Corbett Signs Education Bill at William Tennent

Governor Tom Corbett took the stage at William Tennent High School Friday afternoon for a ceremonial signing of legislation designed to take a hard look at the formulas used to determine special education funding in the state budget.

“This legislation marks another step in our journey toward providing a full and equitable education for our students with intellectual and physical disabilities,’’ Corbett said. 

Act 3 of 2013 (House Bill 2) created a 15-member panel which will develop methodologies for a new formula to allocate any new state special education funding in a manner that recognizes the actual number of physically- and mentally-challenged students in a school and the various levels of their need for services.

The signing of the bill ends the long process for the legislation's passage. A version came close to passing last year, but amendments dealing with charter school funding ultimately killed it. This year, Act 3 unanimously passed both houses without amendments and reached the governor's desk in April.

"The panel had its second meeting yesterday," said State Representative Bernie O'Neill (R-Bucks), who co-chairs the commission with State Senator Pat Browne. "We're now in the process of going through the budget and breaking it down."

Currently, state funding for special education is distributed based on an estimate that special education students make up 16 percent of the overall student population in each school district.

The legislative commission will use the following parameters to develop a new formula for distributing any increases in special education funding over the levels allocated in the 2010-11 school year:

• The formula must include the establishment of three cost categories for students receiving special education services, ranging from least intensive to most intensive.
• The commission must obtain a student count for each school district, averaged for the three most recent school years, for each cost category established.
• The commission will assign a weight to each category of disability.
• The commission must develop a fair system for distributing the increase among the school districts and calculate the amount of funding that each school will receive under the new formula.

“I am pleased that the Governor signed this bill into law, which will make long overdue reforms and changes to how Pennsylvania funds special education,” said Browne, who sponsored the companion bill (Senate Bill 470) to House Bill 2. “The current funding formula system is ineffective in ensuring that state money is adequately and equitability distributed.”

Governor Corbett, Rep. O’Neill and Senator Browne were joined at the bill signing by Representatives Frank Farry (R-Bucks), Stan Saylor (R-York), Dan Truitt (R-Chester) and Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster) as well as acting Secretary of Education Dr. William Harner and representatives of several special education organizations.

The commission will continue to hold hearings across the state in the upcoming months before it issues a report of its findings this fall. The new special education funding formula will not go into effect, however, until approved by the General Assembly.