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CONTENTS

• Funding Public Education (March 2000)
• KEYS (March 1999)

View Negotiations Updates

• SUBJECT: Funding Public Education

• SITUATION: Governor Ridge released his proposed state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2000, in early February. In the area of basic education, the governor proposed an increase in funding that averages 3% to schools across the state. Blackhawk’s share of this increase amounts to 2.4% of its current state subsidy. This represents less than 1 percent of the total Blackhawk budget. On a state-wide basis, Harrisburg currently funds about one-third of public education while twenty years ago it funded nearly half. This trend places more of a burden of financially supporting schools on the local property owner. The goal of shifting much of the responsibility of funding public schools away from local property taxes was introduced in legislation late last year by Representative Nick Colafella. His proposal, the Keystone Equity and Education Performance System (KEEPS), would almost double the state’s current contribution to public education.

• THE POSITION OF THE BLACKHAWK EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: The governor, in his budget address, cited his commitment to education, but he ignores the issue of tax equity. The KEEPS legislation better addresses an equitable way of funding public education. Because of an expanding tax base, as well as the diligent efforts of the Blackhawk administration and school board, Blackhawk taxpayers have experienced no increase in school property rates for at least six years. However, unless there are real changes in both the way funding is distributed from the state to school districts and the amounts allocated, local property owners (and especially those on fixed incomes) will continue to pay an unfair burden, and the education of our children will continue to be shortchanged.

• SUBJECT: Keys to Excellence for Your Schools (KEYS)

• SITUATION: What makes a good school? That question has been consistently at the forefront of the dialogue on education reform. What do high achieving schools have in common? After five years of surveying teachers and school staff and analyzing student test results from high achieving schools, researchers from the National Education Association (NEA) identified eleven “keys” to school quality. From this substantial research, the KEYS Initiative was born.

  What KEYS brings to schools is a way to diagnose organizational health, ex-plore remedies, and adopt new methods of dealing with the decisions that yield quality teaching and learning. The goals of KEYS are to help build quality insti-tutions where students improve their academic performance, where administra-tors, teachers and education support personnel are able to make good decisions, and where communities are proud of their schools.

• THE POSITION OF THE BLACKHAWK EDUCATION ASSOCIATION IS: With the recommendation of the Blackhawk Education Association, Superin-tendent Dr. Alan Guandolo presented the KEYS Initiative to the Blackhawk School Board. The board unanimously approved that the initiative be imple-mented in Blackhawk schools.

  In March, the staff of each of Blackhawk’s schools will complete a self-assessment to determine where each school stands on the “key” factors that com-prise a quality school. A team of administrators and teachers will be trained to effectively interpret the results. This team will then work with the staff to both consolidate each school’s strengths and overcome any weaknesses.

  The KEYS Initiative is a tool with which the Blackhawk family--board, ad-ministration, staff, students and community--can accomplish its long-term goals. We are proud to be the first district in Pennsylvania to implement this initiative.

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