How Did They a Balance PA. State Budget? They Forced Schools to Eliminate 20,000 Teaching Positions. [View all]

[JPZenger]

The republican-controlled PA. House Appropriations Committee has come out with their proposed budget. One of the ways they have made the numbers work is by realizing that the State is spending much much less on school employee pensions than the State had forecast.

Why is this? Because the budget cuts over the last 2 years have forced local school district to eliminate 20,000 teaching positions. ANOTHER 3,000 jobs are scheduled to be lost this year by the Phila. School District, and hundreds more in several urban school districts. The York City School District may be effectively eliminated, and just turned into charter schools. Because the state pays a portion of local pension costs, this has become a windfall for the state.

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=481800

"Where the Republican governor has sought pension changes that would free up some money in next year's budget, the House Republicans said lower-than-projected payments into the teachers' pension fund had produced a savings of about $140 million instead.

House Democratic spokesman Bill Patton said those savings "have a lot to do with 20,000 fewer jobs" in public education, positions cut in the past two years."