SCHOOLS GET 3% MORE FROM STATE

Political battles in Harrisburg over the new state budget were settled just before Independence Day, resulting in three-percent higher subsidies for local school districts.

About $1 million more is coming to the region to help school districts cover 2008- 09 expenses.

Cameron County will receive a state subsidy of $5.17 million. Coudersport Area School District will get $4.03 million. Austin Area School District is scheduled to receive $1.16 million. Each of these allotments is three-percent higher than the 2007-08 allotment.

State Representative Martin Causer (R-Turtlepoint) said he was pleased that the legislature shot down Gov. Ed Rendell's original proposal for state school funding.

"Instead of sending a lot of money to the Philadelphia School District and giving many rural schools just 1.5 percent more than they got last year, the budget ensures every district gets at least a three-percent increase," Causer said.

Still, he and many other lawmakers were hoping for more.

"I felt strongly that the governor's plan failed to provide a fair level of support to many of our rural schools," Causer said. "I believe we still need to do more to ensure our rural students continue to get the educational opportunities they need and deserve, but this

year's change was a step in the right direction."

Gov. Rendell hailed the 2008-09 education funding plan, which he said introduces a "needs-based school funding formula that directs state dollars into proven programs that reap results for our children"

"The new budget introduces a predictable state funding formula for the first time in nearly two decades," Rendell said. "For too long, the quality of education across the commonwealth has been based more on the wealth of the community rather than the potential of the child."

In addition to the basic education funding formula, other important budget initiatives include a 15-percent early childhood education program; another $45 million for technology and $15 million for training to support Classrooms for the Future, bringing laptops and other tools to high school. English, math, science and social studies classrooms; a 7.4-percent increase in the elementary school "Science: It's Elementary" science education program; a 5.5-percent hike in PHEAA grants for college tuition.