Education dollars held ‘hostage’

Accountability in government is a phrase you often hear. As a state representative, it is my job to promote accountability in all I do. When fiscal resources are under such great pressure as they are in this budget impasse, it is essential that we, as elected officials, be held accountable to the taxpayer. But, in the quest for accountability, we have far too often created obstacles that place undue burdens on local government entities and prevent them from doing their job in an efficient, effective manner.

As a former school board director, I am well aware of the enormous investment the taxpayers of Pennsylvania make in our public education system.  Now, as a member of the General Assembly, I am charged with doing all I can to advocate for the best education for our students, delivered in the most fiscally responsible manner.

We, as a General Assembly, need to sufficiently fund our public school system. But when it comes to ensuring we are spending enough on public education, the first option for addressing any shortfall should not be automatically asking you, the taxpayer, to pay more. Instead, we need to enact measures that will increase fiscal responsibility and improve the accountability of all governmental entities.

It is not fiscally responsible to imprison taxpayer dollars in unfunded mandates. Federal and state governments ask more and more of our schools without providing them with the resources to accomplish what is being asked of them. As a result, money that is intended for students in the classroom is unfortunately diverted.

It is not fiscally responsible to have a pension system that is deep in debt. The costs associated with PSERS (Public School Employees Retirement System) grow every year and consume more money that never reaches students in the classroom.  I have advocated for pension reform since taking office and will continue to do so as a steward of taxpayer dollars.

House Bill 1119, legislation I’ve authored that was passed in June by the House Education Committee, would free up additional money that is held hostage. The bill, which passed on a party-line vote, would relieve our public schools of costly and unnecessary mandates. They would be granted five-year waivers from those mandates, at which time the school would submit to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) a report evaluating the success of the waiver. PDE could conceivably grant a continuation of the waiver.

One of the mandates from which schools could receive a waiver is the Prevailing Wage Act, a law that robs the taxpayer more than probably any other. School construction and renovations already cost a great deal of money. Because of this act, school districts must pay the prevailing minimum wage, as determined by the Secretary of Labor and Industry, to workmen on a public works project. Prevailing wage is estimated to drive up the cost of school construction and renovation projects by 17 percent. My York County colleague, state Sen. Scott Wagner, has introduced legislation to exempt schools from prevailing wage and drive more money toward actual education needs. School districts need Senate Bill 714 to become law.

Another burden we have placed on our schools is the Keystone Exams. As part of these standardized tests, the class of 2017 is currently on schedule to be required to take and pass exams in Algebra I, Literature and Biology in order to graduate. Accountability and improving student performance is essential, but not in this manner. Additionally, the cost associated with staffing, textbooks, materials and curriculum necessary to execute the Keystone Exams is excessive and has not shown a correlation with improving educational outcomes for students.

On Tuesday, the House Education Committee, of which I am a member, unanimously passed legislation that would delay implementation of the Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement until the 2018-2019 school year. Senate Bill 880, which is being considered by the full House, would delay this requirement and allow us extra time to find a better, more cost-efficient way to measure student success.

In June, the House passed legislation that would weed out redundant, overly burdensome or unnecessary public school entity data collection requirements. House Bill 1112 addresses the reporting obligations that consume valuable staff time and resources in our public schools, charter schools and area vocational-technical schools. I hope my Senate colleagues will take up this legislation.

Overturning these unfunded mandates is essentially “found money.” School districts have it, but can’t actually access it. Schools need tools to improve accountability, and we have the means to do it without further reliance on the taxpayer.

State Rep. Kristin Phillips-Hill is a Republican from York Township.