov. Hogan has chosen not to provide this basic funding for schools in Baltimore City and across the state of Maryland. Given how the needs of our children have been highlighted by the events of the past few weeks, I hoped that the governor would have agreed with the General Assembly that these dollars are critical for expanded educational opportunities," Rawlings-Blake said in a statement.

The post Maryland Education Advocates Pursue State Funding appeared first on ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æÒ•îl.

The post Maryland Education Advocates Pursue State Funding appeared first on ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æÒ•îl.

Currently, publicly funded early childhood education programs across Louisiana vary greatly, and lack a consistent set of student expectations. To remedy this, the department selected 15 districts in April 2013 to participate in a year-long early childhood education pilot program, intended to solidify standards and increase ease of enrollment.

These first round pilot parishes have already made great strides in early childhood education through training staff in the Birth to Five Early Learning Development Standard, and instituting both the CLASS professional development tool for teachers and the Teaching Strategies GOLD child development assessment. These schools have also worked to identify all children up to age five in their community in need of education services.

This second pilot program will further help Louisiana in unifying its various programs. It is also a key step in implementing Act 3 of the 2012 Legislative Session requiring the state to reform its fragmented system. "No longer can we accept radically different standards for student learning depending on the program or funding stream," said State Education Superintendent John White. "We are thrilled with the results of the pilots to date…they are well on their way to unifying the system so that childcare is working hand in hand with pre-K and Headstart."

According to White, presently only half of Louisiana children entering kindergarten are able to recognize the letters of the alphabet, or count to 20. “Changing this starts with unifying our expectations for all students, “ said White. “By applying to participate in the second round of pilots, communities have the opportunity to begin this important work prior to the 2015 statewide expansion.”

Louisiana education leaders have long been pushing for improved early childhood programming. The fall 2012 report “Early Childhood Risk and Reach in Louisiana”, published by the LSU/Tulane Early Childhood Policy and Data Center, examined a variety of contributors to childhood success, as well as the state’s existing programs. According to the report, 55 of the state’s 64 parishes scored high on at least one of 11 risk factors related to poor early childhood outcomes, and more than 111,000 children live in the 31 parishes identified as either Moderate-High or High Risk.

However, according to Geoff Nagle, director of the Tulane University Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, “The report shows that almost all parishes, regardless of their current risk ranking, have strengths from which to build and vulnerabilities that need to be addressed.”

Parishes selected for Round 2 of the Early Childhood Network Pilots will receive between $80,000 and $350,000 in training and implementation funds. Electronic copies of the RFA have been made public on the www.louisianabelieves.com, and applications will be accepted through Jan. 22, 2014. Round 2 Network Pilots will be made public in March of 2014. The state plans to have programs in place that will serve all eligible four-year-olds by July 2015

The post Education Program Expands in Louisiana appeared first on ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æÒ•îl.

The post Education Program Expands in Louisiana appeared first on ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æÒ•îl.

The LAO found that funding for California schools, which comes primarily from Proposition 98, was heading up. The state’s overall budget is still facing a deficit, albeit a very small one in the context of the last decade. Proposition 98, passed by voters in 1988, created a minimal amount of the state’s budget that must be allocated to education. A complex formula provides a baseline level of 39 percent of the budget going to education, with different measures for cost of living increases based on whether a fiscal year experiences strong or weak economic growth.

Legislative analyst Mac Taylor explained in a mid-November press conference that “Our numbers reflect growth in Proposition 98 of a couple of billion each year,” adding that the number would grow even further in later years. The LAO projected that the state’s overall budget would also experience growth, at a slightly slower pace, leading to a slight surplus in the 2014-15 fiscal year and ballooning to a $10 billion surplus by 2017-18.

Taylor said the balancing of the education and general fund budgets could be attributed partially to voters’ passage of Proposition 30 in the November election and partially to budget cuts and the state’s economic recovery. Proposition 30 increased the state sales tax from 7.25 percent to 7.5 percent and also increased income taxes for those earning at least $250,000 per year, with those making over $1 million per year seeing the largest increase. The LAO expects the temporary tax increase to raise school funding by about $3 billion per year.

Taylor projected that the general fund budget would have a $1.9 billion shortfall over the next to fiscal years, which is actually relatively small for the state compared to the last decade. He happily predicted the state would reach a small surplus in 2014-15, adding “This is one of the first non-red bars that we’ve shown in this document for quite a while.”

The LAO indicated the growth in education funding would not only allow the state to balance its year-to-year school funding, but also to pay down debt and on-year deferrals from prior years. In theory, this will allow the state to achieve a truly balanced education budget and focus on rehiring teachers and improving education outcomes. Taylor said he didn’t expect a significant bump in the road for the state’s economic recovery in the foreseeable future.

“This is a much, much more positive situation that we’ve faced in many, many years,” said Taylor.

The post California Budgets Balancing After a Decade of Turmoil appeared first on ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æÒ•îl.

The post California Budgets Balancing After a Decade of Turmoil appeared first on ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æÒ•îl.