Harrisburg, May 13, 2013 – A new unfunded education mandate now being quietly pursued by the Corbett administration will soon saddle school districts with a $300 million expense and threaten graduation for thousands of students across Pennsylvania, Senate Democrats said today at a Capitol news conference.

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Sen. Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester) Democratic chair of the Senate Education Committee, Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), Sens. Judy Schwank, John Blake and Jim Brewster all expressed their displeasure and concerns about the proposed changes.

“We are not opposed to the implementation of Common Core standards for Pennsylvania’s students,” Dinniman said. “But we are opposed to Common Core standards without adequate state financial resources for our schools so that all of our students have the opportunity to succeed under those standards, including those in financially distressed school districts.

“For the Commonwealth to increase standards without the adequate fiscal resources is a charade. It is a sham that will only lead to false hope,” Dinniman said.

Common Core standards are being sought by the state Department of Education as a way to determine proficiency and graduation eligibility.

According to Dinniman, the implementation of Common Core standards will result in an unfunded mandate of at least $300 million for local schools. There is no specified funding or plan to provide for the remedial instruction, the redesign of curriculum, or the project-based assessments for those who repeatedly fail the tests.

“The implementation of these new standards should be reviewed thoroughly by the General Assembly,” Costa said. “This whole new testing structure will cost taxpayers dearly and it is being implemented without a full understanding of the benefits for students, teachers, administrators and taxpayers.

“A complete explanation of what is being sought by the department is necessary before Pennsylvania schools put these new standards into play.”

Schwank, who represents the economically and academically struggling Reading School District, said the new testing will be particularly devastating to fiscally challenged schools.

“School districts like Reading, as well as many others around the state, are drowning in red ink now,” Schwank said. “These new mandates, without proper fiscal support, will make their financial plight even worse.

“There is certainly nothing wrong with increasing proficiency standards but students, teachers and schools must have resources to invest to address deficiencies.”

To implement new standards and testing procedures without adding dollars makes no sense, Blake (D-Lackawanna) noted. Especially, he said, after the Corbett administration has slashed basic education support by $900 million.

“To add new core testing procedures and a mandate at a cost exceeding $300 million after cutting education support is irresponsible,” Blake said. “The local property taxpayer is going to get squeezed and economically strapped schools and taxpayers will bear an even greater burden.”

Brewster said instead of implementing more tests and costs, educators and the Corbett administration need to step back and decide whether the current testing structure is constructive. He has proposed Senate Bill 823 to create a bi-partisan commission to recommend changes or a total scrapping of the current student testing procedures.

“My belief is we need to look at what we are doing with student testing and come up with a new, better approach that accurately reflects student, school, teacher and community performance,” Brewster said. “Today’s tests are flawed and the whole system is need of restructuring.”

Senate Democrats also lamented that the new Common Core tests involve 10 days of testing, which takes even more time away from traditional instruction.

They added that districts could receive a deeper financial bludgeoning if students fail to pass the tests.

The new Common Core standards will exacerbate the problem of teaching to the test, Senate Democrats said.

Schwank has been appointed to the newly created 15-member Special Education Funding Commission by Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati. The commission has until Sept. 30 to recommend a new funding formula that would be designed to more effectively pay for special education throughout the commonwealth.

“Pennsylvania’s current special education spending directives are out-of-date and often fail to adequately address the needs of children,” Schwank said. “Some special education facilities need more financial assistance than they are currently receiving and some need less. I am looking forward to helping to change this reality and I thank Sen. Scarnati for naming me to the commission.”

The Special Education Funding Commission was created when Gov. Tom Corbett signed into law House Bill 2 on April 25.

In addition to the chairs and vice-chairs of the House and Senate education committees, the panel will include eight legislators, the secretaries of education and budget, and the state deputy secretary for elementary and special education.

Schwank said the commission will hold public hearings this summer to help it develop a new funding formula. HB2 is guiding the group to consider funding for students with least-intensive to most-intensive disabilities. Other factors will also be considered.

“From Reading to Erie to Philadelphia, the commonwealth needs a better way to make sure our critical special education dollars are getting to the right teachers in the right districts,” Schwank said.

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More information on Sen. Schwank is available on her website, Facebook and Twitter.

Sen. Judy Schwank and Reps. Tom Caltagirone and Mark Rozzi said the findings, troubling as they continue to be, show that substantial and meaningful change needs to happen now in Reading.

“Unfortunately, mismanagement continues to be as much a part of the Reading School District as reading, writing and arithmetic,” said Caltagirone (D-Reading). “Our kids – the students who walk the halls of every Reading School District elementary, middle, intermediate unit, and high school – must return to be the central focus of how this district performs beginning today.”

