New Legislation Addresses Distressed PA Schools

Last week legislation was passed out of the Senate Education Committee that “addresses” distressed schools in Pennsylvania. House Bill 1307 (HB 1307) was amended to instruct the Secretary of Education to place a distressed school district in financial recovery status.

The Secretary would appoint a Chief Recovery Officer (CRO) to oversee the school district during the post-recovery transition period. The appointed CRO would have the authority to void contracts and collective bargaining agreements while imposing new employment terms to all school employees. The legislation also establishes a loan program for distressed school districts but, remarkably, does not appropriate dedicated funding for such a program.

What this legislation does not do is provide financial support to distressed schools. The drastic reduction in basic education funding imposed by the Administration in last year’s budget has resulted in a growing number of distressed schools and has forced school districts to cut teachers, counselors and other essential staff, reduce the number of textbooks that can be purchased, eliminate arts and music programs and other extracurricular activities while class sizes grow.

I have received countless emails and phone calls in the last week on this legislation and I share many of the concerns I continue to hear from my constituents. Unless we provide adequate funding and give school districts the resources they need, the list of distressed school districts across the Commonwealth will continue to grow.

It is important to remember that the biggest losers in all this are the students. We owe it to our children to find solutions that enable them to get the best education possible. This legislation further compromises students in distressed schools as it does not address the biggest need which is adequate funding and support.

Senator Wayne D. Fontana

42^nd Senatorial District

www.senatorfontana.com