“A child is in kindergarten once, and can never get that year back,” said Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, staff attorney with the Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia.
Yet the current rate of funding Pennsylvania’s schools is inadequate to make kindergarten — and every subsequent year — the best it can be, he explained.
While the nine-month state budget impasse dragged on, Ackelsberg decided to file a Right to Know request for “funding impact plans” submitted by school districts to the state at the beginning of the 2015-16 budget process.
“When the governor came in, he proposed this historic increase in basic education funding and the districts were required to submit reports on how they would use the funds,” Ackelsberg said. “We thought — looking forward to next year’s budget fight — it would be helpful to look back to last year to see what opportunities were lost.
“It’s really pretty sobering.”
He prepared a report detailing those requests from each district in the state. The results are available on the center’s website at www.pubintlaw.org/2015-impact-plans/.
The Bradford Area School District would use $336,464 for early childhood programs. The Kane Area School District would use $142,453; and Otto-Eldred School District, $84,738 for the same reason.
The Port Allegany School District would use $15,000 for professional development and curriculum; $67,500 for smaller class sizes in the elementary school; and $65,986 for career and technical education.
The Smethport Area School District would use $39,000 for personalized help or intervention for struggling students; and $34,953 for alternative school settings or programs.
“The biggest take-away is how basic the requests were,” Ackelsberg said. “The districts weren’t going to use this for chauffeurs in the parking lot or fancy lunches. They were going to use it for basic things like books, librarians, teachers. Districts around the state are really hurting.”
The increased funding that Wolf recommended — but didn’t pass muster with the Legislature — was to “really just cover the basics,” Ackelsberg said.
“They now have to make the same decision as last year,” he said. “When are they going to pass the budget and how are they going to fund schools?
“All districts of all types in all counties do not have adequate resources to fund their schools. What you see is lost opportunities across the state.
“School administrators are desperate to get funds. The broader context here is there is no law in Pennsylvania that says schools have to be adequately funded,” Ackelsberg said. “Until the Legislature agrees we need to adequately fund our schools, this kind of problem is going to come up again and again.”
From Gov. Tom Wolf’s perspective, he agrees that further investment in education is needed.
Spokesman Jeffrey Sheridan said Wednesday, “We agree that we need to further invest in education and ensure new funding is being used in classrooms to support our children.
“That is why the governor will continue working with school districts to ensure that funding goes toward proven strategies for learning such as full-day kindergarten and why his administration will keep pushing to bring back other valuable programs, reduce class sizes, and hire back educators,” he continued.
“The governor looks forward to continuing to work with leaders from both parties to reach agreement on a final 2016-17 budget that is balanced, fixes the deficit and invests in education.”