“The fact that the auditor general, who is Pennsylvania’s independent watchdog, is pointing to the further evidence of insufficient governance policies is more evidence that the Reading School District needs to get its act together and the board needs to get down to working for the best interests of the children,” Schwank (D-Ruscombmanor Twp.) said.

“Without immediate and lasting change, the Reading School District will cement a reputation that will last generations,” Rozzi (D-Muhlenberg Twp.) said. “That’s very bad news for our children. I strongly implore the school board and the administration to work together like they’ve never worked together before.”

DePasquale’s findings that Reading remains mired in an unending cycle of lapsed teacher certificates, insufficient internal controls and other problems are similar to an audit conducted a year ago by the auditor general’s office.

In January 2012, then-Auditor General Jack Wagner found 14 teachers had been working with improper certification; the district did not properly account or retain records for grant receipts and expenditures; and weaknesses in vendor computer databases could allow for unauthorized changes that could not be tracked.

The district is on the state’s “financial watch” list due to overwhelming deficits in 2012-’13 ($40 million) and in the upcoming fiscal year ($8 million).

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The Senate Finance Committee approved the amendment Wednesday as it reported out House Bill 465, which is designed to create a transfer tax exemption for fire departments that merge or are involved in other means of succession.

Schwanks’s amendment, which was introduced by Sen. Mike Brubaker (R-Chester) on her behalf, makes the exemption retroactive to Nov. 1, 2011.

“Taxing fire departments that are showing the way to be more prudent users of tax revenue and public contributions should not be the answer,” Schwank (D-Berks) said. “Pennsylvania needs to help foster regionalization of police and fire departments. Sending potentially crippling tax bills for working together is not good public policy.”

Barto and Eastern Berks were assessed in 2011 following Barto’s merger with the Bally and Bechtelsville fire departments, which resulted in the Eastern Berks Fire Department, Company 97.

The new company covers Barto, Bally, Bechtelsville, Washington, District and Pike townships; and nearby portions of Douglass Township, Berks County, and Upper Hanover and Douglass townships, Montgomery County.

“Eastern Berks Fire Department is being proactive and responsive to changing economies and new patterns of volunteering,” Schwank said. “It’s important that the legislature adopt this bill and get it to Gov. Corbett’s desk for his approval.”

More information on Sen. Schwank is available on her website, Facebook and Twitter.

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The senator’s 2^nd annual spring cleaning of the community take place in two sessions on Saturday. Details are below.

Media coverage is encouraged.

WHAT:          2^nd Annual Spring Clean Berks with Sen. Judy Schwank (D-11)

WHEN/

WHERE:       Session 1: 9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., “Student Environmental Spruce Up,” DCNR Nolde Forest EE Center, Cumru Township

Session 2: 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., “City Clean Up,” City Park, Reading

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Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) said that Senate Democrats will go into this year’s budget negotiations with a clear purpose and “are resolved that the state’s economy must be jump-started. New jobs must be created and we have to reverse the negative course that the Corbett administration has plotted for Pennsylvania on education and protecting our most vulnerable.”

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“We have an opportunity and a responsibility to seek new investments and use resources that are available to change policy direction during this year’s budget negotiations.”

Costa said Senate Democrats believe that more than 120,000 jobs can be created quickly by enacting a responsible transportation plan, expanding Medicaid and using economic development policies outlined in their PA Works plan.

Costa was joined by a host of Senate Democrats in making today’s announcement.

Sen. Vincent Hughes, who serves as the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that by taking action now on key economic initiatives then restoring job creation and community programs to their past luster — before Corbett budgets sliced them to the core — is an excellent starting point.

“We need to start creating jobs right now and we can do that by working on transportation and Medicaid expansion,” Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) said. “These initiatives coupled with rebuilding water and sewer systems, investing in schools and new technologies will create economic growth immediately.

“In addition, by investing in programs such as Main Street, Elm Street and international business we can help small business here while they market their products abroad.,”

Democratic Whip Sen. Tony Williams (D-Philadelphia/Delaware) said that the caucus was turning up the heat on the Corbett administration on jobs, health care, education and social safety net issues because the governor has failed to lead.

“We’ve outlined reasonable strategic policy alternatives that will reverse direction and provide a new path and we’ve identified revenues that will pay for the proposed expenditures,” Williams said. “Pennsylvania is rudderless on job creation and our economic numbers and business indicators under this administration illustrate the problem.

“Our most vulnerable can also not withstand another senseless round of Corbett cuts and we have to restore programs that promote help for those in need.”

Williams said that Pennsylvania is now 43rd in job creation, falling from eighth place among all states under Gov. Ed Rendell’s leadership. Plus, he said, last month’s unemployment claims fell nationally to below 350,000 but, because of Corbett policy short-sightedness, Pennsylvania led the country in new unemployment claims.

