Local EMS, Mental Health Services Respond to Potential Sequestration

Should Congress not act by March 1, a series of automatic cuts will take effect that affect thousands of middle class jobs, and cut vital services for children, seniors, people with mental illness and our men and women in uniform

If the sequester goes through on March 1, it could mean massive cuts to emergency services, mental health services, school funding, senior citizen services and more. Locally, the various National Alliance on Mental Illness programs continue to advocate for change before March 1. If sequestration goes into effect, more than 373,000 mentally ill adults and children could go untreated. The result could be homelessness, increased crime and increased hospitalizations. Carol Caruso, executive director of NAMI Montgomery County, said mental health and substance abuse programs could be cut by about 5 percent. Tack that onto the 10 percent cut that occurred in the Pennsylvania budget. "There is more slicing away at services in that area that are …

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NP Board Looking at 2.9 Tax Increase, 41 Cuts

The school board is targeting to pass a $203.9 million budget for 2012-2013

You could pay 2.9 percent more in taxes next year. Your senior students could opt out of gym next year. North Penn School District could not provide money to the International Spring Festival next year. Foreign language could be nihil. Class sizes could increase. And class with less than 20 students could be gone, except in special education and gifted. That is what the North Penn School Board has on the table right now for the 2012-2013 budget. North Penn School District is looking to raise taxes 2.9 percent next year and cut 41 items from the budget in order to get to a $203.9 million price tag for 2012-2013. The current millage rate is 21.9564. The increase would bring the rate to 22.5931 mills. One mill equals 1/1000 of a dollar or 1/…

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NP Board Approves $200M Preliminary Budget

The proposed budget has no tax increase, no cuts in programs and no salary increases.

The North Penn School Board Thursday recommended approval of a preliminary budget of $200 million, and will now advertise the budget to the public. As it stands now, the proposed final budget comes with “no tax increases, no cuts in programs, and no increase in salaries for any employees,” according to board President Vince Sherpinsky. “The board is in discussions” with various employee unions about accepting a wage freeze, he said, adding that he was hopeful the parties would reach an agreement when talks resume next week. “We’ve asked them to agree to a freeze. We’ll see what happens,” he said. Moreover, Sherpinsky said the school district is making the assumption that state legislators will  reinstate about $2.9 million in funding cuts…

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MCCC President: Community Colleges Are Proven Path to Economic Recovery

MCCC President Dr. Karen Stout responds to Gov. Corbett's proposed budget cuts on education.

As Pennsylvanians begin contemplating the governor’s budget proposal, at least one question must be front and center in our analysis: How do we reset our funding priorities so that we support, rather than hinder, economic revitalization and workforce development? A study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce found that by 2018, the country will need 22 million new workers with post-secondary degrees. The study predicts that we will fall short of this need by at least 3 million degrees—a significant lost economic opportunity for millions of American workers and for our economy. The prime way for our country to move beyond its current economic challenges is to enable our citizens to reach their fullest career …

Passing the Buck: Governor Corbett Unveils New Budget

Corbett's plan includes more than $1 billion in educational cuts

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett unveiled his budget Tuesday afternoon, and though the budget comes in at 3 percent below last year's, the steep cuts in education cannot be ignored. Corbett proposes cutting over $800 million from the public school system, by eliminating more than $250 million in grant money, and slashing $550 million from K-12 public schools. Additionally, state-owned universities will be facing a budget reduction of more than $625 million, which represents more than half of their previous budget. So what does this all mean? While Governor Corbett seems to have achieved his goal of not implementing any new taxes, all he has done is passed the buck to students and Pennsylvania residents. In order for public schools to …

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Keith Heffintrayer

5:28 am on Thursday, March 10, 2011

College tuition is high enough as it is, and we can all probably agree that amount surpasses the quality of education received, hence going to 2 years of MCCC then off to a four year state program. The problem is cutting funding will only push cost to the student. If you think the institutes of higher learning are going to simply say "Well our budget is half of what it used to be. Let's cut …   more ›