Governor proposes more education cuts
The $27.1 billion state budget for 2012-13 proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett Tuesday includes deep cuts to higher education assistance while a small reduction in state funding is planned for public schools.
The preliminary budget reflects a major reduction in assistance for higher education of more than $330 million, or about 20 percent for schools served by the State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), encompassing Pennsylvania’s 14 public universities including California University of Pennsylvania in Washington County.
“We fully recognize the financial challenges facing the commonwealth. Gov. Corbett was right in saying that education is a key to the state’s financial recovery. That is especially true of our graduates, over 80 percent of whom stay in Pennsylvania for their careers and as community and civic leaders,” said PASSHE Chancellor John C. Cavanaugh in a joint prepared statement with Guido Pichini, chair of the PASSHE board of governors. “However, our joint goals are at risk as a result of the budget blueprint for the commonwealth presented, which provides only $2 million more than the system received 24 years ago in 1988-89. During that period we have added 23,000 students.”
The proposed cuts will also affect Penn State, Pitt and Temple with a loss of funding of about $163.5 million or 28 percent next year to add to this year’s 20 percent slash in funding for the universities. For Penn State, which operates the Penn State Fayette Campus between Connellsville and Uniontown, the proposed cuts would bring the general support line from $214 million to $150 million.
“In the months ahead we’ll have an opportunity to make the legislature aware of the likely impacts of these cuts for Penn State programs and how they will affect students and their families,” said Penn State President Rodney Erickson in a prepared statement. “We will do everything possible to not let state funding cuts impose an undue hardship on Penn State families.”
Corbett stated Tuesday that a higher education advisory panel is in place to develop a strategic plan for institutions to help control tuition rates.
State Rep. Peter Daley, D-California, notedthat if Pennsylvania is to be placed on a real path that will lead to prosperity today and for the future, education funding must be a priority.
“If we cut additional funding for higher education, tuition costs will rise, programs will be cut and a college education will be placed out of the reach of many working, middle-class families,” Daley said.
“Access to higher education should not be a privilege. Educating Pennsylvanians is critical to putting the commonwealth on a path to prosperity, attracting and retaining businesses and creating jobs.”
Additionally, the tentative budget reflects a loss of about $395 million, or a 6-percent decrease, in financial assistance grants for college students through the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency
Corbett’s plan calls for a slight reduction, about .8-percent, in state funding for public schools for 2012-13 holding the line on basic education cuts to about $900 million as it was this year and dashing hopes of school officials who wanted more.
“He let us down again,” said Dr. Phil Savini, superintendent for the Brownsville Area School District. “I thought we’d get a little bit more. I know it’s just preliminary, but based on what I heard, it’s still going to cause us to look at cuts — and we have been doing that already in terms of supplies, equipment and materials. But unfortunately, we may have to look at cuts in personnel for next year.”
For 2011-12, the already financially struggling district was hit with $1.6 million in lost funding from the state, and Savini said if the state budget remains flatlined for public education as Corbett has proposed, Brownsville could see anywhere from $1.7 to $1.9 million in lost funding for 2012-13.
Brownsville is one of many districts across the state still reeling from this year’s cuts, according to Daley.
“We know that statewide nearly 14,000 educators lost their jobs and entire school districts are at risk for closing their doors,” he said. “If our public schools are to remain open and financially stable, it is imperative that the previous cuts to public education be rescinded and that additional cuts not occur, whether it is couched as a reduction in federal funds and one-time only earmarks or education reform.
“For our students this rhetoric boils down to larger classroom size, outdated text books and limited access to quality of education.”
Savini said that while Corbett claims he hasn’t raised taxes for Pennsylvanians on the state level, the drastic cuts in education this year and proposed for next make it impossible for school districts to hold the line on millage rates.
“I know he doesn’t want to raise taxes, but what he does is put the pressure on local officials like school boards and township supervisors by pushing the tax issue down to that level,” Savini said.
“I understand that we have to budget smarter. But so does he. He is the one establishing the budget for the state and making everyone else responsible for his actions.”