Good Schools Pennsylvania Education Law Center
For Immediate Release
August 27, 2009
Contact:
Alison Murawski, communications manager, Good Schools Pennsylvania, (215) 332-2700
Brett Schaeffer, education advocate/communications coordinator, Education Law Center, (215) 238-6970
Good Schools Pennsylvania and the Education Law Center release lesson plan for students to solve state education budget impasse
Philadelphia, Pa.
(August 27, 2009) - Do you think you can save your school and your state
from Pennsylvania's budget impasse? That is the question the Education Law
Center and Good Schools Pennsylvania are posing to high school students this
fall.
As students return to school after their summer
recess, Pennsylvania's fiscal year 2009-10 budget - now more than 50 days
overdue - is still unfinished. As a result, state payments to school districts
have been held up, school boards are making decisions around borrowing money,
cutting teaching staff and programs, and raising local taxes. In order to help students understand the
forces influencing their educational experience, Good Schools Pennsylvania and
the Education Law Center have prepared State Budget 101: A lesson plan for students to solve Pennsylvania's budget problems
(without politics).
"The budget debate in Harrisburg may feel very far removed
to many students," said Baruch Kintisch, manager of policy advocacy for the
Education Law Center. "But the reality
is that students and schools are among those most dependent on the outcome of
budget negotiations. They should have the opportunity to understand and deliberate on the decisions
being made in Harrisburg that directly affect them."
The 90-minute State Budget 101 lesson plan walks students through the mechanics of
Pennsylvania's state budget. Students will receive a background primer and
definitions of language consistent with the actual state budget and methods
used to balance it. They will then be asked to consider specific proposals and
make decisions in order to balance the education budget, which are modeled
after the debate taking place in Harrisburg right now: Should they cut
expenditures by reducing state spending and services, raise revenue through
taxation or user fees, or a combination? Students will not play partisan roles, but
rather, will work in collaborative small groups with the goal of producing a balanced
state education budget.
"The State Budget 101
lesson plan is not just a civics lesson," said Janis Risch, director of Good
Schools Pennsylvania. "Good Schools Pennsylvania and the Education Law Center are
optimistic that this lesson plan will be a valuable tool in illustrating that a
state budget can be crafted that will support students and schools while strengthening communities in Pennsylvania."
The State Budget 101
lesson plan is available online at www.elc-pa.org/statebudget101.html or www.goodschoolspa.org/pdf/take_action/STATE%20BUDGET%20101.pdf.
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