By Karen Langley / Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House on Monday approved legislation requiring the state to create a searchable online database of the revenue and expenses of school districts and charter schools.
The legislation calls for the Department of Education to first post on its website the annual financial reports for each school district, charter school and vocational-technical school. Within a year of the bill becoming law, the agency would have to post the most recent budget of each district or school.
The proposal also calls for the creation of a searchable database of receipts and expenditures, as well as a measure comparing spending to performance, for public schools. Plans for those steps would be developed by an advisory committee made up mostly of school business managers and leaders of the House and Senate education committees.
The measure now heads to the Senate, where Erik Arneson, a spokesman for Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, said it was “an excellent idea” and in line with transparency initiatives pursued by the Senate.
Full story: Bill requires schools to make budgets public Karen Langley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1/13/14
