The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) and Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) hosted a press call Wednesday morning to discuss the findings of plausible implications to school districts with regards to the FY 2017-2018 preliminary budget process.

In his proposed budget, Gov. Wolf committed to increased state education funding for Pre-K by $75 million, although that number was reduced to $25 million in House Republican budget.

Gov. Wolf also wanted to increase efficiencies of the state by cutting the transportation line item for school districts by $50 million. 

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Thursday issued an opinion that continued the judiciary’s line of increasing deference to charter and cyber charter schools who contract out the bulk of their services with for-profit companies.

The case—Insight Charter School v. Department of Education—stemmed from the denial of a charter application to Insight after the department and, later, the Charter Appeal Board denied Insight’s charter application.

Pennsylvania lawmakers at both the state and federal level are introducing proposals aimed to end “lunch shaming,” the practice by some schools of singling out students with unpaid pre-paid meal balances in their school lunch account.

Now that federal law has changed, education assessments in Pennsylvania’s public schools will likely be overhauled as well. Lawmakers have argued at recent hearings that Pennsylvania is spending too much money and schools are spending too much time on testing.

The PLS Reporter interviewed Sen. Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester), Minority Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, for his thoughts on the issue. 

With changes to both the Senate and House Education Committees, The PLS Reporter has been talking with the new chairmen to get their views on what they might prioritize in terms of education policy and what new their committees might address in the coming session.

This week, we talk with Rep. David Hickernell (R-Lancaster) in his new role as Majority Chairman of the House Education Committee, who told us one of his priorities will be discussing and advancing legislation that will provide Pennsylvania students with a diverse range of educational choices.