Senate Democrats said that they have laid out specific plans to achieve results in the 2013-14 budget in five areas. These include: strategic investments to create jobs; improving education; repositioning business taxes while closing business tax loopholes; modernizing the wine and spirits stores; and repairing and protecting social safety net programs.

The caucus leaders said that they’ve noted at least $750 million in annual savings, plus another $150 million in one-time revenues. They also said that we need to find resources to pay for specific new expenditures including $225 million for basic education, $50 million to aid distressed cities and communities, $40 million for transitional housing and homeownership among other items, and funds for new tax credits for a variety of areas including film production.

Democrats said that priority details include a three-year phase in of new monies to restore education dollars and key student-performance based initiatives that were cut by the Corbett administration in the last two budgets.

They also said that they would emphasize rebuilding struggling communities through their Growth, Progress and Sustainability (GPS) plan; seek new funds for transitional housing and new homeownership opportunities; and push for modernizing the wine and spirits stores rather than the opt for the risky privatization scheme that has been sought by the Corbett administration.

The Democrats indicated that they expected the negotiations to become more focused once the Senate returns to session in late April.

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The 333^rd will be heading to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Most of the company’s 140 members live in the Reading area.

The media is encouraged to cover Sunday’s ceremony as well as a farewell ceremony salute at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, April 16, along routes 724 and 222. However, the Army is asking that the public only attend the April 16 salute.

The 333^rd conducts horizontal construction operations and general engineering operations that include road work, leveling operations, finish grade for roads and airfields, and surface and drainage maintenance.

WHAT:          Farewell ceremony for Army’s 333^rd Engineer Company

WHEN:          11 a.m., Sunday, April 14; 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, April 16

WHERE:       April 14: Governor Mifflin Intermediate School, 600 Governor Drive, Shillington

April 16: (Public Event) Route 724 to U.S. 222. Reserve center is at 547 Philadelphia Ave., Reading

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Schwank (D-Berks) said Senate Bill 841 would offset funds the state provides to municipalities from motor license revenue in the same amount as the value of the state police coverage to any municipality with a population of 5,000 or more.

“The funds would then be available to help fix Pennsylvania’s deteriorating roads and bridges,” Schwank said, “And, just as important, making this change creates an incentive for larger municipalities that now rely on state police protection at the expense of state tax payers to end that practice.”

In an informal survey she conducted earlier this year, Schwank said 74 percent of the respondents said they support requiring municipalities that rely on state police coverage to pay for it.

However, Schwank said, her proposal would not apply to state police patrols on interstate highways.

“Interstate patrols primarily serve the general traveling public, and not the business and residents of the municipality where the highway is located, so those patrols would be excluded from the offset calculations,” Schwank said. “I believe this legislation can encourage regionalization of police forces and free up state police for use in other areas of enforcement.”

Gov. Corbett has proposed transferring $619 million from the motor license fund to help pay state police costs in his 2013-‘14 budget.

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“Reading is in the midst of an economic struggle similar to other cities and towns in Pennsylvania. Likewise, it is fraught with a rising crime rate, which was the catalyst for the recent crime summit the governor attended. To make it easier for more people to buy more beer and liquor will only add to our problems,” Schwank said. “This is not the kind of help or direction we need from Harrisburg.

“Even the governor’s promise to turn over the proceeds of the liquor sell-off, if it happens, is weak. What will school districts do when the money is spent? This is a carrot-and-stick ploy that will taste more like sawdust when there are no more state-owned liquor stores and the ability to buy alcohol lurks on every corner.

“There will be 5,000 new wine and beer licenses issued if Gov. Corbett gets his way. Too many of those news establishments will be in my district and the social ills they create will only exacerbate Reading’s and Berks County’s problems.

“Forty percent of violent crimes involve the consumption of alcohol as do 40 percent of all fatal automobile crashes. Communities that have more bars and liquor stores per capita experience more violent crime.

“Our system of selling spirits should be updated, and I support the modernization legislation that is being proposed in the Senate.”

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More information on Sen. Schwank is available on her website, Facebook and Twitter.

“This is an opportunity for us to have a conversation about the issues impacting our communities,” said Schwank (D-Berks).

The meeting is part of an ongoing series of town halls the senator hosts in various communities throughout the 11^th Senatorial District.

For more information, call 610-929-2151.

WHO:             State Sen. Judy Schwank

WHAT:          Town Hall Meeting

WHEN:          7 p.m. – 9 p.m., Thursday, April 4

WHERE:       Community Room, Exeter Community Library, 4569 Prestwick Drive, Exeter.

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