New+Budget+Proposal+Would+Give+Mon-Yough+Area+Schools+More+to+Work+With

=By Patrick Cloonan= =//Published in the McKeesport Daily News//= =//5/12/11//= = = = = =Regardless of which figures are used, Mon-Yough school districts would get more under the state House Republican budget plan than what has been proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett.= =In at least one case, it may not be that much more.= =East Allegheny would receive no increase in its basic education subsidy under the House GOP plan, though it would see restoration of $161,135 in Accountability Block Grant funding.= =Meanwhile, confusing figures provided by various parties in the budget debate could mean a slight increase in funding for West Mifflin Area, though state Rep. Bill Kortz, D-Dravosburg, sees an 11 percent decrease of $811,000 there.= =Regardless of how it's cut, less is likely to come to the Mon-Yough area than in the last budget approved by the General Assembly under Gov. Ed Rendell.= =In Allegheny County, East Allegheny is one of five districts getting no additional basic subsidy, according to the budget proposal released by House Appropriations Chairman William F. Adolph Jr., R-Springfield.= =The others are Baldwin-Whitehall, Chartiers Valley, Cornell and South Fayette Township. In Westmoreland County, Greater Latrobe, Southmoreland and Yough get no increase in basic subsidy from the Corbett plan to the House GOP plan while Greensburg Salem gets $5,367 more.= =Figures about the 2010-11 budget as provided by the House Appropriations Committee's Republican majority differ from those used in a breakdown provided by the Pennsylvania State Education Association.= =PSEA used basic subsidies, Accountability Block Grants, charter school reimbursement and other funds.= =The committee, chaired by state Rep. William F. Adolph Jr., R-Springfield, considered the basic subsidy, ABGs and charter school reimbursement, as well as the Educational Assistance Program, school employees' Social Security, School Improvement Grants, basic education formula enhancement and dual enrollment programs. Including restored ABGs that had been erased by Corbett, the House GOP offered these proposals:= =• Clairton City, $7.12 million, down from either $7.917 million (House GOP reading of 2010-11 figures) or $7.657 million (PSEA reading), up from either $6.33 million (PSEA reading of Corbett plan) or $6.59 million (House GOP reading).= =• Duquesne City, $6.5 million, down from either $10.05 million (House) or $7.75 million (PSEA), up from either $5.79 million (PSEA) or just less than $6 million (House).= =Kortz said the House GOP plan does not restore a special appropriation of $1.98 million for West Mifflin Area and East Allegheny because of the transfer of Duquesne students to high schools in those districts.= =• East Allegheny, $6.73 million, down from either $7.78 million (House) or $7.29 million (PSEA), up from either $5.97 million (PSEA) or $6.57 million (House).= =• Elizabeth Forward, $9.73 million, down from either $10.56 million (House) or $9.9 million (PSEA), up from either $8.35 million (PSEA) or $9.1 million (House).= =• Norwin, $16.46 million, down from either $18.4 million (House) or $17.28 million (PSEA), up from either $14.94 million (PSEA) or $16.1 million (House).= =• South Allegheny, $9.77 million, down from either $10.73 million (House) or $10.33 million (PSEA), up from either $8.87 million (PSEA) or $9.3 million (House).= =• Steel Valley, $8.66 million, down from either $10.06 million (House) or $9.49 million (PSEA), up from either $7.5 million (PSEA) or $8.12 million (House). = =• West Jefferson Hills, $5.91 million, down from either $6.59 million (House) or $5.96 million (PSEA), up from either $5.15 million (PSEA) or $5.8 million (House).= =• West Mifflin, $7.43 million, down from $8.2 million (House) or up from $7.40 million (PSEA), up from either $6.1 million (PSEA) or $7.002 million (House).= =The House GOP figures also take into consideration a reinstatement of funds put toward school employees' Social Security.= =East Allegheny gets no reinstatement there, either, nor does any other Mon-Yough district. Twelve other Allegheny County districts also get a zero, as well as every Westmoreland district except Franklin Regional, Hempfield Area and Ligonier Valley.= =Kortz provided a breakdown for districts in his 38th Legislative District.= =In addition to a decrease for West Mifflin Area, he sees McKeesport Area losing $2.9 million, or 11.1 percent, of its 2010-11 state funding; Baldwin-Whitehall $1.27 million, or 12.4 percent; South Allegheny $986,000, or 9.6 percent; and West Jefferson Hills $773,000, or 11.8 percent.= = Kortz said the GOP plan also does not restore reimbursement districts were getting for tuition payments to charter schools, such as Propel in McKeesport, Homestead, Turtle Creek and Braddock Hills. = = = = = = Read more: [|New budget proposal would give Mon-Yough area schools more to work with - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] [] = = = = = = = =News= =home=