School funding was on the ballot on Election Day. We can’t let Pa’s kids down | Opinion
Public education – and how it should be funded – was a core issue in this year’s elections here in Pennsylvania. Voters chose to reelect Governor Tom Wolf, who ran on his record of investing in education and restoring past cuts in school funding. Now the work...
Somerset teacher garners prestigious award
Katherine Bobby’s dedication to her students is paying off in more ways than one. On Wednesday, at an all-school assembly at Eagle View Elementary School, the third-grade teacher was recognized as a 2018 Milken Educator Award winner and was presented with an...
Mandated: Fiscal pressures make nonmandated program cuts more tempting
About 67 percent of school districts statewide are in survival mode, according to Richard Fry, president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and superintendent of Big Spring School District. Such districts tend to be driven by the strictest...Officials: Special education funding not keeping pace with needs
A couple of superintendents with local school districts weighed in on a recent study that reports state special education funding in Pennsylvania is not keeping pace with local needs. The report, titled “Shortchanging Children with Disabilities: State Underfunding of...
SPECIAL REPORT: As costs skyrocket, Pennsylvania’s share of special education funding has fallen
Griffin Farrell sits in an East Hills Middle School eighth-grade class learning equations alongside his peers. It’s something the 14-year-old with Down syndrome has done since kindergarten. Griffin’s brothers go to Catholic school. But his mother, Dena Farrell, said...Education funding meeting set in Upper Darby
UPPER DARBY — On top of input for what qualities their ideal superintendent should have, the Upper Darby School District is again asking for the community for feedback on investment in schools as part of a survey. A parent information night is scheduled for Oct. 22 at...
Study finds costs for special education outpacing state education aid
Increases in special-education costs in Pennsylvania are far outpacing increases in the state’s contributions to those expenses, leaving local school districts to pick up bigger shares of the tabs, according to a recent report. While state aid for special...
Report: Rising special education costs taxing school districts
There’s nothing “special” about the skyrocketing cost of special education, according to a new report. The local share of money designated to special education in school districts has continued to rise while state funding has decreased, creating...