Funding for public schools has received a boost under the
framework of a ,28.2 billion state budget agreed upon early
Monday.
The outlook for the popular Science in Motion program, however,
is not as clear.
A trio of local lawmakers said the Bradford Area School District
is in line to garner a 6 percent hike in basic education funding
this year, while other districts across the region will receive at
least a 3 percent hike.
The issue was a bone of contention for local legislators, who
felt an original proposal by Gov. Ed Rendell – which called for
investing ,2.6 billion over the next six years – did not do enough
to help fund small, rural districts, some of which would have
received an only 1.5 percent increase.
In the end, the funding plan was lowered from six years to one
year.
“The six-year program was not beneficial to rural school
districts,” Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway,
said. “It would have really bound future Legislatures.”
Scarnati said he discussed the funding situation with
superintendents and business managers in his senatorial district,
asking them what would be an acceptable funding level.
“They said 3 percent was acceptable and I took their advice,”
Scarnati said. “That was a major sticking point to the end.
Also pleased with the funding levels was Rep. Martin Causer,
R-Turtlepoint, who said education funding was one of the biggest
issues before lawmakers this year.
“I think we’ve worked out a reasonable plan that works for our
rural schools,” Causer said. “It was very important to be able to
raise the minimum level to 3 percent. The proposed 1.5 percent
wouldn’t have even kept place with inflation or transportation
costs. This increase helps to level the playing field.”
Causer said he believes the 3 percent floor is adequate, noting
“we certainly want to provide as much state funding for our schools
as we can, so taxes don’t need to be increased at the local level.
But, there’s only so many dollars to work with at the state
level.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, said previously the plan
tilted too heavily toward school districts in Philadelphia, which
were in line to receive the bulk of the education funding.
Forest County in her legislative district was in line to receive
a total of ,36,000 over six years. That doesn’t appear to be the
case now.
“I’m glad to see the leadership has addressed this,” Rapp said,
adding by cutting the program to one year, it will enable
legislators to get a better sense on how the funding is helping
local school districts.
“Next year we’ll be negotiating the formula again,” Rapp said.
“That will give us a better viewpoint of how our rural schools are
doing with this increase. I’m glad we are not locked into six
years.”
Rapp said the idea of graduation competency testing has also
been tabled and excluded from the budget negotiations. The lawmaker
has indicated previously she is against the idea of competency
testing.
The final word on the Science in Motion program isn’t as
clear.
On Monday, both Scarnati and Causer said some issues still need
to be worked out. They didn’t elaborate further.
The Science in Motion program is routinely on the chopping block
during budget negotiations, but has been saved to this point. The
popular program brings high-tech science lab equipment to
underserved schools.
The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford is one of 11
universities statewide with the program.
“The Science in Motion program continues to be a priority,”
Scarnati said.
The northcentral region also stands to gain from a series of
proposed bond issues that would pour millions into the system for
improvements to aging dams and municipal water and sewer facilities
and to fix the state’s ailing roads and bridges.
“One of the issues I’ve heard loud and clear over the past few
years is the huge burden that’s put on municipalities for water and
sewer upgrades,” Scarnati said. “The only solution to keep
residential rates down is to find more dollars on the state level.
The bond issue will help do it, but there’s still a long way to
go.”
As it stands, ,800 million would be used from slot machine
revenues for dams and water and sewer facilities, while ,350
million would come from motorist fees and taxes to fix about 400 of
the state’s most dangerous bridges.
“There are bridges all through my district that could use help,”
Scarnati said, adding “I’m committed to making sure our
infrastructure is strong. Investing in bridges make sense in the
long term.”
The budget – which still needs to be passed by the full
Legislature – does include a 3.8 percent spending increase over
last year’s spending.
That still concerns Rapp.
“My concern is always the debt,” Rapp said. “This year, the
revenues we received were only 1.7 percent and last year we had a
surplus of ,450 million. This year, our surplus was only ,159
million. I’m concerned about where we’ll get the money next year
and the amount of borrowing. We don’t get this money out of the
air, this is taxpayer money.
“We need to do some investing and infrastructure work, but does
the investment in our infrastructure outweigh the debt
ceiling.”
Scarnati said a budget has been delivered that calls for no new
tax increase and not dipping into the rainy day fund.
“Our objectives were met and I now believe that Pennsylvania
will have a budget that recognizes the fiscal realities of working
families and job-creators.”
Scarnati also noted there are about ,235 million in tax cuts for
job-creators in the budget.
“We had to go through many, many cuts across the board and
unlike the federal budget that can run deficit spending, we have to
balance our budget.”
Causer said while there is an increase in spending “I think it’s
under control. The inflation rate for fiscal year 2008-09 is
estimated to be at 4.4 percent. We are actually proposing a budget
that is under the rate of inflation, and that’s a good thing.
“On the surface, this (budget) appears to be a reasonable
compromise.”
