Pennsylvania Department of Education
On Monday,
March 7, 2011, the Senate Education Committee voted 11-0 to recommend Ron
Tomalis as the education secretary to the Senate. Mr. Tomalis now requires a majority vote of
the Senate to be confirmed.
Senate
SB 1, the Opportunity Scholarships and
Educational Improvement Tax Credit, was approved in the Senate Education
Committee by an eight to two vote. Senators Ferlo and Leach opposed the bill. SB 1 has been moved up to third
consideration and sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee for fiscal
analysis. This means that, when the Senate returns to session on the week of
April 4, the bill will be in position for a committee vote, then sent
immediately to the Senate floor for a vote.
Several
amendments were offered prior to the passing of the bill. Three amendments that
made little change to the bill were adopted. More substantive amendments,
sponsored by Democratic members of the committee, were disapproved. Among
the rejected amendments:
- ·
To require students who have vouchers to attend
private/parochial schools to participate in state assessments (or their
equivalent).
- ·
To allow parents the option to have their children
excluded from a parochial school’s religious activities.
- ·
To require private/parochial schools expelling
“voucher students” to return the entire voucher amount to the school district.
- ·
To eliminate the third year of the program and
instead increase the EITC program.
- ·
To make voucher payments received by a
participating school subject to state audit.
- ·
To require school districts to include with their
annual property tax bill a note stating the estimated costs of complying with
SB 1 on the local level.
- ·
To remove the funding mechanism from the bill. Currently, the bill requires that the voucher
amount is the per-pupil state funding for an individual district. Senator Leach stated that voucher funds should
come from the General Fund/state taxes that would affect all state taxpayers,
not certain school districts.
House
HB 684 would allow the Secretary of
Education to grant a provisional vocational education certificate to individuals
who meet certain requirements of the State Board of Education. The Certificate would allow the person to
teach for “eight annual school terms.”
HB 915was reported out of
the House Appropriations Committee. This
bill reflects Secretary of Budget Zogby’s plan to offset this year’s deficit by
reducing the state’s Basic Education Funding with the federal Education Jobs
Fund monies that have not yet been appropriated. No school district would receive less funding
than was originally included in the enacted budget signed by Governor Rendell. However, this means that districts that were
expecting to use the federal Education Jobs Funds next year may not be able to
do so, given they are being used to supplant state federal funds appropriated
for use this year.
House Education Committee
On
Wednesday, March 2, 2011, the House Education Committee heard testimony on
proposed legislation concerning furloughing teachers for economic reasons. HB
855 would allow school districts to furlough professional employees due
to economic circumstances. The school
district would be considered to have economic reasons if after assessing its
entire budget for possible reductions, the school entity determines that it
would still exceed its index. Suspension
of professional employees would be based upon the school’s evaluation of the
professional’s certificate, performance including but not limited to
performance under PVAAS and local school district performance criteria,
qualifications established by the district for employees to teach a particular
subject or grade level not evaluated under PVAAS, and other specific
qualifications established by the district. The use of seniority was removed from the
bill. In its current state, Intermediate
Units and area vocation technical schools would not be eligible to furlough
teachers by this bill because they are not taxing entities and are not subject
to Act 1 regulations.
On
Thursday, March 3, 2011, the House Education Committee held a hearing to
consider proposals that would provide options and flexibility for school
districts to reduce their costs, particularly in the areas of construction and
contract bid limits as well as eliminating certain PlanCon requirements for
projects that do not receive state funding.
The House
Education Committee also heard from Intermediate Units representatives
concerning fiscal transparency of Intermediate Units especially concerning the
process of PDE in contracting with IUs. The
IU Executive Directors, Dr. Cynthia Burkhart, IU 13, Dr. Barry Galasso, IU 22,
and Dr. Michael Thew, IU 12 concluded the testimony stating that they support
posting IU Annual Financial Reports on the PDE web site as required by school
districts.
