News

State Senators to introduce legislation to help students in low-achieving school districts

Three State Senators, Representatives DiSanto, Scarnati III and Eichelberger plan to introduce legislation Tuesday, they say will help students attending low-achieving schools through the establishment of education savings accounts.  CBS… Read More

Opinion: Trickle-down taxation and shrinking state education funding

“The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth.” –Article III, Section 14,… Read More

GOP senator wants to bring next generation of school vouchers to PA

Will Pennsylvania become the next state to offer the latest iteration of a school voucher program? Freshman Sen. John DiSanto, a Republican from Dauphin County, on Tuesday intends to do… Read More

Lawmakers move to protect own funds during budget stalemates

Tax increase proposals drew most of the attention when the state Senate approved a package of legislation late last month designed to bring Pennsylvania’s budget stalemate to an end, but… Read More

PA state treasurer calls short-term line of credit ‘extraordinary and without precedent’

Pennsylvania’s state treasurer Thursday authorized a short-term $750 million line of credit to keep the state’s general fund from dipping into negative territory. Treasurer Joe Torsella says the state hasn’t… Read More

Pension costs dominate PA education conversation in Harrisburg, amid other competing priorities

Much of the debate in Harrisburg this summer has been centered on how Pennsylvania should overcome its $2.2 billion deficit. But, as usual, there has also been a great deal… Read More

ESSA State Plan Released 8/2/2017

The ESSA State Plan and related materials are now available on the PDE web site at http://www.education.pa.gov/K-12/ESSA/Pages/default.aspx#tab-1 Below is the press release issued on 08/02/2017: PDE Announces ESSA Consolidated State… Read More

School pensions: What does the future hold?

While future teachers might not receive as lucrative a pension as those guaranteed to today’s school employees, experts who make a living providing clients with financial advice contend the plan… Read More

As Pennsylvania’s budget battle drags on, Gov. Wolf tries new negotiating tactic: Keep quiet

Gov. Wolf himself has largely stayed out of the fray, instead choosing to call certain legislative leaders for private discussions. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 3, 2017 Full story

PA unveils new school accountability system that puts less emphasis on standardized testing

The Pennsylvania Department of Education will unveil a new school quality metric in 2018 — dubbed the Future Ready PA Index — that it believes will foster a more holistic… Read More