Local+schools+talk+of+state+budget+impact

=By Kari Andren= =//Published by the Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW//= =//9/14/11//= = = = = = = =Municipal and school officials painted a bleak picture for state lawmakers on Tuesday of crowded classrooms, buckling roads and struggling hospitals following deep cuts in state funding in this year's budget.= =School district superintendents testified before the state House Democratic Policy Committee during a hearing at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus that some of their middle and high school classes have as many as 35 students. They can't afford to buy enough computers or to update textbooks. They've consolidated sports teams and trimmed student programs.= =Gov. Tom Corbett and state lawmakers slashed about $900 million from basic education funding in the 2011-12 state budget as part of their efforts to make up for a multibillion dollar revenue shortfall. Corbett and many Republicans, who control both houses of the state Legislature and the governor's office, pledged during last fall's campaigns not to raise taxes.= =Analysts and public officials warned last spring that steep cuts in state aid would cause local governments and schools to take drastic measures to make up for the cuts. Two and a half months into the fiscal year, the panel is traveling the state to hear examples of how the budget cuts affected local communities.= =Kenneth Meadows, Frazier School District superintendent, said a $471,000 cut in state funding wreaked havoc on his small Fayette County district whose total budget was only $14.5 million. The district cut its high school guidance counselor and elementary art classes, drained reserve funds and cut supply budgets in half, Meadows said.= ="Reducing our supply orders by 50 percent ... You don't think that's going to (hurt) instructional delivery when we cut supplies by 50 percent?" Meadows said.= =Albert Gallatin Superintendent Carl Bezjak said ample resources don't guarantee success, but without them, it's certainly more difficult for districts to succeed. He said two-thirds of district students receive free or reduced-price breakfasts and lunches.= ="Educators agree that students with disabilities and students reared in poverty are a special challenge and please remember that Fayette County has been classified as the third-poorest county in our state," Bezjak said.= =Superintendents also said districts are crippled by the payments to cyber and charter schools they must make when a student chooses to attend one instead of their traditional public school. They want to keep those tax dollars in the school district.= ="I think that really, the troubling thing for me as a parent of a public school child in fourth grade is to see her class size go up four kids from last year," said state Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver County. "Next year could be worse ... I'm at a loss. I really am. Every time I hear testimony from (superintendents) throughout this commonwealth, it angers me, but it also frightens me."= =Mt. Pleasant Borough manager Jeff Landy said the state hasn't adequately supported small boroughs and townships for so long, he's not sure what this year's cuts mean.= ="We're not used to looking at new money. We're used to looking at old money and moving it around," Landy said. "If I can save $20,000 by filling cracks (in borough roads), I'll put it back into my liquid fuels fund so I can repave (that road) when it falls in two years."= =The city of Connellsville aims to save money by doing preventive maintenance and rebuilding equipment instead of buying it new, said councilman Tom Karpiak. "But I cannot reuse asphalt to repair roads. I cannot reuse salt to melt snow or ice," Karpiak said. "I cannot reuse anti-skid (materials). We're trying."= =Rural hospitals that serve disproportionately poor or elderly populations are struggling to survive, said Steven Handy, chief financial officer at Uniontown Hospital. He said low reimbursement rates from Medicaid and Medicare combined with limited ways to generate more revenue puts the hospital's existence in jeopardy despite eliminating or outsourcing more than 70 positions and freezing wages.= ="A lot of people look at hospitals as big business," Handy said. "There's a sense then that we're immune from the everyday challenges that people face. That is not the case."= =Rep. Nick Kotik, D-Robinson, said that as a former township manager, he sympathizes with officials' funding challenges. He said he'd like to evaluate the entire local tax collection system to see how lawmakers can improve it and make it more viable for the 21st century.= = Read more: [|Local schools talk of state budget impact - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] [|http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_756667.html#ixzz1XynEUmN5] =

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