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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Pat Harkins |
  
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Harkins: Erie schools to see funding increases in 2008-09 state budget
HARRISBURG, July 4 – State Rep. Pat Harkins, D-Erie, said that basic and special education funding allocations to both Erie City and Iroquois school districts in the 2008-09 state budget will reinvest in key initiatives and programs, and further foster academic achievement for students without any increase in state taxes.
Funding for basic education in the Erie City School District will increase by $2.7 million, or 5.89 percent; for Iroquois School District, it will increase by $485,388, or 6.83 percent.
Special education funding for Erie City will increase by $162,762, or 1.8 percent. For Iroquois, the increase is $15,088, or 2.2 percent.
"Each additional dollar allocated to Erie schools builds upon the success we have already seen through programs such as Pre-K Counts and the Accountability Block Grants," Harkins said. "The point is that we are seeing steady increases to basic and special education programs, and that bodes well for current and future students."
The final state budget was approved by the legislature and is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Ed Rendell today.
Harkins also authored legislation that serves as a vehicle for joining Pennsylvania to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. The compact aims to develop an agreement among the Great Lake states and Canada for management of the Great Lakes resource.
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