Monday, July 1, 2013

Explaining Corbett's school funding plan | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Explaining Corbett's school funding plan | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Explaining Corbett's school funding plan

Following, in question-and-answer format, is an attempt to explain the components of the School District's funding package presented Sunday by Gov. Corbett.

What sources of new money does the governor’s plan include?
​For this year, it includes $45 million in a one-time federal infusion. Another $50 million comes from additional borrowing against money that will start flowing to the District next year from extending the 1 percent city sales tax surcharge beyond 2014 and diverting proceeds to the schools. It also projects that $30 million additional will come from more aggressive city property tax collection (the city projects only $28 million). And it includes nearly $16 million increase in state basic education funding for the city. But that is only $2 million more in the basic education subsidy than the District had already included in its austerity budget. The governor says it all adds up to $140 million, but the plan would only produce roughly $125 million in revenues not already factored into the District's budget. Whichever numbers are used, the total is well below the $180 million that the District sought from state and city government.
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