House Advances Legislation to Increase Accountability of PA Schools, Says Christiana
HARRISBURG – The House of Representatives today sent to the governor’s desk legislation making Pennsylvania schools more accountable to taxpayers, parents and students, said Rep. Jim Christiana (R-Beaver/Washington), who authored House Bill 1606, which became the Public School Code.
House Bill 1606 permanently establishes the SchoolWATCH website to shed light on where and how public schools spend tax dollars. Users of the database will be able to compare and contrast spending practices of Pennsylvania’s public schools, including traditional, charter and cyber school districts.
“Our public schools spend nearly $30 billion of taxpayer dollars each year, and the citizens paying the bills deserve to know where their money is being spent,” said Christiana. “Giving the public and the media access to this information is a commonsense transparency booster that will support better decision making.”
The SchoolWATCH concept was modeled after Christiana’s 2011 PennWATCH website, which displays all state government spending.
“Between the two websites, the public will now have access to the spending details for $60 billion annually,” Christiana said.
Additionally, House Bill 1606 increases the amount of available tax credits for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program from $100 million to $125 million. The EITC/OSTC programs provide educational options to eligible students and families to help create a K-12 system that respects the individual needs of each student.
“When it comes to educating the kids of Pennsylvania, we must reject the one-size-fits-all approach, and instead, give parents access to a menu of options to ensure their child’s education setting fits his or her unique needs.”
The Public School Code now moves to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.
“Today, the General Assembly has taken monumental steps toward making our system more accountable and responsive to the taxpayers, students and parents,” Christiana said.
Representative Jim Christiana
15th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Abbey Haslam
ahaslam@pahousegop.com
RepChristiana.com /
Facebook.com/RepJimChristiana