SA+signs+on+to+possible+class+action+lawsuit+against+Corbett

= **By PATRICK CLOONAN** = =// **Published by the McKeesport Daily News** //= = **//8/19/11//** =

=While it did not commit funds to the idea, South Allegheny School District became the first to sign on to a class action lawsuit that two area state lawmakers want to file this fall against Gov. Tom Corbett. =

=South Allegheny’s board of directors voted 7-0 Thursday, with two members absent, to endorse the plan Reps. Bill Kortz, D-Dravosburg, and Marc J. Gergely, D-White Oak, are presenting to school dis­tricts throughout the Mon-Yough area. =

=“We would like to see a massive class action lawsuit,” Kortz said. =

=The aim is to restore what is called equity funding, which weighed state education subsidies toward poorer districts. Kortz said South Allegheny lost $581 per stu­dent, while Upper St. Clair only lost $79. =

=“Is that fair?” he asked the South Allegheny board. “No way is that fair. We are putting the children in the poorer dis­tricts at a disadvantage.” “Would you like this board to be a party to your class action suit?” South Allegheny solicitor George Gobel asked. “We’d be more than happy to be a party of record.” Board members were eager to oblige. Jack Yarborough made the motion while board treasurer Dino DiFelice and direc­tor Tim Wackowski almost simultaneously seconded that motion. =

=The official record will show DiFelice with the second, as he could be heard by board secretary Sharon Miller. =

=Also voting for the motion were board president Luke Riley and directors Russell Geary, Jim Jackson and Arlene Schinosi. Board vice president Louis Borrelli and director Peter Miller were absent. =

=Kortz said House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont, also is pressing for class action regarding state funding for education. =

=Kortz and Gergely are taking a page from New Jersey, where in May Republican Gov. Chris Christie was ordered by that state’s supreme court to restore $500 million in public school funding. =

=New Jersey has a similar provision in its constitution to that in Pennsylvania’s con­stitution providing “for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education.” Kortz said a similar lawsuit was intro­duced earlier this month in Colorado. It’s called the “Lobato case” for plaintiff Anthony Lobato, who claims his family has not received “thorough and uniform” public education as mandated in that state’s constitution. =

=The case has been argued for the past two weeks in a Denver courtroom. =

=Kortz expects Corbett to press for school vouchers this fall. He claims that lawmakers are being “strong-armed” by supporters of tax vouchers to benefit non-public educa­tion as well as the choice of attending pub­lic schools outside a family’s home district. Next spring, the Dravosburg Democrat said, Corbett will cut more funds. =

=“He’s going to take a big limb off the educational tree,” Kortz said. =

=Schinosi asked Kortz if there was a provi­sion in state law to recall public officials. Kortz said there wasn’t but two bills that would change that have not been moved out of committee. =

=Kortz is a co-sponsor of one of those bills, which remains in the House State Government Committee. = = = = = = = = = =News= =home=