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Rendell gets education increase in budget

Governor Rendell's proposed 2008-09 education budget sought to create a predictable and long-term education funding system for Pennsylvania that would take the first step toward increasing state funding for school districts by $2.6 billion over the next six years.

Governor Rendell's proposed 2008-09 education budget sought to create a predictable and long-term education funding system for Pennsylvania that would take the first step toward increasing state funding for school districts by $2.6 billion over the next six years.

He appears to have gotten much of what he wanted.

For starters, there's a historic increase in education funding by $274 million, close to the $291 million Rendell originally asked for.

The basic education funding will be allocated based on figures from a recent "costing out" study that determined how much money the neediest districts should get.

No district will get less than a 3 percent hike; that's double the 1.5 percent minimum increase that Rendell had asked for, according to a legislative official privy to the negotiations under way to finalize the overall budget agreement reached early yesterday morning.

The legislature did not commit to using the same formula to increase state funding over the next six years, the official said. But the legislation will refer to targets based on this year's allocations that the legislature hopes to meet in the future, he said.

"This is an immense victory for children and schools in Pennsylvania," said Baruch Kintisch, a spokesman for the Education Law Center, an advocacy group that has pushed for increased state funding and a predictable funding system. "This is a historic gain - we now have a real [basic education] formula that will be the baseline for the future."

Philadelphia will get $34 million less in basic education money than the $85 million increase Rendell had requested. But, that money will be made up through increases in other funding for the district, which will receive $1.3 billion in state aid next year.

Helen Gym, a Philadelphia parent and education activist, was more cautious. "We don't want the legislature to think this is a one-time commitment and we're done," she said. "It is a significant boost but only when they actually make a commitment to keep increasing the funding over the long run will we see real change."

Basic education funding made up the largest portion of Rendell's proposed $9.38 billion education budget proposal.

The budget legislation will also bar the development of statewide graduation tests. The State Board of Education, with strong Rendell administration backing, had proposed that the state institute a series of subject tests that students could take to show that they knew the material.

The idea triggered widespread opposition among school district officials and state lawmakers.

The budget will have less special-education funding than the governor had asked for. Rendell had requested $1.04 billion, a 3 percent increase; the final figure will be about $1.03 billion, a 1.7 percent increase, said Timothy Allwein, the legislative liaison for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

Funding for the governor's Classrooms for the Future program, to put laptops in every high school core-subject classroom, was cut from the proposed $90 million to $45 million, the legislative official said.

Education department officials said details of the agreement were not final and they could not comment.

Allwein, of the school boards association, said that "I think education made out as well as can be expected, given the fiscal realities of this year and the concerns for what the future was going to bring."

The smaller special-education increase, he said, "is a huge blow - districts will have to shift funds to make up for this loss."