Corbett budget proposal out today
by Erika Owens on Feb 07 2012 Posted in Latest news
Updated with reactions
Gov. Tom Corbett gave his budget address to the Pennsylvania legislature today. According to the Inquirer, proposed changes to public education funding could result in a $21.6 million decrease in funding for the Philadelphia public schools, although the District would not confirm a number.
Overall, the proposed budget includes about the same amount for basic education. But he combined several line items, including the Accountability Block Grants, into a new funding stream he is calling Student Achievement Education Block Grant, resulting in a net loss of $94 million statewide. This is where Philadelphia would lose out.
Corbett proposed another year of double-digit cuts for state colleges and state-related institutions.
NewsWorks live tweeted the address. Follow the #pabudget and #educationPA hashtags for additional news and reaction.
Last year, Corbett proposed a 10 percent cut to the basic education subsidy, among other cuts to public education. Many districts, including Chester Upland and Philadelphia, continue to struggle to balance budgets for this fiscal year.
Reactions:
Pedro Ramos, chair of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission: "The District appreciates the Governor's effort to spare basic education from the difficult cuts proposed to balance the Commonwealth's FY 2013 budget, as well as the Administration's efforts to increase flexibility in the use of funds and the proposed initiatives to fund accountability systems and increased funding to improve student data collection. As the financial circumstances of the Commonwealth improve, we hope to also engage in discussions about early childhood education, charter school funding, and other priority areas."
Susan Gobreski, Education Voters PA: “There was one right thing to do for public education in this year’s budget and that was to restore the funds that were cut from our students and our communities last year and it didn’t happen. They said we were forced to make cuts last year because of tough times – if that were true, we would be getting back on track with both the funding formula and funding levels this year. The cuts to early education are disturbing and the cuts to higher education are shocking. This is ideological. I really have to question a Governor’s priorities if he isn’t willing to take care of children and provide an opportunity for them to learn, as well as think long term and help prepare our workforce for tomorrow."
Pedro Rivera, superintendent of the Lancaster School District and president of the Pennsylvania League of Urban Schools: He said that the cuts will continue to fall most heavily on urban and other poor districts. “Pennsylvania’s school children, especially those from the poorest communities, rely heavily on the state’s contribution for their opportunity to have a good education. We are very disappointed that this governor continues to shortchange our most vulnerable kids.”
Ron Cowell of the Pennsylvania School Funding Campaign: “Pennsylvanians do not support the major education cuts made this past year and believe that state government has a responsibility to assure quality learning opportunities for all students...If the budget is approved as proposed by the Governor, the devastating effects of the recent budget will continue, local taxpayers will be asked to shoulder more school funding responsibility, and our children will have fewer learning opportunities.
Ted Kirsch, president of the Pennsylvania Federal of Teachers: "The governor is continuing down the ill-advised budget path he charted last year that pushes more and more of the costs of our public schools onto the backs of local taxpayers. Across the Commonwealth, these policies are bankrupting school districts and denying our children the educational opportunities they deserve."
Joan Benso, president of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children: "On the whole, the governor’s budget priorities fail to show adequate commitment to the well-being of Pennsylvania’s children, and his short-term attempts to cut costs will cause long-term setbacks to the commonwealth’s efforts to build a competitive workforce." She pointed out that the budget cuts early childhood education and will likely result in some districts abandoning full-day kindergarten.
Comments (15)
Submitted by William T. (not verified) on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 15:41.
When you elect ignorance, intolerance, bigotry and corporate fascism, expect what you get and don't act startled. He's in Harrisburg because we were too lazy to get our collective butts out to vote. We have found the enemy and it is WE.
Submitted by Mark (not verified) on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 21:23.
Oh. my. God. Oh my God. OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod
OhmyGod. Another 26 million from the School District of Philadelphia? There are no words, NO WORDS in any human tongue to convey how I feel at this moment. Any words that may come close are certainly unwelcome in this public forum. Yeah Governor Corporate! Is there a competition between Corbett, Walker, and Christie to see who can screw public education the hardest?
Submitted by Joe K. (not verified) on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 22:26.
Mark--The Tea Party NUTS didn't show their cards until after they got elected but we knew they were republicans and voted them in anyway. Shame on us for that. Walker better get tossed in Wisconsin or we're all dead meat. The infection will spread like wildfire and Obama, bless his heart, will remain on the sidelines like Jerry Jordan and Nutter. We are in this alone----just the worker bees--with no help from the Government at any level. NONE of this is by accident; it is all connected and by design--part of the New World Order which separates people even more than now---much, much, much more.
Submitted by anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 05:16.
440 AT 4PM TODAY!
WILL IT RAIN? VERY LIKELY.
BRING AN UMBRELLA.
