Poor schools take biggest budget hit .

[femmocrat]

Poor schools take biggest budget hit
Sunday, March 27, 2011
By Mary Niederberger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11086/1135097-298.stm#ixzz1HqpIUhXh

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That's because poor districts depend upon state funding for larger portions of their budget, while wealthier districts fund the majority of their budgets through local real estate taxes. In Mr. Corbett's budget, not only were basic education subsidies reduced to all districts, but funding was eliminated for such programs as after-school tutoring, full-day kindergarten and charter school tuition reimbursement, funding lines that affect largely the less wealthy districts.

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Local school officials say the rankings speak for themselves. Six districts in Western Pennsylvania are among the top dozen with the largest losses per student. The Duquesne City School District ranks second in the state with a per pupil loss of $2,561, a total that doesn't factor in the district's loss of a nearly $2 million basic education formula enhancement line item that was eliminated in the governor's budget.

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The other local districts in the top dozen and their per pupil losses are: Midland Borough, Beaver County, $1,333; Aliquippa, Beaver County, $1,223; Pittsburgh Public Schools, $1,220; and Sto-Rox, $1,149. The Pittsburgh schools also lost a $2 million Commonwealth Partnership line item that is not factored into its per pupil costs.

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The other local districts in the top 10 percent of school districts in the size of the state cuts per pupil are McKeesport Area at No. 33, Washington, Washington County, and Steel Valley. The Steel Valley board voted last week to furlough six teachers aides and six custodians and warned of more cuts to come in programs and staff.


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11086/1135097-298.stm#ixzz1HqptpX2x

[old mark]

1. K&R-

[PA Democrat]

2. How long before Corbett proposes privatizing the very districts he bankrupted?

[JPZenger]

3. The Hidden Cut: Social Security Reimbursements

The Corbett budget proposes many hidden cuts in public education. The latest one to be uncovered was social security tax reimbursements. Many school districts did not realize until the last few days that they will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars of state funding to cover social security taxes of employees. There was an article this morning on www.mcall.com

[femmocrat]

5. Good find, JPZ.

It looks like Corbett is cutting both wealthy and poor districts, sparing none. A source in the above article predicts that pension contributions will be next.

Can we recall this guy?

[femmocrat]

4. There isn't much left of either Duquesne or Midland.

I think neither district has a high school anymore. Duquesne has been in a precarious position for years and could be dissolved.