HARRISBURG, January 23, 2011 — Senator Daylin Leach, (D-Delaware/Montgomery) announced this morning that a bipartisan and bicameral group of legislators met with Governor Corbett and Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis to address the potential closure of the schools in the Chester-Upland School District. Gov. Corbett arranged the meeting after receiving a request to meet in a letter written by Leach and signed by nine Delaware County lawmakers.
Leach said that there are still some details to work out, but Gov. Corbett has committed his support to any efforts necessary to ensuring that Chester-Upland School District has the resources needed to remain open for the duration of the current school year. This includes, if necessary, a supplemental legislative appropriation.
"I was impressed by how engaged and non-ideological the governor was during today's meeting," said Leach. "There seemed to be a genuine commitment to ensuring that the children of Chester-Upland do not see their education disrupted. I am hopeful that today's meeting will not only trigger a solution to Chester-Upland's crisis, but lead us to solving school district financing problems across the state".
This year, Chester-Upland School District was unable to make its payroll due to a shortfall of approximately 21 million dollars. Prior to a 3.2 million dollar short-term infusion of cash ordered by the Federal District Court, Chester-Upland faced a district-wide shut down.
Leach noted that at this mornings meeting in the governor's office, participants offered a number of perspectives to explain how the current crisis was caused. Some cited school board mismanagement and "overspending" while others pointed to recent budget cuts at the state and federal levels. Participants discussed at length the fairness of requiring that charter schools in the district receive their allotments first, thereby placing the burden of any shortfall entirely upon traditional public schools.
"I believe it is imperative to find a way to make sure we don't have a two-tiered system of public education where kids in charter schools are held harmless while kids in traditional public schools suffer disproportionately," Leach said.
Along with members of the administration, those attending the meeting included Sens. Dominic Pileggi (R-Chester/Delaware), Daylin Leach (D-Delaware/Montgomery) and Ted Erickson (R-Delaware/Chester), as well as Reps. Bill Adolph (R-Delaware), Greg Vitali (D-Delaware), Tom Killion (R-Delaware/Chester), Joe Hackett (R-Delaware), Margo Davidson (D-Delaware), Thaddeus Kirkland (D-Delaware), Maria Donatucci (D-Delaware/Philadelphia), and Stephen Barrar (R-Chester/Delaware).
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