PSEA PRESIDENT SAYS PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS NEED STATE SUPPORT, NOT ACCOUNTING TRICKS

HARRISBURG (Feb. 7, 2012) – Using a complicated fiscal shell game to “redesign school and district” basic education funding, the state budget proposal Gov. Tom Corbett unveiled today represents an unwise experiment that will cause chaos in the public schools and eliminate research-tested, classroom-proven programs, the president of Pennsylvania’s largest school employee union said today.

Michael Crossey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said that the governor’s budget proposal would do nothing to avert the growing financial crisis in Pennsylvania’s school districts.

“This proposal is an unwise experiment with the education of 1.8 million public school students,” Crossey said. “It leaves school officials and property taxpayers to figure out how to close a two-year, nearly $1 billion funding gap.”

Crossey said the governor’s budget proposal uses an accounting gimmick, combining line items for employee Social Security contributions and transportation costs in an attempt to create the appearance of an increase in the state’s main basic education subsidy to public schools. As a result, school districts could receive $94 million less in state funding that will actually go to support students in the classroom. (See chart below.)

PROPOSED STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT EDUCATION BLOCK GRANTS
ARE $94 MILLION LESS THAN THE 2011-12 TOTAL
FOR THE COMBINED LINE ITEMS
	in $ thousands
	2011-12	2012-13
Student Achievement Education Block Grants		6,516,087
Basic Education Funding	5,354,328	0
Accountability Block Grants	100,000	0
Pupil Transportation	537,958	0
Nonpublic Pupil Transportation	76,640	0
School Employees Social Security	541,560	0
Total (Combined Lines)	6,610,486	6,516,087
Change from 2011-12		-94,399

                                                                                                                                              

“Public schools are facing the second year of dramatic state funding cuts,” Crossey said. “Public school students need state support for programs that work, not accounting tricks.”

Gov. Corbett suggested that school districts “adjust” to meet their own needs. Unfortunately his budget once again leaves them with fewer resources, and the only “adjustments” are likely to be even larger classes, elimination of additional programs, and fewer opportunities for children, Crossey said.

Gov. Corbett’s budget proposal did not even mention, much less address, the plight facing districts in fiscal crisis like Chester Upland and York City – districts which may not be able to pay their bills in the current academic year.

Crossey pointed out that Gov. Corbett’s budget cuts have so far eliminated more than half a billion dollars in state support for programs that have helped to increase student achievement over the past decade. This does not include cuts to the basic education subsidy. (See chart below.) As a result, school districts now have no state help to cover growing charter school payments and will lose all accountability block grant funds, which pay for full-day kindergarten and class size reduction initiatives.

	FY 2010-2011	FY 2011-2012	FY 2012-2013 (Gov. Proposed)
Charter School Reimbursement Program	$219,825,000	$0	$0
Accountability Block Grant Program	$254,526,000	$100,000,000	$0
Education Assistance (Tutoring) Program	$46,701,000	$0	$0
Dual Enrollment Program	$6,827,000	$0	$0
Basic Education Subsidy (for classroom instruction)	$5,774,685,000	$5,354,629,000	$5,354,629,000

“For the second year in a row, the governor wants to reverse course on smart public school investments that work for our students,” Crossey said. “So far, his public education track record is all about cutting effective programs.”

According to Crossey, school districts across the state have already cut programs and staff. In the wake of this proposal, public schools will be forced to raise taxes or cut even more. A study released by the Pennsylvania School Administrators Association and the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials in September indicated that:

·         70 percent of school districts increased class sizes.

·         44 percent of school districts reduced course offerings.

·         35 percent of school districts reduced or eliminated tutoring programs.

·         14,159 school district positions were eliminated or left vacant.

“Public school students need their elected state officials to be the responsible adults who will provide for their education, instead of hiding behind accounting tricks to paper over that responsibility,” Crossey said. “Public school students deserve a great education. It’s up to all of us – teachers, school administrators, citizens, and elected state officials – to assume some responsibility, and make sure they get a quality education.”

“Gov. Corbett’s massive budget cuts are hurting students across the Commonwealth,” Crossey said. “The students can’t afford another year of devastating cuts, especially when there are better options to balance the budget.”

Crossey is a special education teacher in the Keystone Oaks School District. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents more than 193,000 future, active and retired teachers and school employees, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.