PARSS Newsletter, December 1999

Reserve Your Seating at the 2000 PARSS Annual Meeting Now!

WHERE’S THE DOUGH?

Those of us with ancestral memory, will remember the promises made to us by the Federal Government in the 1970s about special education. When the Education for the Handicapped Act was passed in 1975 and implemented in 1977, we were told that special education costs would be reimbursed at a rate of 40%. Would you care to know what it really is now? IT’S 9%. I think that those of us who were not around at the time and are now wondering where the dough went, can see that we have been abominably short changed. The 31% shortfall is being borne by your local communities.

With the expansion of services to disabled youngsters emanating from IDEA, the lineal descendent of EHA, schools scrounge around for funds and or space. How much longer can this go on? With the change in state funding in 1991-92, the districts absorbing programs and costs, local boards have a tough time making ends meet.

Here is a prime example! A small rural district has a number of disabled youngsters. Their expenses are about $170,00. They are reimbursed about $30,000 by the state. Three years later, because of an influx of students from another area (about 20 additional children), their costs are now $650,000. Their reimbursement from the state is approximately the same – maybe a few bucks more. Each mil in this district is worth $20,000. It doesn’t take a statistics guru to figure out that this district is in trouble.

There is a stirring in the legislature to do something. Senator Hal Mowery has written a letter to the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation. “I am writing to you regarding a matter that is of utmost importance to my, and your constituents. I am speaking of the high cost of federal special education mandates. Not a week goes by that I do not hear from a school board member or school district administrator about the high cost of special education mandates and how they must either cut programs or raise taxes . . . As a conscientious legislator, I have tried to get relief on a state level, but I cannot escape the fact that Washington is passing on an unfair and expensive burden to Pennsylvania taxpayers. I call upon the Pennsylvania delegation of Congress to work towards increasing the funding paid to the states so that we can allow our school districts to concentrate on the job of educating our youth.” Responses to this letter have come into Senator Mowery’s office mostly agreeing with his premise.

Senator Mowery has expressed what most of us know, that  in poor    places, we may be pitting one student against another because of a lack of funding. In the House, Representative Bob Flick had a resolution passed on Tuesday, November 16th, that said that “The House of Representatives memorialize Congress to fully fund its obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and . . . That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the presiding officer of each house of Congress and to each member of Congress from Pennsylvania.”

We are also expecting such a resolution from the State Senate. Maybe it might be a good time to call your own congressperson about this issue.

JOE SAYS

SLOUCHING TOWARDS THE MILLENNIUM

At year’s end it is almost mandatory to sum up with musings on what has passed. Since nobody gets more than a single swipe at closing out a millennium, the task takes on such a weight and

responsibility, that there is little one can say that will add to the occasion — detract, possibly, but not add.

So I think I will focus on what a new millennium could bring to rural school children, parents, educators and taxpayers. Like any work of fiction, this requires some willing suspension of disbelief. But if “visioning” works for athletes, why not for us? If we can see it in our minds, it can happen. So here goes:

• The use of what could be nearly a 2 billion dollar surplus to better fund public education. Notice I don’t say, “to more equitably fund”. Since this would be done under the Ridge administration, I can’t ask you to stretch your credulity that far.

• The election of sufficient numbers of sympathetic and understanding legislators, new or used, to make serious consideration of subsidy reform possible. The same goes for tax reform, since they are one and the same.

• The election of a governor who will actually take the leadership in the above named effort, a la John Engler of Michigan. I realize we are dealing with some foreign concepts here (Governor  . .  leadership, etc.) but what the heck; it will be a new century.

• A renewal of commitment to public education in our local communities, resulting in the election of hundreds of new board members to replace those glassy eyed representatives of tax-payer associations, and single issue zealots of any persuasion.

• A new appreciation of the value of experience and leadership in the superintendent’s office, turning back the trend of hiring those whose letters of eligibility are the newest. All fine people I’m sure, but let them have an opportunity to at least find out what they don’t know before they become chief school officers.

• The personal and organizational involvement of thousands of Pennsylvania’s rural citizens in the task of bettering educational opportunity for their children. This also means holding their Representatives and Senators accountable for their votes on issues that impact on public education in their communities.

• The continued growth of PARSS as an effective voice for rural education issues and as an instrument for educators to use and rely on in their own development as leaders and facilitators of change.

If any, or all of those can be realized, we can safely turn our attention to some other pressing matters, like global warming, population growth and nuclear proliferation. You know, easy stuff.