House Bill 724 was referred to the House Education
Committee. This bill would eliminate
current eligibility requirements for election or appointment as a district or
assistant district superintendent, which currently includes holding a diploma
from a college or their institution, six years of successful teaching
experience of which three years must include supervisory or administrative
experience, completion of a college or university graduate program approved by
PDE that includes school leadership standards.
FEDERAL NEWS
Budget Cuts for This Year
President
Obama signed a bill that resulted in a $5 billion loss for education and
eliminated ten education programs. Among
the cuts included $22 million in Special Education (grants to states were not
cut), Recording for the Blind and Dyslexia, Special Olympics, Smaller Learning
Communities and Even Start. Programs
that were eliminated included Arts in Education, National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards, National Writing Project, Reading is Fundamental,
and Teach for America.
Reauthorization of ESEA: The
U.S. House of Education and the Workforce Committee will hold its first hearing
on the reauthorization of ESEA since the Republican took the majority in the
chamber. The hearing is scheduled on
Thursday, March 10, 2011, and will focus on the federal role in education policy.
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February
16, 2011
STATE NEWS
Revenues
Pennsylvania
collected $2.2 billion in General Fund revenue in January, which is 3.4 percent
more than anticipated. Fiscal
year-to-date General Fund collections are 2 percent above estimate.
Budget
Governor
Corbett is scheduled to present his 2011-2012 state budget on March 8, 2011.
Hearings on pension issues will be held on March 21, 2011, and hearings on the
PDE budget will be held on March 29, 2011.
Senate
The Senate
Education Committee met on Tuesday, February 8, 2011, to consider the following
bills:
- SB
157 – Establishes a Task Force on Homeless Children’s Education to study
the homeless population and their education needs.
- SB
159 – Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children
removes barriers to educational success of children of military families due to
frequent moves and deployment by their parents.
- SB
200 – Safety in Youth Sports Act requires the Department of Health and the
Department of Education to develop and post on their internet website information
concerning the nature and risk of concussion and traumatic brain injury
associated in continuing to play after a concussion. A student participating in an athletic
activity and the student’s parent each school year would sign an acknowledgement
of receipt and review of concussion and traumatic brain injury information
sheet.
- SB
224 – Amends Section 111 of the Public School Code to extend the list of
offenses and convictions that disqualify individuals from school employment.
- SB
244 – Adds requirements relating to each school having a person on-site who
is certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
- SB
328 – Requires the Department of Transportation to suspend for 90 days the
operating privileges of any child who is convicted of violating the compulsory
attendance requirements. Privileges
would be restored after 90 days or proof that the child has completed high
school, obtained a GED diploma or attained the age of 21 years.
- SB
251 – Requires school districts to post on their websites why they did not
purchase goods or services from the intermediate unit if the goods or services
were available through the intermediate unit.
House
HB 240 would allow any pupil to attend
public school in a nonresident school district. In the bill, board of school director could not deny a transfer
application if the mandatory class size had not been reached. The bill addresses students with IEPs as well
as funding. The responsibility for
transportation would be borne by the parents.
Chapter 12
Pennsylvania
School Boards Association (PSBA), the Pennsylvania Association of School
Business Officials (PASBO) and the School Nutrition Association of Pennsylvania
sent a joint letter to the State Board of Education urging it not to proceed
with the proposed Chapter 12 regulation on school nutrition in light of the new
draft federal rules on the same subject. The Chapter 12 regulation would establish state nutrition guidelines and
rules for competitive foods and beverages served in schools.
Vouchers
Senate Bill 1 was introduced by Senator Piccola
on January 26, 2011. The Opportunity
Scholarship Program would provide scholarships (vouchers) to help low-income
children pay tuition to attend a nonresident public or participating nonpublic
school. It would be phased in over three
years. In the first year opportunity
scholarships would be available to low-income students who attend a
persistently lowest achieving school. During the 2012-2013 school year, the opportunity scholarships would be
available to low-income students who attend a persistently lowest achieving
district. During the 2013-2014 school
year and each school year after, the opportunity scholarship program would be
available to all low-income children residing in Pennsylvania.
