Special education costs are rising much faster in Pennsylvania than state aid — causing local taxpayers to foot most of the bill, while also stretching school budgets thin and increasing inequities between rich and poor districts, according to a new report by a duo of...
Thomas Parker needed to come up with $10 million, and he was almost out of time. It was June, and Parker, superintendent of the Allentown School District, had already erased $18 million of a staggering $28 million budget deficit through a combination of cuts, a...
As a longtime resident of Lansdowne, I am encouraged to hear that the school funding lawsuit filed in 2014 by the William Penn School District has recently overcome a major legal hurdle, moving it one step closer to trial. I attended school in Lansdowne-Aldan, prior...
A new school year is underway. Students have new clothes, new pencils and backpacks, and in some districts, new buildings to explore. As this new year begins, a lingering issue looms over public schools in our region. Families, educators and property owners have been...
When Rafi Cave dropped his daughter off at school Friday, it felt like a revelation — it was the first time since classes began Sept. 4 that children at Evans Elementary in Yeadon had a full day’s instruction. “We’re a week into school, and she...
The firehall whistle blew in town a few miles away, marking the big moment of the night: the crowning of the 2018 Bituminous Coal Queen at Carmichaels High School. Craig Baily, retired school superintendent and master of pageant ceremonies, wore a black tuxedo and...
Eleven of Luzerne County’s 12 school districts have increased real estate taxes for the 2018-19 fiscal year, according to new county assessment office records. Northwest Area School District is the lone exception, with a tax rate remaining at 10.7452 mills. A mill is...
By PennLive Editorial Board penned@pennlive.com There’s no doubt that Pennsylvania has made strides in increasing taxpayer support for public education over the last three years. According to one news organization’s analysis, for instance, lawmakers...
It now appears the struggling families of the William Penn School District will finally get their day in court. The families, saddled for years with an unequal education for little reason other than their zip code, are celebrating a major court victory. This week...
Started in Exeter, summer education program expands to benefit city kids. Reading Eagle | Jeremy Long | July 7, 2018 Kayla Welsh sat in the shade outside Reading’s 3rd and Spruce Recreation Center reading to a group of kids sprawled out on a picnic blanket....