A Closer Look series

A Closer Look: Understanding the school district budget process — The annual general fund budget is one of the most important legal documents that a school district will develop. A Closer Look: It’s time to reform special education payments for charter schools — Charter schools are still paid using a flawed formula that does not reflect what they are spending to educate their students with disabilities, resulting in millions of dollars in overpayments. A Closer Look: School mandate waiver brings flexibility, accountability, savings — A broad-based mandate waiver program would provide mandate relief, allow districts to be more flexible and innovative, and make additional resources available without the need to increase revenues. A Closer Look: Why it’s time to change the cyber charter funding system — Pennsylvania’s current method of funding cyber charter schools utilizes a flawed and outdated formula that results in inconsistencies and overpayments. A Closer Look: The need for greater investments for special education — Of all the cost drivers on school district budgets, special education is one of the fastest rising and one of the hardest to control. A Closer Look: Do charter schools really receive 25% less funding per student than school districts? — In 2018-19, Pennsylvania school districts in total spent over $2 billion in mandated payments to charter schools. A Closer Look: Public schools need temporary grant of immunity from COVID-19 lawsuits — Public schools have been working hard to resume in-person instruction as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. A Closer Look: PA Supreme Court Addresses Main Concern of SB 334 — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a very important decision in 2017 related to school district initiated property assessment appeals, commonly referred to as reverse appeals. A Closer Look: Why assessment appeals help school districts tax more fairly — Misunderstanding and opposition has risen over the use of assessment appeals by school districts. A Closer Look: A better approach to high school graduation — Senate Bill 1095 revises Pennsylvania’s one-size-fits-all mandate to pass three Keystone Exams to receive a high school diploma by establishing multiple path-ways to determine student readiness. A Closer Look: ESA vouchers give public money to private schools — Education Savings Accounts (ESA) are vouchers that take state tax money out of neighborhood public schools for use at private schools. Closer Look: PA Supreme Court addresses main concern of HB 1213 — Last summer, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a very important decision related to school district initiated property assessment appeals, commonly referred to as reverse appeals. A Closer Look: Proposed constitutional amendment — A Closer Look: Proposed constitutional amendment, Joint Resolution 1, would enable future tax reform legislation (August 2017) A Closer Look: PA’s School-Based ACCESS Program is jeopardized under proposed federal cuts to Medicaid (March 2017) — Pennsylvania public schools are currently at risk of losing millions of dollars in federal funding to help pay for mandated services for students with special needs. A Closer Look: Property tax elimination plan doesn’t work for taxpayers or schools (January 2017) — The elimination of of the property tax merely serves to create additional, higher tax burdens for other taxpayers and destabilize funding for public education. A Closer Look: School truancy, dropout concerns call for legislative, policy changes (February 2016) — PSBA urges the General Assembly to make significant changes to clarify, improve current truancy law