HARRISBURG, P.A. (KYW Newsradio) — Pennsylvania has put more than $1 billion into K-12 education funding in the past two years, after a state court ruled the funding model was unconstitutional. During Wednesday’s budget hearings in the state House, Pennsylvania’s Education Secretary Carrie Rowe said her department was seeing positive signs.
Rowe said graduation rates went up for the third consecutive year and regular attendance increased for the second consecutive year.
“The vast majority of the indicators that we look at and the future-ready index are indicating that we are moving in the right direction, and that this money is having a positive effect on student outcomes,” she said.
Rowe said more money for the sake of more money is not the answer. She added if a school didn’t meet prescribed benchmarks, punishing them with less funding was not the answer either.
“When we identify schools that aren't meeting the criteria that we've set forth, then we're going to need to provide additional support,” she said, “and support, in that case, doesn't necessarily mean money.”
Discussing 'vo-tech'
Access to career technical education (CTE), formerly known as “vo-tech,” was another key topic. Bucks County state Rep. Kristin Marcell said the Middle Bucks Institute of Technology told her they have about 700 applications for about 340 spots, due to space limitations.
“I really am disturbed by … all of these students that are potentially missing out on the thing that they want to explore, and then what their dream is at that very pivotal age,” she said. “I am always particularly concerned about students saying, for example, ‘I'd like to be an electrician, or I'd like to be a welder,’ and they're met with ‘Sorry. That program's closed. How about becoming a diesel mechanic?’”
Rowe said reporting on CTE waitlists is currently voluntary but if the legislature made it mandatory, the department could get a better idea of the issue.
In addition to increased and more focused funding, she said other efforts to expand access to CTE included districts moving certain programs from a tech center into their school buildings, or allowing earlier certification, when applicable, to open seats in high-demand programs.