Is+the+Corbett+administration+proposing+education+cuts+or+increases?

= Depends on which spreadsheet you study = = = =By Karen Langley= =Published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette= =3/11/12= = = = = = = =HARRISBURG -- Did Gov. Tom Corbett propose increasing or cutting funding for public schools? Like many things here, it depends how you look at it.= =The Corbett administration says its budget proposal for the upcoming year would send at least as much money to each Pennsylvania school district as it got this year. The state education department has released a website with graphs and a spreadsheet to prove it.= =Democrats in the state House of Representatives challenge that accounting and have published a competing spreadsheet that shows public school funding dropping next year throughout the state.= =The difference largely lies in how to account for two areas of school funding: one related to stimulus funds and the other to the state contribution for the pensions of school workers.= =Coming off a year in which the state's public schools saw the end of stimulus money, the accounting allows the administration to say it will continue to increase state-level funding and the Democrats to warn of a second year of education cuts.= =The administration argues a mandatory increase in employer pension contributions means it plans to boost education funding, while critics say it's misleading to count money that goes directly to the pension fund and can't be used to hire teachers or make changes in the classroom.= =Opponents also disagree whether a new way of channeling money to districts, pitched as a loosening of bureaucratic restrictions, would prove helpful in the long run.= = Accountability grants = =School districts this year have had access to their portions of $100 million through a program, called accountability block grants, that allows them to pay for full-day kindergarten and other initiatives. Though the money is spent this year -- in Pittsburgh, to pay for pre-K programs -- the $100 million was a supplemental appropriation to the 2011-12 budget.= =Since the grants received no funding during the regular budget for the current year, the Corbett administration argues that its plan to give no funding next year is not a cut. The Democrats see it differently, and calculate the loss of the block grants to translate to cuts next year in the realm of 1 to 2 percent.= ="If you're a school district, you're saying, 'What money do I have to spend this year?'" said state Rep. Mark Longietti, the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Basic Education. "That $100 million was part of the pot."= =Administration figures show the Sto-Rox School District receiving an additional $356,000 next year, for example, with $333,000 attributable to increased pension costs.= =The superintendent of the Sto-Rox School District, Michael Panza, contests that accounting. Mr. Panza said he sent each lawmaker in Allegheny County a letter arguing that without the accountability block grants, his district would lose $138,000 next year under the governor's proposal.= = Pension fund money = =In its argument that the budget represents an increase in funding to public schools, the administration relies largely on a mandated jump in the state contribution to the pension plan for school workers. As employers begin to pay back unfunded liability for pensions, the Public School Employees' Retirement System estimates the commonwealth and school districts (which roughly split the cost of pensions) will pay about $1.8 billion next year, up from about $1.2 billion this year.= =Democratic critics say the administration should not include the mandatory pension increases when it accounts for its public education proposal because that money never enters the classroom.= ="When they throw the pension contribution in, they claim overall they're spending more," said Rep. Joseph Markosek, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. "But the actual money for educational programs is less."= =Tim Eller, a spokesman for the Department of Education, contested the idea that pension costs should not be considered part of education funding.= ="I would take issue that the money is not spent in the classroom because pensions are a benefit to employees," he said. "It's a very healthy benefit for those who retire and have a decent pension to retire on."= =The spreadsheet published by the administration shows the Pittsburgh school district receiving an additional $4.66 million next year, an increase of about 2 percent. But $4.13 million of that increase reflects a rise in employee pension payments by the commonwealth. The new money available to the district for educational purposes is about $530,000, a small fraction of its $529 million budget.= = Consolidating budget lines = =The governor proposes sending districts the same amount of money for special education as they received this year, and creating a new block grant out of previously separate budget lines for basic education funding, pupil transportation and Social Security payments for school employees. The block grant proposed for a given school district includes the amount of its basic education funding allotment for the current year, plus slight increases for transportation and Social Security, with funding for the latter two categories based on the current year's allocation, rather than a formula.= =The administration has presented these proposed block grants as a way to give school district officials more flexibility in administering their budgets.= =Funding district transportation costs at a level based on the current year would relieve school officials from tallying how many vehicles were driven how many miles to get how many students to school, said Mr. Eller. If a district negotiated a less costly transportation contract, it could retain the savings for use elsewhere in its budget. Conversely, a more costly year for transportation would be less available money.= ="The whole premise of what the governor is doing is funding the student, and not the system itself," he said. "This is a transition, if you will, moving toward a student-funded, focused, education plan."= =Critics who argue the administration has proposed cutting its education budget say the block grants make the numbers harder to track and compare. The head of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the largest education union in the state, says the proposed budget allots far too little to schools.= ="What we're talking about are cuts that hurt kids, and the governor is covering that up by throwing in Social Security and transportation costs that are not part of student funding," said union president Michael Crossey.= = Bottom line? = =Democrats say that, in the end, many districts will have less money available this year. The administration maintains that pensions count, and the state is not cutting the budget.= =The perspective that accountability block grants should be considered when comparing state education funding may not be limited to Democrats. In mid-February, Chairman William Adolph, R-Delaware, of the House Appropriations Committee sent his fellow House Republicans a memorandum explaining how the administration accounted for education funding, but noting that when the loss of accountability block grants is considered, some districts would see less funding. Mr. Adolph attached a spreadsheet showing some school districts gaining money under the governor's plan, and others losing money.= ="For most districts, this change is negative due to the elimination of the Accountability Block Grant from the Governor's 2012-2013 budget," Mr. Adolph wrote.= =Mike Stoll, a spokesman for Mr. Adolph, said the lawmaker wanted members to understand why some school districts would say the proposal cut their funding. Mr. Stoll said the accounting from his office did not include pension costs because they were not yet available.= ="The bottom line, when you look at everything, including pensions, there's more money," he said.=

=//The Democrats' spreadsheet is available at: www.hacd.net/budget/201213/spreadsheets/Education%20Cuts%20Spreadsheet%20by%20District_020812.pdf.// The administration's spreadsheet is available at: www.investinginpastudents.com.= = = =Read more: [|http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12071/1215966-505-0.stm?cmpid=newspanel5#ixzz1otiZIIy] = = = = = = = = = = = = = =News= =home=