Governor Rendell’s Education Budget Continues Strategic Investments to Ensure an Educated, Prepared Workforce
Additional $354 million Investment in Basic Education will Help Continue Academic Gains, Ease Burden of Local Property Taxes
Harrisburg – Citing the academic gains Pennsylvania students have made because of the state’s continued investments in quality education, Governor Edward G. Rendell today called for a $354.8 million increase in the state’s basic education funding to ensure every student in every school has the necessary resources to learn.
The increase will bring to $5.9 billion the state’s total commitment to basic education and mark the third year of a multi-year commitment by the Governor and the General Assembly to increase the state’s share of education funding.
“We know what works to increase student achievement: targeted classroom investments and the vision to build on those investments even in the toughest economic times,” Governor Rendell said.
Today, nearly three-quarters of Pennsylvania’s students are testing on grade level in reading and math, compared to slightly more than half who were performing on grade level in 2002. This marked academic progress has been driven by school districts that have received the most significant increases in state resources since 2002. These districts have seen an average 37 percent increase in the proportion of students performing at grade level in reading and math.
In the past seven years, Governor Rendell has made education a top priority for Pennsylvania, championing new investment and greater accountability as critical to the commonwealth’s economic development strategy. Working with the General Assembly, he has built the nation’s best early childhood infrastructure, enacted a school funding formula based on reaching funding adequacy in every district and helped districts raise student achievement with targeted investments in proven classroom initiatives.
As a result, Pennsylvania is now a real investor in the state’s public schools, Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak said.
“Pennsylvania’s unwavering commitment to adequately funding our schools has had a dramatic impact on student achievement, helping us earn the distinction of being the only state in the nation to show sustained improvement in reading and math at every grade level since 2002,” Zahorchak said.
The budget includes a funding formula for basic education subsidies that compares each district’s adequacy target as identified by the General Assembly’s costing out study to its actual spending. The difference between these two figures is the district’s “adequacy gap.”
The funding formula, first used in fiscal 2008-09, will phase in $2.6 billion in new state funding to help fill the adequacy gap, with an emphasis on aiding school districts that have the highest local tax levels and the greatest needs. The 2010-11 investment of $354.8 million will enable the state to reach 41 percent of its adequacy funding target.
The pressures faced by school districts will result in local property tax hikes unless the state continues its commitment to close the adequacy gap, the Governor said.
“On average, it would take a 40-percent increase in local property taxes to generate the same investment as the state will contribute over the course of our multi-year funding formula,” the Governor said. “When the state pays its fair share, school districts can keep property tax increases to a bare minimum.”
The property tax burden is further alleviated through the relief provided by gaming revenues, which have generated sufficient revenue to provide $1.7 billion in property tax relief since 2008. In fiscal 2010-11, an additional $613.7 million in state revenues will go to relieve citizens of a portion of their local school property tax burden.
In addition to increases in the basic education subsidy, the Governor and the General Assembly have targeted an additional $2.5 billion over the past seven years in funds for specific targeted programs, including Pre-K Counts, Accountability Block Grants, Educational Assistance Program and Dual Enrollment. The 2010-11 budget proposal continues funding these initiatives.
“While my budget plan reflects the difficult choices that must be made in a tough economy, it also recognizes that a quality public education system is a fundamental tool for economic development,” Governor Rendell said. “The young people we teach today will be the workforce that sustains and strengthens Pennsylvania in the years ahead.”
Early Childhood Education
Over the past seven years, Pennsylvania has built a world-class system of early childhood education resources. This effort stems from the recognition that investments made in the earliest years of a child’s development have immense educational, social and economic benefits over the course of the child’s life.
The 2010-11 education budget continues Pennsylvania’s commitment to providing affordable, high-quality early childhood learning opportunities.
Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts will receive $85.9 million to enable approximately 11,800 3- and 4-year-olds to reap the proven benefits of quality pre-kindergarten programs and allow more families to have access to full-day programs.
The budget also provides $38.7 million in state supplemental assistance for federally funded Head Start programs, allowing 5,743 children who are most at risk of academic failure to benefit from comprehensive early learning services.
Higher Education
Governor Rendell said Pennsylvania also must sustain its commitment to higher education in a struggling economy, noting the nation’s fiscal crisis has made it even more difficult for families to afford college tuition.
“The more we can do to adequately fund our public colleges and universities, the less likely those institutions will have to resort to tuition increases,” the Governor said.
His 2010-11 budget for higher education provides:
• $282 million for Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges;
• $503 million for the 14 universities in the State System of Higher Education; and
• $688 million for the four state-related universities - Penn State University, the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University and Lincoln University.
Teacher Professional Development and Supports
Governor Rendell’s education budget recognizes the importance of quality teaching in student achievement, providing $30 million in high-quality tools and supports for teachers, including:
• $7 million for coaches to help teachers use technology to bring instruction to life in the classroom;
• $13.5 million for “Science: It’s Elementary” to train teachers to prepare the scientists of the future;
• $4.5 million for online model curriculum, including research-proven instructional strategies and lesson plans; and
• $5 million for tools to help teachers identify and help struggling students.
