PRINTER'S NO. 1521
No. 154 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY T. STEVENSON, ORIE, WATSON, LESCOVITZ,
CALTAGIRONE, WILT, ROBINSON, JAMES, McCALL, M. BAKER,
BASTIAN, TIGUE, METCALFE, HENNESSEY, ROHRER, SHANER AND
STEELMAN, APRIL 9, 2001
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, APRIL 9, 2001
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Department of Education to delay its planned
2 implementation of school financial data reporting known as
3 "Your Schools, Your Money."
4 WHEREAS, The General Assembly, in the passage of Act 16 of
5 2000, intended to improve public awareness of school districts'
6 costs through a program of collecting and publicizing various
7 financial data for all schools in all school districts in this
8 Commonwealth; and
9 WHEREAS, The Department of Education has begun to implement
10 its spending analysis model program, "Your Schools, Your Money,"
11 with commencement of the entire program this summer in time for
12 the 2001-2002 school year; and
13 WHEREAS, The differences in costs between school districts
14 and among schools within a district are likely to be
15 misinterpreted by taxpayers and other members of the public,
16 leading to erroneous conclusions as to the efficiency and
17 quality of the management in each district based upon
1 comparative data from other districts; and
2 WHEREAS, The implementation of "Your Schools, Your Money"
3 occurs in the same year in which the Government Accounting
4 Standards Board (GASB) begins a three-year phase-in of its most
5 significant new accounting standards for government entities,
6 including the 501 school districts in this Commonwealth; and
7 WHEREAS, The new GASB standards feature revised reporting
8 categories, revised data in those categories and new data not
9 included in previous reporting; and
10 WHEREAS, The requirement to report financial data as part of
11 "Your Schools, Your Money" is a reporting mandate that will
12 result in additional costs of time and money to school districts
13 in this Commonwealth without any additional benefit to the
14 school children of this Commonwealth; therefore be it
15 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge the
16 Department of Education to delay initial implementation of "Your
17 Schools, Your Money" for a period of at least one fiscal year
18 until 2002-2003; and be it further
19 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge the
20 Department of Education to implement its program of financial
21 data reporting in phases, similar to the GASB phase-in, with
22 large school districts with revenues of $100 million or more
23 commencing July 1, 2002, medium-sized school districts with
24 revenues in excess of $10 million but less than $100 million
25 commencing July 1, 2003, and smaller school districts with
26 revenues less than $10 million commencing July 1, 2004; and be
27 it further
28 RESOLVED, That prior to July 1, 2002, the Department of
29 Education develop a comprehensive program to educate and inform
30 the public about the meaning of financial data contained in
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1 "Your Schools, Your Money" in order to ensure proper
2 understanding and interpretation of data; and be it further
3 RESOLVED, That prior to July 1, 2002, the Department of
4 Education develop a program of technical assistance and a set of
5 guidelines in keeping with the new GASB standards for districts
6 to use in the preparation and reporting of required financial
7 data; and be it further
8 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be delivered to the
9 Secretary of Education no later than March 30, 2001.
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