Budget season is upon us at both the state and federal levels. Governor Wolf and President Trump have put forth their education initiatives and what they would like to see accomplished by the end of the budget process. What must be remembered is that the State Legislature and Congress both have their own ideas of what should be funded and by how much.
Below is a summary of what each budget proposal contains for education, but note that this is only a starting point and over the next few months there will be increases and decreases in the original documents as the political process unfolds with compromises and concessions being made by all legislative branches and parties.
Brief Summary of Governor Wolf’s PA State Education Budget Proposal
- Basic Education Subsidy: $100 million increase or 1.6%
- Special Education Subsidy: $25 million increase or 2.11%
- Pre-K Counts: $25 million increase or 11.51%
- Early Intervention: $11 million increase or 2.11%
- Head Start: $5 million increase or 7.79%
- Career & Technical Education: 0% increase
- Increase of minimum teacher salary to $45,000/year: unfunded
- Comprehensive Charter School Reform (Projected $280 million savings to school districts)
- Free, universal, full-day kindergarten: unfunded
Brief Summary of President Trump’s US Education Budget Proposal
- Consolidate 29 education programs currently under Every Student Succeeds Act into one block grant, funded at $19.4 billion, a decrease of 7.8%, and aimed at reducing the federal role in education and returning decisions and power back to the states.
- Special Education (IDEA) Grants: $100 million increase or 0.08%
- Career & Technical Education State Grants: $680 million increase or 53%
- Career & Technical Education & STEM National Grants: $83 million increase or 1112.8%
- Promotes tax-break donations of individuals and businesses made to state-designed scholarship programs for elementary and secondary students to use for private school tuition.
