PSBA Special Report: House voting today on 2019-20 state budget plan
Please note that this is a preliminary report as various budget-related and other bills are still moving in the House and Senate.
 This afternoon the House of Representatives is debating provisions of a new 2019-20 state budget. The $34 billion spending plan was inserted into House Bill 790 yesterday afternoon by the House Appropriations Committee and reflects the compromises reached by legislative leaders and the administration. This is a spending increase of $596 million, or 1.8%, over the current year's budget.
Education generally fared well, with special education receiving the $50 million boost that has been sought by PSBA. The General Assembly also maintained its commitment to school safety and allocated another $60 million for safety and security grants; this is another key budget ask sought by PSBA. The budget also includes increases for the basic subsidy as well as career and technical education and early childhood programs.
PSBA will be providing additional budget updates this week as more details emerge regarding the new plan, distribution of subsidies and related legislation. Negotiations continue for provisions for an omnibus School Code bill that provides for the distribution of funding as well as negotiations for various other pieces of legislation of interest.
Education funding under House Bill 790 includes:
Basic education funding (BEF) subsidy: The BEF is slated to receive an increase of $160 million, a 2.6% increase. Adding the $160 into the formula will mean a total of nearly $700 million will go through the formula this year. Under House Bill 790, the total BEF line item appropriation is $6.74 billion. That number includes the school district portion of Social Security payments at $487.8 million, which will be going into the BEF base.
Ready to Learn Block Grant: Funding for this grant is set at $268 million; however, it is not known yet how this will be specifically allocated to districts.
Special education: The budget boosts funding for special education by $50 million, or 4.4%, to $1.186 billion.
Career and technical education: Funding for career and technical education receives a $7 million increase from $92 million to $99 million. Funding for Career and Technical Education Equipment Grants received a $3 million increase from $2.5 million to $5.5 million.
Trauma-informed education: The budget provides an increase of $250,000, for a total of $750,000.
Early childhood education: Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts will receive a $25 million increase and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program will receive a $5 million increase. Early intervention will receive an $15 million increase.
School employees' retirement: The budget provides for an additional $140.5 million increase to $2.62 billion to cover the state's share of pension costs.
Pupil transportation: Funding for pupil transportation is level funded at $549 million. Funding for nonpublic and charter school transportation is cut by $567,000.
State assessment: Funding for state and federal testing programs, including the Keystone Exams and PSSAs, is decreased from $49.4 million to $48.9 million.
Teacher professional development: The budget provides level funding of $5.3 million for professional development.
Mobile science and math education programs: The program received an increase of $750,000, from $3.9 million to $4.7 million.
Educational Improvement Tax Credit program: The budget provides an expansion of $25 million for EITC programs.
Other bills passed by the House
These bills have returned to the Senate for concurrence
Flexible instruction days -- Senate Bill 440 (Sen. Phillips-Hill, R-York) amends the School Code to codify a pilot program that allows schools to use Flexible Instructional Days (FIDs) in the instance of a cancellation to fulfill instructional requirements in English language arts, math, science and social studies. Interested schools would apply with the PA Department of Education (PDE); approved applications would be valid for three years, when the school would need to reapply. School districts may use up to five flexible instructional days per school year.
The bill also requires that any accommodations made in the school's plan for students without Internet access also be made for professional employees; ensure that the program shall not be construed to supersede any provisions of a collective bargaining or rights afforded to employees under state and federal law; and allows nonpublic schools to use technology or other means to provide instruction when the school building is prevented from opening.
Career and technical education package -- Senate Bill 89 (Sen. Hughes, D-Philadelphia) changes multiple references to "vocational-technical schools" in the School Code and replaces them with "career and technical schools." The bill also updates other terminology related to the description of CTE instruction and courses and includes these provisions:
- PASMART online career resources -- requires the Departments of Education (PDE), Labor and Industry (L&I) and Agriculture to establish an online central clearinghouse as a career resource center to provide information on career pathways, data and statistics on employment opportunities, postsecondary options and statewide and regional articulation agreements.
- Workforce development program inventory and clearinghouse -- requires PDE and L & I to conduct a complete inventory to determine the number and types of existing workforce development programs at both the secondary and postsecondary levels.
- Occupational advisory committees - requires CTE programs or a cluster of programs to establish occupational advisory committees. The committees may agree to establish a shared committee to serve multiple school districts or career and technical education centers within the same intermediate unit.
- Schools-to-Work -- establishes the Schools-to-Work Program in the PA Department of Labor & Industry, in consultation with the Department of Education, to distribute grants on a competitive basis to schools to support the establishment or enhancement of partnerships with local businesses in order to fill current and anticipated needs for employees with necessary job qualifications and certifications. The bill as amended to update definitions and requirements for the grant proposal, priority for awarding grants, and reporting requirements.
Passed by the Senate
Educator evaluation system -- Senate Bill 751 (Sen. Aument, R-Lancaster), revises the state's system for educator evaluation that would become effective in the 2021-22 school year. The bill changes the measure on direct classroom observation and practice from 50% to 70% of most educators' evaluations. The remaining 30% of the rating is based on building level and teacher specific student achievement data, including student performance on standardized testing. The building level data also will be adjusted by a measure of poverty for each individual school building. The teacher specific student achievement data will include student performance measures that relate directly to an educator's practice each academic year. The PA Department of Education would develop a new rating tool by June 30, 2020.
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