Corbett+Needs+to+Tell+the+Full+Story


 * OFF THE FLOOR: On state K-12 education funding cuts, Corbett needs to tell full story. **

= OFF THE FLOOR = =//A Capitolwire Column//= =//By Peter L. DeCoursey//= =//Bureau Chief//= =//Capitolwire//= =HARRISBURG (May 2) – Every time Gov. Tom Corbett talks about his cuts to K-12 public education, I keep looking around.= =In most of his public speeches, Corbett defends his cut of $1.2 billion-plus in K-12 funding the state had been providing. Gov. Corbett always says the federal government ended their stimulus payments, and, until lately, said we could not afford the kinds of funds the public school districts were spending.= =At that point in his speech, I always look for Paul Harvey, the radio broadcaster always famed for filling his listeners in on “the rest of the story.”= =Because when Corbett or his chief advisors describe the education funding cuts, they say two things:= =1)The state is providing more funds for basic education to public school districts than it did last year. And that is true;= =2) The cuts are due to the loss in federal funding and everyone knew that was coming, and should have planned for it.= =On Friday, in Chester County, Corbett said Pennsylvanians shouldn’t blame him for the funds he cut from K-12 education: "I don't have this money,” Corbett said. “The state doesn't have this money. The federal government is not sending it.”= =So if Paul Harvey were here, what would he tell us was the rest of the story?= =Well, the federal funds Corbett keeps talking about accounted for just over half of the cuts. Sure, everyone knew the federal stimulus funding was going to disappear.= = **But Corbett did not say while campaigning, when he vowed to cut K-12 education that he would nearly double the cuts, adding cuts to $500-million plus in state funding, to the federal cuts.** = =Even now, when he tours the state, he tries to hide that reality, carefully parsing out statements like “the basic education subsidy is increased!” which is true.= =He also points out that the last time the state provided all of this funding, it put up $5.228 billion for basic K-12 education. Also true. **But when the state was putting up that basic funding, it also provided another $500 million for several other major programs: **= = **• The $250 million a year block grant program, used in many school districts to fund a program Corbett vowed in the campaign to suppor: full-day kindergarten;** = = **• More than $200 million a year to reimburse school districts for charter school tuition reimbursement, which is, essentially, extra basic subsidies for urban districts;** = = **• Close to $100 million in other subsidies and tutoring funding.** = =Budget Secretary Charles Zogby and Education Secretary-designate Ron Tomalis say educators and lawmakers knew those funds were also temporary, created to be temporary and known to be temporary. With all due respect to those extremely able men, at no point since 2003 did any legislative leader or Gov. Ed Rendell say that.= =Unlike the stimulus funding, Corbett never said while campaigning he would cut the block grants or the rest of this $550 million.= =He did serve notice that he would not replace much of the departing stimulus money. But he did say public schools needed to spend less, although he didn’t say he planned to double down on the state education funding cuts.= = **And I have yet to see any speech where he acknowledges that he added $500 million to the state funding cuts for K-12 education, on top of the $650 million in lost stimulus money.** = =In speech after speech, Corbett pretends that funding never existed. He doesn’t acknowledge that he is proposing $500 million less the 2008-2009 funding level.= = **Which is wrong.** = =He promised to cut state government spending sharply. His budget does that.= =Corbett has promised during the campaign and nearly weekly since to do what he thinks is right, “even if it makes me a one-term governor.”= =When you talk to lawmakers about those state funding cuts for higher education, Republicans and Democrats say some will be restored. The general feeling, across both parties, is that $400 million or more of the $600 million cut from higher education is coming back.= =Then, the next biggest restoration is expected to be public schools. But will that be $100 million? $200 million? $50 million?= =To quote one Republican budget negotiator: “it depends how good the revenue surplus is, and how much we can cut from welfare.”= =So Corbett did cut $500 million-plus in state education funding, and he knows he will have to agree to put some of it back to get the budget done.= = **So why does he keep pretending he never cut it?** = =He doesn’t much care for how the media presents things. So why won’t the governor tell the rest of the story?=

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