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Wilkes-Barre group’s goal: Provide uniforms for Special Olympics athletes

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<p>Gov. Tom Wolf&#8217;s proposed 2017-18 education budget would mean modest increases &#8212; under 2 percent in most cases &#8212; for local school districts, but collectively Luzerne County&#8217;s 11 districts would see $3.5 million more than received this fiscal year.</p><p>Overall, Wolf wants to increase money for Basic Education Funding by $100 million statewide. Locally, that would mean districts would see increases from $49,255 at Northwest Area School District to $897,236 at Wilkes-Barre Area.</p><p>Wolf also wants to increase Special Education Funding by $25 million. For local districts, it would mean increases ranging from $14,628 at Crestwood to $195,449 at Wilkes-Barre Area.</p><p>The third main source of state money is the &#8220;Ready to Learn Block Grant,&#8221; which is far smaller than BEF or SEF.</p><p>Combined, Luzerne County school districts would see BEF rise from $146.4 million to $149.2 million, an increase of about 1.9 percent. Collectively SEF would climb from $23 million to almost $23.8 million, up nearly 3.1 percent. The block grant total would remain just short of $6.5 million.</p><p>In the past, Hazleton Area School District was typically the biggest winner dollar-wise when state funding was increased, simply because it is the county&#8217;s biggest district. Since the state adopted a new formula for doling out new dollars, that hasn&#8217;t always held true.</p><p>This year, Wilkes-Barre Area would get the largest cash increase, just shy of $1.1 million. Hazleton Area would see the second largest increase at $866,660.</p><p>Hazleton Area still gets the most state money overall. If Wolf&#8217;s proposal is adopted, it would get a total of $44.1 million compared to Wilkes-Barre Area&#8217;s $33.7 million.</p><p>On the other side of the spectrum, typically the county&#8217;s smallest district, Northwest Area, vies with Dallas School District &#8212; one of the county&#8217;s wealthiest and thus usually eligible for a smaller piece of the state education money pie &#8212; to be the district getting the fewest state dollars.</p><p>Under Wolf&#8217;s proposal Northwest Area would get $8.3 million, while Dallas would get about $9.06 million.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Governor’s budget: $3.5 million more for local school districts