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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 25, 2015 09:47 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator John C. Rafferty, Jr. |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Phasing Out Hold Harmless Provision |
| In the near future, I will be introducing legislation to phase out the use of the “hold harmless” provision in basic education funding. For over two decades, the state budget proceedings have seen the adoption of a concept that directly impacts the distribution of basic education funding to school districts. This “hold harmless” provision has been implemented to insure that state funding for a school district does not fall below the level of state funding the district received the previous year. As a result, school districts that experience declines in student enrollment, which would otherwise cause a corresponding reduction in state funding, continue to receive the same funding. At the same time, districts with increasing student enrollment, which would otherwise prompt an increase in state funding, also continue to receive the same level of funding unless the legislature appropriates more funding to the basic education line. This legislation specifically states that the funding mechanism for “substantial and general support” for public education must provide for the allocation and distribution of funding based upon actual student enrollment in each district for the school year immediately preceding the school year in which the funding is allocated and distributed. This legislation further specifies that this funding shall not be based upon the amount of funding a school district received the previous year. As drafted, this legislation is specific to general education funding and will not impact other sources of education funding such as the Special Education or PA Accountability line items. The use of “hold harmless” in education funding is detrimental to growing school districts in the Commonwealth as it disregards a more equitable distribution of state funds where districts are allotted more funding to provide necessary funding for increasing student enrollment. |