Edward G. Rendell, Governor Gerald Zahorchak, Secretary Diane Castelbuono, Deputy Secretary K-12...

Edward G. Rendell, Governor Gerald Zahorchak, Secretary Diane Castelbuono, Deputy Secretary www.pde.state.pa.us

K-12 Education in Pennsylvania

Edward G. Rendell, Governor

Gerald L. Zahorchak, Secretary of EducationDiane Castelbuono, Deputy SecretaryElementary and Secondary Education

Funding and Accountability in Pennsylvania’s K-12 System

EPLC Policy Breakfast

November 13, 2008



In 2001…• 49% of all Pennsylvania students were below grade

level in math• 42% of all Pennsylvania students were below grade

level in reading• Pennsylvania was only 1 of 9 states failing to fund

pre-kindergarten• Pennsylvania had one of the most inadequate and

inequitable funding formulas in the nation

Pennsylvania Schools: A Look at the Past



• Pennsylvania must live up to its commitment to ensure that every student can perform at grade level by 2014.

• Preparing all students to succeed in a competitive high skills knowledge economy is the cornerstone of Pennsylvania's economic development strategy.

A Look at the Present:Pennsylvania is on target to meet the

student achievement challenge of 2014



Pennsylvania’s students are making gains in every subject area and at every grade level…

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• Pennsylvania is one of only nine states that made progress in improving achievement in elementary school reading and math from 2003 to 2007

• Student achievement is on the rise in every grade and subject

20072003



5th Grade 2001-02 2006-07 GROWTH 2001-02 2006-07 GROWTHAfrican-American 18.2 44.9 26.7 22.0 33.2 11.2Latino 28.8 49.7 20.9 28.8 35.2 6.4IEP 16.9 37.4 20.5 15.4 23.3 7.9ELL 18.7 34.5 15.8 12.8 16.9 4.1Low Income 29.3 53.7 24.4 32.0 39.6 7.6



Math Reading

And across every demographic subgroup…



• 32% of Pennsylvania students are still below grade level

• 576,000 students still need to reach proficiency by 2014

• 1 in 6 students are still BELOW BASIC – the lowest achievement level

• Another 1 in 6 students have BASIC skills but are still not at grade level

…But we still have a long way to go



State reading and math accountability targets will rise 5 more times in the next 6 years, more than double from 2007 to 2014.

And Pennsylvania has no time to spare

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100Our achievement targets are about to increase rapidly:



Pennsylvania can meet the 2014 student achievement challenge

Pennsylvania’s strategy (“Know Your ABCs”):

A. Make progress in closing the school funding adequacy gap to expand educational services for students

B. Continue to invest in proven strategies like early childhood education, extra instructional time and tutoring for students who struggle, and high school reform

C. Ensure that the high school diploma is a ticket to real-world success




Pennsylvania’s strategy:

A. Make progress in closing the school funding adequacy gap to expand educational services for students.

B. Continue to invest in proven strategies like early childhood education, extra instructional time and tutoring for students who struggle and teacher training.

C. Ensure that the high school diploma is a ticket to real-world success.



• School District A spends $17,200 per pupil

• high wealth, no ELL students

• School District B ( less than 15 miles down the road from School District A) spends $9,900 per pupil

• low wealth, high proportion of ELL students

• For every classroom of 25 students, School District A spends $182,500 more than School District B.

• What could School District B do with an additional $182,500 for every classroom?

Pennsylvania’s System of Funding Education is Broken: It’s Inequitable

The per-pupil spending gap between Pennsylvania’s wealthiest districts and its poorest districts is huge:



Pennsylvania’s System of Funding Education is Broken: It’s Inadequate

Districts with large numbers of “high need” students — like students living in poverty, students with disabilities, and students with limited English proficiency — face greater costs to effectively serve these students.

Too often, these “high need” students are the students who are educated in districts with:

• large class sizes;

• rundown buildings;

• less experienced teachers; and

• outdated textbooks, libraries and technology.



Pennsylvania’s System of Funding Education is Broken: It’s Obsolete

The quality of an education that a student receives is based on the where s/he lives, because local revenues (taxes) form the bulk of education spending in the Commonwealth:

• In terms of “need”: the highest need districts generate the least amount of local revenues, while the lowest need districts tend to generate the most.

• In terms of wealth: the poorest districts tend to have the highest tax effort while the wealthiest districts have the lowest. The wealthiest districts can generate more local funds with

less tax effort imposed on their citizens. Pennsylvania’s poorest districts tend to have the highest tax

effort.



The General Assembly’s “Costing-Out Report” provides the first-ever Pennsylvania-specific school funding target based on what research says it costs to fund a quality education.

