Legal Focus

On February 7, 2012, Governor Corbett issued a press release in support of his 2012-13 Student Achievement Education Block Grant budget proposal. The Governor’s press release touts the budget proposal as providing school districts with flexibility and eliminating duplicative services and state mandates. However, the proposed budget combines four previously separate appropriations, basic education, pupil transportation, nonpublic transportation, and school employees’ social security. The net result is the elimination of dedicated funding for these expenses, elimination of the statutory annual cost adjustment for school bus transportation based on the Consumer Price Index, and a net reduction of over $100 million in school funding across the board according to the House Appropriations Committee. The elimination of dedicated formula based funding for school bus transportation would create serious and long lasting negative results.

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