Senator
Dinniman, Minority Chair of the Senate Education Committee, says he strongly
supports the portions of Senate Bill 1
that focus in the 144 failing schools, but he opposes the creation of a
statewide voucher system. He states that
schools in Chester and Montgomery counties are among the top schools in the
state. He questions why we would take resources away from schools that work.
Senator Dinniman plans to offer an amendment to Senate Bill 1 that would
eliminate the third-year voucher plan that extends to all low-income families
and instead expand on increasing the cap on the Educational Improvement Tax
Credit (EITC), which allows business to receive a tax break for making
contributions to education efforts.
Senator
Leach, a Montgomery County Democrat who serves on the Education Committee, said
that state money for private school tuition would have to come with greater
accountability, something the schools themselves may not want. He further
states that a voucher law that subsidizes private school tuition would drain
resources from some of the most troubled school districts. When a student
leaves, the school still has to pay teachers, the electric bill, and many other
fixed costs.
New Immunizations Requirements
New
regulations governing student immunizations were approved and will take effect
August 1, 2011. The new requirements for
all attendance in all grades are as follows:
4 doses of tetanus – one on or after
the 4th birthday
4 doses of diphtheria – one on or
after the 4th birthday
3 doses of polio
2 doses of measles
2 doses of mumps
1 dose of rubella
3 doses of hepatitis B
2 doses of chickenpox vaccine or
history of disease.
In addition
7th grade students will need one (1) dose of tetanus, diphtheria,
acellular pertusis and one (1) dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine. If a physician writes that the child is
adequately immunized, it will be considered a medical exemption.
FEDERAL NEWS
Reauthorization of ESEA: There
is a commitment in Washington to complete the reauthorization of ESEA as
quickly of possible. The U.S. Senate is
working from President Obama’s Blueprint and is much further ahead with their
proposal than the U.S. House. The House
is under new leadership and has decided to use the Blueprint as a guide only. Both agree that there must be a change from
proficiency to a growth model. There is
a great deal of disappointment with the way Race to the Top and Innovation (i3)
grants were handled. House and Senate
staffers commented on New York City’s i3 proposal receiving rural education
points. This raises a red flag
concerning the movement from formula to competitive grants. There is no agreement on what career
readiness means. The U. S. Department of
Education is asking for help in defining this term.
Appropriations/Funding: The federal government is currently operating a Continuing Resolution
(CR), an action that level funds government until Congress passes the actual
appropriation bills. Discussion is that
Congress may continue the CR until April and after the President’s budget.
The new Republican
leadership in the U.S. House announced its intention to cut the FY11 budget to
equal the FY08 funding levels or before. Should this become a reality Title 1 could lose almost $2 billion and
IDEA could lose $1.5 billion. It is
recommended that we outline how education expenses have changed since 2008.
IDEA: Newly appointed House Education Committee Chairman John Kline has
indicated that full funding for IDEA remains one of his highest priorities.
Criminal Background Checks: Expect
a bill to be re-introduced in the 112th Congress, requiring states
to complete seven (7) criminal checks searching state criminal registries or
repositories, state-based child abuse and neglect registries and databases, the
National Crime Information Center of the Department of Justice, the National
Sex Offender Registry, the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification, and
the FBI. In addition the bill will
require periodic repetitions of criminal background checks to be performed. No additional funds are being authorized for
these additional checks.
E-rate: The
Federal Communication Commission (FCC) approved several changes to the E-Rate
program including streamlining the E-Rate application process, making leased
dark fiber eligible for discount, and adjusting the E-Rate cap to inflation.
