Harrisburg, Pa. − April 30, 2019 − Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. announced today $350,000 in state grant funding in a violence prevention initiative for the Woodland Hills School District communities in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Action Against Rape.
“Last year, we in state government decided that had seen enough violence in our schools and communities and created a grant program for schools and organizations to make their facilities and neighborhoods safer,” said Senator Costa. “Our community stepped up and submitted worthy applications for these grants to reduce violence and I’m anxious to see their work brought to fruition.”
Pittsburgh Action Against Rape will deliver a comprehensive approach to reducing sexual violence by primarily working with WHSD and continued work in the community through the parents and community members of the district.
“When we created these grants, I made it a priority to ensure that Woodland Hills and the surrounding area got the funds they need for anti-violence programming,” said Senator Costa. “I also want to thank the Pittsburgh Action Against Rape for taking the lead in developing this project.”
The proposed programs include an after-school program for K-6 th grade, two days a week; social norms group; Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM); Athletes Leading Change (ALC); Parents in the Know (PITK) trainings to other professionals, and the use of a Community Readiness Model (CRAM), which measures a community’s readiness to change.
These programs will serve up to 3,500 students and 600 adults, as well as surrounding communities with an estimated population of 21,000 individuals
This project will deliver a comprehensive approach to reducing sexual violence by primarily working with WHSD youth and continued work in the community to the parents and community members of the district. Prevention work will be done on multiple levels including evidence- and research-based programming to youth in the school district through afterschool programs, working with parents, male and female athletes, trainings of professions within the school district and systems in the feeder municipalities.
Programs to students will be done through classroom presentations, after-school programming, small group work with male and female athletes, and community work with parents and caregivers. Programs will focus on social norms to increase bystander intervention skills, awareness of trauma focused services available to victims and their families and increase and identify resiliency factors in students.
Act 44 of 2018 created a School Safety and Security Fund for the purposes of providing funding to school districts for school safety and security concerns and addressing community violence. $60 million was put into the fund with $7.5 million for community anti-violence programs and the remaining 52.5 million for school safety.
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Pittsburgh, PA − January 16, 2019 − Senator Costa released the below statement on Penn Hill School District:
Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced that the Penn Hills School District will be taking its next steps toward complete financial recovery by entering the Commonwealth’s Financial Recovery Program. While in financial watch status PDE identified several areas that the district can improve upon to put it on solid financial footing. This new program will bring expert staff and new resources to Penn Hills to ensure that they stay on course to full financial recovery, while maintaining local control.
The first step will be the appointment of a PDE funded staff position called a Chief Recovery Officer (CRO). The CRO will be the primary point of contact between the school district and PDE.
The school board and CRO will first be responsible for completing a diagnostic analysis of the district’s finances and academic programs to get more information on specific areas the district can improve in.
Once the diagnostic is finished the school board and CRO will develop a financial recovery plan, which will offer a systematic, strategic and comprehensive guide for getting the district back to full self-sufficiency and long-term financial and academic health.
Pittsburgh, Pa. − August 27, 2018 − Senators Jay Costa, Jr. and Wayne D. Fontana jointly congratulated the Pittsburgh School District on the award of $1.6 million from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to support school improvement.
“I want to not only congratulate but also thank the Pittsburgh School District for continuing to innovate the way they teach our students,” said Senator Costa. “A high-quality education that prepares students for a 21st century world is one of the most critical responsibilities of the state, and our local districts. Pittsburgh has risen to that challenge time and again, and our entire region is better for it.”
Thirteen schools in the Pittsburgh School District will receive funding in this round of grants. The grants are part of the second year of the System for District and School Improvement project at PDE, and the Pittsburgh School District was also included in the pilot program in its first year.
“This grant award is a testament to the improvements the Pittsburgh School District have implemented and to the ongoing effort to enhance the quality of education for our students and upgrades to school facilities,” said Senator Fontana. “I am proud of the commitment that has been made to further enrich the education of the students and am certain this success will continue.”
