Bill Information

An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in duties and powers of boards of school directors, establishing parent involvement programs and policies in school districts; in school finances, providing for workers' compensation, and further providing for annual budget and for limitation on certain unreserved fund balances; in grounds and buildings, further providing for referendum or public hearing required prior to construction or lease; providing for certification of teachers by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards; in certification of teachers, further providing for certificates qualifying persons to teach and for kinds of State certificates; providing for residency certificates, and further providing for disqualifications; in pupils and attendance, providing for use of seclusion; further providing for compulsory school attendance and for exceptions to compulsory attendance; providing for interview reports for withdrawing and illegally absent students; further providing for cost of tuition and maintenance of certain exceptional children in approved institutions and in the four charter schools for education of the deaf and blind; and providing for emergency permits at approved private schools and chartered schools for the deaf and blind; in school health services, further providing for possession and use of asthma inhalers and epinephrine and auto-injectors; in high schools, further providing for academic degrees; in charter schools, further providing for funding for charter schools and for annual reports and assessments; in education empowerment act, further providing for education empowerment districts and for mandate waiver program; in educational improvement tax credit, further providing for definitions, for tax credit and for limitations; in transfers of credits between institutions of higher education, further providing for duties of public institutions of higher education, for transfer and articulation oversight committee and for participation by independent institutions of higher education or State-related institutions; in funding for public libraries, providing for state aid for 2009-2010; in reimbursement by Commonwealth and between school districts, further providing for definitions, for basic education funding for student achievement and for accountability to Commonwealth taxpayers, and for payments to intermediate units; and providing for special education funding for student achievement and instruction of eligible students in regular classrooms and for special education accountability to Commonwealth taxpayers.