August Newsflash
Philly gets boost from state in school funding, but not systemic reform
With school funding increases that state officials glowingly called "a historic investment in education," Governor Ed Rendell's second budget was signed into law over Fourth of July weekend.
The budget includes a welcome $471 million in new spending for Pennsylvania's general education budget, addressing Rendell's pledge that he wants to become an equal partner with local governments by increasing the state's share of education spending. The state's contribution has climbed under Rendell from an average of 37 percent to 44 percent of local districts' budgets.
But critics say the budget legislation falls far short of Rendell's committments and expressed concern about new limits on the amount of money that a district can raise locally.
The budget allocates $1 billion dollars for the Philadelphia School District, $30.8 million more than the District expected. CEO Paul Vallas underlines that the budget "is one of the best we've ever had."
Timothy Potts, director of the Pennsylvania School Reform Network, argues that the Rendell budget is another missed opportunity.
"The one thing that he campaigned on most vigorously was the need to change the entire funding system to reduce the disparities between the rich and the poor in this state, and that hasn't even been attempted yet, much less accomplished," Potts says.
Janis Risch, spokeswoman for Good Schools Pennsylvania, points out, "What the state has failed to do is address two really fundamental questions: what does it take to assure all children are educated to high levels, and how can we assure both adequacy and equity in resources?"
Risch notes that not all Pennsylvania districts were as lucky as Philadelphia. New state tax reform measures mean that in order to significantly increase education spending in most districts (excluding Philadelphia), a voter referendum will now be required.
One innovation that both Risch and Potts praise is the appropriation of targeted money for specific programs, such as a $200 million Accountability Block Grant that allows needy districts to develop successful best practices.
Philadelphia will be receiving $40.3 million of this money, which will support District reform initiatives.
Other funding increases for Philadelphia include $5 million in targeted money for English Language Learners, $18 million to run discipline schools, and $16.5 million for tutoring programs.
With an unanticipated $11.6 million increase in state support for spending on charter schools, Vallas says he is planning a few spending increases, including hiring 136 new teachers. He says this will allow the District to extend class size reduction to 70 percent of K-3 classrooms. Programs such as Fast ForWord and after-school Extended Day for special education students, gifted students, and general education students will also be expanded.