Zahorchak said the Governor’s ongoing commitment to adequately funding education at all levels will ensure Pennsylvania’s students continue to have solid opportunities for learning at every level - from the first day of pre-kindergarten to the day they earn their college degrees.Governor Rendell: 2010-11 Budget Preserves Health Care for Seniors, Persons with Disabilities and Pennsylvania’s Poorest Families
Human Services are Maintained During Economic Recovery
Harrisburg – Governor Edward G. Rendell’s proposed 2010-11 budget maintains essential health care and other safety net services during the economic recovery by better managing programs, attacking waste and reducing unnecessary spending.
“The ongoing national recession means more people are out of work and need our help,” said Governor Rendell. “Others may have kept their jobs, but lost their health insurance due to employer cutbacks. Either way, we need to do all we can so that children and adults have access to the health care services they need.”
Too many children cannot get health care today because their parents have lost their health insurance. The economic downturn has made Pennsylvania’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, more important than ever, and the Governor’s plan ensures that 10,300 more children will be able to receive care through CHIP.
The CHIP program provides comprehensive, free and low-cost health care to uninsured children whose parents earn up to 300 percent of poverty. Three years ago, Pennsylvania launched Cover All Kids to expand the CHIP program. Today, families earning above the program’s income limits can enroll their children by paying the full cost of coverage.
The Governor’s budget also maintains its commitment to the adultBasic program by continuing to insure 50,000 adults in 2010-11. The waiting list for adultBasic insurance has tripled in size over the past two years and now totals more than 380,000 people. The future of this critical lifeline depends on securing an agreement that continues to generate funds from nonprofit insurance companies, similar to the existing Community Health Reinvestment agreement that expires in December 2010.
The adultBasic insurance program provides basic care to working, uninsured adults earning up to 200 percent of poverty.
The Rendell administration has also made major progress rebalancing and restructuring the long-term living system to ensure that older Pennsylvanians can age in place at home with dignity and a high quality of care. The 2010-11 budget continues Governor Rendell’s demonstrated commitment to older Pennsylvanians and persons with disabilities by including a $17.3 million increase for direct services to them. Over the last eight years, funding for aging and long-term living services has grown by $1 billion, a 307-percent increase.
The Governor’s budget proposes balanced investments in both nursing homes and home- and community-based services. Nursing homes will be eligible for $24 million more to support the increased needs of a more complex nursing home population. In addition, nearly 1,700 additional older adults and 1,525 additional persons with disabilities will be able to receive home- and community-based services so that they can live more independently. Finally, 4,000 additional older Pennsylvanians will be able to get their prescription drugs through the PACE and PACENET programs.
The gains for older Pennsylvanians and persons with disabilities would not have been sustainable without major initiatives to rebalance the long-term living system. The share of consumers served in their home has doubled since 2003. Because home-based services are more cost-effective, scarce public resources can be stretched further.
In 2007, the Governor created the Office of Long Term Living to manage resources more effectively between the departments of Public Welfare and Aging. Governor Rendell is proposing to institutionalize these efficiencies and make possible further savings by establishing the Department of Aging and Long-Term Living as part of this year’s budget.
Improved program management and reducing waste, fraud and abuse are critical to sustaining these investments.
“The national recession has increased the need for critical health care services and we need to eliminate every nickel of waste or unnecessary spending,” said Governor Rendell. “Our success means that our programs will not result in the loss of health care services for those who can least afford it.”
The 2010-11 budget also includes a $388 million increase for the Department of Public Welfare, primarily in Medical Assistance spending. About 80 percent of the increase was driven by rising Cash and Medical Assistance caseloads and federally mandated increases in rates for managed care organizations and Medicare buy-in programs such as Medicare Part D. The Governor’s budget also includes modest increases for neglected and abused children, community mental retardation services and early intervention for special needs children.
Today 2.1 million low-income children and adults receive their health care through Medical Assistance. The ongoing recession means that more people will turn to DPW for help.
Governor Rendell was able to avoid cuts in eligibility and benefits packages in the 2010-11 budget by intensifying efforts to reduce fraud, finding new savings and running programs more efficiently. For example, DPW will realize $217 million in agency-wide efficiencies and another $102.5 million in increased pharmaceutical savings in the coming year. The budget also assumes that the General Assembly will provide DPW with new tools to reduce fraud and abuse by passing the False Claims Act. The False Claims Act will generate at least $4 million in additional recurring savings by creating stronger incentives for individuals to report fraudulent practices.
The health care budget assumes that the federal government will extend the end date for providing enhanced matching federal funds for Medical Assistance. Pennsylvania has received $1.6 billion in enhanced matching funds to date, and the extension for all of 2010-11 would generate an additional $848 million in temporary federal fiscal relief for the commonwealth. Congress is now considering a proposal to extend the enhanced federal match.
The health care budget also assumes that Congress will adopt a plan to allow Medicaid managed care organizations to benefit from higher federal drug rebates.
