Thank You Pedro Rivera

     I had to opportunity today to listen and then speak with the Secretary of Education for the state of Pennsylvania, Pedro Rivera. First, Secretary Rivera has an extensive resume from teacher to principal to superintendent to executive director. In short, he has been in the trenches.
     It was wonderful to hear support for public education in general and CTE education specifically. Pennsylvania does have a clear vision to produce college/career ready students.
     It was also a pleasant surprise to hear about multiple measures of assessment for students. Some students do test well. Some students do better with projects. By providing multiple pathways to prove proficiency, Pennsylvania will be able to gage student skills in a manner that reflects student strength.
     The dreaded budget was also briefly mentioned in his presentation. It was the focal point of our conversation. I explained that many of the districts in Lawrence County have passed deficit budgets for several years. I also provided Laurel School District as a specific example. The district has passed 3 budgets in a row that reflect deficit spending. Laurel spends more than it receives. Secretary Rivera clearly stated that the state will not be able to restore funding to the pre-Corbett levels. However, Governor Wolfe has proposed pension relief and a review of cyber charter costs. Specifically, the formula used to assess district charges for cyber charter schools is suspect.
     The conclusion in Harrisburg: the state is aware that schools are struggling. Educational funding is a political football. The Democratic Party solutions do not have Republican support.  The Republic answers are not palatable to the Democrats. The compromise that will result will be a mix of minimal increases in funding, some possible relief in pension costs, and a potential new funding formula for cyber charter schools.
     The conclusion in Lawrence County: deficit spending is a recipe for bankruptcy. Some districts have less than 2 years of fiscal stability. All of us will be on life support at one time or another. It is not an issue of if, it is an issue of when. The Laurel School District has about 6 years of fiscal health before we are fiscally dead. Without substantial reform to reviews or expenditures to the tune of millions of dollars, Lawrence County public education will fight for its mere existence.

PA Legislature Sends Budget to the Governor

The following is a release from the Pennsylvania Association of Business Officers (PASBO): In stark contrast to the display of partisanship surrounding the 15-16 state budget, tonight the legislature sent a 2016-17 state budget to the governor after lots of talk of compromise and a strong bi-partisan vote in both chambers. Just to recap, the agreed-upon 2016-17 budget includes a $200 million increase for BEF, a $20 million increase for SEF and level-funds RTL at last year's $250 million. While this is definitely an improvement from last year, don't get excited quite yet. In order to actually fund the budget that was just sent to the governor, revenue is needed, and that's the one critical issue that the parties have not yet agreed upon.  The revenue package is likely to be made up of funds from the passage of the liquor bill couple of weeks ago, from new revenue as a result of the "igaming" bill that awaits consideration in the Senate and a cigarette/e-cigarette tax that has not yet materialized. There are also some other options on the table as well, including tax amnesty, increasing the bank shares tax and gross receipts on natural gas. although this is this pretty darn critical piece of the state budget, there is still a lot of uncertainty and no negotiated compromise between the House, Senate and administration as to how to proceed. So, the clock is ticking for everyone to sit down and hash out a plan to fund the budget they just passed... Stay tuned for more on the revenue side of things, as well as more on whatever ends up materializing on a school code bill. We should have more info tomorrow! So I as a common educator, I am to understand that the state legislators have agreed to spend money but have no idea how to generate the revenues to meet the expenditures. This makes sense to whom? Imagine walking into a car dealership and saying to them: "I'm going to spend $25,000.00." They respond, do you have the money? Are you going to get a loan? How do you intend to pay? Imagine your response is: "No, you don't understand. I have planned to spend $25,000.00. I don't have the money or a loan, but can I please have the car?" I have no idea what smoke and mirrors game the state is playing with the budget. Sending a useless spending plan to the governor for the sake of timeliness would be similar to our students doing a research paper the night before it is due, just so they could say it is done! School districts across the state are spending more money, raising taxes, and cutting staff. The logical conclusion is district revenues don't meet district expenditures. The largest single factor is the assessment of the pension burden. Schools are mandated to pay over 30% of an employee's salary toward the state pension. This is in addition to increases in medical insurance. The state further complicates the problem when a fictitious budget is passed by the state legislature. If districts operated like the states, districts would be bankrupt. A spending plan without a revenue plan is arbitrary and unrealistic.