I AGREE, THIS IS A MOMENT WHEN INDIVIDUALS NEED TO STEP UP AND DECRY THE TRAVESTY THAT IS UNFOLDING BEFORE US.
PEDRO RAMOS, OUR LEADER???? GOD HELP US!!!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 08:04.
Pedro--I hardly knew ya !! Yes, I actually know him a bit and nobody is more shocked and disappointed than I. In any case, I'll be there but Jordan won't because of the rain. If it snows, he won't be there next week either and maybe not until May. We're in this alone, my friends.
Submitted by tom-104 on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 10:32.
I wonder if Jordan's lack of engagement in this fight has something to do with Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, being deeply involved with a leading privatizing foundation, the Broad Foundation, since 2002. Are they preparing to turn the AFT into a corporate union?
If you do a search on Goggle under "Randi Weingarten and Broad Foundation” you will get numerous links about the topic, more than I can cover in these notes. Some highlights:
*********************************************************************
If you go to http://www.broadacademy.org/meetthepress.html you will see videos of Weingarten, on the Broad Foundation website, collaborating with members of Broad Foundation at a press conference for the Broad Foundation sponsored NBC program Education Nation. Note in the introduction it identifies Arne Duncan as a former board member of the Broad Foundation.
***********************************************************************
From the Broad Foundation Mission Statement of 2009
www.broadfoundation.org/.../101-2009.10%20annual%20report.pdf (this is a PDF)
Page 11
Teacher unions have always been a formidable voice in public
education. We decided at the onset of our work to invest in
smart, progressive labor leaders like Randi Weingarten, head of
the United Federation of Teachers in New York City for more
than a decade and now president of the American Federation
of Teachers (AFT). We partnered with Weingarten to fund two
union-run charter schools in Brooklyn and to fund New York
City’s first incentive-based compensation program for schools,
as well as the AFT’s Innovation Fund. We had previously
helped advance pay for performance programs in Denver and
Houston, but we were particularly encouraged to see New York
City embrace the plan.
Page 22
Caption to a picture of Randi Weingarten getting a hug from Joel Klein, then Chancellor of New York City Schools
"Left to right in picture: Eli Broad, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein and United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten celebrate at the announcement of the winner of the 2007 Broad Prize.”
Page 16
The Broad Foundation invests $2 million in the
Teachers Union Reform Network (TURN), a network of
National Education Association and American Federation
of Teachers locals.
Page 20
In 2005 the Broad Foundation makes a $1 million grant to
the United Federation of Teachers in New York City to open
two union-run charter schools in Brooklyn, the first such
schools in the country.
Page 23
With the support of the United Federation of
Teachers, the New York City Department of Education implements
a school-wide bonus program in 200 of its most
challenged schools. The Broad Foundation invests $5 million
to help fund the bonuses.
****************************************************************************
from A Parent Guide to the Broad Foundation’s training programs and education policies published by Parents Across America
http://parentsacrossamerica.org/2011/04/a-guide-to-the-broad-foundations...
in the section “A closer look at the Broad Foundation’s “investment in education”
“Along with Bill Gates, Broad contributed millions of dollars to the campaign to extend mayoral control of the public schools in New York City under Michael Bloomberg. Among the leaders he is close to and has personally advised behind the scenes are former NYC Chancellor Joel Klein, former D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee, AFT President Randi Weingarten, and US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.”
**************************************************************
From Substance News (http://www.substancenews.net/index.php)
The article is at http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=2941
Randi Weingarten, pick of the Oligarchs... Randi was part of the Broad Academy back in 2002
George N. Schmidt - December 25, 2011
Thanks to our friends elsewhere for this bit of research. Anyone wondering why AFT President Randi Weingarten could rise to the top of the national union without ever having really taught a semester in a real public school teaching situation and then foist Bill Gates on the 2010 AFT convention in Seattle while ignoring the labor history and labor struggles of the Pacific Northwest should at least add the following (from Mad Floridian) to their research file. Randi was part of the Broad Foundation's scam long before the Broadies took over Chicago's public schools with the sponsorship of Rahm Emanuel.
######
Additional information from Broad Foundation 2002 press releases, etc.:
“Participants in the academy will not need to leave their current jobs immediately. They will attend trainings for a number of weekends over a ten-month period in locations across the country. Fellowships, including tuition, travel and all program-related expenses, will be fully covered by The Broad Center. At the end of the training, The Broad Center will help place participants in urban school districts as administrators and superintendents.
