Gov. Ed Rendell has pledged $85,000 toward the cost of keeping the International Baccalaureate program at the Upper St. Clair School District, but the school board president still isn't ready to restore the program.

In a March 15 letter to Upper St. Clair school board President William Sulkowski, Mr. Rendell says the state will fund the program.

"Because I believe so strongly in our need to provide Pennsylvania students with the most challenging curriculum to prepare them to compete, I asked our secretary of education, Dr. Gerald Zahorchak, to see if we could offer your district financial assistance to cover the cost of the ... program," he wrote.

But Dr. Sulkowski said the money would be just a Band-Aid, especially since he estimates the program's cost at closer to $250,000.

"Even if someone came up with $250,000, that would be one year," he said, noting that it still wouldn't allow the local board to have control over its own curriculum.

Lauren Trocano, spokeswoman for a pro-IB parent group called USC-WAVES -- We're About Value and Excellence for our Schools -- said the group learned of the offer Tuesday night from one of its attorneys.

School board members voted 5-4 last month to eliminate the International Baccalaureate program, including classes of several subjects for students in grades one through 12. Board members said the cut was for financial reasons, but some members also said they were concerned that it didn't espouse "Judeo-Christian values."

In addition to the state offer, private groups and individuals have pledged to help fund the classes, although Mrs. Trocano did not identify them or say how much they have offered.

"If fiscal concerns really are the issue, then we clearly have solutions in place, at least for next year," Mrs. Trocano said. "We would love the board to take these funding offers very seriously and do due diligence."

Beatrice Browand, a resident and member of USC Citizens for Responsible Education, a group that opposes USC-WAVES and supports the board majority that eliminated IB, said the money offer is an attempt to intrude on a local issue that should be handled by the local school board.

IB classes are to be stopped at the end of this school year, with the exception of students enrolled in the two-year high school Diploma Programme, who will be permitted to finish next year.