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On October 27th, at the annual awards luncheon of the Education Policy and Leadership Center, PARSS Board President Norm Hatten accepted the EPLC Partnership Award.  It was given for PARSS work over the 13 years of EPLC’s existence to encourage cooperation and mutual effort among education organization in order to achieve progress in improving school funding.  EPLC President Ron Cowell, cited examples of PARSS’s work that resulted in changes to the funding formula and in the amounts of money made available to rural and small school districts.

President Hatten, cited the unique singleness of purpose that drives PARSS is all its work, namely that all children are equal and should be treated as such by both state and federal government in their funding of schools.  He said that this mission is what inspires the loyalty of PARSS member districts and intermediate units, and makes PARSS a force to be reckoned with in its advocacy work.

Joe Bard, PARSS Executive Director later stated that so much had been accomplished towards our mission in the last several years, that it was beyond sad that the combination of the weak economy and the political aims of the Corbett administration has thrown much of that positive movement “under the bus”.  He went on to praise the dedication and commitment of the state’s rural educators, and said that since this is basically a moral issue, it will never go away and that PARSS and the schools and people it represents, will stay the course.