Issue: Tax Reform, Act 1 of 2006

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Act 1 NEWSLETTER
Vol. 1, No. 3, August 9, 2006

IN THIS ISSUE : The Task Force on School District Cost Reduction created by Act 1, what is it, how school boards can participate and how it can help the cause of school boards.

SUMMARY : Chapter 17 of Act 1 establishes a Task Force on School Cost Reduction to "thoroughly examine all cost to school districts, regardless of the reason or source of such costs." The task force must offer viable options for the General Assembly and local governments to use to minimize or reduce the costs to school districts located in the commonwealth. The task force will be an advisory board within the governor's office.

Composition and Appointment
The task force will consist of members who have a demonstrated knowledge of the public educational system, compensation systems, contracts, collective bargaining, public school finance, state and local taxation systems, both Federal and state education requirements or any other area of knowledge or expertise that may be relevant to the costs to school districts. No more than 5 task force members can currently be employed as teachers or affiliated with any statewide or local teachers' organization in a policymaking or policy advisory capacity during the time they serve on the task force. Task force members must be appointed within 45 days of the effective date of this section of the act, or by August 11.

Members of the task force are appointed as follows: three members are to be appointed by the governor. Of these, one must represent the interests of teachers in the commonwealth and one must represent the interests of school boards in the commonwealth. Three members are to be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate (Sen. Robert Jubelirer) and two members are to be appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate (Sen. Robert Mellow). In the House, three members are to be appointed by the Speaker (Rep. John Perzel) and two by the Minority Leader (Rep. William DeWeese). Vacancies on the task force will be filled by the original appointing officer. The organizational meeting of the task force is to take place no later than 60 days after the effective date of the section, or by August 26. The task force can call for public hearings on relevant issues and is subject to the Sunshine Act.

The task force may employ professional, technical and clerical staff, as it deems necessary. The Department of Education must provide administrative support, office space and any other assistance deemed necessary by the task force in the completion of its duties. Whenever possible, the task force must utilize the services and expertise of existing personnel and staff of state government. The governor is charged with making such personnel and staff available to the task force as needed.

Powers and Duties
The Task Force has the overall responsibility, power and duty to investigate, study and make recommendations to the governor and the General Assembly concerning current and projected costs to school districts and viable options to reduce current and future costs to school districts. The task force must:

• Conduct a comprehensive review of the various categories of public school costs, the historic rate of increase in categories of public school costs and determine the reasons behind these increases

• Examine the impact of Federal and state mandates on school districts

• Determine whether any of the Federal or state mandates should be eliminated, revised or better funded

• Identify best practices used by school districts around the state and other states to provide services in a cost-effective manner

• Offer options and viable recommendations to reduce costs to school districts within the state

• Provide a report that thoroughly discusses options and viable recommendations considered and express clear rationales for options not recommended.

The Task Force may conduct public hearings to solicit testimony from public and private agencies, citizens, teachers and representatives of local school districts on the topic of costs to school districts of this commonwealth and means to reduce or minimize these costs.

Reports
The Task Force must prepare and submit quarterly reports of its findings and any recommendations to the governor and the chairmen of the House and Senate Education Committees. A final report to the governor, to each of the appointing officers and to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Education Committees must be made by August 2007. The recommendations of the task force are non-binding.

ANALYSIS : PSBA called for the creation of a similar group in its Blueprint for Comprehensive Property Tax Reform , published last December. The association believes that if the task force receives consistent data from school districts citing the costs of such services as special education, cyber schools, teacher retirement, construction mandates and other costly items, enough pressure can be generated on the General Assembly to act positively to reduce the costs of or eliminate these programs.

Consequently, PSBA will be urging the Task Force to conduct statewide hearings so all school districts have an opportunity to voice their experiences with costs. School board members and administrators who would like to share their cost information with the Task Force should begin to gather the appropriate information, including the effect that certain programs and costs has on your millage rate and how they affect your ability to keep taxes down. Most importantly, think about and prepare to make suggestions about how costs can be reduced or eliminated. It is these recommendations that will potentially affect the task force's recommendations and, consequently, the operations of school districts across the commonwealth.

Questions and Answers
Task Force on School Costs

Q: Is membership on the Task Force limited to school directors and teachers?
A: No, anyone who possesses the requisite knowledge is eligible for appointment.

Q: Are the appointing legislators likely to consider someone who works for a school district located in their district?
A: Because the people they know best are their constituents, it is possible that their first instinct may be to see if anybody from their district might make a good task force member. However, other factors could play a role in who is ultimately chosen. Legislative leaders typically have many contacts, so choosing someone that is not from their legislative district is certainly not out of the question, especially since everybody gets more than one selection.

Q: Are there any limits on what a school district can address with the Task Force?
A: Because one of the Task Force's duties is to make viable recommendations to the governor and the General Assembly, districts should only address costs that directly result from state mandates or initiatives. Recommendations should be restricted only to those items that the General Assembly, Department of Education or State Board of Education can address.

Q: What can be done to ensure that the General Assembly pays heed to the Task Force's recommendations?
A: Probably the only way to get the General Assembly to go along with the Task Force's recommendation is to bring a lot of pressure to bear on them. Therefore, the task should not be left entirely up to the school community. Taxpayer groups, seniors, the business community and others will need to join with school boards and others in calling for action on the Task Force's recommendations. School boards should do all they can to ensure good working relationships with these groups within their communities.

Q: How can school districts contact the Task Force directly?
A: Once its members have been appointed and offices set up, PSBA will share the Task Force's contact information with its members.