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PrintState Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak said the governor's proposed budget for 2010-11 reflects hard choices, including providing more money for public basic education while holding steady the money for public higher education.
"We want to get the fundamentals right. Fundamentals really begin with the basic education system being well done. We've got to do basic education right," Dr. Zahorchak said Tuesday.
He said colleges won't have to provide remedial education if basic education is done right and he anticipates the federal government will increase Pell grants for needy post-secondary students.
He also said that 37 other states have cut higher education assistance to balance their budgets.
The budget calls for a $354.8 million increase in basic education spending -- 7.28 percent -- to be allotted using a formula aimed at providing more resources for school districts that are getting an inadequate share. Basic education funding would total $5.88 billion.
PDFThe increase, as well as a portion of existing level of basic education funding, would be paid for with $654.7 million of federal economic stimulus money.
This would bring the state to 41 percent of its funding target.
Each school district would receive at least a 2 percent increase, with the increase as high as 24.56 percent in the Oxford School District in Chester County. The highest percentage in Allegheny County would be 15.92 percent for the South Fayette School District.
The proposed amounts for each district and other budget information can be found on the Internet at www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/education_budget.
For higher education, the proposed budget shows $482.6 million -- counting $38.1 million in economic stimulus money -- for the 14 state-owned universities, including California, Clarion, Edinboro, Indiana and Slippery Rock. That's the same total as for the current year.
The four state-related universities -- Penn State, Pitt, Temple and Lincoln -- would receive $320.2 million for general support, including $15.8 million in economic stimulus money, also the same total as for the current year.
For community colleges, the proposal calls for holding spending steady at $235.7 million, including $21.5 million from economic stimulus money. It also provides $46.4 million for capital expenses, the same as for the current year.
Some college officials were relieved there was no reduction, but concerned they could nevertheless face another year of severely strained finances.
"Given the national economy and the state fiscal situation, we understand where the governor is coming from," said Geoff Rushton, a Penn State spokesman.
Still, he said, the school needs its requested 3.9 percent increase in appropriation to offset hikes in areas including health care, retiree benefits and utility costs.
He said it's too soon to predict campus impact from the governor's proposed budget.
Don Francis, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, said he's concerned that cuts affecting two private, state-aided schools of osteopathic medicine could impact turnout of family practice physicians in the state.
He was referring to the Lake Erie and Philadelphia colleges of osteopathic medicine, which would lose subsidies of $733,000 and $207,000, respectively.
Pittsburgh Public Schools spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said district officials are "pleased" with the efforts to fund public education and appreciate the governor's discussion of the future end of stimulus money and the inclusion of extra money for school pension contributions.
Some areas that showed decreases, such as Pre-K Counts and Head Start, were decreases over the enacted 2009-10 budget but were steady amounts compared to mid-budget reductions.
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