The Education budget for 2012-2013 proposed by Governor Tom Corbett on February 7 would shift more K-12 school funding burden to local taxpayers and dramatically cut state funding for higher education.
The proposed K-12 budget would “block grant” or collapse four current line items for basic education subsidy funding ($5.35 billion), pupil transportation ($542.3 million), nonpublic and charter school public transportation ($77.7 million) and $541.56 million of School Employees’ Social Security into a new Student Achievement Education Block Grant. This combined line block grant line item would provide an increase of only 3/10 of 1% over last year’s figure, or $21.8 million. This modest increase apparently covers only increased social security obligations, and provides no real increase for the basic subsidy to districts. Most other line items under the Governor’s PK-12 education budget were level funded or received a 5 percent reduction.
A summary of the proposed funding levels for Education Appropriations for FY 2012-2013, allocation guidelines for the new Student Achievement Education Block Grant, Special Education, and Secondary Career and Technical Education are now available on the PDE website. Copies of the PDE 2012-2013 budget presentation and highlights of the education budget are also posted.
To view an analysis of the impact of the Governor’s proposed Student Achievement Education Block Grant on local school districts, as prepared by the staff of the Senate Republican Appropriations Committee, click here.
To view the House Democratic Appropriations Committee’s spreadsheet for the Governor’s proposed 2012-2013 Student Achievement Education Block Grant, click here.
