Gerald Zahorchak
HARRISBURG PA – A Pennsylvania Senate proposal that would use federal economic stimulus money earmarked for school districts to instead plug a deficit gap in the state budget was decried Thursday (May 28, 2009) by the state’s education secretary as a move that would “shortchange our children, halt … academic gains and threatens … global competitiveness of our workforce.”
Approval of the Senate plan would force districts “to raise property taxes, or cut effective programs and lay off staff, or both,” Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak argued. Those same fears were echoed Tuesday (May 26, 2009) by members of the Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors as they grilled state Rep. Thomas Quigley about the Legislature’s intentions in funding education.
Zahorchak said the Senate bill, under consideration but not yet approved, would eliminate a $418 million increase in 2009-2010 school district funding suggested by Gov. Ed Rendell and instead give districts the same amounts of money received from the state last year.
It also would capture $317 million in stimulus funds and divert them to help offset the current budget deficit. “The Senate’s education spending plan violates the spirit and intent of the federal stimulus funding,” Zahorchak charged. Worse still, he added, it would set the state up for larger education funding problems in two years.
The Senate proposal “is not an option for the educational future of Pennsylvania,” Zahorchak claimed.
Photo from PA Department of Education
Related:
- Fairs Would Suffer Schools’ Plight
- Board Blisters State Rep Over Funding
- School Board Approves Tentative Budget
- Stimulus Lowers District Deficit, Not Taxes
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