Rural Education Achievement Program
(REAP): Reauthorization of REAP is tied to
ESEA reauthorization. The proposed
changes include allowing districts who are eligible for both Small/Rural and
Rural/Low Income programs to receive additional funding, switching the
eligibility poverty measure from 20% census poverty to 40% free and reduced
lunch for those districts in the Rural/Low Income program, and shifting the
sliding formula from the current $20,000 to $60,000 to a new scale of $25,000
to $80,000.
Transportation for Foster Care: A
recent Congressional proposal would require schools to keep a foster child in
the school of the origin and/or subsidize the cost of maintaining a child in
the school of origin. This proposal is
similar to the accommodations required for homeless children.
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January
19, 2011
STATE NEWS
Revenue
Halfway
through the state’s fiscal year, Pennsylvania has collected $11.5 billion,
which is $191.2 million, or 1.7 percent, more revenue than anticipated. Revenue collections for December were 8.4
percent more than anticipated. Every
major tax category came in above estimate for the month of December.
Senate
The chairs
for the Senate Education Committee remain the same as last session – Senator
Jeffrey Piccola will be the Republican chair and Senator Andy Dinniman will be
the Democratic chair. The committee members have not yet been released.
Senator
Piccola plans to introduce legislation that will give parents, whose children
attend one of the state’s lowest performing schools, the power to petition for
school closure or change in management. The legislation would also require PDE to publish a web-based State
Report Card, identifying those schools scoring in the bottom five percent on
state assessment exams. This “parent
trigger” reform along with school choice and charter school reform are
acknowledged priorities when the Senate reconvenes in January.
House
The chairs
for the House Education Committee remain the same as last session -
Representative Paul Clymer will be the Republican chair and Representative
James Roebuck will be the Democratic chair. The committee members have not yet been released.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Governor
Corbett has nominated Ronald J. Tomalis, 48, as Secretary of Education. Tomalis served as Executive Deputy of
Secretary of Education under Governor Ridge from 1995-2001. He worked for the United States Department of
Education from 2001-2004, where he managed the implementation of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (No child Left Behind) and the Title I and Title II
Programs.
Vouchers
The
Governor-elect has made clear his support for school choice, although details
are not yet available. There may be a
difference between the new governor’s plan and the plan that Senators Piccola
and Williams plan to introduce in the Senate . Their plan would provide a voucher of up to $8,000 to families with an
annual income no more than 130 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, the income limit would
be $28, 665. Vouchers would be available
in the first year to students from a failing school under the state standards;
the second year to students in a failing school districts; and in the third
year to any low-income student. The bill
doesn’t include oversights for private schools to account for how the money is
spent.
Most likely
there will be an increase in the scholarship portion of Educational Improvement
Tax Credit (EITC) program.
FEDERAL NEWS
U.S. Education Committees
Two
additional Republican Congressman from Pennsylvanian have been added to the
U.S. House Education and Labor Committee. They are Mike Kelly from Erie and Lou Barletta from Hazleton. Pennsylvania
Republicans Todd Platts and GT Thompson remain on the committee. The House Democrats have not released their
committee members.
It appears
that Senator Casey will remain on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions Committee. This has not yet been confirmed.
Update on bills
Vouchers
The voucher
for special needs children of military families that was written into the
National Defense Authorization Act was removed. The bill now calls for a study to give military families better access
to special education services. This is a
major accomplishment because it was the first time that vouchers were written
into a bill and if passed would have been virtually impossible to remove.
Education Funds Frozen
Prior to
the closing of the 111th session Congress voted the third continuing
resolution (CR) which holds educational funding at the Fiscal Year 2010
level. The members of the 112th
Congress have the option to pass another CR for the rest of the year and level
fund all programs or finish the appropriations process which could mean
increases or decreases in education funding.
Foster Student Transportation
There is
discussion on the Hill to treat the transportation of foster children the same
way homeless children are under McKinney-Vento. This would mean that a foster
child would have the right to remain in the school he attended prior to changes
in foster care. The school district
would be required to provide transportation to and from the old school
regardless of where the foster child currently resides.