The Fellows received guidance from leaders in business, education and the non-profit sectors. Faculty at the Academy included:
Rod Paige, U.S. Secretary of Education
* Henry Cisneros, CEO, American CityVista
* William Cox, Managing Director, School Evaluation Services
* Chris Cross, Senior Fellow, Center on Education Policy
* Chester E. Finn, Jr., President, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
* Frances Hesselbein, Chairman, The Drucker Foundation
* Don McAdams, Founder, Center for Reform of School Systems
* Donald Nielsen, President, Hazelton Corporation; Chairman, 2WAY Corporation Hugh B. Price, President and CEO, National Urban League
* Paul Ruiz, Principal Partner, Education Trust
* Adam Urbanski, Director, Teacher Union Reform Network
* Randi Weingarten, President, United Federation of Teachers”
###########
Substance News continues:
Perhaps that is why she would do something like this.
Everyone who has followed Weingarten's ascendancy to her position as AFT President knew that she had been the pick of the Oligarchs. Her earlier sweet talk about gutting the teaching profession with pay per score plans had earned her the Business Roundtable's seal of approval, and now she is returning the favor by shifting her tepid endorsement of weakening ethical teaching into a full-blown advocacy for busting her own union. Randi Weingarten should be recalled by the AFT membership, and she should be put out to pasture with the other nags.
At a time when the greed merchants and uncharged felons of Wall Street burrow into the system once more to plan another financial catastrophe a few years hence, Obama's man in charge of deciding how many millions the CEO criminals should get has just been subcontracted out by Weingarten to create a plan to fire teachers for their "misconduct." The scourge of the nation--teacher misconduct!! Misconduct will surely include refusing to go along with educational genocide that is occurring in urban schools, where cognitive decapitation in segregated environments is the order of the day for the poor and the brown.
******************************************************************
From a teacher blog in NYC, Ed Notes (http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/)
A disturbing article about the Shared Learning Collaborative LLC.
This had been rejected by the New York state Comptroller last summer, but was revived after Bill Gates put up $76.5 million to fund it. It is a computer system which will track and store the private records of all students and teachers in New York state. It will be managed by Joel Klein, former NYC schools’ Chancellor, who is now with Rubert Murdoch’s Newcorp in charge of damage control over the phone hacking scandal. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Klein#News_Corporation) The Huffington Post article below says:
“According to an earlier NYT story, $44 million of this funding will go straight into the pockets of Wireless Generation, owned by Murdoch's News Corp and run by Joel Klein.”
The Ed Notes link for the article “Will UFT Renounce This Deal? Randi on the Board: Confidential Student And Teacher Data To Be Provided To LLC Run By Gates and Murdoch” is here:
http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2011/12/will-uft-renouncs-this-deal-ra...
Much of the Ed Notes article is from the article “Confidential Student And Teacher Data To Be Provided To LLC Run By Gates and Murdoch” on Huffington Post. The link for that is here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leonie-haimson/confidential-student-and-_b...
Submitted by Erika Owens on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 22:48.
Just to clarify--the $26 million would be from next fiscal year's budget, it is not in addition to the $61 million budget deficit the District faces this year. I'm not sure how this effects the $269 million deficit estimate for next fiscal year though.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 23:15.
The People, especially the inner city folks, need to demand by any means necessary, that this abuse come to an end. The agenda is clear-Destroy the inner city people, especially the kids and build more prisons to house them later. This is America--we better see this for what it is and it ain't American behavior!!!
Submitted by J. Taylor (not verified) on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 22:18.
Pedro Ramos' remarks leave me dumbstruck. This is the head of the SRC. Sad, sad, sad.
Submitted by Joe K. (not verified) on Tue, 02/07/2012 - 22:32.
Pedro---You should and hopefully are, very ashamed of yourself. You know better and I know you personally, of course. Your comments speak volumes about your position on the kids. You should be outraged and SCREAMING not playing along. I feel badly for you, my man.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 11:26.
Tom 104--What is a corporate union?
Submitted by tom-104 on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 23:30.
By a corporate union I mean a union that is integrated into the corporate structure. Trade unions were formed by the struggles of workers against the exploitation of employers. A corporate union, or in the case of public employees a state union, becomes another way of policing the struggles of workers for social equality. In the past this was known as a company union.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_union
Submitted by SocialScientist (not verified) on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 16:26.
Remember that Jerry Jordan did not inform us (the PFT members) of elections this year. Please go to the Labor Relations Board and file a complaint. I plan to do so as this violates our union by-laws. He has continuously given away more and more in each contract. That more and more includes more of our rights as employees.
Jordan cannot be trusted. Never trusted him nor voted for him. I bet you he won't fight this at all.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 20:38.
@ SocialScientist ......my building rep gave out information for elections...but I could have sworn the paperwork said that elections would take months and then next thing you know he announced he was re-elected. He is not worth even a penny of what is taken out of my paycheck for union dues.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/08/2012 - 23:39.
Pedro should resign now. If he is not up to the fight, it's better that he move aside.
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