The ink has barely dried on Gov. Tom Wolf’s signature but House Republicans are already looking to change one of the highest profile provisions housed in this year’s School Code: lowering the state’s compulsory school age to six years old and barring 17-year-olds from signing themselves out of school.

Rep. Tim O’Neal (R-Washington) is circulating a proposal which would grant a waiver for those who inform their school districts that they will home school their child, sparing them two additional years of paperwork which homeschooling advocates argued would be an unfair burden.

Many students at Penn State University won’t see an increase tuition next year, as the school voted Thursday to freeze tuition for in-state residents for the 2019-2020 academic year.

 

The freeze comes as the Penn State University Board of Trustees approved the university’s 2019-2020 operating budget on Thursday, which totals about $6.8 billion in spending.

On Tuesday afternoon, educators, students and parents joined to thank Governor Tom Wolf for what he has done for education since he has been Pennsylvania's governor. 

Wolf spoke about how education has been improving and also thanked everyone there for helping make education a priority. 

After what can only be characterized as a tense week in Harrisburg, Gov. Tom Wolf has signed the 2019-2020 budget into law, enacting a $33.9 billion spending plan that includes no tax increases, and boosts to education funding.

 

The agreed-upon budget between Wolf and Republican leadership bolsters funding for public education and agriculture, while also making the largest allocation to the state’s emergency Rainy Day Fund in years. Wolf also signed a Human Service Code bill that ends General Assistance, a welfare program that provides cash grants of about $200 to Pennsylvania’s poorest residents.

While members of the General Assembly finalize the state’s budget, some in Philadelphia’s City Council have expressed their desire to see more funds to help repair aging schools.
 
State and city legislators joined the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers to launch the Fund our Facilities coalition in March to advocate for $170 million more of financial support for the school district’s buildings. Students, teachers, and allies have argued toxic conditions are causing health and learning problems.