Public School Funding Town Hall

The goal of this event was to facilitate open dialogue that is inclusive to all participants and discuss the data, challenges and possible solutions for PA’s public education crisis.

Charts & Graphs
Legislative Initiatives
What You Can Do
Galería

Charts & Graphs 

PA State Share of Public Education Funding

School District Revenues

 

National Perspective

Growth in Charter School Tuition Payments

Average Charter School Tuition Rate Increases

% of 2017-18 School District Budgets Spent on Charter School Tuition

 

Special Ed Funding and Special Ed Charter Tuition

Current Legislative Initiatives

 

House Senate Bills Co-sponsored by Senator Muth

  • SB 34 (Schwank): Cyber Charter School Tuition
    • Would require parents to pay for a student to attend a cyber charter school if the school district in which the student resides offers a cyber-based program equal in scope and content to an existing publicly chartered cyber charter school.
  • SB 362 (Boscola): Expediting the Fair Funding Formula
    • Would shift all of the basic education funding through the formula by 25% a year for four years until all money runs through the formula.


House Bills Co-sponsored by Rep. Otten

  • HB 1451 (McCarter & Sturla): Cyber Charter School Funding Reform
    • Would cap cyber charter tuition at an amount no higher than the highest real cost of either the intermediate unit cyber school or the school district cyber school program.
  • HB 1331 (D. Miller): Special Education Payments to Charter Schools
    • Would implement a recommendation of the Special Education Funding Commission to apply the same funding principles used in the special education formula for public school districts to determine special education payments to charter and cyber charter schools.
      • An analysis of charter school annual financial reports showed that in 2012-13, charter schools received more than $350 million from school districts in special education tuition payments yet spent only $156 million on special education costs. This bill seeks to correct the discrepancy so that public schools are not required to pay the top special education rate for students who may only need a minimal level of intervention.
  • HB 1638 (Sturla): Including Trauma as a Factor in the School Funding Formula
    • Would include trauma as a factor in the basic education funding formula that determines how much school districts receive from the state. Uses proxies we already measure — rates of chronic absenteeism, homelessness, and students in foster care — to prioritize districts for additional resources for support services.

ALL OF THESE BILLS ARE SITTING IN THEIR RESPECTIVE EDUCATION COMMITTEES

What You Can Do NOW!

 

Contact House Education Committee Majority Chairperson Curtis Sonney and ask for a vote on HB1451, HB1331, and HB1638

Contact Senate Education Committee Majority Chairperson Wayne Langerholc and ask for a vote on SB34, SB362, SB735, SB736, SB738, and SB739

Contact House and Senate Appropriations Majority Chairpeople to ask for restoration of the state contribution for public education funding

  • House Appropriations Majority Chairperson Stan Saylor
  • Senate Appropriations Majority Chairperson Pat Browne
  • Contact Gov Wolf and ask him to increase funding for public education in his budget address on Feb 4th and to provide emergency funding to CASD.
  • Build partnerships & coalitions with other districts facing the same struggle (Pottstown, Norristown, etc) as well as groups that work towards education justice.