In this school year, grant recipients include 101 schools in 16 school districts and four charter schools.
For more information about Pennsylvania’s education policies and programs, please visit the Department of Education’s website at www.education.pa.gov.
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HARRISBURG, PA − June 22, 2018 − The Pennsylvania Senate passed the state budget for Fiscal Year 2018-19 (House Bill 2121) by a vote of 47-2.
“In January, the Senate Democratic caucus outlined our priorities for the year and this budget puts the money where our mouths were,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, Jr. “It makes major investments in education at every level, workforce development, health care and social justice. It’s the product of months of bipartisan work and compromise, and I’m proud to support a budget that so aptly reflects our values.”
Senate Democratic Appropriations Chairman Vincent Hughes noted that the budget restores the billion-dollar cuts to education funding under the administration of Gov. Tom Corbett. He added that he is hopeful investments in the people of the commonwealth continue to be of the highest priority.
“The increased investments to education, job and economic initiatives, social justice, and health care in this year’s budget are a testament to what happens when we work together and put the people first,” Senator Hughes said. “On a personal note, I am pleased this budget negotiation ended in a timely fashion and believe this is the foundation for future bipartisan budget negotiations.”
The Senate Democratic Caucus priorities in this budget focus on four categories: education, jobs and workforce development, social justice and health care. The budget incorporates major investments in those state programs, including:
- In education:
- $100 million increase in basic education (K-12 public schools)
- $20 million increase in Pre-K Counts program
- $30 million increase in career and technical education as part of the PA SMART Initiative
- $15 million increase in special education
- $21.6 million increase in Early Intervention
- Nearly $7 million increase to community colleges
- $15 million to the state-owned universities of the PASSHE schools
- In job and workforce development:
- A new $7 million apprenticeship training program through PA SMART
- $3 million increase to industry partnerships through PA SMART
- $3 million increase to combatting the Spotted Lanternfly infestation that threatens our agricultural industry
- In social justice:
- $1.3 million to the Human Relations Commission to provide the resources necessary to investigate claims like those of the Grandview 5.
- $1 million for It’s On Us grants to address campus sexual assault
- In health care
- Includes funding to address the Governor’s waiting list initiatives.
- 100 persons on the emergency waiting list for intellectual disabilities (ID) and 800 high school graduates aging into the ID waiver program.
- 40 adults off of the Autism Intervention and Services waiting list.
- Provides funding to expand home visitation programs for parents and young children.
- $2.5 million to fight Lyme disease
The General Appropriations bill passed in the Pennsylvania House on Wednesday, and now goes to Governor Tom Wolf’s desk to await his signature.
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Harrisburg, April 21, 2017 — Efforts to educate local students about environmental issues will be bolstered by more than $50,000 in state Environmental Education Grant funding, Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) announced today.
“There is nothing more important than providing our children with a solid education focused on science and the environment,” Costa said. “Investments in our schools, our children and their education pay dividends far beyond the classroom. The opportunities provided to our students through these grants further our commitment to STEAM-based education – focused on science, technology, engineering, art and math.
“Most importantly, these grants fund critical programs and community organizations that will open doors to the future that many children otherwise would not have had.”
The grant funds announced today were made available through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Education Grant Program. The program uses funds collected annually for environmental education which are collected from pollution fines and penalties.
Since 1993, the program has awarded more than $11 million in environmental education grants.
According to Costa, the following local projects received grant awards:
- School District of Pittsburgh, Trout in the Classroom, $2,952 to improve student performance on the Pennsylvania Biology Keystone Exam and increase student engagement in science related course work;
- Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, Creative Environmental Field Trips, $2,863 to provide field trip opportunities for area students to learn about the importance of reuse as a strategy for reducing negative environmental impacts; and
- Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (Frick Environmental Center), Sustainable “Freedom Garden” Teaches All of Us, $50,000 for the construction of an interactive outdoor garden and walking trail with wild botanical plants and flowers that honor the horticultural experience of previously enslaved Freedom Seekers from the 1850s in the United States.
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