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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Richard Grucela |
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Grucela bill would allow schools to target areas where students need help
HARRISBURG, June 11 – The House Education Committee reported out a key component of the 2008-09 education budget today that would fund tutoring services and other programs to boost student performance.
State Rep. Richard Grucela, D-Northampton, the bill's prime sponsor, said the legislation would continue funding the Educational Assistance Program, which aims to help students who have failed to achieve adequate standards on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment or other approved tests.
"The Educational Assistance Program was created in 2003 to help Pennsylvania students reach increased standards in reading and mathematics set under the No Child Left Behind Act," Grucela said. "The program has been extremely successful in strengthening student skills in the core academic subjects.
"Not everyone can thrive in a group instructional setting," he said. "Sometimes one-on-one time with a student, focusing on their individualized needs, can be all a child needs to grasp a concept. My legislation would continue a very worthy program that currently helps thousands of Pennsylvania children succeed academically."
The program, which would continue to operate under the direction of the state Education Department, requires school districts to complete an application detailing how funding would be used.
Eligible uses for funding under the Education Assistance Program would include:
· programs that increase the amount of student instructional time, including tutoring, an extension of the school day or school calendar, or intensive support for students who have limited English proficiency;
· the implementation of new course offerings that increase the number of students who graduate from high school prepared for college and high-skill careers; or
· training of professional employees in the delivery of a curriculum that increases the number of students who graduate from high school prepared for college and high-skill careers, and in strategies for addressing the learning needs of students at risk of academic failure or needing remediation or strategies to ensure that students stay in school until graduation and successfully transition to postsecondary education or the work force.
The bill (H.B. 2442) now goes before the full House of Representatives for consideration.
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