Report: Absence Of School Funding Formula In PA Costs Pottstown $5 Million A Year

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN, PA — Borough property owners would be off the hook for generating more than $5 million in school funding this year if the state funding formula abandoned by Gov. Tom Corbett in 2010 were still in place, according to a report.

Further, as a result of that formula’s absence in calculating state education funding, Pottstown has lost more state aid in the past few years than almost any other district in Montgomery County, the report found.

At $2.5 million, only Norristown schools lost more in the last three years than the $1.5 million in state funding Pottstown has lost since 2010-11, the study found.

In an attempt to reverse the problems highlighted in that study, the Pottstown School Board on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution calling on Harrisburg to establish “a fair and equitable school funding formula.”

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140328/report-absence-of-school-funding-formula-in-pa-costs-pottstown-5-million-a-year

Edinboro University Deficit May Force Additional Cuts

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Erie County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Edinboro University may face additional non-faculty staff and manager cuts this year beyond the 13 already announced to ease a budget deficit shaping up to be greater than the $5.5 million gap previously disclosed, a school spokesman said Friday.

Jeffrey Hileman could not say how much larger the deficit might be, but when asked the difference between the numbers, he said, “It’s not unsubstantial.”

He spoke after Edinboro administrators and faculty union representatives met for 2 1/2 hours to discuss the Operations and Workforce Plan unveiled Tuesday by Edinboro president Julie Wollman, which also recommended eliminating 42 faculty positions.

The plan, like one released at Clarion University a month ago, addresses rising costs, declining enrollment and sharply lower state aid.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/edinboro-deficit-may-force-additional-cuts-703272/#ixzz2ergwa2ze

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport Applies For Grant To Expand Service

Locator map of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area in the northeastern part of the of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

AVOCA, PA — The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport has applied for a $575,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to help expand service and market the airport.

The application was filed this week with the FAA’s Small Community Air Service Development Grant program.

The grant would be used toward a nearly $1.2 million initiative that includes enticing airlines to add flights to leisure and business destinations not currently offered out of Northeastern Pennsylvania including Tampa, Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington and Las Vegas, said Barry J. Centini, the airport’s director.

Money would be used to help subsidize the airlines, could go toward landing fees and other offers making flying in to and out of the area more attractive, Centini said.  Additional money would be used to amplify marketing efforts for those airlines and existing airlines.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/792704/Avoca-airport-applies-for-grant-to-expand-service

Amtrak’s Regulars Treasure The Pennsylvanian

English: An locomotive arriving at the Johnstown train station in Johnstown, . The train is Amtrak’s #42 Pennsylvanian. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ABOARD THE AMTRAK PENNSYLVANIAN — The steady rumble of steel wheels on tracks is punctuated by the wail of a locomotive horn and then, oddly, by the pop of a champagne cork.

It’s 8:30 a.m., and Amanda McCoy and Kim Christen are living it up in the cafe car. On the table are boxes of a Polish pastry called paczki, orange juice and a bottle of Barefoot Bubbly.

It’s mimosa time.

Ms. McCoy, of Indiana Township, and Ms. Christen, of West View, also have bread, garlic bologna, lettuce, tomato and a travel Scrabble set for the long ride. “We’re veterans,” Ms. McCoy says. “We know how to do it.”

Like many others aboard the train, they swear by it, and recoil at the possibility that the one daily Amtrak train serving Pittsburgh and Harrisburg will be eliminated in October.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/amtraks-regulars-treasure-the-pennsylvanian-675749/#ixzz2LDMwXNd9