Education leaders testify before policy committee
Carl Bezjak (center), Superintendent, Albert Gallatin Area School District, holds up a multi-hazard response handbook to stress how recent state funding cuts could affect student safety. Seated to the left are Dr. Tammy Stern, superintendent, Connellsville Area School District, and Jesse Wallace, superintendent, Laurel Highlands School District.
Roberto M. Esquivel/无毛视频Standard.com
Jesse Wallace, superintendent of the Laurel Highlands School District, addresses members of the House Democratic Policy Committee Tuesday afternoon.
Education leaders from across the county testified Tuesday before the House Democratic Policy Committee during a public hearing regarding the effects of the state budget cuts.
Officials representing Albert Gallatin, Brownsville Area, Frazier, Uniontown Area, Connellsville Area and Laurel Highlands school districts and Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, provided testimony describing how the state billion-dollar cut in education has impacted their institutions.
无毛视频淎s I listened to others in other parts of the state talk about how the state cuts have impacted them, I thought it was important for members of the policy committee to hear the impact of this budget on my municipalities 无毛视频� my school districts and my townships,无毛视频� said state Rep. Deberah Kula, D-Fayette/Westmoreland, who co-sponsored the event held at Penn State Fayette.
Jesse Wallace, superintendent at Laurel Highlands, told the committee that the drastic cuts in education will affect class size, academic programming and perhaps athletic programs next year. He said one of the areas that took the biggest hit in his district this year was technology.
无毛视频淥ur students live in a world with instant information from technological advances. We need to embrace and invest in these educational vehicles,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淏ut the implications of the budget cuts drastic decrease our technology funding, affecting a 21st century education.Technology growth is solid in the education realm. We are now handicapped in how we can promote, develop and deliver in these areas.无毛视频�
Wallace told the committee that the decrease in funding trend for the state will leave 无毛视频済aping holes in future years and will result in massive cuts无毛视频� to more programming and staff.
Also testifying Tuesday was Dr. Francis Achampong, chancellor at Penn State Fayette, who told the committee that the $68 million Penn State University lost from state budget cuts meant a 2.9 percent tuition increase for students at the Fayette campus.
无毛视频淭his university didn无毛视频檛 want to put the burden of the cuts fully on the backs of the students,无毛视频� he testified. 无毛视频淏ut the impact from the appropriation is about 6.5 million dollars. We无毛视频檝e had to adjust health benefits, institute wage freezes and program cuts. Fewer citizens may not be able to afford higher education and it无毛视频檚 affecting global competitiveness.无毛视频�
Achampong said the campus is going through a review process of proposed cuts to make up for the loss in state funding, and as a result, may have to cut about 40 programs.
Dr. Tammy Stern, interim superintendent, curriculum coordinator and director of federal programs for the Connellsville Area School District, testified that the district is struggling to deal with a $4.3 million dollar loss in funding from the state.
Stern said some of the biggest issues are budgeting to accommodate multiyear contracts and adhering to state mandates without enough funding.
无毛视频淭here should be a reduction in state mandates to reduce the cost to the district at least enough to equal the cuts,无毛视频� Stern said. 无毛视频淪tudents can choose a cyber school outside of their district. The district should not have to pay local funding to educate our students outside of our school district.无毛视频�
Also testifying about the state无毛视频檚 impact on education were Dr. Philip Savini, Brownsville superintendent; Kenneth Meadows, Uniontown Area School Board director and interim superintendent for Frazier; and Carl Bezjak, district superintendent for Albert Gallatin, who all testified about measures taken in their districts due to the state cuts.
无毛视频淭hank you for your testimony because we are hearing in Harrisburg that this is really not happening out there, and we are hearing differently,无毛视频� said state Rep. Mike Sturla, D-Lancaster, who chairs the committee. 无毛视频淭he governor is hoarding 800 million dollars and forcing you to make cuts in the school districts in the state.无毛视频