Chester County Democratic Committee

After several months of background material and discussion, on May 12 the CCDC executive committee unanimously endorsed this statement: The CCDC executive committee resolves to support Governor Rendell’s proposal for a modernized school funding system that prepares our workforce and invests in our communities. For Background, see the category Schools on this site.

letter, Phila Inquirer, 5/15/10 I am writing to thank and applaud State Sens. Andrew E. Dinniman (D., Chester) and Jeffrey E. Piccola (R., Dauphin) for their bipartisan leadership in sponsoring Senate Bill 1134, and helping it pass unanimously through the Senate Education Committee they cochair (“New law planned to bolster Pa. charter oversight,” May 5). [...]

[email from PA School Funding Campaign, 4/19/10] Prior to 2008, Pennsylvania had a “non-system” of funding schools that was based on the annual decisions of a few political leaders. But in 2008, the General Assembly enacted a rational school funding formula that counts students, accounts for their individual needs, recognizes the resources needed to help [...]

Daily Local News, Tuesday, April 20, 2010 By Tom Houghton, Guest Columnist Following my election as your state representative in 2008, I went to Harrisburg with the goal of restoring the state’s financial commitment to basic education funding in order to offset the need for school districts to raise property taxes. In the lengthy 2009-10 [...]

from Governor Rendell, 4/15/10 Harrisburg – Budget Secretary Mary Soderberg today certified that $772.5 million in gaming revenue will be available for property tax relief in 2010 – the third year of broad-based property tax relief under the historic Taxpayer Relief Act. “We are continuing to provide statewide property tax relief,” Soderberg said. “This is [...]

email from Pennsylvania School Funding Campaign, 3/30/10 The House of Representatives last week adopted a state General Fund budget bill for 2010-11 (House Bill 2279) on a bipartisan vote. We hope the Senate will follow suit and support the appropriations level for Basic Education Funding ($5,226,142,000 in state funds and $654,747,000 in federal stimulus funds) [...]

Pennsylvania School Funding Campaign Ron Cowell, (717) 260-9000, (412) 298-4796 (cell) Harrisburg (February 9, 2010) The Pennsylvania School Funding Campaign (PSFC) today applauded Governor Edward G. Rendell’s proposed $354 million increase in basic education funding in his 2010-11 budget. “The Governor and General Assembly took historic action in 2008 to put the state back on [...]

Education Voters of Pennsylvania was pleased to see that the proposed 2010-2011 budget provides a continued investment in education and continued effort to reform the financial structure for education funding. Pennsylvania has seen immediate results from changing the approach to how schools are funded, most importantly in dramatic gains in student achievement, but also in [...]

Pennsylvania Policy and Budget Center, 7/30/09. Pennsylvania funds a smaller share of public education at the state level than all but four other states, according to a report released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau. In the 2006-07 fiscal year, Pennsylvania funded an average of 35.5% of public education costs in the Commonwealth, while [...]

We’d like to thank all who supported, donated to, and voted for Susan, Deb, Lisa, and Sue. We ran a strong and fact-based campaign that we are very proud of. Please stay tuned as Citizens for Excellence in Public Schools participates in WCASD life, observes School Board meetings, comments on students’ and taxpayers’ needs, and [...]