WHAT HAS PARSS DONE FOR ME LATELY?

You know how reluctant rural people are to brag about their accomplishments. So, when someone challenges us to display our wares, the first thing you say is “Aw Shucks,” we didn’t really do much. However, that does not work with people who really are interested in finding out if your organization is worthwhile. So, here are some of the current PARSS services and some of the projects that we have concluded and some of the things that we are currently working on:

SERVICES

These are some of the services available to PARSS members:

• Credit line for small and rural schools

• A general website for district information - www.ezonline.com/parss 

• A curriculum website for districts — www.ezonline.com/pspatr 

• PARSS Institutes — workshops on issues of importance to districts

• Organizational development services

• Programs to develop sound working relationships between superintendent and board

• Technology assistance

• Assistance in Superintendent searches

• Individual district assistance on finance, certification, community outreach and others

ACTIVITIES

• Working to develop and support SB 1155 — reimbursement for “Clean and Green” extension that would take more taxables off the roles

• Originated and continues to support Small District Assistance currently within the state budget

• Working with Entrepreneurial Assistance Office on a statewide program for Entrepreneurial Education

• Working with legislature and staff on the Devon problem

• Continuing support for Juniata College Science Van and its expansion

• Helped to support Allegheny College Centers in Bedford and Somerset Counties

• Continuing the long standing PARSS position and legislative activity on School Funding

• Presented PARSS, PLUS, ASDEE proposal on School Funding and Taxation to Joint Forum of House and Senate Education Committees

• Working on funding textbooks

• Working with PAVA and the Pennsylvania Builders Association on Voc-Ed. Funding improvements

COLAFELLA PRESENTS FUNDING PROPOSAL

On December 6, 1999, Representative Nicholas Colafella, Chairman (D) of the House Education Committee, presented legislation to completely revamp school funding here in Pennsylvania. His program is called the Keystone Equity and Educational Performance System (KEEPS).

KEEPS will provide for more adequate, equitable and stable state funding of public education while providing for a reduction in burdensome local property and nuisance taxes.

KEEPS represents a fundamental shift in the way that Pennsylvania funds public education, so that the state and not local school districts provides the substantial majority of funding and so that public education is funded primarily through the state income tax and not local property and nuisance taxes.

New State Basic Education Funding Formula

KEEPS proposes a new way to distribute state funds to support public schools. Unlike other proposals, KEEPS uses the actual costs of the most successful schools as the basis for determing the necessary funding levels for all schools. It also bases state aid on a district’s size and its level of poverty. To do this, KEEPS uses a three-step formula.

1. Multiply a district’s enrollment (Average Daily Membership) by a factor of educational success called the “average per pupil adequacy expenditure”. This factor is the average per pupil amount spent in those districts where at least half of the schools had at least 25% of their 8th grade students score in the top quartile on state reading and math tests in the previous year. Enrollment figures also are weighted for special conditions as follows:

• Limited English Proficient (LEP) students are weighted at 1.1.

• Learning Disabled (LD) students are weighted at 1.15.

• Students living in Poverty are weighted at 1.2.

• Non-LD special education students are weighted at 2.3.

2. Supplement this amount with a factor for concentrations of poverty, measured by student eligibility for free and reduced-price lunches. Where  the  percentage  of  poverty students is 50 percent or greater, the supplement is 4.2 percent of the amount determined in Step 1. Between 26 percent  and 49 percent, the supplement is 2.1 percent. At 25 percent and below, there is no supplement.

3. Supplement this amount with a factor for small schools. Where the total enrollment is less than 5,000 students, the supplement is 4.2 percent of the amount determined in Step 1. Where the total enrollment is between 5,000 and 10,000 students, the supplement is 2.1 percent. Above 10,000 students, there is no supplement.

KEEPS provides that all school districts shall receive a minimum 1 percent increase in the amount of state funding received for the preceding year.
Increased State Funding for Schools Under KEEPS

KEEPS would increase the state’s share of funding for public education by nearly $1.2 billion a year for three years by raising the state income tax 0.5% each year for three years, bringing the state’s share of the total cost of public education to 63.5%

KEEPS increases the state share of total costs for 456 school districts with 388 school districts provided increases greater than 50%.

KEEPS Cuts Local Property and Nuisance Taxes 

KEEPS allows school districts to cut property taxes dramatically. By raising state support for public schools over three years, KEEPS gives school boards a choice:

• Cut taxes to match the increase in state funds;

• Keep local taxes in place to make new investments in raising student achievement;

• Or a combination of both.

