State+Budget+a+Step+in+the+Right+Direction+For+Public+School+Funding

=PSEA Press Release= =Published 6/29/12= = = = = = = =(HARRISBURG, June 29, 2012) - Thanks to the leadership of state legislators, the state budget approved today will provide some essential state funding for Pennsylvania’s public schools and could help to stave off even deeper cuts to full-day kindergarten, tutoring, and other programs that help students learn, according to the president of Pennsylvania’s largest school employee union.= =PSEA President Mike Crossey pointed out that the General Assembly appropriated $150 million more than the governor requested in funding for the Accountability Block Grant program and for financially distressed school districts. Crossey said this is a first step toward addressing the school funding crisis, but that more must be done to solve it.= =“Legislators worked hard to find funds to fill the school funding cuts Gov. Corbett proposed in February,” Crossey said. “There is still a lot more work to be done to solve the school funding crisis and ensure public schools can meet the needs of our students, but we are grateful that legislators stood up and fought for this funding.”= =Crossey pointed out that $100 million for the Accountability Block Grant program will help some school districts avoid even deeper cuts to their full-day kindergarten and tutoring programs. In addition, $50 million for financially distressed school districts will provide some much-needed assistance for schools that have been hit hardest by nearly $1 billion in state funding cuts since 2011.= =“There is a school funding crisis in Pennsylvania,” Crossey said. “These appropriations won’t solve it, but they are a step in the right direction.”= =Crossey pointed out that “Sounding The Alarm,” a recent PSEA report, shows that a combination of nearly $1 billion in cuts and a toxic mixture of bad state education laws is forcing dramatic cuts to student programs and pushing a growing number of school districts to the financial brink.= =Learn more at www.psea.org/soundingthealarm.= =“Making sure that the public schools are funded fairly and adequately is our number one priority,” Crossey said. “We won’t rest until we meet that objective. Pennsylvania’s students are counting on all us. We can’t let them down.”= =Crossey is a special education teacher in the Keystone Oaks School District. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents approximately 187,000 future, active and retired teachers and school employees, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.= =**View on PSEA.org**= = = = = =News= =home=