The 2008-09 education budget takes the first step in a six-year plan to meet the state’s funding responsibility towards every school district’s adequacy funding target.

Pennsylvania’s plan:• Moves school districts towards adequate resource levels • Ensures that the new investment means more educational opportunity for students• Implements the new formula in a sustainable and fiscally responsible manner

The 2008-09 budget introduces a school funding formula designed to raise student achievement



The regular education adequacy target for each school district includes:

• A base amount of $8,355 per student, which represents the costing-out study’s recommended $8,003 per student adjusted for inflation.

• An adjustment up for every student who is low-income or an English language learner.

• A size adjustment to direct additional aid to small and mid-size districts.

• A geographic price adjustment to account for differences in costs of living across the Commonwealth.

Step 1: Start with the Legislature’s Costing-Out Study adequacy target for every district



Step 2: Calculate the State Share of Each School District’s Adequacy Gap

• Compare each district’s adequacy target to its actual spending; the difference is the district’s adequacy gap.

• The proposed state share of each school district’s adequacy gap is based on the district’s tax burden and its local wealth; districts where local taxes are higher get the most assistance in closing the gap.

• The 2008-09 Budget provides $274 million, a 5.5% basic education increase, as the first step in a 6-year $2.6 billion state funding commitment.



• In order to boost student achievement, new resources must increase services to students.

• New state funds above inflation must be invested in…

Step 3: Ensuring the new investment directly benefits student achievement

At least 80%•More classroom time, such as tutoring or longer school days or years

• Teacher training

• New and more rigorous courses

• Class size reduction

• Early childhood education

• Recruiting effective teachers and principals

Up to 10%

•Maintain existing programs that meet the stated goals

•One time operational cost

Up to 10%

•Other strategies to increase achievement

•One-time operational cost



Accountability: The Impact on School Districts and Taxpayers

• Only districts with increases of more than 4.4% (n=137 districts) needed to invest in new services.

• Academically challenged districts (n=55 districts)Districts in school improvement or corrective action, or Districts with at least one school in school improvement or corrective action required state approval for their investment plans



Accountability: The Impact on Students

The new basic education subsidy is being invested wisely:

38,100 students will receive more instruction through intensive tutoring, longer school days and longer school years

2,100 students will benefit from pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten

3,400 students will be in smaller classes

121,000 students will benefit from more college-prep course offerings and stronger curriculum

243,000 students will benefit from intensive training for their teachers






B. Continue to invest in proven strategies like early childhood education, extra instructional time and tutoring for students who struggle, and teacher training.




Improving achievement requires continued investment in proven programs

• The 2008-09 budget invests $86.4 million in Pre-K Counts, a 15 percent increase from 2007-08, to enable 800 more children to participate in pre-kindergarten and to respond to parents’ requests for more full-day programs.

• The Accountability Block Grant allocates $271 million in funds for all districts to invest in 15 proven practices, from teacher training to reduced class size to providing students with health and social services.

• The Educational Assistance Program provides $65 Million to PA’s neediest districts to provide tutoring for students who struggle academically.



Three-quarters of all jobs require highly skilled workers

Chart High skill workers

Pg 4 of College report

Rendell Performance report73%

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Changing Workforce Demands

Professional

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• Looking at new ways to make sure that a high school diploma from Allentown is as valuable as a high school diploma from Turkeyfoot Valley or Upper St. Clair.

• Pennsylvania must provide more support to help school districts meet students’ needs – including new resources in the adequacy-based school funding formula as well as:

• The creation of a voluntary model curriculum for high school• New tools for identifying and helping struggling students • Enhancement of teacher training

• Creating better high schools through Classrooms for the Future, Project 720 and Dual Enrollment.

The high school diploma must prepare all students for the high-skill global economy



Project 720 maximizes the time a student spends in the classroom

• The budget includes $10.5 million to sustain Project 720 as a tool to help school districts implement a college and career ready curriculum for all students.

• Since it began in 2005, 35,772 students in 351 districts and CTC’s have benefited from this program, including more than 16,000 high school students enrolling in 24,000 college courses this fall alone.

Dual Enrollment opens the door to higher education



Resources + Accountability = Better Results



C. Ensure that every high school diploma is a ticket to real-world success.

Remember your ABCs:



Diane Castelbuono, Deputy SecretaryPennsylvania Department of Education

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Questions?Contact Dominique Raymond

Special Assistant to the Deputy SecretaryEmail: [email protected]

Telephone: 717-214-4391



The mission of the Pennsylvania Department of Education is to lead and serve the educational community, and

to enable each individual to grow into an inspired, productive, and fulfilled lifelong learner.

Edward G. Rendell, Governor Gerald Zahorchak, Secretary Diane Castelbuono, Deputy Secretary K-12...

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