For 160 school districts, KEEPS increases state aid enough to eliminate all local school taxes with money left over to invest in raising student achievement. A substantial majority of school districts, totaling 307 school districts, could cut their local property and nuisance taxes by at least 50%.

COMING TO TOWN

During our joint session of the House and Senate Education Committee meeting on October 7, 1999, it was suggested that some members do not hear from their superintendents or school districts on issues that they believe are important. Some superintendents make a habit of coming to Harrisburg to plead their cases. PARSS has facilitated a number of these meetings in cooperation with the Intermediate Unit Directors. Just recently, Riverview Intermediate Unit brought its complement of school superintendents to meet with legislative staff, executive director of the State Board, the President of PSEA, their own legislators, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education among others.

Of the issues raised, HB 8 and its projected costs to keep records of professional development, and the PSSA test as a tool for improving instruction were major concerns, as well as special education and regular education funding. PARSS invites any group of supes to “COME TO TOWN”.

L to R: Bill Kaufman, Rep. Don Snyder, Arnold Hillman, Howard Ferguson
Standing - Richard Slack

ANNENBERG RURAL CHALLENGE GRANT

The Pennsylvania School Reform Network, along with PARSS and a number of other organizations has been awarded an Annenberg Rural Challenge Grant. The Pennsylvania School Reform Network (PSRN) announced that it has been awarded a $450,000, three-year grant from the Rural School and Community Trust to educate rural Pennsylvanians about the unfairness of Pennsylvania’s school funding system and work toward solutions.

The Rural School and Community Trust administers a $50 million challenge grant, provided by former Ambassador Walter Annenberg in 1995, to improve rural education. “Pennsylvania’s current school funding system harms both rural students and the communities where they live,” said PSRN Director Timothy Potts.

“The state’s 25-year history of under-funding public schools has created a vicious cycle in rural areas. Low state funding means high local taxes. High taxes depress the economy, and a depressed economy causes young people to leave their hometowns in search of opportunity, fragmenting the families that are the strength of rural Pennsylvania,” he said.

PSRN will use the Rural Trust grant to aid communities who want to create local “Partnerships for Fair Chance Schools.” These will be locally owned and operated partnerships of business, human service, church, civic, and other organizations and individuals that will work for greater local accountability and a better approach to state funding.

“While most other states have been working, either through court order or through legislative initiative, to create fairer opportunities for children in rural communities, Pennsylvania has been

sliding in the opposite direction with barely a hint that its state government sees the seriousness of this problem,” Potts said. “We are confident that the Partnership for Fair Chance Schools can help rural communities to understand the inequity their children face and become engaged in finding solutions.”

PSRN will have several allies in the effort. A statewide advisory group for the effort includes the Pennsylvania Council of Churches, the United Way of Pennsylvania, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Community Providers Association, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools, the Keystone Research Center, the Pennsylvania Head Start Association, and other groups with ties to local communities.

According to figures released by PSRN, the amount of the state budget dedicated to basic education has declined steadily for more than 20 years.

As recently as the last budget of Gov. Dick Thornburgh’s administration in 1986-87, 38.2 percent of all state spending went for basic education. This year, the figure has dropped below 33 percent.

“The difference is huge. If basic education received the same share of the state budget today as it did when Gov. Thornburgh left office, local schools would have more than $1 billion in additional state aid to cut local taxes, improve the quality of the schools, or both,” Potts said. The state’s system of funding results in wide gaps between the resources available to educate children in some communities versus others, increasing the likelihood that children with disabilities, children whose native language is not English, and poor children will not receive a quality education.

The gap between spending in the 48 school districts with the highest student achievement on state reading, math and writing tests and the median school district, Canton Area in Bradford County, is $45,200 for every classroom of 25 students. “That’s $45,200 for every classroom in every school every year,” Potts said. “In most rural school districts, the gap is even worse, depriving those students and schools the ability to provide the quality education that is possible with more resources committed to improvements that have a track record of success,” he added.

PSRN’s goal for the first year of the grant is to work closely with community groups in six rural counties, expanding that number in the second and third years of the grant. So far, PSRN has attended meetings in Bedford, Centre, Jefferson and McKean counties, with meetings in other counties in the planning stages. Rural community groups wishing to explore becoming part of the Partnership for Fair Chance Schools should contact PSRN at 717-238-7171 or psrn@elc-pa.org.

HAPPY NEW MILLENNIUM