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King: State education cuts take continuing toll

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HARRISBURG - The state education cuts of the past two years are taking a toll on academic programs offered by urban school districts and students are losing out, Scranton School District Superintendent William King said Wednesday, urging lawmakers to give greater priority to education in the next state budget.

Fresh from attending the Scranton High School and West Scranton High School graduations Tuesday night, Mr. King spoke at a Capitol event in his role as president of the Pennsylvania League of Urban Schools. The coalition represents 10 school districts in midsize cities.

Scranton is struggling to save its full-day kindergarten program and avoid dipping into its capital reserve fund for a second year in a row to balance the budget, said Mr. King.

The district lost $900,000 with two years of cuts to state accountability block grants, a funding source for all-day kindergarten classes, said Mr. King.

All told, Scranton lost $5.5 million in state aid during the past two years and this meant vacant teaching positions going unfilled and cuts to tutoring programs, he added.

Similar to other urban districts, Scranton School District faces challenges educating high numbers of economically disadvantage students and special education students, said Mr. King.

"The state is taking away tools to help our children," said Rep. Marty Flynn, D-113, Scranton, who attended the event. Underfunding education leads to more violence and inmates in the prison system, he said.

School administrators from Harrisburg, Reading, York and Southeast Delco districts also spoke about the impact of cuts on their students.

Education funding remains a major issue as lawmakers face a June 30 deadline to enact a budget. A bill approved Wednesday by the Republican-controlled House provides $100 million more for basic education.

The Senate Democratic minority has proposed $212 million more for basic education.

Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com


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