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News & Views / Pennsylvania Lawmakers Prioritize Students in State Budget
The Pennsylvania General Assembly sent Gov. Tom Wolf a budget and related School Code legislation that includes record investments in education and student-centered policies. Patricia Levesque, Executive Director of ExcelinEd in Action, issued the following statement:
“Pennsylvania lawmakers took bold steps in this state budget and omnibus School Code bill to make sure every student in the Commonwealth has the opportunity to learn and succeed. This legislation includes critical education investments and creates vital student-focused programs to meet each child’s learning needs. Additionally, improvements to the School Code enable schools to provide teachers with the science-based training needed to teach their students essential reading skills.
“We are grateful to the policymakers who worked hard to invest in the future of students in the Commonwealth, and we look forward to helping ensure these much-needed changes have a lasting and positive impact.”
The omnibus School Code bill accompanying the budget contains the following policy changes that will set up students and educators for success:
- Creating a teacher professional development pilot program for school districts wishing to transition to a science-based reading program. It also requires the Department of Education to provide transition support to districts and develop a list of qualified training programs. These literacy improvements were originally in HB 2045, sponsored by Rep. Jason Ortitay.
- Establishing an online supplemental course access program at the state level, expanding opportunity and access to courses for all students across the Commonwealth. The program will also contain teacher professional development courses. This program was originally in HB 1330, sponsored by Rep. Jason Ortitay.
- Increasing the tax credits available through the successful Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) scholarship and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) scholarship programs, from $175 million to $226 million for EITC and from $55 million to $65 million, tackling the programs’ wait list and meeting student needs.
- Making improvements to the state’s Economically Disadvantaged Schools program, which is part of the EITC and OSTC scholarship program, by increasing eligibility and scholarship amounts. These improvements were originally introduced in HB 1642, sponsored by Rep. Martina White.
- Expanding the state’s dual enrollment program to include students attending charter school entities.
- Taking steps to prioritize teacher recruitment and diversity. The language was originally in SB 99, sponsored by Sens. Ryan Aument and Vince Hughes.
- Establishing the Commission on Education and Economic Competitiveness to consider policies to better align education to workforce. This was originally introduced as SR 144, championed by Sen. Ryan Aument.
- Increasing Basic Education Funding by $525 million to $7.08 billion, and includes millions of additional funding in various education line items, setting a record high $15 billion investment in Pre K-12 education.
The state budget and omnibus School Code bill awaits Gov. Tom Wolf’s signature.