Pennsylvania Education Secretary Pedro A. Rivera praised the fiscal year 2018-19 budget signed recently by Gov. Tom Wolf for increasing basic education funding and making investments in STEM and career and technical education programs.
“This year’s investments further demonstrate the Wolf Administration’s commitment to investing in Pennsylvania’s schools and ensuring students are college and career ready when they graduate,” Rivera said.
The budget includes an additional $100 million in basic education funding. The funding will be distributed using the Wolf Administration’s fair funding formula, which aims to provide equitable funding to Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts.
The budget plan also outlines a new plan for workforce training and advancing Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.
It provides a $10 million increase for secondary CTE programs and $30 million to launch the PAsmart initiative, which seeks to align and strengthen workforce efforts at multiple state agencies by providing $20 million for STEM and computer science education and $10 million to expand apprenticeships and job training.
The demand for STEM-trained workers also continues to grow, including an estimated 300,000 STEM-related jobs available in Pennsylvania in 2018, according to the statement from the Education Secretary.
“By connecting business and industry leaders with educators in our classrooms we ensure our students are learning the skills that are in demand by Pennsylvania employers, specifically STEM and computer science professions,” Rivera said. “In today’s job market, it is more critical than ever that students leave high school with strong academic and technical skills that prepare them for success in college, career and community.”
The budget includes increases of $42.5 million for higher education, $15 million for special education, $25 million for preschool and Head Start programs and $21.6 million to support early intervention services.
It also provides more than $61.4 million for school and community safety efforts, including a $1.4 million increase for the Safe Schools Initiative, which provides grants to schools, police departments and municipalities to support safety in schools. The budget preserves $1 million in grant funding for the It’s on Us PA program, which the Wolf Administration launched in 2016 to combat campus sexual violence.